Hello Share Chasers. This old punter can’t remember a time when spending habits were changing as much as now. So as share traders we need to take on board new consumer trends. That is if we’re to make a bundles of mazuma from our glorious hobby. Here are a few tips.

A new week and finally some good news from the United States for GSK plc (GSK) as the “FDA approves Boostrix for immunisation during pregnancy for the prevention of whooping cough in newborn infants”. It is not enough alone to start pushing the multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology FTSE 100 name up, but it is a bit of good news for the company’s struggling CEO. As I have noted before, Dame Emma has a lot still to prove. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the FTSE 100, I am excited to see the over 8% rise in the shares today of DS Smith (SMDS).

Hello Share Speakers. This old punter continues to think the Footsie will dive soon. Keeping it static at the moment is the optimistic hope that the world will avoid a recession. But inflation is so rampant these days, that that rosy prospect is thinning. Never mind, there are still some companies that look defensive enough to be worth a look at. Like this one, for instance.

The last two businesses of musicMagpie (MMAG) boss, Steven Oliver, went bust, leaving unpaid bills of c .£8million. But he had excuses ready, for this was nothing to do with management incompetence. Oh no! It was all to do with bastard banks pulling the plug, and macro trends crushing his business model. Ring any bells yet?

Asset manager Kevin Smith warns that the Fed has lost control of inflation, equities are bound to fall sharply and you just know where to go to save your wealth!

Hello, Share Bakers. When the Footsie falls, there are always shares that still shine, often in the small cap bracket. One such outfit is Creightons (CRL) maker and seller of budget cosmetics and hand washes. It’s not long since I reviewed the jolly numbers behind the healthy share price, but let’s now look at something even more important for would-be investors. And that’s future trends. 

Back in early January I observed that ‘Morrisons (MRW) is rudely unloved’. Since then the shares have done very little, but this morning’s update is another indication that the stock remains cheap – and that Morrisons is a good place to do your food shopping too.

Shame on all those such as Zak Mir who have promoted this bag of excrement for today’s trading update was a true horror both in terms of what it said but also what it did not say.  Starting with the latter: this is a trading update which admits that sales are SFA but made no mention of losses or the cash position. Why not? I put it to you that if the company was drowning in cash it would shout about it.  That it does not mention it at all screams out the possibility that another bailout placing is on the way. Then there is what is said which is almost as bad.

Time it goes by and yet there is no news of import from these two monumentally overvalued darlings of the Bulletin Board Moron community. The silence is deafening and that should be alarming even the most moronic or morons. Or maybe they are just too moronic…

Listener Matthew W writes to say how much he enjoys bearcast but has requested a bit more swearing as it entertains him while walking his dog. I made a mental note to swear a bit about the fecking purple windows or Amazon and the melted Easter Egg but I clean forgot. Sorry Matthew. Instead I discuss: Kefi (KEFI), AEX Gold (AEXG), Remote Monitored Systems (RMS), UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) and Sound Energy (SOU).

Bulls of Remote Monitored Systems (RMS) or paid penny share hustlers, such as LSE Share Talk, are forced to make extraordinary projections about sales of Pharm2Farm face nappies in order to justify urging folks to chuck their cash down the pan by buying these shares. For the current valuation is bonkers. Just see for yourself and ask a few questions.

I have written many times about DS Smith (SMDS), typically loving-up its exposure to e-commerce delivery box-making…along with a capability for ‘sustainable packaging solutions, paper products and recycling services worldwide’. I know this is not that exciting an area but the first bit in particular has growing demand all around the world. Even the average company is working out that to be competitive against the Amazons of this world, having such a box option matters. Unfortunately for them DS Smith is a big supplier to Amazon too…

Reader SB asks if there are any forecasts for MyHealthChecked (MHC). There are not. Not even from the UK’s leading healthcare analyst Mr Brokerman Dan Levi. However, the company does give indications of what sort of sales it might achieve in a corporate presentation video below. There is more and I am not sure what this means and think MyHealthChecked should clarify.

Today’s numbers from the paper and packaging name Smurfit Kappa (SKG) were damn impressive in my opinion.  Certainly it is no disaster to say that ‘prices rose rapidly in H2…and continue to see prices increasing in early 2021’. And when you look a bit more deeply, you realise that the rise of e-commerce remains a great growth area as firms such as Amazon are driving a lot more demand.  Smurfit Kappa’s CFO observed that such demand is ‘here to stay’ and even Brexit was not that much of a concern given that the company produces locally rather than relying on significant exports between Ireland/Europe and the UK. 

We’ve produced an update on a positive trading statement from J Sainsbury (SBRY) but it is not the only one in its sector that, despite recent gains, looks to offer long-term income value…

Hello, Share Scrapers. My holding in Morrison (MRW) the supermarket is one of those stocks I wish I’d sold ages ago. After many years, I’m still nursing an 8% loss. But things are improving for it and among the four big British supermarkets it’s gaining market share. Also, with the lockdowns, sales are well up, with supermarkets staying open and still also selling unimportant stuff.

It is good to be back writing a few thoughts on UK stocks. Another time I will update some views on a few names such as GVC, which renamed itself Entain (ENT) back in December. What a last few months for it, and the Americans now want to buy it. I also need to do an update on my old pal DS Smith (SMDS), which performed very strongly whilst I was not watching the markets. And on a whole load of other favourites I will update over the next month or two. I am going to leave Next (NXT) to the experts, as an 8% odd romp in the share price has pushed it to crazy levels, and focus here on Wm Morrison (MRW) instead…

It appears that Arcadia, owner of TopShop, Burtons and Dorothy Perkins is unable to tap an additional £30 million banking lifeline and so is likely to go into administration next week putting 13,000 jobs at risk. The odds are that most stores will be bought from the administrators so the actual jobs cull, though painful, will not be as painful as some fear. Already the blame game has started but who is really to blame?

The stockmarket has simply gone crazy

Perhaps I should have included idiotic government edicts in that list as well, but it is clear to me that the globe faces a massive financial crisis. We’ve been around the block on the Coronavirus pin that popped the everything bubble and that it could have been any old pin but where we are today is really scaring me. The question is where does one turn?

Hello, Share Pals. It’s hard to see why supermarkets are not scorching ahead during this pandemic. They’re among the few retail operations that have stayed open throughout and so competition for non-food items has been very weak…

I shop reasonably frequently in my local Wm Morrison (MRW) store and generally I have a positive view, a perspective I have generally applied to the shares too. Last month, I concluded that the company was in a good position including its savvy hook-up with some small distribution partner called Amazon. Today’s interim results to 2nd August are headlined ‘responding and growing’ and these two attributes are absolutely at the core of any appraisal that needs to be done…

Hello Share Trashers. A good friend asked the other day why shares are holding up so well, despite the inevitable recession to come. Well, of course, the answer is that many aren’t. My Shell (RDSA) shares are down by a half and my Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) holding is dire. But overall the general market is bearing up because the virus has benefitted the techies. This is rather ironic…

I am told great things will happen at Concepta (CPT) soon. But I have been told that by previous managers and they never did. So I hold on to my shares. But I have niggling concerns as does a fellow long suffering shareholder Tony Prynne who has penned the note below flagging up matters the company should address. Tony writes:

Hello, Share Changers. The Covid-19 attack has had interesting effects on armchair tycoons like us. One bizarre example is that shares in Zoom Technologies rocketed by 250%. Only then was it realised that punters were getting mixed up between this company which has nothing to do with internet conferencing and another Zoom which does (Zoom Video Communications).

Hello Share Mashers. Ordering by mail is a boom area during the virus outbreak. And it could be even more popular afterwards, as more people adopt the habit of buying this way. Today, I look at a mail-order and standard retail storage outfit I’ve commended before that could benefit from this nasty pandemic...

Hello, Share Crushers. And thank you to all those kind souls who wished me well on my visit to the hospital to discover why I’m seeing headless ghosts. I’m a bit nervous about the results but will let you know. Meanwhile, today’s choice for your further investigation is an unusual kind of business...

Concepta (CPT) has announced results for the first half of 2019 and a “first myLotus® UK Fertility Clinic collaboration”…

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles.  

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles. 
 

Back in May, ten days before the end of that month’s savage sell off on Wall St, I suggested selling a Cannabis Index on the basis that it was likely to lead the market down and lag any gains in the other direction. I am pleased to say that despite the rip-roaring June to-date rally in the US markets, the IG Cannabis Index is now lower than it was at the end of May. It is still an outstanding sell here (the level on the IG Cannabis Index now is 904 but I am sure there are others). Following the same reasoning, I think Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is an excellent short after yesterday’s 11% fall…

Hello Share Muddlers. You may not be overly familiar with a company called Keywords Studios (KWS). But it’s part of that huge industry: computer gaming. Those of us who can’t understand the fascination for PlayStations and the like may wonder. But there’s no getting away from the fact that this ‘craze’ is here to stay. It’s now a bigger business than movies and the music industry. Who’d have thought it?

Hello, Share Planners. So poor is mainstream television these days, that I do nearly all my viewing on YouTube or Netflix (NFLX). It's one way of avoiding the so-called real-life tv programmes that try and fail to make entertainment out of watching people move home or doing their boring jobs.

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles.

Shy Bear is a reticent fellow but a short seller currently without exposure to this sector. Having listened to my, most excellent, bearcast yesterday he offers up a few thoughts. I know shy bear well and he is no fool. Ignore these stark warnings at your peril should you be foolish enough to contemplate a spot of bottom fishing. Over to Shy Bear who opines:

Number one is Amazon (again). Number two is Barclays Bank (BARC) again! And the third is explained HERE. Elswhere I explain what it means when I am made an insider and how I have to behave. I look at the bitcoin bloodbath and in that vein at Argo Blockchain (ARGO), Vela (VELA) and the Clem'Chambers spoof Online Blockchain (OBC). I cover Falanx (FLX), Photonstar Led (PSL) and AO World (AO).

I explain why I am cursing Amazon almost daily. I look at redemptions and fund managers a problem lurking under the surface but also how do private investors react to stocks going to zero or doing an IQE (IQE). I look at worrying data from China and then at Utilitywire (UTW) - another Neil Woodford car crash - and at Interserve (IRV). Ouzo for Nigel Somerville soon I sense.

Hello, Share People. It’s always pleasant to find a company which is enjoying higher profits. It’s even better when we find that the rising profits far outclass any improvement in revenue. One such company I bring to your notice now is Xpediator (XPD).

Is there anything better than sitting back and reading a well-written article on a lazy Sunday? Every week ShareProphets features some long form journalism that you'll find of interest. Grab your cuppa and enjoy these five articles.  

So we wake to Sky (SKY) having a new owner, as media behemoth Comcast beat another media behemoth Fox (in effective combination with Disney) in a blind auction for Europe's biggest satellite TV operator.  Boy did it pay up though.  Comcast won with a final bid of £17.28 a share, versus a Fox bid of £15.67 a share for the 61% of Sky it did not already own.  So if you own Sky shares...well done.  As I own Disney shares, I feel more relief that it did not massively overpay (Disney is already buying a bunch of assets from 21st Century Fox and is in the throes of launching its own streaming channel to compete with Amazon and Netflix, so it has enough on its plate). 

Ocado (OCDO) has seen a significant rise in its share price in recent weeks and seems to have gained upwards momentum, but I would question how long that will last and still see it as very expensive at this point in time.

Shareholders saw fit to reward Musk the largest CEO pay package in the history of the world. This is precisely the type of behaviour that is only seen during periods of extreme irrationality when financial markets are at their peak… and poised for a serious correction.

I’ve previously cautioned on shares in Zinc Media (ZIN) - most recently HERE, and note they currently approaching 17% lower today, towards 0.60p, on the back of a half-year results announcement…

I am asked if any member of the Global Shorting Conspiracy has a view on Debenhams (DEB). The answer, as it happens, is no. However...

Hello, Share Purloiners. Some of you’ve been kind enough to thank me for penny share selections which have shot ahead this year. Like IQE (IQE) Creightons (CRL) and Communisis (CMS). This weekend, I thought I should explain why Penny shares can reward so well, if only because the maths is so enticing.

Hello, Share Sorters. Sellers of clothing are not flavour of the month at the mo. That honour seems to fall on miners and oilers, as commodity values and the oil price goes up. Share-shifters are now concerned that consumer spending power may falter in the wake of inflation and consumer debt.

Hello, Share Scratchers. There is often a bit of money to be made out of buying a share which has recently had a nasty accident. The selling, sometimes moved by mindless computer programmes, can be nervously overdone. This might be the case with Dixons Carphone (DC.) whose shares fell by a third at one stage after the well-known outfit issued a recent profit warning.

Hello Share Scudders. What does Taptica International (TAP) actually do? It states it does ‘data-focused marketing solutions’.

Hello Share Smoothers. Ocado (OCDO) is one of those annoying companies which does not give you a clue as to what it does by its name. It is in fact an online supermarket. And it should have been called something like ‘The On-Line Supermarket.’ Never mind. Silly names is just one of my personal irritants in the share picking game.

Until recently the stock market has been very kind to Ocado (OCDO), with the shares in May rising from 250p to nearly 320p valuing the enterprise at north of £2 billion. The company has though never remotely justified its market cap on fundamentals and has therefore needed to tease investors with hints of a huge, game-changing, deal.

Hello Share Crunchers. Uncle Tom has had a pop at my humble weekend piece, which warned against an immediate fall in share prices. I will reply in my Tuesday morning contribution. But meantime, as the markets are still boring closed, I would like to bring you a few figures about the wealth of some company bosses, fulled of course by galloping share prices

A slight tweak in the ShareProphets business model means that as of November 1st nearly all, of the e-books that I have penned will no longer be available for free on this website - you will have to buy them on Amazon. So you have just TODAY to get free copies of titles such as "The 49 Golden Rules of making Money from Shares" as well as the 49 Red Flags book and the book Ben Flip Flop Turney and I produced on how to value oil, gas and mining shares. The same applies to Zak Mir's crap e-book on charting.

In my preview of Ocado’s Q3 trading statement, I suggested that the market cap was probably just too big. The statement released this morning is a win for the shorters as the shares retreat 14% to 276p.

The Ocado (OCDO) share price remains volatile, as investors try to figure out whether this unusual business is headed for success or failure. Short interest remains incredibly high, and currently represents about 17.5% of shares outstanding, making it a top 3 bear target in London! Let’s take a look in advance of next Tuesday’s Q3 trading statement.

An assortment of sixty indigenous organisations and Guardian reader-infested eco-loon NGO groups have slammed AIM listed United Cacao (CHOC) demanding that it be slung off the AIM Casino. Cacao has put these parasitical lefty scumbags firmly in their place with a statement this morning pointing out that the lefty scum are, simply, lying. I am delighted to be a shareholder in Cacao (post Saturday) - I don't care where its shares go I want to stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight against Trustafarian tossers working for NGOs to make people in poor countries even poorer.

The Mrs went to see Howard Jones last night and I explain his significance in life then what the sell off in the FANGs ( Facebook, Amazon, Netflix & Google) as well as junior tech darlings like LinkedIn means. The it is onto all the reasons why I dodges the CMC Markets (CMCX) float and finally I look at the director dealings in Fusionex (FXI) and why they scream out SELL!

It is pretty unusual for a company to slip out good news at no-one-is-watching o’clock, but that is what AIM-listed and rather short of cash WANdisco (WAND) pulled out of the hat yesterday at 5.26pm. Is the news really that good? And talking of hats…..…is this all just a precursor to passing the hat around to raise some much needed cash?

Eleven months ago at the height of England’s World Cup debacle I mentioned the Royal Mail (RMG) as a stock to buy.  Fast forward to today and stock has made a few percent for any investor and there’s been a healthy enough dividend yield of 4%+.  

Companies involved in the media sector are notoriously hard to value, as for a lot of them it is more about growth and potential than current revenue streams. That has been the case even with huge companies such as Facebook where its value and balance sheet at the time it was listed certainly didn’t match up! 

Shares in Fitbug Holdings (FITB), having slid back to 7p, have soared again on Friday to  10.5p – to capitalise the company at more than £25 million - on the back of an announcement entitled “New Contracts with Amazon, Best Buy.com and Target”. However, is the announcement actually what this headline suggests?

Stockmarkets are always full of surprises and many overpaid pundits have been caught the wrong way during December as those longed for quiet, lengthy ‘business development’ lunches and a half day off to watch the school nativity play has been augmented by a bit of proper volatility. 

I have never understood the vagaries of how companies are valued on AIM. Select ten companies at random, have a brief trawl of their recent financials and try to guess their market caps and I defy anybody to even get close.  In this spirit I had a look at Bango (BGO) the other day and, forewarned that it was a little on the expensive side, decided to aim high. 

Another week, another set of numbers from a 2014 float. After Poundland (PLND) last week it is the turn of Ptes At Home (PETS) to pucker up and unburden its latest earnings thoughts onto an expectant market.

Having come to the conclusion that Royal Mail (RMG) shares looked good value at 390p in early October, I was chuffed to see the share price then rise to above 460p. Less gratifying is to see it fall to 417p after the recent publication of the company’s first half results to 30th September. 

Royal Mail (RMG) has announced its results for the six months until the 28 September. Profits were down slightly from £233 million last year to £218 million this year. The issue of ‘Universal Service’ (the universe comprising of the United Kingdom in this case) is a key one to the company.

Alibaba, the Chinese internet giant, is set to go public. Supporters say that it is like Amazon, eBay, PayPal and Google all rolled into one and could be the most profitable company in the world. Does that sound too good to be true?

Ben Turney and I recently published our latest book “The 49 Golden Rules of Making Money from Oil, Gas & Mining Shares”. The book is on sale on Amazon or you can get a free copy HERE. As a flavour of what the book contains I bring you rule 37 (CPRs) and 35 (cash). Read on...

If you go to Amazon these three investment e-books will set you back around £20. But you can order all three for free today. The three are

Does Bango (BGO) deserve some sort of award for its record for not making profits? The company was established in 1999, floated on the AIM Cesspit in 2005 and is still not actually making a profit? To date investors have lapped up its jam tomorrow story of enabling folks to make payments via apps, etc. and circa £25 million has gone to money heaven. But surely as yet another cash call looms this farce cannot pay on forever?

We have 25 copies left of our May giveaway of the Technical Analysis book everyone is talking about. Click the link below to take part in this exclusive offer.