Hello Share Fans. Sometimes laziness pays off. Having extolled the opportunities of investing in British banks, I was waiting a respectable period before I began piling into Barclays (BARC). But when I could have done so (and not broken strict Shareprophets writer's rules) I couldn't be bothered.

As an investor, you have to accept that you will get some calls right and some calls wrong. I am glad that thirteen months ago, I exited my shares in Barclays (BARC) at north of two quid (as its latest set of numbers have not been taken well this morning). By contrast, I should have been braver and bought Dunelm (DNLM) after visiting its stores a few times over the last six months. What do I think then of Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) shares after its latest set of numbers earlier today?

Footwear brand Dr. Martens (DOCS) CEO Kenny Wilson reckons that he is “pleased to report another strong set of results… Underlying revenue growth was 18% and the EBITDA margin was in line with our guidance”. So why are the shares currently 22.5% lower on the back of the results announcement to 222p?

I start with the trials of ordering portable loos for ShareStock which I have now done. More than 40% of the seats are now taken so with 7 weeks to go please book yours HERE. Then onto how Barclays (BARC) may strand me in Greece and why the Mrs reckons I am wrong on how gay is your stockbroker. Then it is onto Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX), Optibiotix (OPTI), Ben's Creek (BEN) and Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO).

In the world of investing, one must know when to quit.  Whilst it is, I hope, many years before I no longer manage my money, one shouldn't expect to own their favourite stock today, forever.  After all, it is not just that the world changes (because obviously, it does), but any share can become fundamentally fully-valued; that is when to move on.

I discuss both these corporates, and remind the 94% of you yet to support Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks: please do so, HERE.  Then, I discuss Stuart Ashman of Skinbiotherapitics (SBTX), who has made me look like a complete git (again), as he withdraws from ShareStock. But, I will announce another BIG-name speaker tomorrow, and will replace Stuart. So, make sure you book your tickets, HERE.  Then, I look at Cellular Goods (CBX) and Guild ESports (GILD), the David Beckham dogs. 

These are the most-read articles and most listened-to Bearcasts of the week. The most-read non-Tom, non tip-of-the-year is Is it time for me to sell my Barclays shares by Chris Bailey.

I completely agree that Barclays (BARC) is not an exciting company and I consequently have probably written about it too many times on this website. Anyhow the good news is that this is likely to be the last time I will write about it. It is time for me to sell my Barclays shares.

On 22nd June Victorian Plumbing (VIC) founder and CEO Mark Radcliffe emphasised “our IPO and admission to AIM is an exciting next step on our growth journey”. That followed a £297.5 million placing. An October first trading update though included “more subdued market conditions as lockdown restrictions were eased” and now full-year results…

Hello November! The eleventh month of the year has always been an interesting one for the world’s investors with over the last 70, 20 or 10 years only April – on average – generating a similar return. Of course nothing is guaranteed but the reason why November has on average performed well is a combination of Q3 earnings updates and building hopes towards upcoming end of year brokerage updates towards the following year. It is not guaranteed, but its all good active investment fun and now for a couple of bits of excitement in today’s news.

As a boring large cap-focused investor, I often look at the medium-term. I certainly bought a few Barclays (BARC) shares too early in 2017-18, but it did give me the rationale to double my holding during some dog days last year. But fundamentally it has told me for a while to take my profits and run when the share materially breaks the 2 quid plus level.

Yes, you read that correctly, the US ADR placing of Argo Blockchain (ARB) involved ELEVEN different brokers. Jefferies, Barclays, Canaccord Genuity, Stifel, GMP, Compass Point, D.A. Davidson & Co, Ladenburg Thalmann, Roth Capital Partners, finnCap and Tennyson Securities are the team batting for Argo and will no doubt boast that they raised £82.4 million having targeted just £75 million. But…

I start with one big story, the Stagecoach (SGC) & National Express (NEX) bid talks. The other big story is the word “bird” being dubbed sexist at an insane Barclays (BARC) employment tribunal which I cover HERE. I also look at Versarien (VRS) ahead of its AGM, Chill Brands (CHLL) ahead of its AGM and at regulatory issues for Eurasia (EUA) and Deepverge (DVRG) where the wrongdoing is as plain as day.

I have been a critic of Argo Blockchain (ARB) for an awfully long time. It is run by sharp promoters and backed by some nasty spivs. And it seems to me that it has failed woefully to address the issues flagged up a few weeks ago in the recent Boatman bear dossier HERE.

Back in April I observed that at the time it was ‘getting closer to my two quid and out share price target on Barclays (BARC)’. Well that was true at the time…and sort of still true today even if the shares today are slightly lower than it was a few months ago. There are a few reasons for that.

If I run a company surely I get to decide where I operate as long as I am operating legally? Surely that is how capitalism works? You do not get the State telling a retailer, hotelier or restaurant chain owner that it must keep a given outlet open even if it is losing money so why the hell is the FCA trying to do just that with banks?

It is an interesting Friday at many levels, but less about some of the early results in the various elections around the UK (where folks appear to have taken my advice on how to vote!)…and more about the markets.  

Hello, Share Searchers. Mystery surrounds shares at the moment. Why aren’t they rocketing ahead? Many financiers expect a huge breaking of the damn on spending as the virus disappears. So why isn’t the Footsie on fire? After all, the Dow’s been breaking all-time records for months now. And yet the UK is still more than 10% down on pre-covid levels.

It is the final business day of April and from the perspective of stocks I own, there is some good and some less good news.  Let’s start with a small positive at Headlam (HEAD) the ‘Europe’s leading floorcoverings distributor’ which I have loved up for a while and last month, here, discussed ‘the rationale to get back to a 500p plus share price’.  This morning I noted the company announced ‘it has entered into an agreement to dispose of its wholly-owned Swiss business, Belcolor AG to the management team of Belcolor…As a result of the disposal, Headlam will realise approximately £12.0 million’.  Given the company’s near £400 million market cap, it is not a massive deal but a sensible one, as the key focus for the business is the evolving UK business.  It is also nice to add a little bit more cash too.  In short – along with the two readers who kindly commented on the article above last month – for me it continues to be a good core position. 

Unsurprisingly Barclays (BARC) shares have performed rather well over the last year…although unsurprisingly they are still only about a third of the early 2007 level.  Still – in recent times – I bought a few and, as I discussed here, a couple of months ago ‘I believe the next year will see a closer to 200 pence share price’.

Lost money with Julie in Britain at Ariadne Capital? Lost money with her at Ariadne in Malta? Well how about you go for a hat-trick as Ms Lingerie on expenses MBE has a new Greek wheeze but do not tell Barclays, the IRS or the HMRC. Ooops I already have!

Hello Share Fans. I dread to think how much I’ve lost by putting faith in British banks, both during the big crash of 2008 and afterwards. One of this family’s biggest losers is Barclays (BARC). But are things at last bucking up? The shares are currently a lowly just over 150p. Our last purchase was 200p…

We the start of UK banking sector results with the comments from Barclays (BARC) today. Yes, I have been an owner for a while and my musings here in October look inspired as we have seen a pleasant 40% share price rise over the last four months. Timing matters.

You need to be an optimist to both run a bank or to invest in one.  Today’s third quarter update from Barclays (BARC) was accompanied by a clarion call from the company’s CEO (on a financial TV channel I happened to be watching) that the sector is going to play an ever-increasing role in any recovery and that – this crisis around – financial companies are ‘not the bad guys’.  

Hello, Share Smashers. I’ve mentioned before a giant Footsie jumbo which began by making wire baskets. Somewhere along the line Martin Sorrell got interested and now the company is said to be the biggest advertising company in the world. It reached this point by using the latest technology to market top businesses. At least that’s what I think it’s all about as the ‘about us’ slot on its website makes little sense to this old thicko. What’s drawn my attention to this giant though is that analysts at Barclays discovered an unusual happenstance…

I am sure we all think that the bank we bank with is useless. But changing banks is such a pain in the arse. I’ve experienced it firsthand. Direct debits go awry, auto payments on your card bounce, you have to remember a new PIN, and so we don’t bother. But boy, Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man is in a class of its own for being useless.

I see Next (NXT) has only gone and done it again. As I observed three months ago, if you want a serious, thorough and grown-up view of how to think about the current range of very clear corporate challenges then I suggest you look at today’s regulatory news disclosure by the leading clothing retailer…

Quelle surprise. The big five banks; Lloyds (LLOY), Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HSBC (HSBA), Standard Chartered (STAN) and Barclays (BARC) have all done the decent thing and cancelled/postponed dividends and buybacks for the next couple of quarters…

I previously wrote on The City Pub Group (CPC) in January with the shares at 197.5p, noting from the company “the Rugby World Cup did not have the impact that we expected. Political uncertainty culminating in the December Election… unhelpful weather during November and December… disruptions on South West trains… Following some delay… we also completed the refurbishments of the two former Jam Tree sites” and concluding I’d wait to see trading further playing out before being comfortable – the market cap still not far off £120 million. Tom also warned in Bearcast just yesterday – and today a “COVID-19 update”, and the shares down to 55.5p…

Large cap value appraisal time in UK stocks today for me. First up Barclays (BARC), a share which I last properly wrote on back in August where I opined that it should be trading above 200p. Well it is not too difficult to get a bounce in a share price from the dog days of early August and despite today's 2.5% odd fall as I write, the shares are only just off a one year high. This is though no cause for huge celebration…

I felt a bit of a fool yesterday morning. No doubt there are some who argue that this should be a perpetual state of affairs for me, but the specific reason was that on Friday someone had asked me about Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) shares and in the light of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and shocking CYBG (CYBG) PPI updates, I said something along the lines that 'if Lloyds had something material to say then surely it would have said it by now'…

Hello Share Placers. The United Arab Emirates seems to be attracting a bad press at the mo, for reasons which are all over the news bulletins. So we need not go into them. Nevertheless, today’s commendation from moi is for a company based there...

Time to confess an unpopular opinion. I do actually believe that some of the large banks are cheap. Obviously that does not include bad boy Metro Bank (MTRO), which is now neither large nor credible as discussed in a bunch of articles by me on this website. No, I was rather thinking about Lloyds (LLOY), whose shares slipped below tangible book value yesterday following PPI claim-influenced results, or Barclays (BARC), which reported earlier today…

Online electrical retailer AO World (AO.) has announced results for its year ended 31 March 2019, commencing by emphasising; “Continued revenue growth in both the UK and Europe with total revenue for the period increasing by 13.3% to £902.5m”. The shares have responded, er… further lower towards 100p…

Hello the global earnings season. This is a quarterly reality which makes my life periodically very busy...but what could be more interesting than zoning into the latest thoughts of a bunch of corporations around the world? Three in the UK market capture my attention today…

It is all a bit half speed today with the UK (and European markets) closed but there were a couple of stories that caught my attention.  A couple of weeks ago  I told Edward Bramson - who has taken an activist position towards Barclays (BARC) via his Sherborne Investors vehicle, to take a chill pill. 

I have been a medium-term supporter of Barclays (BARC) shares, noting a couple of months ago that I thought the stock - with all the necessary caveats about the banking space - was cheap at around x0.6 tangible book and that the route to a higher share price may be if it 'pays a bit of respect to the activist on its shareholder books who is talking an interesting game about value creation'. It is the activist angle - and not another Barclays story (a judge discharging the jury in the trial of four former executives over the 2008 controversial global financial crisis Qatari fundraising) - that I turn back to today…

I am often asked why I focus on larger cap shares when 'elephants cannot gallop' and 'surely all those brokers covering the stocks out there mean there is pretty efficient pricing'. Obviously the former is a more reasonable point than the latter, although judging by the way the shares of both Centrica (CNA) and Barclays (BARC) have moved around in recent months, there has been a decent amount of galloping too (mostly downhill to a lower share price)...

The letter below from Barclays Bank to Julie "lingerie on expenses" Meyer is self explanatory. But it begs an enormous question of the woman who also put the cost of a sex toy and batteries on her expenses from the now defunct Ariadne Capital.

Ahead of a trip to the zoo and Barclays (BARC) with Joshua I look at Redcentric (RCN), Juridicia (JIL), Veltyco (VLTY), Integumen (SKIN), Urals Energy (UEN) and the shame of the bosses at the AIM Casino - Andalas (ADL), BlueJay (JAY), Chesterfield (CHF) and Mothercare (MTC) which will just NOT be around in five years time.

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).

It was probably a good thing that I had a long standing engagement that soaked up a lot of my time yesterday - albeit that I had to evolve my presentation on global financial market prospects just a tad following the various omnishambles that afflicted the UK markets and political backdrop. So what do we do?

I start with the final part of my story of battles with the bastards at Barclays (BARC). Then I cover Wishbone (WSBN), shares we own, Online Blockchain (OBC), shares I'd rather eat my own toes than own, MySquar (FRAUD), Conroy Gold (CGNR), I3 Energy (I3E), Catenae (CTEA) and Oilex (OEX).

Happy Hop-tu-naa to any listeners in the Isle of Man, and happy Halloweebn to the rest of you. I start the podcast with a handy tip on dealing with the Trick or Treat menace. This afternoon I head off with Joshua to deal with the bastards at Barclays (see yesterday's bearcast) and I will report back on that tomorrow. I look at Crawshaw (CRAW), I3 Energy (I3E) doing a Cathy Newman, at Photonstar Led (PSL)) which is toast, Online Blockchain (OBC), at FastJet (FJET), lessons for Neil Woodford from GYG (GYG) and elsewhere and why Thirsty Paul Scott and others should keep December 3 free.

Warning there is plenty of bad language in the podcast - perhaps do not play it in front of the kids. I start with an update on those bastards at Barclays (BARC) who I discussed yesterday. I then look at Victoria (VCP), Jim Mellon's Port Erin (PEBI), two SP Angel dogs MySquar (FRAUD) and BjueJay Mining (JAY) and have new and serious questions for the shamed Nomad to consider. I look at Frontera (FRR) and its looming bailout placing, at Ascent Resources (AST) and at Rainbow Rare Earths (RBW). I also discuss the market sell off commending a reader who notes both my genius and my modesty on this matter.

I have been given a massive run around by Barclays (BARC) today and I hate them with a passion. I have also had domestic issues with flooding. I explain all but am in a foul mood. Phil Hammond is not being straight with us in the Budget. He is a knobhead. I explain a few truths you will not hear from him, or indeed the other lot. At a company level I cover Warpaint London (W7L), I3 Energy (I3E) and Frontera Resources (FRR). Warning this podcast contains very bad language. The only high point of my day was a sweet email from Abbe Aronson - the girl who broke my heart 32 years ago - after this article on the US mid-terms. Abbe, thanks for brightening an otherwise shite day.

A year ago, I wrote a piece comparing and contrasting Lloyds Bank (LLOY) and the challenger financial Metro Bank (MTRO). Well that worked out well from a long-short perspective: Lloyds - with dividends - lost a touch whilst Metro Bank has absolutely bombed, down over £10 to under £25. I was thinking about Metro Bank again today as it came out with another set of numbers which showed more deposits, more lending, more profit...but still the shares are down 10% odd today. Why such further pain?

Hello, Share Tasters. It’s rather amazing how people can hold grudges against companies which, somewhere in the mists of time, let them down. And yet we should always be mindful that the story changes all the time. And big losers in the past are often today’s brightest prospects.

Whatever you say darling. But the register of CCJ's suggests something very different. Julie Meyer MBE is now on a hat-trick. Of course she also owes the HMRC, IRS, Barclays Bank and others vast amounts of cash but now it seems that another person, owed, £10,585 has been forced to seek a County Court Judgement against her as you can see below.

I start with a rant about Barclays (BARC) banksters and how much I despise and loathe them. I then discuss Anglo African Agriculture (AAAP) a Big Dave Lenigas lobster pot from which I escaped today. I move onto Andalas (ADL) and have a challenge for a sad geek with time on his hands, I nominate Drunken Sailor. I look at Xaar (XAR), Crawshaw (CRAW) and finally at Optibiotix (OPTI). I owe cynical bear a glass of ouzo but drank it myself on his behalf. Warning, this podcast contains bad language throughout.

Hello Share Swingers. Barclays (BARC) has been a miserable share to hold. What progress there has been in recent years has been slow. And set-backs along the way have made things worse. I sold mine about two years ago and, as it's turned out, the money raised has been put to much more profitable use. The latest results do not raise my hopes much higher.

I gave some freebie advice to the Barclays (BARC) board a week or so ago HERE and thankfully today's first half numbers from the banking behemoth did not include an unwise stab at the US retail space. What they did say however was quite sensible stuff and there has been a bit of progress on most fronts including capital generation to support the 3%+ yield, good progress on cost control and even an investment banking unit which did not disappoint for once.

A trading update for its year ended 30th June 2018 from Eagle Eye Solutions (EYE) is headlined “Breakout year sees delivery of world leading digital loyalty programme for Loblaw”. The shares have responded… er, currently circa 12% lower to around 150p…

A couple of months back I wrote an article HERE suggesting that investors steer well clear of failing AIM company The People’s Operator (TPOP), and there have been a number of developments since then.

Not much has got me fired up so far this week looking at the various regulatory disclosures but I did notice an article in the newspaper that purports to be America's leading financial journal yesterday with the worrisome headline of 'Barclays Mulls U.S. Push as Activist Looms...Executives debate whether greater exposure to the U.S. retail market could both generate revenues and fund its U.S. operations more efficiently'…

Hello Share Trackers. I’ve heard on Radio Four just now that petrol stations are being urged to cut prices by two pence a litre. According to the BBC, this is because the price of Brent Crude has fallen. Talk about an exaggeration! The price has only dropped a few points after skyrocketing in the last six months.

Oh dear, oh dear. The IRS, HMRC, 2 CCJs, 3 banks, months of unpaid rent on her flat and now this... is Julie "lingerie on expenses" Meyer ever going to pay what she owes? Thanks to Winnileaks another liability emerges...

With Julie Meyer telling the US taxman, the IRS, that she has just £500 in cash and owing money to three banks, the IRS and HMRC, you might think that her personal situation could not get any worse. Well perhaps it could. I refer you to the administrators preliminary report into the demise of Ariadne Capital Limited below.

The People’s Operator (TPOP) is one of a number of AIM companies where you have to wonder whether there is really any point in it continuing to stay in business, other than generating fees for its brokers.

I am being a bit disingenuous with the above title. Any investor with more than a decade's experience is well-primed to tell you various war stories about the evolving value of financial sector stocks particularly in times of strife. Banks are geared to the business and property cycle and any recent efforts to paper over this reality with yet another layer of compliance/regulation will not ultimately work.

Hello Share Ticklers. It’s been some time that I’ve suggested you look again at a British bank. But that doesn’t mean my general enthusiasm for the sector has gone away. In fact, it’s grown stronger - for two reasons.

The People’s Operator (TPOP) is one of those AIM companies where it is hard to see how it will survive in the longer term, and unless things somehow alter dramatically, the recent changes will only delay the inevitable.

Previously writing in November on promotions and rewards technology group Eagle Eye Solutions (EYE) I noted argues “delivering on our strategy”, but cash concerns - cash burn having taken cash at the end of September down to £1.7 million. Now the company “is pleased to announce” a trading update for its half year ended 31st December…

Hello, Share Miners. The four big British banks are still avoided like rattlesnakes by many share shifters. But there will come a time when everybody finally forgets what happened in 2008 - and most of the other banking shocks, since.

Lombard Risk Management (LRM) is “delighted that OneSavings Bank has chosen Lombard Risk as its partner”. The market though remains somewhat less delighted with Lombard…

Hello, Share Scoopers. Sometimes, gang, it makes sense to include advice from a different source when bringing shares before you for a possible punt. Especially when the other analysts agree with me. The boys and girls at Barclays have repeated an ‘overweight’ commendation for two big oil giants, and I’m glad to say I have chunky holdings in both of them.

Hello, Share Twangers. A share which has given me a lot of pain, though (thankfully) I don’t think I’ve recommended it to you very much, is a telecoms giant which has seen better days. In fact, under two years ago the shares touched a fiver. Nowadays, they are less than three quid. But analysts at Barclays have just repeated their fairly long-standing target of 450p, which would cancel a big chunk of my loss.

Hello, Share Pursuers. Personally, I avoid gymnasiums like the disembowelling black death. And I've always thought you could save the money by running to the nearest gym, refusing to pay the membership fee and running home again. But gyms are fashionable with the smart set. And it’s the smart set which has the most spare lolly. A very good new BBC1 TV show, which shows you how to live longer, seems to make great use of the gym craze.

We're four days into the reader supported ShareProphets and I'd rate it a stunning success. But what lessons are to be learnt are less clear.

Hello, Share Sippers. My Honkers Bonkers (HSBA) shares are rising nicely. But at much less than 800p, they are still way short of previous bests of 1200p. And that was so long ago that Shakespeare was still a lad.

Hello, Share Twiddlers. The older ones among us may remember a great TV comedy sketch in which an AA man clashed with an RAC man. They were trying to sort things out after their respective members came head to head in a narrow lane, where only one could pass. That was in the fifties when they still made good telly. And though we no longer have quaint AA or RAC boxes by the roadside, the AA (AA.) has a powerful history, supporting a brand which is never forgotten.

Last writing on Proxama (PROX) I noted new agreement announcements now being seen through – and the shares are currently lower today on the back of “Result of Open Offer” and General Meeting updates…

Hello Share Swiggers. I had a lot of money invested in BP (BP.)  shares and was happy as a pig in muck with a galloping share price and juicy dividends. But that was before the big leak in the Gulf of Mexico, followed by a crash in the oil price.

Proxama (PROX) “is pleased to announce its Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2016” and “pleased to announce the successful completion of an upsized bookbuild for the placing”. Shareholders probably aren’t so pleased – the shares having responded approaching 70% lower, to 0.04p…

I am pretty much finished here in Greece as I explain in the podcast. And as such I start the journey home tomorrow to spend time in sun-drenched England with the Mrs, Joshua and - of course - Oakley, my utterly pampered three legged cat who is, I gather, now being given iced water to cope with the heat. In this podcast I look at Barclays (BARC), the SFO and the nature of fraud. I look at Thor Mining (THR) where events disgust me and at Ariana Resources (AAU) where I am dissapointed and less accepting than Nigel Somerville is.

There is clear evidence that Mercantile Ports & Logistics (MPL) has misled investors ahead of raising vast amounts of cash on the AIM Casino. Its Nomad Cenkos Securities (of Quindell infamy) appears unconcerned as long as it keeps banking the fees. When this company unravels and goes to zero as it surely will, the shameful way that Lagos Securities has brought the casino into disrepute by ignoring stacks of red flags shown to it, will surely leave it in the merde. A shareholder who happens to be a ports industry specialist has written to Cenkos’s representative for Governance matters Amber Wood (ccing in PR specialist Redleaf which also acted for the Quindell fraud). The damning letter is below. It is truly shocking...

Hello Share Swabbers. I’ve held Tullow Oil (TLW) shares for as long as I can remember. At one stage they were up 120%. Nowadays I’m down by 50%. Like all the other big oil producers the share price has been attacked by the falling value of Brent crude. But Tullow seems to have suffered more than most.

Hello Share Trudgers. There’s been talk of a collapse in property prices on this august website. As I’ve often posited, I consider this too dire a view of the bricks and mortar game.

Hello Share Planters. Here I am again, risking a commendation to look at the shares of one of the major British banks. This time Lloyds (LLOY) seems to me a worthwhile proposition. I am heavily over-exposed to this lot, so I personally hope so.

Hello Share Rattlers. On checking the number of BP shares I hold, I was rather shocked. It’s one of those shares I’ve been gradually building up, whenever I find myself with a bit of share cash and no clear company currently worthy of investment.

Having previously emphasised caution on digital promotions technology company Eagle Eye (EYE), I note the shares currently circa 6% higher today at 145p on the back of results for its half year ended 31st December 2016 and a partnership to deliver digital loyalty solutions in Europe with retail marketing company TCC Global…

For reasons that we do not need to go into a payment was made into my account which was actually monies belonging to FIML. As such I called my bank to transfer the five figure sum. I bank with Barclays Private Clients International Ltd, a truly premium service. For premium read shite!

An AGM update from Eagle Eye Solutions (EYE) commences “the year ended 30 June 2016 saw continued progress against the group's strategic and operational objectives. The significant contracts won and the developments to our software platform mean that we entered FY17 with strong momentum”. Sounds promising, but…

Hello Share Plungers. As usual, when raising the thorny issue of whether banks are ever going to get back on track after the trauma of 2008, I am attacked by the symptoms of nervousness. But I still think all British banks will see fairly hefty share rises over the next few years. This is partly because outrageous fines issued by interfering busybodies and compensation claims will surely start to dry up.

You'll notice that Tom has written the top 23 articles this week and recorded a Bearcast daily plus several Postcards on his personal site. This is what Tom calls 'paternity leave.'

Hello Share Pushers. Barclays Bank is one of those shares I’ve held for years and years and rather wish I didn’t. No sooner do I top up then another bombshell, usually to do with world economics, hits - and down the shares come again. Were it not for the divi, I might have gone round and lambasted a director or two.

Hello Share Sponsors. As I write the price of Brent crude is $43  a barrel. That’s a lot worse than the $51 dollars it reached a few months ago. And the fall has been reflected in the share price of nearly all oil companies. For example, the share price of Royal Dutch Sell (RSDA) is off by about 5%.

Hello Share Scrummers. In my humble opinion, British banks are among the biggest bargains in Shareland at the mo. Though I was in two minds about foisting this opinion on you, as banks have a marvellous talent for letting us down. They’ve been doing that steadily since the big crashes of 2007 and 8. But I really do think the shares have been oversold since the result of the Brexit vote. They fell a heck of a lot. Without their failure, the Footsie which eventually rocketed on the decision to leave the EU, would have been near the elusive 7000 level by now.

Hobby and toy products group Hornby (HRN) has announced results from an “extremely challenging” year, along with a placing and open offer to fund a new business plan which it is “confident… can be delivered successfully and that Hornby can return to being a profitable and cash generative business which will progress to delivering shareholder value”. Hmmm…

Electronics products for the wireless telecoms infrastructure and adjacent markets-focused Filtronic (FTC) has released a “Trading Update” announcement emphasising “a strong sequential second half (to 31st May 2016) performance” and helping the shares up currently approaching 7.5%, to 10.875p, in response. Let’s take a look…

Hello Share Chippers. I rate my large number of oil stocks in the same bracket I consider banks - a real solid gold let down. As I mainly invested in oil and banks because I once thought the sectors were relatively safe, I am even more disappointed. Banks of course have been a drain on our pockets ever since the big crunch of 2007. Whereas oil has only recently taken a nasty dive.

Hello Share Shoppers. If you’re a regular reader of this delectable website you’ll know that I like to keep an eye on RSA (RSA) the old Royal Insurance set-up. Time for an update, I fancy.You may recall there was a nasty shock for long-time shareholders like me when an offer from Zurich insurance was withdrawn last year.

Following a dire profit warning last month and the Chief Executive subsequently “stepping down”, an “Update on Banking Covenants and Trading” from hobby products company Hornby (HRN) sees the shares currently 8% higher today. Does this though look justified?…

The old media loves picking up on our investigations, like Quindell or Chris Oil's oil empire, or Globo, which we love, except when they don't credit us, which we don't.

Hello Share Trundlers. The real reason why Barclay’s (BARC) share price fell so sharply on its results is that the dividend was cut by more than a half. This whammy was compounded by the company’s forecast that this state of affairs would continue for a year or two.

In today's St David's Day podcast I wish my Welsh listeners a happy national day and - especially for you - discuss why sheep porn matters. I then move onto Horse Hill and today's news and why Ben Turney and the other silly rampers are talking shit.  To make it simple, I use the analogy of Ms Cheryl Cole and Mr Wayne Rooney. I discuss African Potash (AFPO), letters of credit and thus Environmental Recycling (ENRT) and its fellow FRAUD Eden Research (EDEN). Its PR man Queenie McManus is - I assume - still smearing me as he chats to his pals the Bulletin Board Morons - but the company refuses to meet for an interview. What - other than fraud - is it hiding? I discuss Greka Drilling (GDL) as it heads down the pan and - after today's results from Barclays (BARC) - banks in general and why Old Getafix is wrong to be such a bull.

Shares in fully listed Telecom Plus (TEP) seem to have fallen off a bit a cliff over the last few weeks. I’ve not seen anything terrible in the way of RNSs to explain it and although falls in the wider market would contribute to weakness a 20% drop seems hefty. But I did turn up something at Companies House which I think the company should explain.

I am meant to have a Premier account with Barclays (BARC) in the Isle of Man. Fear not I declare my net interest ( bugger all) each year as I keep sod all in the account. But this Premier service is dire and has tormented me for 24 hours.

With Santa apparently due to make his big arrival at my local garden centre next Saturday the starting gun has been fired for the rundown to the end of the year. And for the medium-term investor in me this only means one thing: which sectors, themes and stocks are looking interesting for 2016?

Bulls of Globo (GBO) console themselves that there might still be 45 million Euro cash left to provide some share price support. We shall see. We will find out because it now seems certain that Barclays bank has already demanded repayment of its outstanding loans as we can reveal documents downloaded from companies’ house.

Hello Share Sliders.When I chose four shares to recommend to my student son Jack three weeks ago, he did his own research. Then he decided my suggestions were ok and piled in. He had £1,000 to play with, money he’d saved by chamber maid-ing at the holiday flats next door. So that was £250 in each company?

Hello Share Putters. One thing that really stops us making as much as we should - and worse, can put us off buying penny shares altogether - is the obscene size of some of the spreads.

This morning, Barclays (BARC) sacked its Chief Executive Antony Jenkins. In a ruthless move, spearheaded by Deputy Chairman Sir Michael Rake, it seems that Jenkins’ vision for the bank did not match the ambitions of the rest of the board. Jenkins wanted to scale back the company’s global investment banking arm, while the board wants to grow this arm aggressively in the pursuit of “profit improvement”. Barclays shares are up 3%, as of writing, at 259p. The market welcomes this move, but should investors follow suit?

Hello Share Twitchers. There’s not much of an appetite to buy shares at the mo. The Greek vote was a step into the unknown, and that’s for sure.

Hello Share Shapers. While composing an essay about RBS (RBS), I found myself writing that their shares are now only worth 4% of what they used to fetch before the great credit crunch of 2008.

Prabhat Sakya writes for Motley Fool and thinks that Quindell (QPP) is a good yield play on a PE of 1.2 and thus has sold his Barclays shares to buy more Quenron – words fail me. Just to show that morons do not obnly post on the LSE.co.uk I bring you Prabhat’s latest pearls of wisdom as a treat. It is a hoot. Do you think you kind find anyone thicker than Prabhat posting sheer lunacy on a Bulletin Board? If so please post those gems in the comments section below – deadline midnight 1^st February.

Again suggesting the potential value of short position data such as HERE, shares in Monitise plc (MONI) currently trade at 13.375p - having reached 80p less than a year ago. This is on the back of an announcement of revenue for the first half of its year to 30th June 2015 of £42.4 million (H1 2014: £46.5 million), that “FY 2015 revenue is expected to be between £90-100m (FY 2014: £95.1m) compared with previous guidance of at least 25% growth” and that the company is commencing a review of its options “in light of recent share-price weakness, shareholder feedback and industry developments”. The following reviews…

Lloyds (LLOY) is a bank which deserves a better share price. Its shares reached 86p in 2014, which was a huge improvement on its best performance in the year before.

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. 

Barclays (BARC) revealed third quarter profits above forecasts today, at £1.59 billion, up 14% from the £1.39 billion last year. It wasn’t all good news however, as a Saudi businessman is suing the company for $10 billion in damages, and a £670 million pounds provision was made for rigging forex and PPI mis-selling.

Thankfully all the UK Banks have passed their stress tests, however Lloyds only just managed to. The tests were implemented by the European Central Bank, and were designed to see if they could cope with a three year downturn. 130 banks in all were tested, with 25 failing, a large proportion of which were Italian. Monte dei Paschi was a notable Italian failure, and its shares have tumbled down 20% today. Regulators have banned all short selling of its stock.

The U.S. Comex gold futures fell 5.91% during September and 8.43% in Q3. The monthly loss was the worst since June 2013. Year-to-date, the gold futures have risen just about 0.70%. On the contrary, the Dollar Index jumped 3.85% in September and 7.72% in Q3, the largest quarterly rise since Q3 in 2008. The S&P 500 Index has dropped almost two percent since reaching an intra-day peak of 2,019 on 19 September.

Now to part three of this three part series and a matter on which I have spent three hours tackling today with a share.

Barclays (BARC) shares are trading at 224.95p on a PE which is hard to determine and a yield of 2.89%.  Buy, sell or hold?

Hello Share Shakers: The banks have had a hard time of it. Yes, I know that's a kind way of putting it. No sooner do they overcome one set-back than the next one raises an ugly head. At the moment, the big worry is that some overbearing authority will bang in another ludicrously big fine.

A week ago I published a review of the status of some of my tips I originally made a few months ago (here ).  So how about some of the more recent names I have mentioned? I am happy to say that on balance I am, well ahead!

Close Brothers (CBG) the small City banking, jobber (in smaller cap. shares under the Winterflood banner) and investment manager has just produced it close season trading statement, which surprised and pleased the market. In recent months the shares have been trading down; probably on the basis that that competition was increasing with the return of the poisoned legacy banks to more lending (e.g. RBS) and the growth of new lenders giving the UK banking a greater, more diverse and competitive market. The share price, last seen, was 1302p having come down from the last twelve month peak of 1503p, Over the year the share price rose 23% against the FTSE 100 Index rise of only 3.1%. After a period in the doldrums when the shares underperformed a sluggish market (up only 2% in the last six months) the share price is now perking up again.  

These British banks are a bummer, aren’t they? Why can’t they do something positive for shareholders like us? The price just won’t rise. Even though they seemed to be out of the mire now. The trouble is nobody trusts them. So, though their price to earnings ratios are very low now, the big buyers are staying away.

Hello Share Folks. A week or so ago, we were all considering whether to invest in the TSB (TSB) float. In fact, the sale was a massive 10 times over-subscribed

Following the most recent profit warning and share price decline from ASOS plc (ASC), a number of brokers have updated with a positive stance on the shares. Are the City community right now having also largely been positive at much higher prices previously (see HERE)? Er...

There are not many who would deny that it has been a decent price ride for Barclays (BARC) shares since last summer – ironically since we were treated to the Libor scandal that people already seem to have forgotten about.