TinyBuild (TBLD) has issued a trading and directorate change announcement ahead of its AGM. What’s the news from a company which describes itself as “a premium video games publisher and developer with global operations” and was an AIM Awards 2021 “Best Newcomer” nominee?

Hello Share Scramblers. As the snow gently floats past my study window, this old punter can’t see the everlasting craze for cosy indoor armchair gaming becoming less popular. It’s mainly the young who play and they still have disposable income, especially the growing army who still live with their parents. A company called Team 17 (TM17) is an imaginative game maker that sits well in my sights and it has, this morning, served up a cracking statement.

Hello Share Crackers. This old punter would never live in a modern house. Where’s the atmosphere, the romance, the character? However the majority of the populace don’t agree with me. They much prefer clinical, easier-to-maintain, gaffs in the modern style. And I think the demand for new homes will become even stronger, which brings me to a company that likes to build affordable homes.

Hello Shares Casters. Treatt (TET) is an interesting company. And though it had a profit warning recently, I rather think the selling might have been overdone. Because it seems to me, at any rate, to have perhaps a better future ahead of it.

Hello Share Tweakers. We’ve all noticed shops closing in our town centres. The new businesses springing up seem mostly to be in the catering trade. Coffee shops and cafes are the main invaders, restaurants are not. Many posher eating places never recovered from lockdowns and stay shut and one high street catering venture that appeals to me in these difficult days is Greggs (GRG).

Hello Share Squashers. It’s not often I suggest you look at the same share in the same week. But there’s enough data to add to my earlier posting on Ceres Power (CWR). Especially as the good news I imparted on a partnership with Shell (SHEL) has made no difference to the share price. It seems the City has yet to wake up to the potential here.

Hello Share Managers. This old punter is glad he recently hasn’t held shares in RWS Holdings (RWS). Within the last 12 months, the shares were 680p and today they’re below 400p. But I may consider an investment now as the markdown seems unfair and a tasty recovery could be on the way.

Hello Share Munchers. Because of the war, covid and galloping inflation, most companies have seen their share values drop. Yet some outfits are doing better than ever and their shares deserve to be rising rather than falling. This especially looks to apply to IT consultants, many of which are flying as modes of working change in Blighty and across the globe.

Hello Share Smashers. Being the sort of chap who thinks the future is green, I seek out opportunities that should be able to cash in on the revolution. Which led me to peek at an outfit called Aveva (AVV), not to be confused with the insurance giant Aviva (AV.). Aveva organises data that helps companies plan for a more efficient and environmentally friendly future.

Hello Share Rattlers. I’ve commended Strix Group (KETL) to you before but lately this maker of kettle bits has not been one of my more illustrious calls. It’s down by a third compared to the second half of last year. But the fall, connected to perceived supply and transport issues together with the rising cost of raw materials, seems to me unjustified.

Hello, Share Takers. With the current Covid situation, it seems a good idea to look at medical firms. However, Smith and Nephew (SN.) is an industry giant that has not benefitted from the plague. This is because it makes hip and knee replacements and zillions of such operations have been cancelled. So the share price has suffered. However, the management mounted a positive presentation the other day. And now the City’s started to take notice.

Hello, Share Tasters. My happy family are all veggies. My three kids in their late twenties have never tasted meat or fish. So we were delighted by the success of the meat-free sausage rolls by Greggs (GRG). And we buy a lot of them. We also like the efficient, modern, bright and breezy way it runs its bakeries. And reckon a lot of other folks feel the same.

Darktrace (DARK) floated on May 4 at 250p. Great play was made in the lengthy prospectus of how stacks of existing shareholders were locked in, legally bound to hold their shares for 6 or 12 months. Except this is all meaningless gibberish.

Hello, Share Shapers. It’s likely that in times of trouble, insurance companies are as safe a bet as any big company. That’s because when people become nervous of the future, they insure their lives and property more energetically. And you cannot get more uncertain than the on/off menace of Covid-19.

Self-styled “leading global provider of mission critical software-as-a-service platforms and on-demand cloud services to the flexible workspace industry” essensys (ESYS) “is pleased to announce… an aggregate of 10,984,552 primary placing shares have been successfully placed by Singer Capital Markets Securities Limited and Berenberg at an offer price of 285 pence per placing share to raise gross proceeds for the company of approximately £31.3 million”. Good news?…

Hello, Share Seekers. For some reason which escapes me Johnson Matthey (JMAT), the chemicals giant, has seen a falling share price while other Footsie members have (slowly) been crawling forwards. And yet this is one of those British giants that should grow strongly into the brave new world of progressing technology. Never mind, in the last few days, the share price has rallied and I expect it to do even better within the next few months.

Hello, Share Scramblers. With some unwelcome dips in Footsie shares at the moment, perhaps we might look to smaller cap merchants in the hopes of making some money. Allow me to bring to your attention to Ilika (IKA). This is another company hoping to make hay out of alternative energy.

Hello, Share Seekers. As the Covid threat gradually eases on British shores, it’s reasonable to expect the building industry to spring back. The rising price of house builder shares bears that out. Which means companies that support home builders could also prosper. And that brings me to builders’ merchant Travis Perkins (TPK).

Hello, Share Chums. My hunt for companies that might benefit from covid, both before and after the pandemic, continues. Today’s subject is Essensys (ESYS). This is an office backup service that includes in its arsenal, systems for companies to arrange more flexible working, including, I expect, accommodating the new environment of working from home. That sounds like a function with a future, don’t you think?

Hello Share Followers. Strix Group (KETL) describes itself as ‘The World leader in kettle control.’ That’s good for everyone whose kettle is running amok. But of course there’s much more to it than that. Strix develops and makes the bits of electric kettles that cut the power when the thing is boiling. Sounds like a limited sort of business but not when you have nearly 40% of the world market in the area.

Hello, Share Crackers. You might imagine a company making protective and hygienic work wear would have prospered in the pandemic. But Johnson Service Group (JSG), which does just that, has had to cut 1,500 staff. And that’s because it serves the hotel and food industries.

Self-styled “the leading global provider of mission critical software-as-a-service platforms and on-demand cloud services to the flexible workspace industry”, essensys (ESYS) has made a trading update emphasising “a robust performance in the first half of the year… results in line with expectations” and “increasing market opportunity”. The shares have responded further higher to 212.5p, so what’s the detail?…

Hello, Share Diggers. In my continuing quest to find companies to benefit from the virus, rather than reel from it, may I put before you Volution Group (FAN)? This is an outfit which does ventilation. And we all know how proper ventilation makes the virus less perilous by dispersing it. Not only that, but efficient ventilation is a big driver in fighting greenhouse gases.

Self-styled “data and technology-driven marketing group”, Next Fifteen Communications (NFC) has updated including “for the six-month period to 31st July 2020, revenues are expected to be up by approximately 6.5% compared with the same period last year to £126m and adjusted profit before tax up by over 16% to at least £20m… driven by our B2B technology focused agencies” – and the shares have currently responded to 447p, more than 21% higher…

Hello, Share Plungers. It’s time for an update on the volatile fortunes of a company that I’ve high hopes for and have often said so on this sparky website. You may recall that Ceres Power (CWR), the super-battery-of-the-greener-future firm, was used to seeing a regular small share rise over many months. Then its popularity plunged when a big investment company sold 5% of the shares…

Hello, Share Scoopers. That German bank Berenberg, for whom I have a good deal of respect, reckons that a fair price for BT (BT.A) shares is 130p. Currently, they’re below 110p, so that would be a fair profit. But are BT shares really worth a punt?…

Hello Share Painters. I recently told the sad tale of how a venture investment company IP Group (IPO) sold its 5% stake in Ceres Power (CWR) and helped cause a meltdown in the green power company’s share price. Today I want to look at why Ceres’s drop in value still looks a buying opportunity. And I’m aided in this task by a very positive outlook from Berenberg (the big German bank that is a joint broker to Ceres)…

Hello, Share Scramblers. You may be surprised to learn that I know an energy company which is not too far from its year-long high, despite the virus which has decimated many of its peers...

Hello Share Munchers. We British are leaders in making advanced scientific tools and equipment used all over the world. Heading the charge is FTSE 250 company Oxford Instruments (OXIG). It researches and makes zillions of sophisticated scientific thingies, like X-ray components, microscope bits and healthcare products. And don’t think microscopes haven't moved on since we used them at school. They can now be incredibly powerful and complex. The company is, for example, providing ways to deal with atoms and molecules...

Hello Share Takers. Gosh, it’s a heck of a long time since I sold all my Marks & Spencer (MKS) shares because they were static. I bought them for £3 a throw and what are they now, many, many years on? About 188p, that’s what...

Hello, Share Toasters. It must be ten years ago now that I dumped my shares in Wood Group (WG.), the supplier of stuff and services to the black gold industry among other related functions, including greener forms of energy. I didn't regret that move as the share price hit a chequered path afterwards, suffering like all oil-related companies from the infamous oil price crash...

On May 22^nd  2019 Telit Communications (TCM) issued an RNS with co broker Berenberg as one of the contacts. From the RNS of June 6 onwards Berenberg’s name has been missing from all releases. So is there, yet again, something that this company, founded by mortgage fraudster and fugitive from justice Uzi Katz, is not telling us?

Hello, Share Crumblers. Three or four years ago, I sold all this family’s shares in the big engineer Spirax-Sarco (SPX). The reason was that the company had such a long good run, improving year after year, that I thought that all good things come to an end. However, the outfit has since gone from strength to strength. Typical!...

Two high profile sinners repenteth and the writing is now very firmly on the wall for Purplebricks (PURP) as it starts a year when it will almost certainly run out of money. The sinners: broker Berenberg and Britains's most conceited fund manager Neil Woodford.

Oops a daisy. It looks as if some folks in the City have finally been reading our exposes on First Derivatives (FDP) and are finally waking up to the issues of cash generation, or rather lack of it. Top broker Berenberg was a major bull but has slashed its target price, as you can see in the full note below, from £43 to just £21.  Welcome to the party fellows but you are still way too generous – fair value is well under £10 a share.

On 20th June James Ritchie, CEO of Tekmar Group (TGP) - “a market-leading technology provider of protection systems for subsea cable, umbilical and flexible pipes and offshore engineering services” - hailed the company listing on AIM, with a 130p per share fundraise “well supported by blue chip institutional investors… we firmly believe it will enable us to accelerate our growth and maximise our potential”. The shares closed yesterday at 127.5p – and now a half-year results announcement. Given the recent listing should be fine, surely?...

I cannot remember the last time a Northern Ireland player scored a hat-trick in an international. But tonight I am hopeful that Belfast’s finest, First Derivatives (FDP), will pick up three gongs at the annual AIM Awards crony capitalists bean-feast and do the six counties proud. Heading the charge is CEO Brian Conlon who is short-listed for “entrepreneur of the year” sponsored by Octopus Investments. The Judges will have ruled on that before we pointed out that his whole IPO was based on a fraud. It gets better…

Hello Share Wishers. What a thundering disappointment banks have been. You would have thought that the huge recovery most Footsie shares have seen since the 2008 crash, would have catapulted banks back where they were pre-disaster. But are they Buckland Abbey!

Hello, Share Graspers. Back in the mists of time when just a few birthday cards were first sent online, I opined that the traditional postal card might become threatened. I don't know if this view still affects the performance of the Card Factory (CARD). But it's not a share that attracts me at the moment, anyway.

Hello, Share Swipers. I may have commended Greggs (GRG) to you in the past. I think I might have changed my mind. This high street baker seems to be everywhere these days. It’s not only in busy areas but has also moved into transport terminals, housing estates and the like.

Hello, Share Takers. I’m not a great fan of Greggs (GRG) the baker. I rather disapprove of the sugary confections you see in its shop windows. This may be because of my dodgy teeth. But they do a very wholesome seeded loaf which is a mainstay of this family’s kitchen.

Hello Share Shapers. Every so often I look at that great British pharmaceutical giant, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and I usually notch it up as a buy. Despite the fact that it has not been quite as successful a punt as I had hoped, I am still well up on my three year old purchase. The dividend, which I have at nearly 5% is also useful. And I was gratified that it was one of the perkiest  Footsie risers on Friday.

Hello Share Tasters. In the past I’ve commended Britvic (BVIC) to your further study, though I don’t hold the shares myself. If I did, I might be tempted to sell. This is not because the shares are doing badly. They are not. Indeed, since January they are up by a fifth.

One of the big pharmaceuticals which I think will prosper on the misfortunes of millions of people is AstraZeneca (AZN). This is not to say that the company is exploitative. Quite the opposite - its scientists are only trying to help.

Hello Share Trundlers. It’s only with extreme caution that I commend any British banks to your eagle eye, having lost a stack of my own money on them even since 2007. But I am rather more hopeful about all of the big British ones now.

Hello Share Creepers. I’ve just had a kitchen and a bathroom fitted out. As it isn’t likely to be done again, I chose the most expensive tiles, snazzy worktops, a bath made from steel not plastic and a posh shower screen. Which brings me to today’s suggestion for your further exploration: Howden Joinery (HWDN).

Shares in Telecom Plus (TEP) are down 40p to 843p thanks to a downgrade of stance from buy to hold by Berenberg in the note below. The target price comes down from 1400p to 1000p so with upside at the start of the day of 14% surely that makes the shares cheap? Whatever. It seems an anodine note to me. I remain a bear as per Kevin Ashton's most awesome analysis HERE but you make up your own mind

Neil Woodford has been adding to his holding in British American Tobacco (BATS) for his CF Woodford Equity Income Fund. Brokers such as Berenberg and Noruma also rate the share a buy. And stop the press, since I first wrote about them HERE have also topped up!