In this visualisation, we look at six important indicators that point to China’s economy slowing down. Data comes from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the People’s Bank of China, and the General Administration of Customs, to see what is flashing red. As usual, courtesy of Visual Capitalist.

The most-read non-quiz non Tom article this week is from Nigel Somerville with  ‘The View From The Montana Log-Cabin As Gold Takes A Breather’ at No 13 or No 19 including Bearcasts.

When David Budd joined Genedrive (GDR) as its CEO in early 2016 the shares were 116p.  Today after diabolical full year numbers the shares are now just 10.5p. So we are all in it together right? Er wrong. While investors have lost 91% of their cash Budd has trousered just over £2 million including an inexplicable 2020 bonus of more than £207,044 taking his total package that year to £444,615. Oink. Oink. It gets worse…

Oh dear, oh dear, more bad news from the green pipedreams, slurp the jam tomorrow and forget about the bonkers valuation sector. Today it is Ceres Power (CWR) an AIM listed company repeatedly recommended by our own in-house Guardian reading eco-Warrior Malcolm Stacey but red flagged by  myself and Peter Brailey. Its shares are down by 65% year to date and by c80% since February 2021, the peak of the green bubble madness.

Cakebox (CBOX) has already warned that results for the six months to 30 September would be piss poor and it did not disappoint but folks who have lost a packet ignoring our numerous red flag warnings had a straw to clutch at, one covered with jam tomorrow.

Fear not. All of the rogues involved in ramping this one over the years have already made vast sums through share dumping and bloated cash payments. Peter Wall, Zak Mir, disgraced broker Andy Frangos, Adrian Beeston, John Story the list of colourful characters goes on and on but they are all okay, there is no need for them to launch a Go Fund Me page. But, Argo Blockchain (ARB) served up dire news this morning which means those mug punters, bulletin board morons and institutional investors alike, who have ignored my numerous warnings, will soon do their conkers.

Eve Sleep (EVE) floated on AIM in May 2017 just two years after it started trading. It brought in Paul Pindar which had listed Purplebricks (PURP) the disruptor – no sniggering at the back – of estate agencies to help disrupt the world of mattresses which also needed disrupting. And Neil Woodford, whose funds owned 18% after an IPO which raised £32.8 million, was not the only fund manager who was made to look like a fool. Here is Luke Hakes of Octopus writing just after the IPO:

Over on twitter Richard Poulden and his fellow Australian hustler, the shameless penny share ramper David Lenigas, are claiming that Valereum Blockchain (VLRM) changing adviser is good news. Whatever….Back on planet earth.

I refer to Valereum Blockchain (VLRM) on the Aquis lobster pot and results for the six months to June 20 2022 published on deadline day, September 30^th. I know that Big Dave insists that size is important but can these chancers be for real with what they have served up? Natch the company is loss making but somehow its asset based has ballooned. Great! Fabbo! What is not to like?

The purchase of loss making sub scale asset manager Tradeflow by the fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) for a bonkers price in a deal which saw millions of pounds worth of shares handed to secretive offshore bank accounts was always mysterious and another red flag to add to the forest already flying. Last month Supply said that it was considering unwinding the deal but yesterday’s dire interims beg the question at whose instigation?

Following the publication of my red flag dossier earlier this year, anyone owning shares in MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) was fully warned of the need to lube up. I hope they did. The shares were 2.25p back on 11 January when I warned you that this was a £70 million dog from the scholars and gentleman at Turner Pope.  They are now just 0.825p but after another red flag admission today they are still a monstrous sell.

Proper companies do not behave like this. But those which are frauds care little for timely filings of paperwork at Companies House, they are too busy ppumping the shares to allow insiders to sell, death spiral financing to be secured. And that brings me to the fraud Supply@ME Capital (SYME) which apppears to be picking up on two years of missed filings as the screenshot below shows. Such industrial scale backfiling is not a good sign, it is another red flag to add to the forest.

AIM-listed graphene outfit Haydale (HAYD) triumphantly announced the completion of its latest bailout keep-the-lights-on fundraising this morning. With £5 million in the bag – and an open offer to existing shareholders to raise a bit more at 2p – the company was pleased to announce that this latest fundraise, worth around half of the current market capitalisation, would be used predominantly to fund the general working capital needs of the business. Tosh! It will be used to fund the seemingly unending ongoing losses! What is it about AIM-listed graphene businesses?

Yesterday, AIM-listed jam-tomorrow and running out of cash fast investment company Tern plc (TERN) announced that CEO Al Sisto had piled in to buy a whopping 200,000 shares via a subscription at 9.9p on Tuesday. The shares moved up by 6% in response – adding £2 million to the market capitalisation. But this is all a massive spoof.

What is the Polish for “Powerhouse Energy (PHE) looks increasingly fecked?” Another JV agreement has had to be rewritten as nobody external will bankroll this unproven technology. Today’s news casts a new doubt over the commerciality of its IP and also of when ( not if) Powerhouse will need to do yet another bailout placing.

We had news this morning that CPI inflation went through 10% in the UK – bad news, as this surely means further increases to interest rates over here. That won’t help businesses such as online clothing retailer, AIM-listed ASOS (ASC) and I sense that the company’s difficulties don’t end there, for this morning the CFO/COO Mr Mat Dunn is to leave at the end of October. But the statement is, I fear, highly disingenuous.

The IPO of Procook (PROC) last November was one that I explicitly warned you about. That offer was at 145p. The shares are now 40p but CEO Daniel O Neill really is the most almighty spoofer, his share buying of late is a red flag in itself, an invitation to go short.

On 21 July 2022, sub-Standard-Listed Predator Oil and Gas (PRD) released an RNS detailing a share sale. Given the coverage to date from Tom Winnifrith on this fine website regarding this company, that may be hardly a surprise. But the sale was effectively by the Executive Chairman. Is it time to hoist another Red Flag?

Oh dear, oh dear. This should be another massive red flag for the morons who own shares in the Supply@ME Capital (SYME) fraud to ignore. It will also prompt a formal complaint to the FRC about auditors PKF Littlejohn and Eight itself.

The shameless ramper is at it again. Yesterday, the boss of Predator Oil & Gas (PRD) unleashed a Twitter volley, as shown below. The last tweet is, arguably, the sort of material that should be left for an RNS. This is a massive red flag, especially when Lonny is actively deceiving. I underline one tweet that is simply not true.

Whilst drowning in debt, Cineworld (CINE) has made no formal announcement. Instead, its in-house PR clown confirms - by email - that:

AIM-listed and technically insolvent Barkby Group (BARK) slipped out a director share dealing announcement yesterday afternoon at 3.19pm  - when anyone in the City with any sense would have been trying to get home and beat the railways strike, thus no-one-is-watching o’clock. It announced some director dealing by CFA Douglas Benzie which surely raises a Red Flag or two.

Tortilla Mexican Grill (MEX), the mid-market restaurant chain, has announced that just nine months after its IPO, it has dumped existing auditors, Blick Rothenburg. And after a competitive tender, it has appointed Haysmacintyre LLP as its new statutory auditor.  Odd timing: is this a red flag?

I have previously speculated that Charlotte is, in fact, a man. Furthermore, she is not a Brit but an Italian, possibly linked to the fraud, Supply@ME Capital (SYME). After an absence of many, many months, she is back with another email.

Aquis-listed TruSpine (TSP) is yet another of the disastrous recent IPOs to have sullied the London markets. Having joined the lobster-pot in August 2020 at 36p, the shares have utterly collapsed in the wake of an IPO subscription doing a runner and multiple delays to the approval of its Cervi-lok spinal stabilisation device, which was supposed to have seen FDA submissions completed in Q4 2020 and we were promised commercial sales in 2021. Here we are at the end of May 2022 and the FDA has not yet been satisfied, there is no sign of any sales and the shares are now just 4.3p in the middle. Ouch! But has the company run out of cash?

My continued advice to keep well away from fully-listed Esken (ESKN) – the former Stobart Group (STOB) seems to have been well placed. Quite apart from the serial Red-Flags-At-Night announcements, there is the small matter of the share price continuing to collapse. A year ago the shares were 32.9p and I said sell; last August they had fallen to 15p and I said keep well away. Now they are just 8.77p and there are a few Red Flags in the FY22 results (to February) to suggest that there is still further to fall.

With a hat tip to reader J, here is another red flag. That is to say, Eurasia Mining (EUA) deceiving investors with the first RNS, after its utterly unexplained share suspension.

On Monday 16 May at 7.40 AM, shares in AIM listed Bulletin board darling Eurasia Mining (EUA) were temporarily suspended at just under 8p “pending an announcement.” At 6.18PM on Tuesday 17^th  (today) came that announcement. Eurasia “confirms it has no material new developments to notify” and so trading will resume on Wednesday 18^th. So the shares were suspended for two days for an announcement that nothing had changed. That is insane. It gets more insane.

I warned comrade Malcolm Stacey and you all that his March 7 enthusiasm for advertising group Mirriad (MIRI) was misplaced and dire results with a piss poor set of excuses vindicate this perma bear once again. Crack out the ouzo.  At 21p, down 14% so far today, the market cap is £59 million making this still a stonking short.

Earlier this week, I complained to the FRC about the grotesquely misleading interims, published by the fraud, Chill Brands (CHLL), on 28 January. Given the company has now undertaken a bailout fundraise, the FCA will have to act.  Moreover…

One of the reasons the fraud, Chill Brands (CHLL), had to do a bailout placing this week, is the ridiculous purchase of a domain name. I can now reveal how the company has deceived investors about this fantastic money spunk.

AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) finally announced the fundraise that was obviously coming yesterday – at 25p, the nominal price (and the lowest price allowed by law). But the funding round is inadequate and the company will have to return to rattle the tin once again in a couple of months’ time.

It is always a Red Flag for me when a company posts a profit but is burning cash, and that brings me to yesterday’s full year results for 2021 from  AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.).

Yesterday I explained very clearly how musicMagpie (MMAG) had lied to investors in its prospectus and that lie was at the heart of the reason why the company will eventually, like the two previous businesses of CEO Steven Oliver go bust.  There was a response, of sorts at 3.50 PM.

AIM-listed Barkby Group (BARK) has announced the completion of a clinical study by Verso Biosense, a minority shareholding of the company. There were, natch, no numbers from this missive from a lookalike of the Adam Reynolds keyboard, so it is hardly an RNS released to inform shareholders…..but then, it is an RNS Reach.

It was announced intra-day yesterday that sub-Standard Listed Cloudbreak Discovery (CDL) had raised £1.5 million (before expenses) in discounted placing at 7.5p a pop. This follows the miraculous rise of the shares which started ahead of the announcement of boardroom buying, which saw the shares rocket from around 1.75p to as high as over 13p yesterday, just before the announcement.

Today. Toople (TOOP) a sub-standard listed company which I have warned about many times,  published its results for the year ended 30 September 2021.  The company made a loss before tax of £1,280,950 on turnover of £3,012,936.  The real concern is the fall in revenues when the comparatives included only 7 and a 1/2 months from DMS Holdings Limited showing that the “core” Toople business once all its non-paying customers were removed had a massive slump in revenue.

I noted yesterday that FY results from sub-Standard-Listed AIQ (AIQ) were due today. To leave one’s results to deadline day is of itself at Red Flag, but a brief nose through the numbers what a horrific shambles has been made of this VSA Capital/ Andrew Monk IPO from 2018. Fortunately, ShareProphets readers were warned right from the off.

On 23 September 2021 the AGM of Versarien (VRS) voted to reappoint PWC as its auditors. Today we discover PWC has resigned and been replaced with the rather less top drawer BDO LLP. And there is more. This stinks.

Just two weeks ago shares in sub-Standard-Listed Cloudbreak Discovery (CDL) were marooned at just 1.75p a pop – a hefty loss on the IPO price of 3p last June . Then they started rising and rising. A few days later it was announced that CEO Kyler Hardy had bought a stack of shares at 3p and sold some at 1.7p. Needless to say, there is no possibility of insider dealing……but now the shares have motored on up to 12p. What’s going on?

As I noted here last week, as things stand that hound from the AIM sewer UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) does not have sufficient cash to pay both its liabilities and its commitments and is burning cash like billy-o. Thus, it needs to ramp its shares aggressively to get away yet another discounted bucket shop placing, something that is imminent. And that brings us to Lyin’ Steve.

How do you keep an AIM-listed Tern plc (TERN) shareholder in suspense? Why, of course, issue a Portfolio Update with no numbers attached! And that is what we had yesterday morning, from a company desperate to get a big bucket-shop funding round away as it faces a hefty bill to stand its corner at Wyld, which has a round of warrants due to expire at the start of April and not enough cash to pay for full conversion. But perhaps the biggest Red Flag of all was the excuses offered with regard to principal investee Device Authority.

Set to run out of cash and go bust within weeks, the fraud Chill Brands (CHLL) is again deceiving investors with news of a “landmark partnership” which is neither a landmark or a partnership. The deal is with a company called Fabric.

Shares in Chill Brands (CHLL) were 76p when I published that 60 red flag dossier last February – they are today at just 9.25p, the lowest since July 2020. They are falling sharply again today on the back of Friday’s interims which showed sales in the six months to September 30 which were only about half the level of sales already announced in three separate RNS statements covering the same period. I have again written to the FCA.

I start with a few words on Oxford Cannabinoid (OCTP). I have not said fill your boots nor should you. The issue here is management allegedly lining their own pockets ahead of corporate action which they know all about. One should not buy shares in such companies. Then I reflect on an excellent piece by Maynard Paton on Cake Box (CBOX) which you can read HERE. I comment on some of the excellent points he makes but add in half a dozen of my own, notably comparing boasted net cash and net interest costs but also the shameful CEO pump and dump and the macro headwind given the demographic of its end user base. This is probably not another Patisserie Valerie but at 320p it is a stonking short.

Tom Winnifrith covered yesterday morning’s non-news of AIM-listed URU Metals’ (URU) proposed listing of majority-owned Toronto-listed subsidiary ZEB Nickel on the joke US OTCQB market. The shares rocketed from 170p to 210p on the news, a 23.5% gain. But the bald truth is that we are talking about a joke market with little liquidity and in any case, I would have thought your average US punter would manage to get access to the Toronto Venture exchange without having to deal with a tin-pot middle man.

Pot play MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) joined the Standard List on 9 February 2021 and has already issued more RNS releases than most companies do in a lifetime. But that is not the only red flag relating to this dual listed ASX entity now being touted by certain chatroom trolls as the next big thing. MGC is drowning in red flags and its valuation is absurd.

Nightcap (NGHT), the company that uses shareholders cash to pay off the personal liabilities of its CEO Sarah Willingham and which hands out bonuses to her husband for doing M&A deals however bad, nonsensical or related party, has served up a- not surprisingly – poor trading statement. The uncalled for Plan B lockdown clearly hurt.

Sub-Standard-Listed Cloudbreak Discovery (CDL) added yet more Red Flags to its profile this morning on the release of an RNS at 7a this morning entitled “Final Results for the Year Ended 30 June 2021”. Just for a start, releasing FY numbers during no-one-is-watching week as investors are away from their desks between Christmas and New Year is an automatic Red Flag. But the RNS did not contain the results – only a management summary, telling the reader that “A full copy of the results is available on the company website”. Except at 7.30am this morning, that was not the case.

Tern (TERN) is reluctant to disclose financial information about the portfolio of Tern’s investments citing commercial confidentiality.  All of its portfolio investees file abbreviated accounts excluding profit and loss account and cashflow statement as they are permitted to do and Tern rarely publishes any financial information about the investee companies. 

On 12 April Dev Clever (DEV) a company already drowning in red flags exposed on this website announced the £54.75 million all share purchase of VLPL in India and we were told that “This acquisition of VLPL will be subject to the publication of an FCA approved prospectus by no later than 30 September 2021.  An additional 30 million ordinary shares will be granted to VLPL CEO, Ankur Aggarwal, as an earnout consideration subject to achieving key milestones.” Wind forward to 30 September and …

RentGuarantor Holdings PLC provides a rent guarantee service to tenants wishing to rent property in the UK from the Private Rental Sector. The rent guarantee service is an online service where applications can be managed on a secure and bespoke digital platform designed and built by RentGuarantor Holdings PLC So says the company but ahead of its 8 December listing on the lobster pot c/o Alfred Henry there is already a massive red flag fluttering. In fact there are a number.

Let us be clear, Mercantile Ports & Logistics (MPL) is not on trial itself.But none the less this looming $300 million fraud trial is another red flag for this perennial AIM uber dog.

I noted yesterday that in a late-afternoon RNS Edge Performance VCT (EDGH and EDGI) was proposing to consign its I-shares to the dustbin, paying out the remaining 3.39p due to shareholders (by borrowing the cash from the H-share pool) and denying I-shareholders the chance to vote at the still to-be-reconvened AGM. This, despite a promise in the full year results published 24 August, to see all its directors face re-election in 2021.

What were the actual net proceeds of the $40 million 8.75% bond issued by Argo Blockchain (ARB)? And why does the shareholder register stink? Let us start with the bond.

‘The best time to kick a man is when he is down’ is a quote from my friend the bear raider Simon Cawkwell, aka Evil Knievil. It is not a reference to individuals who have fallen on bad times for Cawkwell is, sometimes, not that uncharitable, but to shares in companies hitting new lows.

There are suggestions today that Chill Brands (CHLL) next bailout fundraise will be at 5p. I would suggest that this is the bull case. Rapidly running out of cash and with a business model that is a proven failure I cannot see why this business will be rescued until it is on the brink and the spivs at broker Peterhouse do a friends and family offer at 0.1p turning it into a cash shell. What is clear is that the shares will collapse as stale bulls dump and that anyone hanging on is insane. But what of the FCA?

I imagine that the moronic shareholders in Eurasia Mining (EUA) are lining up to buy me a drink after THIS LETTER yesterday to the Oxymorons at AIM Regulation forced the company into a formal update on the bid situation today. No? You shock me.  Bear raider Waseem Shakoor was clear of what he thought of the statement:

I say this is David Beckham’s company, just to remind you that Becks owns less than 5% having put in £250,000 at a fraction of the 8p IPO price just over a year ago. In return for promoting this company’s products Becks will trouser a guaranteed c£15 million over five years.  Today Guild (GILD) made a shocking admission but showing it does not give a FF about market rules today saw a shocking admission but not the full story. 

A correspondent writes that I am wrong to suggest that AIM-listed Tern’s (TERN) jewel-in-the-crown investment, Device Authority (DA) which on its own is apparently worth over half of Tern’s NAV, is in grave financial difficulty. Let’s look at what we do know – and, perhaps more importantly, what we don’t.

TEKCapital (TEK) is on a roll. Its 15.1% stake in May AIM IPO Belluscura (BELL) has surged in value to be worth £15 million and to top it off Simon Thompson of the Investors Chronicle — in the past a great cheerleader for AIM listed China frauds — tipped the stock on Friday. But it seems Simon got his sums a bit wrong.

Yesterday we looked at the lock-up HQ of £221 million capitalised drowning in red flags Dev Clever (DEV). Today let’s look at its sole UK operating subsidiary. Curiouser and curiouser. This is a massive red flag.

Welcome to Unit 1, Ninian Park, Ninian Way, Wilnecote, Tamworth B77 5ES. The global head quarters of a company losing money and capitalised at £221 million. That company is Dev Clever (DEV). Our past coverage suggests that there should be a forest of red flags flying around this building. There is not. But is it really plausible that this small lock up can be the HQ of a company which, with its shares at 36.5p, is capitalised at £221 million?

I noted yesterday that a rapid turnover of Non Execs is never a good sign.  Today we discover that James Stewart CBE who joined Versarien (VRS) as its non exec chairman on June 30 last year has had enough and is leaving on December 31.  His departure is a red flag, his successor is another.

To lose one NED might be understandable but to lose four, a chairman and a CEO within a year issurely an indication of more than carelessness?

Today we are told via RNS Reach “New Briefing Note from SEAL” on MyHealthChecked (MHC).  Sadly it is SEAL Research not Seal the popular singer, otherwise known as Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel, or a whiskered fellow from London zoo as both of the would have more credibility than the paid for rampers taking centre stage today. It is SEAL that has issued the release and this is another big sell signal for MyHealthChecked. It is a red flag and I am glad to be out.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy has announced its interims to June: the numbers are predictably dreadful but the killer is surely the indication of a delay to the completion of the company’s first proton therapy LIGHT system.

Two or three weeks ago I clambered off the fence and explicitly told you to short Eurasia Mining (EUA) at 28p. The shares are now 23.6p in the middle. So far so good for we bears but the company is still valued by the market, on a fully diluted basis as there are loads of in the money options, at well over £700 million which is insane. A placing announced yesterday is the cue to add to your shorts.

A company does not have to say anything on trading, on its prospects or on other matters at an AGM but it can do so and if it has anything good at all to say you can bet the ranch, especially with smaller AIM promotes, that it will say it. And that brings us to the Versarien (VRS) AGM yesterday.

Praise be the Lord! I can reveal that, after my weekend barrage, devout Christian and Tory Party hack Colin Bloom has this morning resigned as the sole UK director of the Umuthi (UHS) fraud.  Amen. Moreover…

Chill Brands (CHLL), the fraud formerly known as Zoetic (ZOE), blames covid for delaying its results which, in May, it said would be out in July until August. We all know the reason is its battle to persuade the auditors that it has enough cash to survive for 12 months. Which it does not. Anyhow, we are now almost at the end of August and good news travels fast but bad news is always delayed so where are the results which are bound to be truly absymal? When do you think Chill will sneak out the bad news?

I preface this by saying that Verditek (VDTK) is a company that can lie about winning take or pay contracts just to get a placing away. In the end, the “customer” – and I use the word loosely – neither takes or pays. So anything it says in an RNS, even its cash balance, is not something that I would necessarily believe. But to make life simple, I give it the benefit of the doubt and assume its stated cash balances are, more or less, correct.

On February 3 2021 I published a damning 60 Red flag dossier on a fraud called Zoetic (ZOE) with the shares at 76p. The response was utterly poisonous.

I start with this non financial matter as although the Mrs regards these as tragic events in a land far far away, I think of the pointless British deaths, of the increased terror risk back home, of the shameful way we are abandoning those who helped us, of the shameful way we turned a blind eye to industrial-scale corruption. What is happening in Afghanistan is not only terribly sad for its people but it is also a national shame. Then I look at a pointless name change at Zoetic (ZOE) and of the spoof US OTC listing announced by Dispersion (DEFI) something that is itself a red flag.

So England lost, Italy won and were the better side. Congratulations Italy – and manager Roberto Mancini – but England have progressed magnificently since the last world cup and once the dust has settled, we should look forward to the next one. Amid the disappointment on the morning after, however, we did – as predicted – have a fair crop of bad news between 7am and market open at 8am. Here are my highlights (or lowlights).

I questioned the other day whether Justin “the Clown” Waite was somewhat lax in his personal holdings disclosures with regards to penny share dreadfuls that he was pumping and, perhaps dumping. But that is not the real scandal of Vox Markets where the clown is not only an employee but a director. And who has revealed the real scandal? The clown himself!

I am so angry that I forgot to memtion bitcoin crashing again and the operational and financial gearing at drowning in red flags Argo Blockchain (ARB). So I am angry and the resultant bad language will delight Matthew and his dog. I consider Sosandar (SOS), Hurricane Energy (HUR), Bidstack (BIDS), Kefi (KEFI) and Bluebird Merchant Ventures (BMV).

I have been ploughing through the prospectus for previously Aquis-listed Imperial X (IMPP, now CDL) regarding its move to the sub-Standard List. It looks like a shambles, as it was supposed to have changed name in the process (but hasn’t yet) and the myriad of conflicts of interest is just grim. If ever there was a sign of the top of the market, this IPO is surely it.

On Friday morning at 7am fully-listed former Neil Woodford favourite Esken (ESKN) – formerly known as Stobart Group Ltd (STOB) – announced that its proposed sale of Stobart Air to Ettyl Limited was being delayed by change of control consents taking longer than planned. Given that the sale was due to complete by early May 2021 announcing this on the last trading day of May seems a bit ripe. But worse was to follow.

Last night, at 6.02pm – no-one-is-watching o’clock – AIM-listed URU Metals (URU) announced it has increased the death spiral facility with an outfit called Boothbay Absolute Return Strategies from $250,000 to $500,000 – and the bargain giveaway conversion terms which were originally due to expire within 90 days of the original loan have again been extended so that Boothbay can convert at just 85p……with the stock trading at 325p!

Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks is now motoring towards £44,000. If you are still to donate please do so here. It might shut me up. Then I discuss: UK Oil & Gas (UKOG), where rebel shareholders can be contacted HERE, Amigo (AMGO), Plutus Powergen (PPG) and the stinky Greek deal of pot play Kanobo (KNB) which I view as a major red flag. 

Shares in the Standard Listed fraud that is Zoetic International (ZOE) are, at 56p mid, almost 50% off their all-time highs achieved at peak pump earlier this year. To have suffered such slippage amid a bull market for pot and small cap stocks takes some doing and is, in itself, something of a red flag. The posh but extremely dim and morally bankrupt PR man for this firm, Mr. Henry Harrison-Topham, tried to steady the nerves of the fools invested here with a trading update but it was no good. It was a case study in where what the company did NOT say serves as a red flag.

Eight days ago, Eurasia Mining (EUA) said that it was in talks with a credible party which had made an offer to buy essentially all of its assets and that if the deal went through it would become a cash shell after paying a “significant” dividend. Guess what? Today there is a $20 million placing. For such. Almost criminal. Spoofery to happen once is – on AIM – understandable, twice looks like carelessness.

Of course, there are some instances when it is appropriate to take legal action against some critic. If, for instance, the attacks are against wives and children, there is a threat of actual body harm or the allegations are just so outrageous (paedophilia for example) then a company might justifiably take action. But simply to bring in lawyers, who are always expensive, to try to silence someone who criticises a company’s business model, or its valuation, is a monumental red flag.

10 weeks. Just ten frigging weeks. That is how long Paul Ferguson lasted as CFO of the fraud Zoetic International (ZOE) between his appointment and his resignation today with immediate effect. So what on earth is going on? Back in the good old days on 15 February, the fraud announced:

Here is another piece of fake news from Alliance News: “Losses widen at BSF Enterprise but cash position strengthens”. This followed the release by sub-Standard Listed cash-shell BSF Enterprise (BSFA) of Interims to March 2020 – just over three weeks AFTER it released full year numbers to September 2020 (which were released a day late on April 1^st despite having been filed to Companies House on 4^th March. What sort of shambles is this?

The fraud Zoetic International (ZOE) has released a trading update. Natch, there are lorry loads of jam tomorrow but it is what it does not say that should give investors looking at a £157 million market cap ( at 80p) a real panic attack. The lack of critical data here is the monumental red flag.

AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern plc (TERN) has released its Annual Report for FY20, which contains a few surprises (not least of which Boardroom pay) but the shocker is the FY20 accounts which investee Wyld Networks – which Tern claimed a £2 million uplift on – has filed at Companies House. I’m no accountant, but I wonder what Tern’s Auditor, Smith & Williamson, was smoking.

I always read an operational update from an AIM listed company with interest. This week has been busy so it’s only now I have had the time to draft some thoughts on Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) operational update issued on Wednesday. I always have in mind three reasons for a trading update – “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. No prizes guessing my conclusions on this one.

Another shocker from the Sub Standard list and once again Pello Capital, the broker formerly known as Cornhill, home to some real low-life scumbags, the sort of imbeciles who troll you on Facebook, is involved. That is a red flag for starters.

Just once in a while, how about you morons admit that I was right and you guys are dumb arsed poltroons? I refer you to today’s announcement.

Cash-shell BSF Enterprise (BSFA) of the Sub-Standard List (surely two Red Flags already!) published its FY numbers to 30 September 2020 this morning – April 1^st. Those with a sharp eye might notice they are a day late – which is a bit of a mystery given that they were signed off by the Auditor (PKF Littlejohn) and Geoffrey Baker on behalf of the board a month ago on March 1^st, filed at Companies House on 4^th March and released by Companies House on March 12^th! So much for shareholders finding out what is going on via the RNS system first!

Technically insolvent AIM POS St James House (SJH) made a song and dance yesterday of its latest bailout rescue finance package – which neither bails it out or rescues it – with Tintra Acquisitions Limited. There is a £250,000 loan convertible into a death spiral at 10p per share (take note shareholders, with the price currently 45p a pop!) but tied to that are two option deals which apparently bring in between them a fraction below £180,000. So how much of that will find its way onto St James’ balance sheet?

I have commented on Powerhouse Energy (PHE) on a number of occasions, as has Tom Winnifrith. Each time we comment it’s to note yet further red flags of concern. I think it’s worth a recap of some and also to note a further matter that has come to my attention which I think merits consideration. After all some people get all the luck.

I noted the huge potential for free entertainment at Aquis-listed TruSpine (TSP) in the New Year Red Flags Sweepstakes results, when TruSpine had achieved the dubious double of a Red Flags Christmas Eve RNS (a three month delay to the application for FDA clearance of its Cervi-LOK product that was due at the end of the month which it apparently had only just noticed) and another on New Year’s Eve in the form of Interims to September 2020 showing net current assets of just £511,813 after a loss of £423,148. This week saw some news. No sniggering at the back……..

We have had effectively three portfolio updates already this year from AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern plc (TERN) – on January 12^th, Feb 4^th and Feb 8^th. Last year in the same period there was just one – on January 28^th – and reading it through again now, there does seem to be a rather large elephant in the room.

Yesterday, Manolete (MANO) announced that, with the shares at multi-year lows and with the company almost certainly on the runway to a placing, founder and CEO Steve Cooklin had dumped 750,000 shares the prior day. However, it stressed in the RNS:

Just a couple of weeks after a dire profits warning which utterly vindicated my bear dossier of last July that the company so pompously refuted and which flews in the face of subsequent bullish statements, it emerges that Manolete (MANO) founder and CEO Steve Cooklin has flogged c£1.5 million worth of shares with the stock at multi-year lows. But this not the only boardroom trading red flag.

The most read non-Tom article this week is How likely is it that a proper silver short squeeze will happen? by Gary Newman at number seven, or  number 15 including Bearcasts and Tom’s new shareshow. Which one is the best of the week? Tell me in the comments.

This uber-ramped but almost insolvent company will not like what follows. Since it is 100% fact based and verified there is little it can do, but if it wishes to threaten me with legal action the response will be “see you in Court Bitchez!”. I shall be ensuring that my numerous concerns are brought to the attention of my good friends at the FCA later today.

At least this moron is not discussing having me killed but it would be fair to say that this shareholder in Supply@ME Capital (SYME) would not be your first pick for the pub quiz team. In fact, there are more signs of intelligent life on the planet Neptune than in this post from the LSE Asylum below. When shareholders in a company are this dumb, obsessive and determined to post demonstrable untruths, it is always a bit of a red flag. A hat tip to CZ for this spot.

AIM-listed POS Catenae Innovation (CTEA) has announced a placing at 2p to raise £1 million and a further 2.4 million golden tickets are being issues to cover directors’ fees and certain current liabilities. It is Ouzo-on-cornflakes time. But there is another issue…..

To misquote Mark Antony: “I come not to bury Caesar, but to praise him”. Yesterday morning, it was announced that the odious boss of Versarien (VRS), Neill Ricketts, had sold 1.65 million shares at 53.919p. Normally you would expect me to say this was yet another red flag. But on this occasion, I do not.

Since both sides in this particular tussle speak only to folks of a similar bent, both will take enough from a statement that says nothing concrete to allow them to scream for joy inside their respective echo chambers. Both camps will be emboldened in their GroupThink. But should they? Here are a few hard numbers to consider…

The business model of AB McKinley and his LSE Share Talk company is to ramp penny share dreadfuls in return for a fee. At 2.8p, Remote Monitored Systems (RMS)  – no sales, cash c£3.5 million, directors sold 40% of the equity before a string of warnings, etc etc – is capitalised at £58 million. So AB is on the case “No need to ramp” he says before, er…ramping away. What a way to spend your life. Having folks like this on board is a classic red flag.

I start with the 12 day of Christmas, what it means and what will happen here. Then it is on to events in Georgia, gold & the US economy. Then in today’s bout of market madness I look at Bidstack (BIDS), Argo Blockchain (ARB), Online Blockchain (OBC) and at Zenith Energy (ZEN).

A key judgement for non-executive Directors if they wish to preserve their reputation is the careful selection of the companies whose Boards they join and remain on.  High quality non-executives avoid companies that could damage their reputation. Weaker non-executives tend to be less picky and hold their nose even if the companies they sit on are less than blue chip.  According to the Supply@ME Capital (SYME) Prospectus, Susanne Chishti was a Director of 9 companies as of the date of the Prospectus (it actually lists 10 companies but one is a duplicate) and only one appears to be a publicly listed entity.  

Facing SEC charges which will destroy its core business and should wipe out its balance sheet, John Gunn’s Octagonal (OCT) is toast. But were there warning signs? Is the Pope a frigging Catholic? This site warned you time and time again about this company and also Gunn’s other AIM hound Inspirit (INSP) which is surely also a zero now.

Unfortunately Boris Johnson is still celebrating his Brexit success, before sharing what is in the document with anyone else. What could possibly go wrong!? So he has asked me to help out with the final adjudication of this year’s ShareProphets Christmas Red Flags sweepstakes  – with, as ever, absolutely no prize at all beyond the immeasurable kudos involved. So here is my list of RNS Red Flags on Christmas Eve.

AIM-listed jam-tomorrow (or never) Internet of Things investment company Tern plc (TERN) has seen its shares continue to crater – the shares are now, at 6.7p, well below the last placing price of 7.5p. Meanwhile investee FVRVS Limited (Fundamental VR) has filed its 2019 accounts……and…..oh dear!

On 9 December, Catenae (CTEA) issued a TR1 which indicated that Spreadex had acquired a 10.54% stake up from an apparently nil or a previously undisclosable percentage on 2 December 2020.  On 15 December, Catenae issued a TRI showing that Spreadex’s 10.54% interest had reduced to 8.23%

Having been through this morning’s ramptastic announcement from AIM-listed Catenae (CTEA) and its joint venture with BHA Medical now known as Synovate Global Ltd, I thought I should take a quick trip to Companies House to have a butchers’ at Synovate.

On Joshua’s Advent calender the shepherds go to Bethlehem. That is almost true, well a bit true as I discuss. In prior years I have penned a three part Christmas carol featuring a villain of the year: Rob Terry, Neil Woodford and Chris Oil have starred. So please nominate your villain of 2020 for this year’s opus magnus below. In the podcast I discuss the IPO of Sarah Willingham’s company Nightcap on a day when most of its bars go into tier 3. She is ‘avin’ a giraffe. There are other red flags and questions to ask. Then I look at Jubilee Metals (JLP) and Bahamas Petroleum (BPC) asking if, on AIM, anyone gives a toss about the law of the land. Finally I look at Dignity (DTY) where i retain grave concerns.

Standard-listed Australian Canadian gold explorer Panther Metals (PALM) – chaired by Kerim Sener of AIM-listed Ariana Resources (AAU) – has announced another small fundraise, this time £300,000 worth of new shares at 10p a pop to give the company funding “well into 2021” as it progresses its portfolio of gold assets.

The Annual AIM awards were a virtual event this year. So there was no need for 1200 crony capitalists from the City to fork out £150 for a ticket, pour themselves into DJs and party frocks and head off to tell each other how wonderful they all were. The crony capitalists will have to spend cash ultimately leached from mug punter investors elsewhere. What good news for coke suppliers and hookers.

My five slam-dunk sells for 2020 have been all over the place. One headed for the exit as expected but as things stand two are still at bonkers valuations which will surely not last. Will gravity be defied to the end of the year?

Like its AIM-listed little sibling Karelian Diamonds (KDR), fellow AIM-listed Conroy Gold and Natural Resources (CGNR) has had six months to release its FY numbers and waited until no-one-is-watching o’clock on deadline day to admit the grizzly truth. But luckily once again ShareProphets was indeed watching.

AIM-listed Karelian Diamonds (KDR) has had six months to release its full year numbers to the end of May. For a company with no income and operating expenses of €447,000 one can only wonder why it took a full six months to get the numbers out – but the Red Flag of releasing them after everybody in the City has gone home is surely a warning. And so at 6pm last night came the results RNS – no-one-is-watching o’clock. But ShareProphets was watching…..

The bulls are creaming themselves. The shares up by 13% at 40p and the cult-like followers of shameless Neill Ricketts say there are now real revenues from graphene sales. But I think not. The RNS issued by Versarien (VRS) today is utterly disingenuous and no Nomad other than shamed and disgraced fraudsters fave SP Angel would have signed off on it.

Previously writing on castings and engineering company Chamberlin (CMH), in February with the shares at 24p I noted financials & Premier Miton concerns. Today a “Trading Update”… and the shares at 9.5p, a further more than 15% lower on the back of it…

At 6.22pm on Friday – no-one-is-watching o’clock – AIM-listed Immunodiagnostic Systems (IDH) released its Interim results to the end of September. Getting the numbers out in November seems a decent enough effort, but why on Friday night when everybody has gone home for the weekend? My first thought was to wonder what they are hiding……

At 3.11 PM on Friday it was announced that David Ryan will step down from his full-time role as Chief Executive Officer of Powerhouse Energy (PHE) on 30 June 2021. Thereafter he will continue to work for Powerhouse as a consultant at an engineering level. But actually change is happening before next June:

Versarien (VRS) is not generating any meaningful revenues from graphene. At a PLC level it is almost out of cash & its debt facilities are almost maxed out. And so notwithstanding the fact that it already has a Lanstead death spiral in place, it needs to get a placing ahoy. Hence a release today which is almost certainly materially misleading if not a slam dunk lie.

I see that Supply@MECapital’s (SYME) multi-shamed boss, Alessandro Zamboni, has done yet another soft interview with the Sith Lord Zak Mir. Repeated interviews with a man who makes Justin the Clown look like Jeremy Paxman are a strong red flag. You can’t deliver operationally so try to get the ramping away with a man who won’t ask awkward questions. So I asked a bear, who is short, when the shares will stop dribbling lower as they do most days and completely collapse. He said:

As you know we  have been big bears of AIM promote Elecosoft (ELCO). There were so many red flags when we published a major bear report HERE including Stockopedia of Wirecard, Globo & Quindell infamy having it as atop pick, Vox Markets promotion and highly aggressive accounting. They mounted when ElecoSoft started threatening legal action. Since then the chairman and founder has walked and now this.

Yesterday AIM-listed POS Inspirit Energy conceded that Chris Heminway’s call for an EGM had been successful and that a vote on whether to bring Mr Heminway and one other onto the board at the expense of an existing NED will take place on 27^th November. It was also announced that Mr Heminway’s holding had again increased, now to just over 9%. But Inspirit has now played its own hand with a “Product Update”.

So here we are facing a further lockdown in England. This will cause misery to many people and, in my view, will now accelerate the collapse of many businesses. For many it’s going to be painful time and the consequences will be significant. As many say in the waste business – “where there’s much there’s brass”, the same is true of business failures. Begbies Traynor (BEG) has a specialism in business distress and failure and much as I dislike the thought of investment gain from business failure and pain it should not be ignored but either should Tom Winnifrith’s prior warnings about this company.

AIM-listed Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) has announced a fundraise at 30p to raise £7.7 million (before expenses) – as predicted HERE by yours truly. Time for another glass of Ouzo, methinks.

No one’s watching o’clock (after 5pm) is well established for writers on this site. We watch. We read.  Any company that publishes substantive information after this time is immediately red flagged for review. Yesterday at 17:39 ITM Power (ITM) published year to April 2020 results. It also declared a very significant 235p placing of £165 million, corner stoned by Snam S.p.a. What a dilemma!

Gary Newman stuck the knife in to AIM-listed Adamas (ADAM) – of the ShareProphets AIM-China Filthy Forty, no less – at the beginning of September when it announced a share buy-back at a higher price than a placing and open offer first announced in July, but which only completed today – and only partially. If that is not bonkers enough, it seems that a large chunk of the placing cash is yet to arrive. We were told yesterday that:

I have documented over many years what a rotten investment Scancell (SCLP) has been but its spoofing on its quest for a Covid vaccine is one of the biggest red flags fluttering. Today it plunged new depths of spoofery as it announced a collaboration with Cobra Biologics “for Cobra to manufacture Scancell’s COVID-19 vaccine.” Great, except that…

The chairman of Supply@ME Capital (SYME) is an insider dealer, we already knew that the CEO was a market abuser and yesterday it became apparent to all that it is making up its accounting policies as it goes along. Its supposed clients, such as Carrefour, appear to be fiction, and now another email from Alessandro Zamboni surfaces. Oh dear.

And now from Wales, by just 30 yards, it is my new, I hope, weekly video show. This costs 99p per episode, and you can either listen to, or watch, some sparky interviews with  Chris “3 brains” Bailey on his dirty secret, the real economy why UK shares are so cheap, on gold and his 3 top picks. There is also a detailed interview with the boss of AEX Gold (AEXG) who is not really 13 years old plus I discuss a new stock I have bought into heavily and also why Supply@ME Capital (SYME) has this week hoisted its biggest red flag yet, is a scam and is worth 0p. You can access the show HERE

Last night I revealed how, despite being warned that an article with ludicrous price targets for Supply@ME Capital (SYME) shares was fake, the CEO Allessandro Zamboni tweeted it out causing his cretinous followers to pledge to fill their boots today. Last night there was no sign of contrition but, I suspect, my communications with my good friends at the FCA rather focused a few minds.  So this morning we have an RNS admission of fake news from the company. It is not good enough for Zamboni has committed market abuse and should be in jail and it shows his company is a scam.

I noted on Monday how shares in Manolete (MANO) were tanking. So what to do? Natch, issue a panicked trading statement at 4.25 PM on Tuesday to reverse the rot. An unscheduled trading statement in the face of a sliding share price is always a bit of a red flag. And this statement was a total horror in the way that it boasted of the settlement of a major claim. It only serves to show how utterly aggressively this company presents its accounts and thus why you’d be bonkers to own the shares.

When it comes to this enterprise, Iron Maiden was, as was often the case, bang on the money. Last week, Dozens Savings PLC made the following announcement:

No doubt moronic shareholders in Supply@ME Capital (SYME) will urge it and its boss to sue me for libel. Bring it on baby! See you in Court Bitchez! This is a situation where surely the FCA has to act.

It looks as though the fun is finally over at Cynical Bear’s favourite, Mark Gustafson’s Standard-listed Challeneger Acquisitions (CHAL) for this morning the shares in the carcass of failed Big Wheels were suspended pending an RTO. Quite what Cindrigo Energy thinks it is doing taking on up to £560,000 of Challenger’s creditors and overheads, plus the costs of the RTO I am less sure of.

Last week I demonstrated beyond any doubt that Verditek (VDTK) had deliberately lied to investors to raise bailout funding as you can see HERE. But it is not alone… welcome to the sordid world of Mike Walters, aka Old Mother Walters. He was once my idol.

Yet another Red Flag was hoisted above AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.) Towers this morning as it announced its pleasure at appointing SP Angel as Nomad/Broker. Whilst I have little time for any Nomad, surely ex-appointee Shore Capital carried a little more gravitas than the Nomad to Versarian (VRS) and Eurasia Mining (EUA) not to mentiuon the MySquar )MYSQ) fraud where it turned a blind eye to crime, and SP Angel’s broker side has been hit with the scandal at Skinbiotherapeutics (SBTX). But did Shore Capital walk, or was it pushed?

Shares in Verditek (VDTK) have been pumped up to 18p, capitalising it at £52 million, on the back of supposed order wins. But this company is a serial liar in that regard. Its finances are shot so why does anyone buy into the nonsense?

AIM-listed alternative energy supplier Yu Group (YU.) yesterday offered up a half-year trading statement ahead of interims on Wednesday 30 September (deadline day to avoid suspension – a bit of a Red Flag). Having always advertised plenty of cash but turning out to be running short in the net current assets department, is it any different this time? I fear not…..

A letter arrived this morning. What is so unusual? Well, for starters, it is dated Monday – not last Monday, but Monday in two days’ time! Someone has got H G Wells’ Time Machine. But that was not the only curiosity……..

Jeepers he must have been sober to have fallen in love with this shite. In today's podcast I look at Versarien (VRS), TrakM8 (TRAK), ADM Energy (ADME), San Leon Energy (SLE) and Catenae (CTEA). Now go and have a butchers at MineProphets and book your ticket (just £2.99) now HERE.

On 5th June I flagged up that AIM-listed POS Inspirit Energy (INSP) had again failed to file its Confirmation Statement (the new Annual Return) to Companies House by the due date of 30 March 2020. I repeated the call on June 8^th and June 16. Well, here we are on June 28^th and there is still no filing! Hello……is there anybody there….?

A new research house specialising in AIM stocks launches today with a damning 100+ page report on Elecosoft (ELCO), a darling of the Casino. Shares in this company are rated highly by Stockopedia (always a red flag), and are being pushed aggressively to retail investors via outfits such as Vox. But the report from Ciphersense Research is damning. Related party deals, uber aggressive accounting, shocking corporate gvernance, executive greed, a rotating door of FDs, pointless acquisitions, failure to file subsidiary accounts. All is exposed.

Worthless new media POS Iconic (ICON) is promoted on the strengths of its three Directors John Quinlan, Liam Harrington and Sam Asante in social media as the extract from page 38 of the prospectus indicates:

That monstrously overvalued jam-tomorrow AIM-listed investment company Tern plc (TERN) did not announce or explain why its Auditor disappeared is already a Red Flag. But looking through the Annual Report prepared under new Auditor Nexia Smith Williamson raises more questions – and a huge giant-sized Red Flag for this particular non-auditor.

AIM-listed lifestyle company Karelian Diamonds (KDR) has issued what must be the most ludicrously ramptastic RNS this morning. It is, and has been for ages, technically insolvent and yet this morning it has issued a statement telling the market that it has been granted new diamond exploration reservations in Finland. Given that it has no money, or at least it has negative net current assets last measured at MINUS EUR 1 million as at last November, what’s the point? It can’t explore what it already has!

Grossly overvalued AIM-listed jam-tomorrow investment company Tern plc (TERN) finds itself if the dock today. The full Annual Report for 2019 has finally been published – and buried in the usual waffle we find that a new Auditor was appointed. Now according to the rules, this should have been notified at companies house– but there is no sign of that anywhere. Specifically, there should be a statement from the previous auditor as to the circumstances of its removal and it is a shocker to find no such notification. This raises all sorts of questions.

I start with the arrival of 20 fruit trees at the Welsh Hovel then look at the economic hit of the Government's Coronavirus policy and ask if it was really worth it? Then I do the work on the RNS statements issued by Ascent Resources (AST) and Iconic (ICON) that their advisers should have done but failed to do. Needless to say there are massive questions that need ansewering. Finally a look at the valuation of Novacyt (NCYT). I have seen this sort of thing before and it is bonkers.

For a small company, Octagonal (OCT) seems to get through more auditors at a rapid pace with no less than 3 different firms of auditors for the listed entity in the last five years and two changes of auditors for each of the principal subsidiaries.  

AIM-listed Yu Group (YU.) has offered up a Covid-19 statement and delayed its results, mindful of the recent request from the Financial Conduct Authority. Except that the FCA’s request as per its RNS released ended with This statement does not apply to AIM companies. Do I smell a rat? You bet!

Chris Bailey and I have warned repeatedly that Cineworld (CINE) looks to be a car crash and may well go bust. In the good times it has racked up vast debts and now we are all self isolating and its movie theatres are empty. It is a recipe for disaster. And so we turn to NED Helen Weir.

Yes folks, it is time for an update on my five slam-dunk sells for 2020 – and the writing is on the wall as the anti-portfolio slides. At the end of January the score was an overall drop of 9.8% on a bid to bid basis. One month on the slippage has accelerated amongst my five picks from the AIM Casino, namely Tern (TERN), URU Metals (URU), AIM-China Filthy Forty play Walcom (WALG), Catenae Innovation (CTEA) and Yu Group (YU.)

In today's podcast I first discuss the denial of some Versarien (VRS) poltroons wilfully misquiting Patrick Abbott in the whistleblower podcast. Then I turn to what it means for a company to be insolvent and why that is not necessarily trading whilst insolvent. Finally back to Versarien and Neill Ricketts trying to silence a critic using the Police. A) given the way he eggs on the mob to harass me and my wife this is nauseating hypocrisy, b) the Police do not have a leg to stand on and I urge the critic to keep posting so the Police look like fascist arseholes, c) it shows just how desprate Lyin' Neill has become and as such this is a massive red flag.

There will be some who say that shorting a stock because it is exposed to the fallout from Coronavirus and what may well soon be a global pandemic is Tasteless. They probably have no such complaints about going long of a company with a test for the product. I am sure we all pray that this human tragedy ends soon. But the reality is that right now it is growing and, notwithstanding today’s sell-off, many of us reckon the market in certain stocks fails massively to discount the downside risks.

Tom Winnifrith has already taken his sup from the ouzo bottle with regard to seeing David Sefton “resigned” from Iconic Labs (ICON) and called it insolvent. In a statement at 4.08pm on Friday – no-one-is-watching o’clock – which was littered with Red Flags, we were told that the company’s business is now generating revenues and starting to achieve real growth but it plans a capital restructuring and has agreed a new death spiral as it is not currently possible to raise conventional capital. So that’s alright then! And courtesy of ShareProphets Nomad Services I forecast a correction first thing tomorrow for it seems someone did rather too well at lunchtime on Friday.

One of the signs that all is not well at a plc is when directors pile in for share purchases of a poxy amount to try to show confidence. And that brings me to Future plc (FUTR) which has been on the receiving end of a duffing up by our own Tom Winnifrith and the Dark Destroyer Matt Earl at Shadowfall. Of course, as Tom Winnifrith points out, Future’s response would have made the US fraudster-turned-fraudbuster Sam Antar proud: the report and criticisms were totally ignored.

AIM-listed Haydale Graphene Industries (HAYD) offered up a pretty grim trading statement this morning showing that sales at its US unit were materially below those of H1 2019 during H1 2020. Oopsie. Meanwhile UK operations suffered from longer than anticipated lead times and sales fell short of directors’ expectations. Double oopsie. And the company has shuttered its Taiwan operation which will lead to a revenue shortfall in H2 of around £0.4 million. Triple oopsie – and now we are told that full year sales will come in below market expectations (whatever they are). What’s not to like?!

If you ask the bear community for its top 4 shorts on AIM certain companies seem to feature in almost every list….