Evil Diaries

Chris Blackhurst has come up trumps with his article in yesterday’s Evening Standard covering the curious position in which Tom Hayes, languishing in jail, convicted of conspiracy, has no identifiable conspirators. I would have thought that the time has come for the authorities entirely to review this affair: http://www.standard.co.uk/business/chris-blackhurst-did-jailed-libor-fixer-tom-hayes-really-conspire-with-himself-a3172076.html ***** Foxtons (FOXT) yesterday reported surprisingly…

The Iowa primaries put me in mind of the cancer patient in New York City who was told that he had just six months to live and advised to go to Iowa. He queried as to how being in Iowa could lengthen his life. “Oh it won’t. It’ll just feel like it.” Perhaps tonight’s outcome…

Proxama (PROX) have updated on current cash and trading. It’s okay even if not detailed. I think it is a tad surprising that the shares are not up on the news. But one can’t have everything. ***** Amazon (AMZN) seems to me to have been unnaturally deified. Yesterday evening, after hours, the price got zonked.…

I sold TalkTalk (TALK) at 205p since I do not see their way out. ***** But I discounted the placing rumour at Pantheon (PANR), since that is already in the price, and bought again. ***** I think I see that the LibDems propose half price tube fares for Tube journeys started before 7.30 a.m. This…

I shorted Petroceltic at 18p. It was not easy to borrow stock – I had to pay 5% p.a. Some may think this foolish in the light of the extraordinarily improved price of oil and the bid approach from Worldview, who already hold 29.9%. But the fact is that although the debt due under its…

Pantheon (PANR) this morning sort of explained current delays. Now 86p, it might yet prove very cheap. ***** Foxtons (FOXT) keep on buying back their stock. This is weird given its loss-making prospects. The same goes for Mitie (MTO). ***** My long oil trade has started to go the right way. It was showing a…

Today’s Daily Mail features the rumour that Amazon will tie up and/or bid for Ocado (OCDO). I sold short again in the opening auction at 252p and OCDO is now 287p. I cannot for the life of me see why Amazon would be even slightly interested in this proposition. ***** I have gone long oil (at…

Poor old Neil Woodford. The investing public have really got it in for him now. He’s an example of the longstanding observation that first they put you on a pedestal and then they knock you down. His investment in Circassia (CIR) seems to be another example. Anyway, it seems that there is nothing in this…

Having spent an hour or so on Monday filling up with Pantheon (PANR) at 140p, I put the delay in flow rate test RNSs down to the difficulty of gauging just how much was down there. Yesterday morning it transpired that something had probably gone wrong with the “mud”. This is a chemical concoction forced…

I understand that the Shell bid for BG (BG.) will not go through. BG is now 926p. ***** Yesterday’s MoS extolled Redt Energy (RED). I now understand that RED’s batteries work on liquid vanadium and are nothing to do with lithium. How vanadium can be liquid goodness only knows. But that is what it’s about.…