The Telegraph: Iran struck US military bases in the Middle East on Thursday in retaliation for fresh American strikes against the country. The IRGC said it had targeted “key infrastructure and facilities” at US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Blasts were heard in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, while Kuwait reported intercepting “hostile missile and drone attacks”.
Comment: Unfortunately the only thing worse than a pointless conflict is apparently no conflict. But at least the insider traders on long oil, short equities had a decent heads up in recent days and so will have made good money. It is all about whether the TACO trade comes in again to now short crude oil and buy the dip in stocks? Probably.
Quantum Blockchain Technologies plc (QBT), the AIM-listed investment company focused principally on a research and development (“R&D”) programme within blockchain technology, announces that one of its R&D teams has developed a ‘ mathematical only’ variant of Method B, which improves the performance of the winning hash generation without requiring the learning phase which is normally used in guiding the mining strategy of the ASIC. This approach uses ‘Chaos Mathematics’, which has been studied and applied by one of the leading researchers in the R&D team for several decades and across a variety of applications. The Company has been able to successfully adapt this concept to analyse the hashes generated by the SHA-256 algorithm. Extensive in-depth modelling has been performed over the last six months, which has led to identifying winning hashes through stable regularities in the SHA-256 hashes outputs, despite their uniform distribution.
Comment: The only part of the RNS from QBT that most readers will probably understand is what R&D stands for. Otherwise, we have the admission that the company remains a science experiment, and that while it is still getting there, it has not got to where most investors might want it to be. Anyone remember the saying only invest what you understand. So at least Tesla, Einstein and Newton should be shareholders in QBT.
Playtech plc (PTEC) reported excellent trading for the period from 1 January 2026 to 30 June 2026. Playtech’s trading has delivered results significantly ahead of market expectations, driven by excellent performance in the US and continued strength in Mexico, Colombia and certain European markets. The performance in the Americas, as consistently flagged since the start of the year, continued to accelerate through May and June. As such, the Company expects H1 2026 Adjusted EBITDA to be over €155 million.
Comment: Although a somewhat mixed bag, the update has sided with the bulls and cash flow coming in, for a period that many in the space seem to be flourishing in. While there are clearly headwinds, the nature of the game, the shares are only mid-range, even after today’s near 20% jump.
B HODL Plc (AQUIS: HODL), the first British company founded to Buy, Hold, Deploy and Compound Bitcoin, announces that the Board has resolved to commence a share buyback programme pursuant to the shareholder authorisation received on 6 February 2026. The Directors note the discount to net asset value at which the Company’s Ordinary Shares currently trade and consider that the prevailing share price does not reflect the value of the Company’s Bitcoin treasury, operating activities, or long-term prospects.
Comment: HODL was a special situation as far as the Bitcoin Treasury brigade towards the end of last month, and this continues to be the case. The key here was and is that the company made sure it was well funded. Given the cooling in the space, this cash is well deployed in addressing the heavy discount the shares are currently trading at.
Bango (BGO), today provides the following update on trading for the six months ending 30 June 2026 (1H26). The Board is pleased to report another period of strong recurring revenue growth and improved profitability. Annual Recurring Revenue1 increased by 31%, Adjusted EBITDA grew 34% and Cash EBITDA reached $3.7M in the first half, exceeding the $2.3M delivered during the whole of FY25. The Board remains confident of delivering FY26 in line with market expectations.
Comment: Perhaps because of the comedy name, or the lack of any meaningful PR / IR we have seen shares of BGO falter in the recent past. Indeed, even after today’s upbeat update, this may remain the case, despite the very kind and altruistic mention here today.
Kendrick Resources (KEN) announced the discovery of high-grade rare earth element carbonatite mineralisation hosted within breccia at the Teufelskuppe Carbonatite Complex, further reinforcing TK’s potential as a significant rare earth development project and an emerging strategic supply opportunity for free-market economies. The newly identified breccia comprises an estimated 40% by volume of high-gradeLREO dominant carbonatite, sourced from adjacent mineralised carbonatite bodies. This discovery has the potential to materially enhance the Company’s resource growth profile through the delineation of a significant volume of high-grade mineralised breccia located close to surface.
Comment: After being very kind to KEN as being the biggest riser of the year on the London market, it could be said that the company should be treated with even more kindness, given the progress being made on the exploration front. I was told that KEN could be a 10 bagger even from current levels, this still appears to be a realistic probability over the next 12 months.
GSTechnologies Limited (GST), the fintech company, announced that it has entered into an investment agreement with Wide Ascent Limited in relation to a proposed strategic investment in Sodales AI Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based artificial intelligence company established to develop and commercialise an enterprise-scale Agentic Artificial Intelligence Operating System.
Comment: GST is finessing the recent positive funding news with this latest move, something which should give the market more confidence in the strategy of the company in terms of turning into a serious fintech play.
Kazera Global plc (KZG), the AIM-quoted investment company, is extremely pleased to announce that its South African subsidiary, Whale Head Minerals (Pty) Ltd, has entered into a long-term Mining Cooperation and Production Sharing Agreement with South Africa AT Investments (Pty) Ltd establishing a fully funded strategic partnership for the development of the Company’s flagship Heavy Mineral Sands project.
Comment: The newsflow at KZG continues to impress, as does the recovery in the share price. What is interesting here is whether the doubling of the share price since April can continue? The words “fully funded” do suggest that there is more to come.
Insig AI plc (INSG), a leading provider of AI-led data infrastructure and machine learning solutions, has been notified that, Richard Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer has purchased 200,000 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in the Company at an average price of 13.5 pence per Ordinary Share. Following the purchase, Mr Bernstein’s shareholding stands at 22,450,000 Ordinary Shares, which represents 17.6% of Insig AI’s current total voting rights.
Comment: It used to be the case that you could rely on death and taxes, but these days even these things are not always certain. Instead, we can certainly rely on Richard Bernstein buying more shares in INSG. This is especially pertinent given that way that the shares are currently not far off recent support.
RC Fornax (RCFX), UK-based consultancy delivering outcome-based engineering solutions to the defence sector’s most critical platforms, provided an update on client engagement. Following a comprehensive and competitive bidding process, the Company has been selected by Thales UK Limited to join a highly selective Niche Supplier Framework to supply packages of engineering services work for Sonar and Naval Architecture. The agreement covers a period of three years with an option for a further two-year extension.
Comment: Given where the shares are at the bottom of an ever decreasing range, it is perhaps more than welcome that RCFX has a decent announcement to deliver today. It is also to be hoped than more than the RNS Hotlist has spotted it.
East Star Resources Plc (EST), the Kazakhstan-focused gold and copper exploration and development company, announced the commencement of drilling at the Verkhuba Copper Deposit, as part of its Joint Venture (“JV”) with Hong Kong Xinhai Mining Services Ltd. A programme of approximately 5,000 metres of diamond core drilling has commenced.
Comment: This is big stuff on the drilling front from EST, something which is underlined by the way that the shares have remained at the highs, after a strong build in recent months. Not sure whether I would do business with a Hong Kong entity, but hey, needs must when the devil drives. Above 4p the chart hints at as much as 6p as soon as the end of next month.
Disclaimer & Declaration of Interest:
The information, investment views, and recommendations in this Zaks Traders Cafe interview are provided for general information purposes only. Nothing in this interview should be construed as a promotion or solicitation to buy or sell any financial product relating to any companies under discussion or referred to or to engage in or refrain from doing so or engage in any other transaction. Any opinions or comments are made to the best of the knowledge and belief of the commentator but no responsibility is accepted for actions based on such opinions or comments. The commentators may or may not hold investments in the companies under discussion.
