The Times: Shares in Nvidia, the chip giant and world’s largest company, have fallen in “after hours” trading after chief executive Jensen Huang admitted he had an affair with a suspected Chinese spy. Nvidia said late last night that it had started an internal inquiry, assisted by outside legal counsel, into Huang, the driving force behind the chipmaker, which is valued at $4.5trn. Huang had previously denied that he had anything but a “normal” professional relationship with Alice Huang, who the US government suspects was likely to have been recruited by a Chinese spy agency. Nvidia had originally insisted that their interactions were “nothing unusual or unexpected”.
Comment: It really was a normal, professional (affair) relationship. But aside from the family hurt caused and embarrassment last only equalled at last year’s Coldplay kiss cam scandal, everyone knows that the Chinese already know everything about us, and that all of its citizens can be co-opted to the cause.
Blackbird plc (BIRD), the technology licensor, developer and seller of the market-leading cloud native video editing platform, Blackbird, and developer of the collaborative online video editing platform elevate.io, announces that Sumit Rai has been appointed as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Ian McDonough, with effect from 6th November 2026. Ian McDonough remains an employee and director of the Company. Sumit Rai has served as the Company’s Chief Product Officer since 2022, leading the design and development of elevate.io. He will now assume responsibility for all of the Company’s operations and businesses.
Comment: What a shocker. Ian McDonough not being CEO at BIRD, like John Lennon leaving the Beatles, or even worse, Kevin Rowland leaving Dexys Midnight Runners. It is also the case it could be argued that he will have been something of a Moses figure at the company, taking elevate.io to the Promised Land, but not being there to enjoy the full success. That said, it would appear that his successor is well qualified for the job.
Halo Minerals plc (HALO), the copper development company focused on recovering critical minerals from legacy mining waste, announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Minera Playa Verde SpA ("MPV"), has been granted a provisional mining easement (servidumbre provisoria) for the Playa Verde Copper Tailings Project (the “Project”). HALO said, "The granting of the mining easement is another important step in de-risking Playa Verde and progressing the Project towards development. We are also very encouraged by the level of engagement that we have been seeing across the financing process, with a number of potential funding partners accessing our virtual data room, alongside active discussions with established metals traders on potential off-take and marketing arrangements. This is a further testament to quality and upside that we believe is inherent at our Playa Verde project. With permitting, financing and commercial work-streams all advancing, our priority is to maintain this momentum towards FID and ultimately construction.”
Comment: HALO continues to underline that it is closest to production amongst its peers on the London market, albeit that the company has unique assets and is arguably uniquely undervalued off the back of this state of affairs. Logically, one would expect the run up to FID to market a rallying point for the shares.
First Class Metals PLC (FCM) , the UK listed company focused on the discovery of economic metal deposits across its exploration properties in Ontario, Canada, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an unsecured loan facility (the “Facility”) of up to £1 million with, an international investment firm. The Facility provides additional working capital flexibility to maintain the required exploration momentum at Sunbeam following the Company’s exceptional recent results. It is intended to bridge the timing of expected receipts under the Kerrs Gold agreement with nGRND Inc.
Comment: The difference between the new FCM and the old one, say a year or more ago, is the way that the company has access to capital. Indeed, one could argue that this will be the decisive positive factor for the company going forward, a point underlined by the nature of the latest RNS.
Ondine Biomedical Inc. (OBI), the leader in light-activated antimicrobial therapies to prevent and treat hospital infections, announces new laboratory findings demonstrating no development of resistance to methylene blue photodisinfection (“MB-aPDT”) following 20 repeated sub-lethal exposure cycles against multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ("S. aureus”) strains including high-priority pathogens, MRSA, VISA and LRSA. The data were presented as an oral presentation, titled ‘Assessment of Resistance and Cross-Resistance following Sequential Exposures to MB-aPDT’, at the 6th International Photodynamic Therapy and Photodiagnosis Symposium (“PDT 2026”) in Nancy, France. OBI said, “We designed this investigation involving high-priority pathogens to assess whether repeated sub-lethal exposure would select for reduced susceptibility in these multidrug-resistant strains under controlled laboratory conditions. Under the same serial-exposure protocol, bacteria exposed to the comparator antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, developed resistance to that antibiotic. In contrast, after 20 consecutive MB-aPDT exposure cycles, we detected no reduction in susceptibility to MB-aPDT and no consistent reduction in susceptibility to the antibiotics tested.”
Comment: Even someone with a 44 year old Biology O Level knows that OBI’s technology is better than fighting a losing fight against antibiotic resistance, and yet the company keeps giving us the data. It would appear that those folks with rather more than an out of date O Level / GCSE, require further evidence as to the efficacy of light based therapies, and hence are wasting time in terms of the roll out which is sorely needed.
Oxford BioDynamics Plc (OBD), the 3D Genomics Company, provides the following operational update ahead of its annual report and accounts for the year ended 30 September 2026.
Highlights: Continued growth in EpiSwitch PSE volumes, milestone of 500 tests in a month reached in September 2026 Approximately 4,200 PSE tests sold in the year ended 30 September 2026, 124% increase year-on-year. FY26 revenue of £1.65m (FY25: £1.10m). Cash and cash equivalents of £7.4m at 30 September 2026. Appointment of Richard Compton as CEO announced 30 June 2026. First agreement for EpiSwitch Orion with pharmaceutical partner, with Johnson & Johnson, announced 5 November 2026. EpiSwitch Orion early access programme underway ahead of full release at the Festival of Genomics in January 2027, with proof-of-principle proposals issued to leading genomics programmes. Results from blinded colorectal cancer study shared with a multinational healthcare partner; Company will engage with multiple potential partners on funding the next stage of EpiSwitch NST.
Comment: I believe that there was a very timely and coincidental article including OBD as recently as yesterday, once again underlining how the finger is very much on the pulse as far as this company is concerned. Once again we are reminded that OBD is at an inflection point, THE inflection point. Indeed, one could say that the new CEOs first 100 days are more likely to deliver a positive result than the first 100 days of our unelected Prime Minister with his non-mandated policies.
Zenith Energy Ltd. (ZEN), the listed international energy production and development company, provides an update in relation to the approximately US$573 million international arbitration being pursued by Zenith's UK subsidiaries against the Republic of Tunisia before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") under the 1989 bilateral investment treaty between the United Kingdom and Tunisia (the “ICSID Arbitration”). Following the Republic of Tunisia’s persistent failure to meet its payment obligations throughout the ICSID Arbitration, ICSID has again requested Tunisia to pay its outstanding share of the ICSID Arbitration costs. This procedural development reflects Tunisia’s continued non-compliance with its financial obligations and ICSID’s efforts to ensure that such non-compliance does not impede the continued progression of the ICSID Arbitration towards a final award.
Comment: Given that most of us know that the Tunisians enjoy doing their own thing, especially with foreign owned assets on their land, it is not surprising that they are not in the mood to throw good money (?) after bad in a losing case. Their hope is that the claimant runs out of cash or gives up. That ain’t going to happen.
Delta Gold Technologies PLC (Aquis: DGQ) announced that today, 9 November 2026, marks the first day of trading in the Company's ordinary shares on the Apex segment of the Aquis Growth Market, operated by Aquis Exchange. The Company has met the eligibility criteria for the transfer of its ordinary shares from the Access segment to the Apex segment. Apex is the top tier of the Aquis Growth Market, designed for larger and more established growth companies that are executing on a clear growth strategy and that apply higher standards of governance, transparency and market engagement. It is intended to support improved liquidity and broader institutional investor interest. R. Michael Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Delta Gold Technologies, commented: "We are delighted that Delta Gold has qualified to move to the Apex segment of the Aquis Growth Market. We look forward to continuing to develop and protect foundational intellectual property in quantum materials and to advancing commercial pathways in quantum sensing, quantum communications and quantum computing. This is an important milestone that reflects the substantial progress made since our Admission in December 2025, including the expansion of our sponsored research programmes at the University of Toronto and The Pennsylvania State University, the filing of patent applications, and the strengthening of our financial position. Apex status will enhance the Company's visibility to institutional and international investors, support greater liquidity, and demonstrate our commitment to high standards of corporate governance and orderly markets."
Comment: It could be said that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a company to list on the Apex segment of the Aquis Growth Market. But it is not. Hot foot from its appearance at the excellent Aquis Showcase, we see DGQ make the grade. Having listened to the presentation (and subsequent share price reaction) I would say that the company should have asked anyone else to do it (or just not presented). But there we are. Someone rather more familiar with Aquis stocks, like someone who actually listed one, hosting the event might also have helped.
Galantas Gold Corporation (GAL) announces positive results from its first drill hole at Andacollo Gold project in Chile. The ongoing 15,000-meter drill program, currently with two rigs, is designed to increase confidence in the Mineral Resource, provide infill drilling for the mine plan under development, and test new exploration targets. The first hole (AN26001) was drilled in the Tres Perlas pit area and had the objective of increasing confidence in the manto-hosted gold resource. Gold and total copper assays have been received while soluble copper and cyanide-soluble copper assays are still pending.
Comment: Although shares of GAL have flatlined since the spring, the difference here between the company and many of its peers is that it has actually maintained chunky 200% share price gains for the year. GAL also has a rather more significant market cap that most of its explorer / developer peers at approaching £200m. The main difference here is that unlike many others the market is being relatively patient and supportive as it proves up its assets.