IC Insider has ranked the teams in the quarter finals and make its forecast based on the preliminary round performance of the teams. Brazil the number 4 ranked team should have the better of the number 10 team, Chile with the latter scoring 5 goals and conceding 3 versus Brazil with an 8 to 2 superior record. Holland with 10 goals for and 3 against should have the better of Mexico with a 4 for 1 record, but this is not expected to be a walk over as the Mexicans demonstrated in the preliminary rounds that they don’t intend to quit easily.
Columbia’s 9 goals for and 2 against should, on paper place them ahead of Uruguay the number 13 ranked team with 4 and 4 but the latter performance in their last two matches suggests that it could go either way. Costa Rica looks as if they will progress to the next round over Greece who only won one match and have a negative goal difference with only two goals being scored by them. Costa Rica 4 goals and one against was achieved in one of the toughest groups. France the IC insider’s number 3 team should be too good for the number 15 team, Nigeria, the same is true for Germany IC Insider ranked number 5 team who should do away with Algeria the number 12 team. Argentina the number 6 team should blow away the Swiss team who are ranked at 11 with 7 goals for and 6 against compared to 6 to 3 for Argentina. Belgium on paper should have the better of the USA having had a superior goal difference and what a appears a more solid defense but the USA team seems to have a better goal hungry approach, if the latter can do better in defense than their last two encounters they look as if they are in with a good chance of winning.
Archives for June 2014
2014 World Cup Quarter finals forecast
World Cup IC TOP 10 teams
At the mid-way point of the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals, the appropriate ranking of the various teams are best gleaned. The FIFA system of ranking teams is clearly flawed, with some of the top teams booted from the competition at a very early stage and others that were low on the list ending up in the 16 to contest the quarter finals. The get a better picture of what is likely to be a better ranking, 
IC Insider decided to use the data up to the mid-way point to rank the teams and arrive at the IC TOP 10. The TOP 10 rankings are listed in the accompanying table and shows the FIFA June ranking for comparison purposes. The winner for this year’s World Cup seems set to come from within the top 6 but Columbia appears the weakest of the lot but could well go far.
FIFA number 1 team Spain won just one match after they were eliminated from this year’s World Cup finals, the number 10 team, England never even won a match. The number 9 ranked team, Italy, managed just one win and bowed out of the tournament at the end of the preliminary round. The number 4th ranked team Portugal is also out of the top 16. The 28th team Costa Rica won all their matches against FIFA’s 7th, 9th and 10th ranked teams. The team that was ranked at 44, Nigeria, is in the top 16. Korea Republic was ranked at 57 did better than many ranked above them and so is the case with Iran that was ranked at 43, Ghana was ranked at 37 and is out of the top 16 but ended up at 23 based on IC Insider’s ranking.
Market inches up on Friday
In Friday’s trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange the prices of 8 stocks rose and 5 declined as 20 securities changed hands resulting in 1,746,200 shares trading valued at $24,040,907.
Main Market| The JSE Market Index gained just 56.60 points to 70,096.77 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite moved up a mere 63.30 points to end at 77,089.13.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Jamaica Broilers with 1,229 units to close with a gain of 3 cents at $4.60, Pan Jamaican Investment 310,586 shares, gaining 5 cents to close at $48.06, Sagicor Group with 1,000 shares to close of 50 cents higher at $9, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 14,350 shares to close with a gain of 2 cents at $6.10, Scotia Group with 403,811 shares closed 1 cents higher at $19.
Firm| The stocks in the main market to close without a change in price are Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 15,900 shares closing at $6.70, Kingston Wharves 20,295 units changing hands to close at $5.02, Proven Investments 3,790 units to close at 18 US cents, Pulse Investments 60,000 units to close at 30 cents.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 35,500 units to close at $3.03 and Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 2,000 units to close at $5.08.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Barita Investments with 15,976 units as the price slipped 13 cents to close at $2.20, Cable & Wireless with 480,786 shares to lose 3 cents in closing at 31 cents, Caribbean Cement 22,040 units as the price lost 20 cents to close at $2.30 and National Commercial Bank ended at $18.01 for a 2 cents fall, as 21,322 units traded.
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index edged up by 11.44 points to close at 720.30 with only 5 securities traded, with 3 advancing and 1 declining.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market are Caribbean Producers with 1,000 units to close with a 5 cents increase at $2.70, Lasco Distributors with 48,000 units to gain 10 cents to end at $1.30 and Lasco Manufacturing with 276,875 shares as it gained 4 cents to end at $1.10.
Firm Trades| The only stock in the junior market stocks that traded to close at the same price as the previous trading day is Lasco Financial Services with 3,000 units to close at $1.
Declines| Dolphin Cove traded 8,740 units to close at $8.50 while shedding a cent, was the only stock in the junior market to decline.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 5 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
Trading jumps but 3 price change
Activity picked up considerably on Friday, on the Trinidad stock market, with 15 securities changing hands at the end of trading, compared to only 4 that traded on Thursday. In Friday’s trading two stocks advanced, one declined and 12 traded firm as 174,173 stock units changed hands, with a value of $6,753,205.
The Composite Index rose by just 0.27 points to close at 1,166.06, the All T&T Index inched up by a mere 0.02 points to close at 2,011.83 and the Cross Listed Index increased by a miniscule 0.07 points to end at 41.93.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close of trading are National Commercial Bank traded 8,617 shares with a value of $9,429 as the price was up 2 cents at $1.10, Unilever Caribbean with 546 shares, increased by 4 cents to end the day at $62.24 for a new 52 weeks high.
Declines| The only stock declining at the end of trading is Clico Investment Fund with 760 units valued at $16,340 and declined by 10 cents to end at $21.50.
Firm Trades| Stocks closing with prices unchanged at the end of trading Angostura Holdings with 200 units to close at $12.75, Ansa Merchant Bank 160 shares to close at $39.03, Firstcaribbean International Bank with 2,000 shares to close at $5, First Citizens Bank with 143,105 shares changing hands for a value of $5,008,675, closing at $35, Guardian Holdings 868 shares to close at $4.30, National Enterprises with 1,414 shares closed at $18.76, National Flour Mills had 2000 shares changing hands to close at $1, Neal & Massy with 489 shares changed hands to close at $68.95, Point Lisas Industrial Port Development traded 242 units to close at $4.15, Sagicor Financial Corporation with 600 share closed at $6.69, Republic Bank had a volume of 10,672 shares traded for $1,291,312 to close at $121, while West Indian Tobacco added 2,500 shares valued at $294,997 to end at $118.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower.
J$112.15 to buy the US dollar
Dealers sold more US dollars than they bought on Friday helping to push the value of the Jamaican down to the lowest levels on record at J$112.15 to US dollar as the local currency lost value against all three major currencies.
Overall, the total inflows of funds was slightly higher than the outflows, with the equivalent of US$32,458,785 purchased, to US$31,869,468 sold compared to the equivalent of US$27,672,890 bought and $27,581,379 sold on the previous trading day. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$24,215,389 compared to US$23,556,430 on Thursday as the buying rate for the US dollar rose by 11 cents to $111.54 and sold US$26,206,729 versus US$24,262,138 on Thursday with the rate closing up 12 cents at $112.15.
The Canadian dollar buying rate increased by 39 cents to $104.34 with dealers buying C$4,167,477 and selling C$3,710,374 as the rate rose by 4 cents to end at $104.92.
The Pound closed at $189.09 for the purchase of £2,472,622, the rate rose $1.05, while £1,192,484 was sold, the rate climbed by 68 cents to $191.18. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$153,206 while selling accounted for the equivalent of just US$158,485.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar fell 5 cents to $112.55, the lowest buying rate of $91.02 and the highest selling rate of $116.63 were unchanged at the end of trading but the lowest rate climbed $18.19 to of $109.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 47 cents to $105.45, in the meantime the lowest buying rate rose 13 cents at $82.63, the highest selling rate fell by 71 cents to $106.86 and lowest selling rate dropped 50 cents to $99.
The highest buying rate for the British Pound increased 30 cents to $191.30 while the lowest buying rate inched up 4 cents to $151.93. The highest selling rate of $195.86 remained unchanged and the lowest selling rate was up 20 cents to $183.25.
Go Pro up 27% end of opening day
GoPro, Inc. gained 27 percent on its IPO debut, closing at US$31.45 after it had traded as high as US$33 during the first day of trading on the NASDDAQ exchange. The stock opened at $24.
The company manufactures and sells camera and camera accessories. It provides mountable and wearable cameras and accessories, which it refers to as capture devices. The company sells products through retailers, wholesale distributors and on the website. GoPro was founded on February 14, 2004 and is headquartered in San Mateo, CA. In 2013 revenues were just under a billion dollars with profits at $44 million.
J$ crosses $112 mark for first time
Dealers sold US$24,262,138 on Thursday at a record high of J$112.03 to US$1 as the selling rate rose by 4 cents compared to the closing rate on Wednesday. The Canadian dollar also gained against the local currency but the Jamaican dollar gained against the British Pound. Inflows and outflows were almost even, with the equivalent of US$27,672,890 purchased, to US$27,581,379 sold compared to the equivalent of US$29,420,890 bought and $30,842,690 sold on the previous trading day. In US dollar trading, dealers bought US$23,556,430 compared to US$24,714,017 on Wednesday as the buying rate for the US dollar slipped by a cent to $111.43 and sold US$24,262,138 versus US$27,513,720 on Wednesday with the rate closing up 4 cents at $112.03.
The Canadian dollar buying rate increased by $1.51 to $103.95 with dealers buying C$2,340,981 and selling C$2,655,428 as the rate rose by 39 cents to end at $104.89.
The Pound closed at $188.04, for the purchase of £1,066,780, the rate fell back $1.01, while £460,546 was sold, with the rate easing by 18 cents to $190.50. Other currencies bought, amounted to the equivalent of US$132,656 while selling accounted for the equivalent of just US$49,931.
Highs & Lows| The highest rate for buying the US dollar rose 10 cents to $112.60, the lowest buying rate of $91.02, the highest selling rate at $116.63 and the lowest rate of $90.81 were all unchanged at the end of Thursday’s trading.
The highest buying rate for the Canadian dollar rose 28 cents to $104.98, in the meantime the lowest buying rate remained unchanged at $82.50, the highest selling rate rose by $1.21 to $107.57 and lowest selling rate rose 10 cents to $99.50.
The highest buying rate for the Pound increased 5 cents to $191 while the lowest buying rate fell back by $7.32 to $151.89. The highest selling rate rose by $2.63 to $195.86 and the lowest selling rate was up 5 cents to $183.05.
Heavy JSE trading but mostly crosses
Trading was heavy on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday with activity in 29 securities, accounting for 19,315,234 units changing hands valued at $138,385,972. There were a number of large trades as Barita Investment was involved in a series of crosses that helped to drive up the overall volume. At the end of trading the main indices declined but 13 stocks rose in price to 8 that declined. The stocks that dominated trades are Carreras, Desnoes & Geddes, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Broilers, Jamaica Stock Exchange, National Commercial Bank, Sagicor Group, Scotia Group and Seprod.
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Main Market| The JSE Market Index fell by 200.81 points to 70,040.17 and the JSE All Jamaican Composite index closed with a fall of 224.55 points at 77,025.83.
Gains| Stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the main market are Cable & Wireless with a mere 4,200 units to gain 4 cents in closing at 34 cents, Desnoes & Geddes with 663,400 units to end up a cent higher at $4.50, Grace Kennedy with 402,705 shares valued at $21,750,097 with the price rising by a cent to $54.01, Jamaica Money Market Brokers with 23,422 shares to close 5 cents higher at $6.70, Jamaica Producers 151,096 units to gain 2 cents to close at $15.62, Kingston Wharves with 183,651 shares to close 2 cents higher at $5.02, Proven Investments 320 ordinary shares to close at 2 US cents higher at 18 US cents, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 20,200 shares to close at $6.08 with an 8 cents gain, Scotia Investments with 211,369 units to close 15 cents up, at $21.65, Seprod with 586,550 units valued at $6,168,355, closed with a 20 cents gain at $10.70 and Supreme Ventures with 28,202 units closed with a gain of 8 cents at $1.98.
Firm| There were 5 stocks in the main market closing without a change in price as Gleaner with 6,000 shares, closed at $1.10, Jamaica Broilers 1,420,087 units valued at $6,560,425 to close at $4.57, Mayberry Investments 199,260 units to close at $1.45, Pulse Investments with 40,000 shares, closed at 30 cents and Radio Jamaica with 7,025 units to close at $1.29.
Declines| The number of stocks that declined in the main market are Caribbean Cement with 112,950 units while losing 45 cents to close at $2.50, Carreras with 545,700 units with a value of $18,549,227 as the price closed down 45 cents at $33.50, Jamaica Stock Exchange with 10,200,000 units valued at $19,278,000 and closed with a loss of 6 cents at $1.89, National Commercial Bank saw trading in 1,396,013 shares valued at $24,907,892 with 97 cents fall to $18.03, Sagicor Group put in 1,217,665 units with a value of $10,653,390 to close 50 cents lower at $8.50 and Scotia Group with 861,576 shares valued at $16,361,316, closed with a cent off at $18.99.
Preference| Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% preference share traded 321,495 units to close a cent higher at $3.03 and Jamaica Public Service 5% D preference share traded 1,000 shares to close at 35 cents
Junior Market| The JSE Junior Market Index declined by 0.26 points to close at 708.86 as only 5 stocks traded in this market.
Gains| The sole stocks recording gains at the end of trading in the junior market is General Accident Insurance with 318,132 units to close with a 3 cents decline at $1.40.
Firm Trades| Stocks in the junior market that traded to close at the same price as the day before are Caribbean Producers with 329,316 shares at $2.65, Lasco Distributors with 31,000 shares changing hands at $1.20 and Lasco Financial with 900 units to close at $1.
Declines| Lasco Manufacturing with 32,000 shares and closed with a cent decline at $1.06 was the only stock declining in the junior market at the end of trading.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 7 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 3 stocks with offers that were lower.
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Only 4 trades, 2 rose 1 declined
Only 4 securities traded on the Trinidad stock market on Thursday of which 2 advanced 1 declined and 1 traded firm with 187,980 units changing hands with a value of $3,556,243. The Composite Index lost by 8.38 points to close at 1,165.79, the All T&T Index fell by just 0.20 points to close at 2,011.81 and the Cross Listed Index fell by a mere 2.21 points to end at 41.86.
Gains| Stocks increasing in price at the close are Clico Investment Fund with 157,867 shares valued at $3,401,915 and closed with a 9 cents gain at $21.60 and Neal & Massy with only 11 shares with the price climbing 3 cents to end at $68.95.
Declines| The only stock declining at the end of trading is Firstcaribbean International Bank with 30,000 shares changing hands for a value of $150,000 to close with a 50 cents loss.
Firm Trades| First Citizens Bank is the only stock to close with the price unchanged at the end of trading, with 102 shares changing hands to end at $35.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator had 3 stocks with the bid higher than the last selling price and 2 stocks with offers that were lower
FIFA incredible ranking system left wanting
The world cup finals are making a mockery out of FIFA ranking system for its members. For years FIFA has been using a system of moving nations up and down the ranking ladder based on results of games played. Unless there are regular interchange of teams globally so that there is a good comparison that can be done internationally, the ranking system is likely to be flawed which is exactly what the June rankings and the world cup outcomes indicate. Commentators have been caught out as well as they have in many cases limited information to compare one team with another. The results many have been confounded by the results of world cup 2014.
FIFA number 1 team Spain won just one match but only after they were eliminated from this year’s world cup finals, the number 10 team England never even won a match, their no 9 ranked team managed just one win and bowed out of the tournament at the end of the preliminary round. The number 4th ranked team Portugal is in with a chance of staying in the top 16 but may well not make it.
The 28th team Costa Rica won all their matches against the 7th, 9th and 10th ranked teams, the team that was ranked at 44 is in the top 16. Korea Republic that was ranked at 57 did better than many ranked above them and so is the case with Iran that was ranked at 43, Ghana was ranked at 37 and is close to being in the top 16.
Something must be terrible wrong with a system that gets the ranking so wrong. FIFA needs to revisit this system if it to have credibility as the present system has little. But this is not the only thing that FIFA a body of mostly well aged men control. Cricket has moved to let technology help in determining the accuracy of developments during a cricket match, tennis has done so for years but FIFA has refused to move into the modern era except belated for goal post technology. The present series and past ones have had so many bad calls that the time has long gone for football to move fully into the modern world and let technology assists the referees on the field.
