The Junior Market Index fell for the 5th straight days, at the close of trading on Tuesday, slipping just 4.35 points to at 2,698.25, in another moderate trading session, resulting from an exchange of 1,258,859 units valued at $5,181,599 compared to 1,730,062 units valued at $6,203,084 on Wednesday.
Market activity ended with 18 securities changing hands versus 24 on Tuesday, with gains in the prices of 6 securities, declines in 6 with 6 closing unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 69,937 units for an average of $287,867 in contrast to 72,086 units for an average of $258,462 on Wednesday. For the month to date an average of 98,998 shares valued at $391,387 and previously, an average of 100,840 shares valued at $397,948. December closed with an average of 568,732 units valued at $3,447,957 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 8 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended at $2.55, with 6,500 stock units, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 10 cents at $4.90, with 11,200 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 10 cents higher at $4.40, with 164,139 units, Dolphin Cove finished with a loss of 95 cents at $16.10, with 3,655 stock units, Express Catering ended trading at $4.50, with 11,214 shares. FosRich Group traded 3 cents higher at $2.53, with 459,191 shares, GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 12 cents at $2.70, with 31,941 stock units, Honey Bun ended 1 cent higher at $4.15, with 23,000 units, Jamaican Teas settled at $4.50, with 1,053 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading with a loss of 50 cents at $4.45, with 4,000 stock units, 
Knutsford Express closed at $15, with 32,250 shares, Lasco Distributors ended 9 cents higher at $3.59, with 194,658 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading 26 cents higher at $5.35, with 67,155 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 5 cents at $3.35, with 13,808 units, Main Event settled 60 cents higher at $6, with 170,296 shares, Paramount Trading ended with a loss of 49 cents at $3, trading 17,000 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading at $4.80, with 47,649 stock units. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 8.24% ended at $5.45, with 150 stock units, trading.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Witco drops $5 to new 5 years low
West Indian Tobacco hits 52 weeks’ low on Thursday.
At close of trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Thursday, West Indian Tobacco suffered a big fall of $5 and ended at a 5 years’ low of $85, as the price continues to adjust to lower profits for 2017.
The fall in the price of Witco, plus 4 others helped to push the two main indices down at the close of trading, leading to the Composite Index in shedding 4.05 points to 1,273.77. The All T&T Index fell 8.24 points to 1,705.89, while Cross Listed Index gained 0.03 points to close at 113.58.
Unilever Caribbean added $1 to close at $29.
Market activity ended with 295,409 shares with a value of $3,238,095 traded, compared to 138,336 shares with a value of $1,844,415 on Wednesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 4 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
Gains| Guardian Holdings finished trading 51,527 shares valued at $878,575 and gained 4 cents in closing at $17.05, JMMB Group finished trading after an increase by 1 cent at $1.81, with 169,190 stock units valued at $306,371 changing hands and Unilever Caribbean climbed $1 to $29, trading just 93 shares.
Losses| National Flour shed 1 cent and finished at $1.98, trading 740 shares, Prestige Holdings finished trading 20 cents lower and ended trading at a 52 weeks’ low of $10.50, trading 2,196 shares, Sagicor Financial lost 10 cents and close at $7.9, with 100 units, Trinidad & Tobago NGL ended trading 2 cents lower and ended with $26.5, with 49,652 units and
West Indian Tobacco dropped $5 and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $85, with 734 stock units trading.Firm Traded| Ansa Merchant ended at $40, trading 50 shares, First Caribbean International Bank finished at $9.3, trading 1,290 shares, First Citizens close at $32, trading 1,554 shares, Massy concluded trading at $48, with 3,305 stock units, NCB Financial Group close at $6.75, trading 10,000 shares. Point Lisas finished with $3.8, with 150 units, Republic Financial Holdings finished at $101.51, with 2,400 stock units, Scotiabank concluded at $60.50, with 1,828 stock units and Trinidad Cement finished at $3.75, trading 600 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Volume climbs for VM Investments and Wisynco
Victoria Mutual Investments and Wisynco Group dominated trading with nearly 1 million shares trading for each company on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange as investor cnt seem to get enough of these companies.
Market activity ended on Wednesday with 22 securities changing hands, of which 9 advanced, 8 declined, 5 traded firm leading to 3,008,815 shares valued at $51,707,605 changing hands.
At the close of the market the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index fell 1,339.60 points to 310,069.48 and the JSE Index lost 1,220.52 points to 282,508.36.
In main market activity, Berger Paints closed at $16.51, with 100 shares, Cable & Wireless concluded trading at $1.32, with 190,904 units, Carreras finished 1 cent higher at $11.06, with 102,578 shares, 
Caribbean Cement settled with a loss of 1 cent at $32.50, with 1,255 shares, Ciboney Group ended trading with a loss of 1 cent at 34 cents, with 1,200 shares. Grace Kennedy traded with a loss of 36 cents at $43, with 36,813 stock units, Jamaica Broilers finished trading 50 cents higher at $18, with 40,566 units, Jamaica Producers closed at $16.50, with 7,650 shares, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended 5 cents higher at $7, with 21,400 shares. JMMB Group concluded trading 38 cents higher at $25.11, with 35,034 shares, Kingston Properties finished at $6, with 5,694 stock units, NCB Financial Group traded 23 cents higher at $99.80, with 69,739 shares, 1834 Investments finished trading at $1.27, with 496 shares. PanJam Investment ended with a loss of 62 cents at $38.52, with 17,275 units, 
Radio Jamaica settled 5 cents higher at $1.10, with 20,500 shares, Sagicor Group ended trading 50 cents higher at $36.50, with 65,692 stock units, Scotia Group finished trading $2.75 higher at $52.99, with 438,944 shares. Seprod closed $1 higher at $30, with 8,476 shares, Supreme Ventures concluded trading 11 cents higher at $11.60, with 74,120 stock units, VM Investments Limited finished with a loss of 6 cents at $3.99, with 864,709 units, Wisynco Group settled with a loss of 10 cents at $10, with 981,918 shares and Sagicor Real Estate Fund ended trading with a loss of 25 cents at $14, with 23,752 shares.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place. For more details of market activities, see Main market lost more ground – Wednesday.
Main market lost more ground – Wednesday
Scotia Group $2.75 on the JSE on Wednesday.
Trading on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended on Wednesday with JSE All Jamaican Composite Index dropping by 1,339.60 points to 310,069.48 and the JSE Index declined by 1,220.52 points to 282,508.36.
Main market activities ended with 9 stocks rising, 8 declining and 5 trading firm as 22 securities traded versus 26 on Tuesday.
Market activity ended with 3,008,815 shares valued at $51,707,605, in contrast to 2,769,195 shares valued at $33,208,767 on Tuesday.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with JMMB Group 6% preference share ending with a loss of 7 cents at U$1.10 with 940 stock units, Margaritaville concluded trading added 20 US cents with 7,624 units, Productivity Business closed at 55 cents with 650 shares and Proven Investments traded 51,300 ordinary share at 22 US cents. Total volume for this market was 60,514 units with a value of US $14,202. The JSE US Equities Index closed with a loss of 0.19 points to 168.75.
Trading ended with an average of 136,764 units for an average of $2,350,346 in contrast to 118,216 units for an average of $1,443,859 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 263,882 units valued at $6,493,073 and previously 272,991 units valued at $ 6,818,573. December closed with average of 686,156 units valued at an average of $8,654,832 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and the US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 5 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 with lower offers.
The major movers at the close of the market are, Victoria Mutual Investments trading just under the million range, with 865,000 units changing hands and Wisynco Group exchanging 982,000 units. Price changes saw Caribbean Cement falling $1 to $32.50, Scotia Group climbing $2.75 to $52.99 and Seprod rising by $1 to $30.
For more details of market activities see – Wisynco volume slips below 500,000 shares.
Junior Market slide continues
The Junior Market Index fell at the close of trading on Wednesday, slipping 14.95 points to close at 2,702.60, in a moderate trading session of an exchange of 1,730,062 units valued at $6,203,083 compared to 1,755,909 units valued at $6,431,725 from 21 securities changing hands on Tuesday.
Market activity ended with 24 securities changing hands versus 26 on Tuesday, with gains in the prices of 7 securities, declines in 6 with 11 closing unchanged.
Trading ended with an average of 72,086 units for an average of $258,462 in contrast to 67,535 units for an average of $247,374 on Tuesday. For the month to date an average of 100,840 shares valued at $397,948 and previously, an average of 103,494 shares valued at $410,824. December closed with an average of 568,732 units valued at $3,447,957 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 1 stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and 7 with lower offers.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging ended 5 cents higher at $2.55, with 1,114 stock units, CAC 2000 finished 69 cents higher at $8, with 6,528 shares, Cargo Handlers settled at $10, with 3,000 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading at $5, with 6,000 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded at $11.50, with 500 stock units. Caribbean Producers finished trading 2 cents higher at $4.30, with 80,304 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed 70 cents higher at $2.70, with 39,666 shares, Derrimon Trading concluded trading at $7, with 34,800 shares, Express Catering ended trading at $4.50, with 13,900 shares. FosRich Group traded at $2.50, with 85,073 shares, GWest Corporation closed 1 cent higher at $2.82, with 604,000 stock units, Honey Bun ended 14 cents higher at $4.14, with 40,711 units, Iron Rock concluded trading at $2.86, with 590 shares. Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 11 cents at $4.50, with 17,808 shares,
KLE Group finished trading at $2.30, with 12,195 shares, Knutsford Express closed at $15, with 40,562 shares, Lasco Distributors ended 34 cents higher at $3.50, with 592,136 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading with a loss of 21 cents at $5.09, with 17,282 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 8 cents at $3.40, with 103,187 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 1 cent at $5.40, with 600 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading with a loss of 5 cents at $4.95, with 3,926 shares. Paramount Trading traded with a loss of 1 cent at $3.49, with 9,400 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading at $4.80, with 16,680 stock units. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 9.5% finished at $7.20, with 100 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Euro up sharply vs Jamaican$ – Wednesday
The euro jumped sharply in value against the Jamaican dollar on Wednesday to end at J$155.12 to buy the European common currency, up from J$151.76 on Tuesday.
At the close of trading on Wednesday, the rate the public bought the US dollar fell 16 cents Jamaican but the rate dealers bought the Green back jumped by 37 cents.
Inflows of all currencies climbed to US$39.84 million, from US$29.27 million on Tuesday with the selling of US$38.79 million slightly up from US$37.14 million sold on Tuesday.
In US dollar, trading dealers sold US$32.50 million at an average of $124.80 at the close, compared US$36.03 million at an average of $124.96 on Tuesday. US currency purchases by dealers, amounted to US$33.95 million, at an average rate of $123.60, compared to Tuesday, with US$26.30 million, at an average rate of $123.33.
On Wednesday at midday dealers purchased US$11.47 million at an average rate of J$124.06 and sold US$6.85 million at an average of J$124.80. At mid-day on Tuesday dealers purchased US$12.54 million at an average rate of J$122.87 and sold US$11.89 million at an average of J$124.91.
The selling rate for the Canadian dollar climbed to J$100.22 from J$99.94 at the close on Tuesday and the selling rate for the British Pound rose to J$171.17 from J$169.28 previously.
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$11M missing from elite figures
$11 million are missing from the first quarter figures included in Elite Diagnostic prospectus to raise $141 million in an IPO.
While the 2017 audited accounts show depreciation and amortization of $28 million and administrative expenses of $81 million,the interim figures show no amount for depreciation, with administrative cost of $24 million which is just over 25 percent of the full years cost to June. Direct cost is $87 million for the fiscal year or just under $22 million per quarter, in line with $21.7 million in the September quarter. The conclusion is that the cost of depreciation is not included and would result in profits falling from $23 million reported to $14 million and would reduce the expected full year earnings below the annualized figure of $92 million down to a much lower amount, assuming that the new location at Old Hope Road just break even.
Elite Diagnostics is the first 2018 IPO out of 9, that is expected this year.
The intrigue does not end there. The movements in fixed assets show a missing $11 million, with fixed assets at June being $187 million and the cash flow statement showing additions of $71 million, that should result in a total of $257 million which would be reduced by approximately $9 million for depreciation for the quarter, bringing the net figure to $249 million but the interim figures have fixed assets at $238 million. For short, a material amount of $11 million is missing and it is unclear what items are under or over stated.
On the face of it, the reported profit for both years appear overstated, on that basis, IC Insider.com reduced earnings per share for the full year to 20 cents, with the stock being priced at 10 times earnings, but that still leaves the stock a buy.
Bank of Jamaica chops interest rate
Falling interest rates
Interest rates on the Bank of Jamaica overnight policy rate was slashed by 7.7 percent effective 18 January 2018. The policy interest rate which is offered on overnight placements with the Bank will be reduced to 3 percent from 3.25 percent.
According to the country’s central bank, “this adjustment reflects the Bank’s assessment that inflation for the next eight quarters should remain within the target of 4 percent to 6 percent but the risks to the projections are skewed to the downside. One of the key risks highlighted by recent data is that, even as the economy continues to expand, growth has been weaker than anticipated. The outlook for inflation continues to reflect the expectation that the Government will continue the high standard of fiscal management outlined in the fiscal rules.”
“Inflation picked up slightly in recent months, largely driven by higher agricultural food prices and electricity costs caused by the recent heavy rains and increases in international oil prices. However, the inflationary impact of the heavy rains on agricultural food prices should be reversed over the coming quarters.”
“The Bank’s decision to ease monetary policy supports continued credit expansion and faster economic growth. International reserves are growing, inflation expectations remain broadly anchored around the Bank’s target, the current account of the balance of payments is projected to remain at sustainable levels, market interest rates are declining and the fiscal accounts continue to perform strongly.”
Investors in fixed assets such as real estate and equity investments should take note as it could mean a lift in the value of those assets class.
No losers on Trinidad market
At close of trading on the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange on Wednesday, locally based stocks recorded gains once more with the Composite Index inching 0.85 points higher to 1,277.82. The All T&T Index gained 1.80 points to 1,714.13, while Cross Listed Index declined 0.02 points to close at 113.55.
A total of 11 securities traded the market on Wednesday against 13 on Tuesday, with 3 advancing, none declining and 8 remaining unchanged.
Market activity ended with 138,336 shares with a value of $1,844,415 traded, compared to 336,749 shares amounting to $6,174,390 on Tuesday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 3 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 5 with lower offers.
Gains| Massy concluded trading with a rise of 6 cents and finished at $48, with 2,822 stock units,
One Caribbean Media jumped 94 cents and closed at $14, with 10,733 stock units trading and Republic Financial Holdings increased 1 cent and ended at $101.51, with 150 stock units changing hands.
Firm Traded| Clico Investments finished at $21, with 13,220 units valued at $1,669,206, First Citizens ended at $32, trading 6,555 shares, strong> Guardian Holdings finished trading 11,360 shares at $17.01, JMMB Group ended with $1.80, with 65,528 stock units. Trinidad & Tobago NGL ended trading at $26.52, with 4,877 units changing hands. Sagicor Financial ended at $8, with 2,326 units changing hands, Scotiabank ended with 478 stock units trading at $60.50, Unilever Caribbean ended at $28, trading 20,287 shares with a value of $568,036.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
