The Junior Market Index dropped 38.62 points in trading on Tuesday following a 46.73 points drop on Wednesday to close at 2,345.53 with a decline of 30 percent for the year to date but gains in some stocks in Thursday’s session, suggest that prices may be poised to rebound.
General Accident jumped $1 and closed at $6.10, a strong signal that prices of Junior stocks seem set to rise.
At the close, prices of 12 securities rose, 12 declined and nine remained unchanged, with two stocks closing at 52 weeks’ low and five traded at intraday lows.
Trading left the average market PE ratio at 11.3 times 2019 earnings as the market closed with 33 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,910,632 units valued at $15,136,846 compared to 4,810,590 units valued at $18,535,804 from 35 on Wednesday.
Trading ended with an average of 148,807 units for an average of $458,692 in contrast to 137,445 units for an average of $529,594 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 156,132 units valued at $401,422 and previously 156,132 units valued at $401,422 for each company trading. In contrast, February closed with an average of 167,673 units valued at $488,038 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, Caribbean Assurance lost 26 cents trading 527,442 stock units to close at $2.05, after hitting a record low of $1.81, 
Derrimon Trading rose 5 cents to $1.85, in transferring 3,949 shares. Dolphin Cove rose 50 cents exchanging 10,378 shares to close at $8.30, Elite Diagnostic gained 50 cents higher at $3.90, with the trading of 258,458 stock units, Express Catering shed 19 cents with 59,955 shares changing hands at $3.80. Fontana declined by 19 cents to settle at $4.51, with 1,531,748 units traded, Fosrich gained 10 cents exchanging 49,334 shares at $3.10, General Accident closed trading with 86,671 shares, after jumping $1 to end at $6.10, GWest Corporation ended trading with 51,178 shares, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun jumped 70 cents in trading 65,175 units at $5.90, iCreate lost 5 cents exchanging 44,700 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 50 cents, Indies Pharma ended with 118,930 shares changing hands, after losing 4 cents to end at $1.96, Jamaican Teas rose 5 cents after trading of 6,057 units at $5.20. Jetcon Corporation shed 5 cents trading of 28,045 units at $1.20, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 147,708 units and fell 25 cents to end at $2.80, Lasco Financial added 6 cents after exchanging 34,381 shares at $2.26, Lasco Manufacturing traded 149,534 shares and lost 4 cents to end at $2.96. Limners and Bards declined by 13 cents to settle at $2.07 after exchanging 76,612 shares. Lumber Depot gained 12 cents to end at $1.29 trading 309,333 shares, MailPac rose 5 cents in transferring 847,299 shares to close at $1.48, Main Event fell 87 cents moving 48,700 units through the exchange at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.12. Paramount Trading closed 13 cents higher at $2, with 10,100 stock units trading, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 80 cents, with 57,450 units changing hands at $6.70 and tTech rose 10 cents to $4.25, trading 6,500 stock units.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Trading left the average market PE ratio down to 11.3 times 2019 earnings as the market closed with 35 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,810,590 units valued at $18,535,804 compared to 4,243,730 units valued at $12,185,925 from 34 on Tuesday.
Caribbean Assurance lost 9 cents trading 287,251 stock units at $2.31. Cargo Handlers ended 30 cents lower at a 52 weeks’ low of $6.50, in transferring 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream shed 27 cents in trading of 65,600 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.80, Caribbean Producers closed 10 cents higher at $4, with 957 stock units trading. Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents to $1.50, with 100,000 stock units changing hands, Dolphin Cove lost 50 cents exchanging 2,959 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.80, Express Catering gained 15 cents and traded 6,540 shares at $4.15. Elite Diagnostic closed 15 cents higher at $3.40, with 190,754 stock units changing hands. Fosrich climbed 21 cents and exchanged 32,222 shares at $3, Fontana declined by 28 cents to settle at $4.70, with 311,558 units traded, General Accident closed trading with 5,000 shares, after rising 60 cents to end at $5.10, GWest Corporation ended with 51,178 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun shed 8 cents in trading of 2,386,022 units at $5.20, iCreate lost 8 cents in exchanging 52,030 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 55 cents, Indies Pharma ended trading with 80,850 shares, after rising 5 cents to end at $2. Jamaican Teas dipped 77 cents after trading of 62,299 units at $5.15, Key Insurance lost 80 cents in trading 11,501 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20, KLE Group lost 27 cents in swapping 10,000 units at $1.72. Knutsford Express ended with a loss of $1 to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $8 with 475 stock units changing hands, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 237,643 units and gained 6 cents to end at $3.05, Lasco Financial added 2 cents after exchanging 63,511 shares at $2.20, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 172,385 shares and rose 5 cents to end at $3. Limners and Bards declined by 30 cents to settle at $2.20 after exchanging 100,371 shares. Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to end at $1.17 trading 140,824 shares, MailPac lost 2 cents in transferring 279,788 shares to close at $1.43, Main Event fell 11 cents in transferring 28,885 units at $4.99, Medical Disposables dipped 3 cents in trading of 11,975 units at $5.70. Paramount Trading closed 7 cents higher at $1.87, with 42,525 stock units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 50 cents in exchanging 20,500 units at $7.50.
Trading on the Junior Market concluded with 34 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,243,730 units valued at $12,185,925 compared to 13,538,971 units valued at $24,108,315 on Monday. The average market PE ratio is now down to 11.4 times 2019 earnings.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 5 cents to close at $2.40 after exchanging 677,685 shares, Caribbean Flavours ended trading with 4,493 shares after rising 2 cents to end at $10.17, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 18 cents at $1.45 in swapping 68,200 shares. Derrimon Trading dropped 12 cents in trading 59,100 stock units to close at $1.80, Elite Diagnostic fell 5 cents to $3.25 with 92,270 shares traded, Everything Fresh exchanged 195,169 shares at 85 cents after rising 3 cents, Fontana closed 23 cents higher at $4.98 with 1,102,650 stock units trading. Fosrich gained 4 cents to settle at $2.79 with 27,361 shares changing hands, GWest Corporation shed 17 cents in trading of 110,900 units at 81 cents, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.28 with 2,153 stock units changing hands. iCreate added 1 cent and exchanged 35,606 shares at 63 cents, Indies Pharma fell 7 cents in exchanging of 16,375 units at 52 weeks low of $1.95, ISP Finance shed 25 cents to settle at $19.75 with 1,000 shares changing hands. 
Jamaican Teas jumped 92 cents exchanging 2,450 shares at $5.92, Lasco Distributors traded 5,100 shares and ended at $2.99 after rising 19 cents, Lasco Financial dipped 28 cents in trading of 50,200 units at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $2.18 after trading at a 52 week’s intraday low of $1.90. Lasco Manufacturing lost 20 cents to settle at $2.95 with an exchange of 92,041 stock units, Limners and Bards traded 46,886 shares after rising 10 cents to end at $2.50, Lumber Depot slipped 9 cents in exchanging 391,523 shares to close at 52 weeks’ low of $1.16. MailPac dipped 5 cents in trading of 519,691 units at $1.45, Medical Disposables shed 57 cents with 15,934 units crossing the exchange at $5.73, Paramount Trading closed 10 cents higher at $1.80 with the swapping of 11,000 shares and tTech rose 15 cents to $4.15 with 46,700 shares changing hands.
The fall in the market took the 2019 losses to 28.4 percent and the fall from the peak to whopping 35 percent.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1.10 at $9 swapping of 7,100 shares. Lasco Financial shed 64 cents in exchanging 190,506 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.46, Lasco Manufacturing closed 15 cents higher at $3.15, with 191,907 stock units trading after falling to an intraday low of $2.50. Limners and Bards fell 4 cents in transferring 123,710 units at $2.40, Lumber Depot ended market activity exchanging 775,632 shares to close at $1.25, after falling 12 cents, MailPac lost 20 cents in trading of 10,135,145 units at $1.50. Main Event fell 89 cents to end at $5.10, after trading 29,501 shares, Medical Disposables closed trading of 5,240 units and gained 7 cents to end at $6.30. Paramount Trading fell 24 cents in an exchange of 100,000 units at $1.70, SSL Venture closed with a loss of 10 cents at $1.02, after swapping 106,000 shares and tTech fell 70 cents to $4, after transferring 7,357 stock units.
The Market Index dropped 121.90 points to close at 2,534.51, taking the market value back to December 2016 levels.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 10 cents in trading of 27,840 units at $1.80, Blue Power fell 30 cents in exchanging 6,660 units at $3.70, Cargo Handlers lost 6 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $7 with 12,455 stock units trading. Caribbean Cream ended trading with 3,200 shares, after rising 2 cents to end at $3.09, Caribbean Flavours closed $4.33 lower to 52 weeks’ low of $10.16 in transferring 2,240 units, Consolidated Bakeries shed 19 cents with 14,314 shares changing hands to close at $1.60. Derrimon Trading ended 15 cents lower with 53,245 units crossing the exchange at $1.80, Dolphin Cove ended with a loss of $1 to close at $10 with 100 stock units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic fell 31 cents in exchanging 276,396 units at $3.70. Express Catering lost 64 cents transferring 23,842 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.75, Fontana slipped 80 cents in trading of 216,761 units at $5, Fosrich climbed 3 cents and exchanged 8,915 shares at $3.33. General Accident closed trading of 5,209 units and gained 74 cents to end at $5.99, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1 with 139,789 stock units changing hands, Honey Bun ended market activity exchanging 16,355 shares to close at $6.30 after falling 15 cents. Indies Pharma dipped 10 cents in trading 136,295 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20, Jamaican Teas ended market activity in transferring 216,409 shares to close at $5 after falling 95 cents. Jetcon Corporation ended trading of 500 shares, after rising 5 cents to end at $1.30, Knutsford Express declined by 10 cents to settle at $10.10, with 1,844 units traded, Lasco Distributors exchanged 185,493 shares to close at $2.80 after falling 10 cents. 
Lasco Financial lost 10 cents in trading 65,342 shares to close at $3.10, Lasco Manufacturing lost 30 cents transferring 179,403 units at $3, Limners and Bards declined15 cents in trading 318,551 units at $2.44. Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.37 with 664,558 stock units changing hands, MailPac declined by 5 cents trading 215,722 units at $1.70, Main Event climbed 38 cents to settle at $5.99 with 47,619 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables dipped 75 cents in trading of 5,557 units to close at $6.23. Paramount Trading closed 2 cents higher at $1.94, with 25,000 stock units changing hands, SSL Venture Capital declined by 11 cents to settle at $1.12 after trading 5,882 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 50 cents exchanging 19,267 units to end at $8 and tTech closed trading of 1,100 units and gained 83 cents to end at $4.70.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was negative with a reading of two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and eight with lower offers.
Lasco Distributors traded 100,800 shares to close at $2.90 after falling 8 cents. Limners and Bards ended trading of 237,677 units and gained 8 cents to end at $2.59, Lumber Depot closed with a loss of 2 cents at $1.38, after swapping 83,259 shares, Mailpac Group declined 5 cents in trading of 1,645,068 units at $1.75. Main Event ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.61 with 10,463 stock units changing hands, Medical Disposables closed trading of 5,500 units and gained 83 cents to end at $6.98, Paramount Trading finished the day at $1.92 after rising 2 cents with 20,000 shares traded. Stationery and Office Supplies lost 75 cents after 78,692 stock units changed hands, to close at $8.50 and tTech declined 31 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.87 with 11,194 units crossing the exchange.
Wednesday decline takes the market back to January 2017 levels as investors push the prices of some stocks well below average market value on relatively small volumes.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 10 cents in trading of 14,576 units at $1.80, Blue Power gained 6 cents exchanging 21,873 shares at $4.56, Caribbean Cream settled at $3.30 after dropping 7 cents trading of 478,546 units. Caribbean Producers dipped 65 cents in the swapping of 150,530 units at $4, Derrimon Trading fell 2 cents with 33,836 units crossing the exchange at $1.96, Dolphin Cove ended market activity exchanging 1,350 shares at $11 after falling 25 cents. Elite Diagnostic shed 30 cents to close at $4.10 with 21,336 shares changing hands, Everything Fresh lost 10 cents in trading 125,575 shares to close at 85 cents, Express Catering finished with a loss of 15 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.85, in swapping 47,640 shares. Fontana fell 30 cents in trading of 177,543 units at $5.80, Fosrich closed with a loss of 6 cents at $3.34, swapping 37,378 shares, General Accident ended market activity exchanging 44,529 shares at $6.05 after falling 34 cents. Honey Bun added 50 cents to close at $6.50, with 8,523 stock units trading, iCreate dropped 5 cents in the exchange of 34,369 units at 64 cents, Indies Pharma declined by 17 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.38 with 88,260 units crossing the market. Jamaican Teas ended with a loss of 1 cent at $6.29 with 21,534 stock units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation closed trading of 161,335 units and gained 7 cents to end at $1.25, Knutsford Express lost 35 cents to settle at $10.85 with 917 stock units traded. 
Lasco Distributors ended market activity exchanging 8,230 shares to close at $2.98 after falling 2 cents, Lasco Financial finished 20 cents higher at $3.20 with 75,804 stock units trading, after the price hit a 52 weeks’ low of $2.80, Lasco Manufacturing closed with 163,856 shares changing hands at $3.30 after falling 35 cents. Limners and Bards shed 11 cents in trading 86,934 units at $2.51, Main Event ended with 21,779 units crossing the exchange and gained 2 cents to close at $5.62, Medical Disposables exchanged 8,816 shares to close at $6.15 after falling 15 cents. Stationery and Office Supplies lost 70 cents in trading 1,100 stock units to close at $9.25, SSL Venture shed 5 cents in after transferring ownership of 20,696 units at $1.23. tTech closed 18 cents higher at $4.18, with 7,000 stock units crossing the exchange and CAC 2000 preference shares rose 20 cents to $1 after 11,547 units changed hands.
A significant drop of $7.08 in the price of Access Financial, 68 cents fall in Honey Bun and a 90 cents decline for Medical Disposables were stocks that had a major impact on the sharp decline of the market index on the second trading day in March.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and five with lower offers.
Jamaican Teas jumped 50 cents in trading 189,940 shares to settle at $6.30, Jetcon Corporation lost 13 cents in trading 161,616 shares to close at 52 weeks’ low of $1.18, Key Insurance lost 15 cents and ended market activity exchanging 30,820 shares to close at $3. Knutsford Express closed trading of 300 units and gained 20 cents to end at $11.20, Lasco Distributors swapped 13,185 shares, after rising 30 cents to end at $3, Lasco Manufacturing added 5 cents and exchanged 63,222 shares at $3.65. Limners and Bards ended market activity exchanging 75,712 shares to close at $2.62 after falling 28 cents, Lumber Depot lost 3 cents in trading 105,531 shares to close at $1.40, Main Event fell 19 cents to close at $5.60 with 176,837 shares traded. Medical Disposables declined 90 cents in swapping 21,619 units at $6.30, Paramount Trading dipped 9 cents in trading of 651,246 units at $1.90, Stationery and Office Supplies climbed to $9.95 after rising $1.09 with 3,401 shares changing hands and tTech declined by 27 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $4 with 6,806 units crossing the exchange.
The market Index fell a mere 7.10 points to close at 2,904.82 with the prices of 12 securities advancing, 22 declining and three remaining unchanged as 37 securities changed hands, up from 35 on Friday.
Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 16 cents at $1.98, with 88,200 shares changing hands. Dolphin Cove finished at $11.38 with 8,177 shares traded after climbing 88 cents, Everything Fresh exchanged 52,137 shares at $1 after rising 1 cent, Express Catering lost 49 cents in trading 12,661 shares to close at $4.51. Fontana ended with 957,645 stock units changing hands after jumping 24 cents to end at $6.45, Fosrich swapped 16000 shares and declined 70 cents to settle at $3.21, General Accident lost 90 cents in trading of 4,216 units at $5.60. GWest Corporation dipped 4 cents to $1 with 25,416 units swapped, Honey Bun ended market activity, exchanging 10,144 shares to settle at $6.68 after falling by 47 cents, iCreate closed 4 cents higher at 60 cents, with 58,216 stock units trading. Indies Pharma finished with a loss of 44 cents at $2.50 with 29,618 shares changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance slipped 10 cents to $2.90 with an exchange of 550 units, Jamaican Teas shed 37 cents in trading of 5,645 stock units at $5.80. Jetcon Corporation fell 23 cents to $1.31 in the swapping of 100,865 shares, Key Insurance climbed 15 cents and exchanged 300 units at $3.15, KLE Group shed 20 cents in trading of 22,902 units at $2.30. Lasco Distributors closed 1 cent higher at $2.70, with 111,097 stock units trading, Lasco Financial lost 30 cents and exchanged 12,935 shares to close at $3, Lasco Manufacturing fell 37 cents trading of 88,600 units at $3.60.
Limners and Bards ended with 651,375 shares crossing the exchange after gaining 1 cent to end at $2.90, Lumber Depot lost 7 cents in trading of 68,227 units at $1.43, MailPac fell 9 cents in the exchange of 1,540,746 units at $1.80. Main Event dropped 11 cents to close at $5.79 with 670 units traded, Medical Disposables climbed $1.47 to settle at $7.20 with 4,970 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading ended at $1.99 with 16,600 stock units changing hands, after losing 1 cent. Stationery and Office Supplies closed 16 cents higher at $8.86, with 1,400 stock units crossing the exchange and CAC 2000 9.5% preference share closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 20 cents to end at $1.
Consolidated Bakeries gained 11 cents, after exchanging 700 units and closed at $1.79. Derrimon Trading rose 15 cents to $2.14 after exchanging a mere 200 units, Dolphin Cove traded 4,900 stock units at $10.50, after gaining $1.05, Elite Diagnostic traded 65,815 shares and fell 10 cents to $4.40 at the close. Everything Fresh gained 12 cents to end at 99 cents, after swapping 300 units, Fontana dipped 69 cents and exchanged 223,723 shares at $6.21, Fosrich rose 6 cents to settle at $3.91, with an exchange of 13,392 stock units. General Accident added 30 cents transferring 5,685 units to close at $6.50, GWest Corporation gained 4 cents to close at $1.04 with an exchange of 433 shares, Honey Bun lost 10 cents with 93,037 shares at $7.15, iCreate declined by 12 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of 56 cents after trading 154,887 stock units. Indies Pharma climbed 10 cents after exchanging 115,273 shares at $2.94, Iron Rock Insurance dropped 99 cents to $3 with 42,705 shares changing hands, Jamaican Teas lost 38 cents to settle at $6.17 with 61,562 units crossing the market. Jetcon Corporation rose 23 cents and exchanged 4,495 shares in closing at $1.54. KLE Group climbed 5 cents, to close at $2.50 with the trading of 14,750 shares, 
Knutsford Express climbed $1 higher to $11, with 57,822 units changing hands, Lasco Distributors lost 31 cents to end at 52 weeks’ low of $2.69, after transferring 2,027,010 units, Lasco Financial gained 29 cents in trading 111,039 units at $3.30. Lasco Manufacturing closed with 74,774 units changing hands, with a loss of 18 cents to finish at $3.97, Limners and Bards ended with an exchange of 241,060 shares to close at $2.89 after gaining 20 cents, Lumber Depot closed trading of 199,573 units and rising 3 cents to end at $1.50. MailPac added 10 cents to $1.89, after swapping 308,379 units, Main Event traded 22,059 units at $5.90, after rising 30 cents. Medical Disposables closed 43 cents higher at $5.73, after exchanging 4,790 units, SSL Venture Capital rose 4 cents to $1.28, with 448 shares crossing the exchange and tTech lost 53 cents in trading 2,000 units at a 52 weeks’ low at $4.27.