Merger talks & surging profits send market higher

A merger proposal and one company’s sharp jump in profits sent the Junior Market surging on Friday as investors responded to an interest by Dolla Financial in Access Financial and reported record half-year results by Stationery and Office Supplies.
The above stocks recorded sizable gains at the close, but undervalued Access put on $5.79 as some sellers of the stock withdrew offers.
The merger offer of the two financial entities is unlikely to go anywhere as the numbers do not add up.
At the close, the Junior Market Index jumped 78.30 points to 4,142.42 as the volume of stocks trading rose 182 percent and the value jumped 243 percent over Thursday as Dolla Financial led trading with 9.41 million shares for 59.3 percent of total volume, followed by Spur Tree Spices with 1.22 million units for 7.7 percent of the day’s trade and Fosrich ended with 1.11 million units for 7 percent market share.
Investors were involved in trading 42 securities up from 38 on Thursday, with 16 rising, 14 declining and 12 closing unchanged.
A total of 15,869,218 shares were traded for $64,508,991 compared to 5,618,693 units at $18,792,608 on Thursday. Trading averaged 377,839 shares at $1,535,928 in contrast to 147,860 shares at $494,542 on Thursday with month to date, averaging 455,801 units at $1,535,803 compared to 465,292 units at $1,535,788 on Thursday the previous trading day. July closed with an average of 512,709 units at $2,574,304.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 12.8. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks incorporate ICInsider.com projected earnings for companies with financial years that fall between November this year and August next year.
The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and three with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial rose $5.79 to close at $25, with 35,102 shares crossing the exchange, CAC 2000 declined $1.35 in closing at $7.65 while exchanging eight units, Caribbean Cream fell 21 cents ending at $4.09, with 5,021 stocks changing hands. Derrimon Trading rallied 10 cents to $2.40 and closed after trading 68,889 stock units, Dolla Financial advanced 40 cents to end at $3.22 in exchanging 9,405,836 stocks, Everything Fresh lost 13 cents in closing at $1.17, with 41,060 stock units changing hands. Express Catering increased 35 cents to end at $5.50 after 6,401 units crossed the market, Fontana climbed 39 cents to close at $10.18 in switching ownership of 85,689 shares, General Accident dropped 50 cents to $5, with 228,716 units clearing the market. iCreate gained 25 cents in ending at $4.25 with the swapping of 150,590 stocks, Iron Rock Insurance shed 36 cents in ending at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $2.60 after an exchange of 5,000 stock units, Jamaican Teas shed 15 cents to end at $2.70 trading 22,767 shares. Lasco Distributors popped 15 cents to close at $3 after 35,027 stock units crossed the market, Lasco Financial climbed 23 cents to $2.94 with an exchange of 47,418 stocks, Lasco Manufacturing lost 10 cents in ending at $4.20 after exchanging 25,540 units. Mailpac Group popped 20 cents to end at $2.35 in an exchange of 97,329 shares, Main Event fell $1 in closing at $7 after trading 17,053 stocks, SSL Venture advanced 48 cents to close at $4.10, trading 1,241 stock units. Stationery and Office Supplies rose $2 to $19 with 551,490 clearing the market units after the company posted profits that jumped nearly 200 percent to $174 million and declared a dividend of 18 cents per share and Tropical Battery dropped 10 cents to $2.65 in switching ownership of 133,290 shares ahead of the company reporting profits that more than doubled to $54 million in the June quarter from $25 million in 2021 and half nine months of $144 million compared to $59 million last year.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.