Investors pushed the Jamaica Stock Exchange indices up sharply to hit new record highs at the close on Tuessday. During the morning session, the All Jamaica Composite Index hit a new all-time high of 279,335.69, after surging a huge 6,471.87 points at 11:50 AM.
The JSE Market Index jumped 5,896.61 points to a record 254,506.45 points. By the close gains eased with the market closing a bit lower but well above Friday’s close.
Trading ended with the All Jamaica Composite Index jumping 5,294.32 points to a record close of 278,158.14, the JSE Market Index leapt 4,823.73 points to 253,433.57 and the JSE US dollar market index gained 3.76 points to close at 192.60.
At the close of trading, 23 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 11 stocks advancing and 6 declining. The main market ended with 37,879 units valued at $30,837,797 changing hands compared to 2,489,517 units valued at $21,640,002 at the close on Friday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 404,258 units valued at US$99,647 bringing the total of all trades to J$83,856,037.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 39,526 units valued at 1,340,774 for each security traded compared to an average of 124,476 units valued at $1,082,000. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $132,184 units with an average value of $1,857,113 compared with an average of 163,620 units with an average value of $2,047,849 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 85 cents higher to close record high of $8.85 in exchanging 4,555 shares, Berger Paints closed at $18.55, with a loss of 45 cents trading 1,325 shares, Cable and Wireless added 10 cents to close at $1.15, with 25,100 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cement fell $1.80 to $28, exchanging 27,929 shares, Carreras dropped $4 lower to $105 with 69,288 shares, Grace Kennedy closed at $41 trading 78,696 shares. Jamaica Broilers gained 49 cents, closing at $18.49 with 100 units, Jamaica Producers traded 9,374 shares at $15.10, Jamaica Stock Exchange added 1 cent to end at $6.48 trading 61,767 shares, JMMB Group closed at $19.99, with 58,070 shares. Kingston Wharves closed at $29,after gaining $1.80 with 9,143 shares changing hands, 
NCB Financial Group traded $4.99 lower to $90, after exchanging 36,483 shares, PanJam Investment closed at $33 trading 47,000 shares, Proven Investments exchanged 139,570 shares at $25.01, Pulse Investments gained 45 cents to close at $1.95, with 76,936 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.50, with gains of 9 cents exchanging 11,097 shares. Sagicor Group closed at $32 trading 31,475 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 13 cents to close at $12.05, with 13,605 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44 with trades of 160,588 shares, Scotia Investments lost 12 cents , closing at $35 in exchanging 3,742 shares, Seprod closed at $32.55, with gains of $1.55 and 928 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures gained 15 cents, closing at $8 with 41,913 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents, with trades of 404,258 units and JMMB 7.5% preference share rose 9 cents and closed at $1.99 with 410 units traded.
Will Barita jump TOP 10?
Barita closed at $8 on Friday.
News emerged during the past week that directors at Barita Investments was considering a bid to purchase the majority of its shares.
Investors responded immediately by removing just about all offers that were posted on the trading platform of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, the stock climbed to $8 and only require a small increase to leave the top list.
Main market Berger Paints rose during the week from $18 to trade at $19 and was edged out of the top list by Pulse Investments that fell sharply in price to close with a bid of $1.75 after the price fell during the week.
Recent TOP 10 billing, NCB Financial Group that recently fell out of the top list closed the week at $94.99 in response to continued demand flowing from strong increase in nine months profit against a back drop of minimal selling of the stock.Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) will start trading on Wednesday, August 9, when the price is expected to surge, based on the heavy over subscription at the initial public offering, with more than 1,200 applications for shares. This stock could be out of the top listing very soon.
Other junior market stocks activity, CAC 2000 fell out of the top listing and Lasco Manufacturing returned to the top listing.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 6.7 and the PE for the main market TOP 10, ends the week at 7.4.
The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.3 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 44 percent to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
Stocks to watch|The stocks that investors should keep an eye on this week include, Barita Investments, JMMB Group, Stationery & Office Supplies, NCB Financial, Jetcon Corporation.
All Jamaica jumps 2,443 points to record 272,863.82
Jamaica Stock Exchange main market hit new records at the close on Friday, with the All Jamaica Composite Index hitting a 4th consecutive all-time high of 272,863.82 after surging 2,443.17 points and the JSE Market Index jumping 2,226.01 points to it 6 consecutive record at 248,609.84.
NCB Financial Group jumped sharply by $11.99, to be the major contributor to the market movement, to close at an all-time high of $94.99, with 23,437 shares traded. There has been very limited supply for the group’s stock in the market and trading closed with less than 7,000 shares on offer.
The JSE US dollar market index gained 0.41 points to close at 188.84 with 2 securities trading in the US dollar market and one losing value.
NCB Financial Group’s shares jumped $11.99 on Friday.
At the close of trading, 20 securities changed hands in the main market leading to 11 stocks advancing and 7 declining. The main market ended with 2,489,517 units valued at $21,640,002 changing hands compared to 3,104,799 units valued at $66,312,076 at the close on Thursday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 726,081 units valued at US$174,757 bringing the total of all trades to J$44,008,929.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 124,476 units valued at $1,082,000 for each security traded compared to an average of 119,415 units valued at $2,550,464. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $163,620 units with an average value of $2,047,849 compared with an average of 183,191 units with an average value of $2,530,773 on the previous trading day. 
The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, fresh from the news that Barita Investments is considering an offer to purchase the majority of its shares, the priced climbed $1.15 higher to close at $8 trading just 650 units. Attendant with the announcement, offers that were posted up to Thursday were withdrawn. Other securities trading on Friday along with the volume and the last price traded, include: Berger Paints adding 2 cents at $19 exchanging 29,575 shares, Cable and Wireless gained 5 cents to close at $1.05, with 134,938 shares trading, Carreras fell $1, to $109 with 29,460 shares, Grace Kennedy lost 10 cents exchanging 11,034 shares at $41. Jamaica Broilers lost 50 cents, closing at $18 trading 1,834 shares, Jamaica Producers traded 80 cents lower at $15.10 with 5,582 shares. Jamaica Stock Exchange added 2 cents, to $6.47 trading 20,072 shares, 
JMMB Group eased 1 cent to $19.99, with 19,321 shares. 1834 Investments closed at $1.40, losing 1 cent with 20,720 shares, Proven Investments added 29 cents to close at $25.01 in exchanging 300,000 shares, Pulse Investments dropped 70 cents to end at $1.50, with 321,745 shares. Sagicor Group gained 25 cents, climbing to $32 trading 5,820 shares, Salada Foods gained 69 cents to close at $9.30, with 1,300 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44 with 63,020 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $14.05, with gains of 5 cents and 100 units, Supreme Ventures gained 17 cents, closing at $7.85 with 264,190 shares traded. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents, with 725,299 units, Margaritaville Turks US ordinary shares exchanged 782 units at 36 US cents, after slipping a fraction, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.11 with 1,232,719 units traded and Proven 8.25% preference share closed at $5, with gains of 2 cents trading 4,000 units.
Barita in takeover talks
Barita closed at $6.85 on Thursday.
Well known brokerage house, Barita Investments is currently in discussion for the sale of majority shareholdings in the Company.
A release from the company to the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday advised that the Company has received an offer to acquire the majority shares and that the offer is under consideration by the Company’s Board of Directors and that discussions continue, pending the preparation and conclusion of definitive agreements.
The 76 percent majority shareholder with 339,975,664 shares and chairman, Rita Humphries-Lewin who started the company from the 1970s, is currently in her 80’s and close to retirement, making the offer opportune for her.
The offer comes at an interesting time just after Proven Investments closed their rights issue that raised US$16,547,873 (J$2.1 billion) resulting from the sale of an additional 68,949,472 ordinary shares. Barita could be a good fit for them as well as others within the sector, especially with an established Unit Trust portfolio. In the past investors were of the view that Barita could make a good fit for Mayberry Investments. Information glean suggest that they are not one of the arties showing an interest just now. Victoria Mutual Group has just started a Unit Trust schemes but the cost of a start up is high until it gets to a critical mass, Jamaica National has no unit trust portfolio and just started in the stockbrokerage business. Barita would make a great fit for them but it is unsure that their Chairman, Oliver Clarke would want to sanction that move at this time.
VMBS seems to be an interested party.
Barita has 445.877 million shares issued with a market capitalization of just over $3 billion, a simple majority holding would cost just over $1.5 billion at current price, assuming a price higher than the current one would result in a higher sum. The amount of capital raised by Proven would translate to $10 per share for a simple majority in Barita. IC Insider.com projects earnings for the current year at 90 cents. With the listed investments banks trading at PEs around 11 times, 2017 earnings, a reasonable value of $10 per share seems probable. With the company having unrealized gains not showing in the normal profit, a price around $10 should be attractive to both buyers and sellers at this time. An investor with cash would want to get as much of the shares of the majority owner, but with a mandatory offer having to be made to minority shareholders, they may want to go for a smaller amount initially with 65 to 70 percent looking viable. NCB Group have been on expansion run as well and the combination of NCB Capital Markets and Barita could create synergies. NCB group owns all of the investment arm making a merger with Barita down the road very viable.
Barita is primarily involved in stockbroking, Unit Trust management and repo business. The Unit Trust business that is poised to grow rapidly in a low interest rate environment, would be a big attraction for Proven who currently have no such business within their portfolio.
5 straight records for JSE Market Index
Thursday ended on the main market stocks of the Jamaica Stock Exchange with the All Jamaica Composite Index crossing the 270,000 mark for the first time in jumping 1,819.13 points to close at a 3rd consecutive record, at 270,420.65. The JSE Market Index surged 1,657.43 points to a 5th consecutive record close, of 246,383.83.
The JSE US dollar market index lost 12.74 points to close at 188.43 with 2 securities trading in the US dollar market, including one preference share. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 135,953 units valued at US$37,081.
At the close of trading, 26 securities changed hands in the main market, leading to 13 stocks advancing and 9 declining and the price of one stock in the US dollar market fell. Two stocks closed at new 52 weeks’ highs. The main market ended with 3,104,799 units valued at 66,312,076 changing hands compared to 7,902,954 units valued at $80,354,594 at the close on Wednesday. Trading in the local and US dollar markets to J$71,058,454.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading is indicating a strong move ahead as 12 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 119,415 units valued at $2,550,464 for each security traded compared to an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at $183,191 units with an average value of $2,530,773 compared with an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, the last traded price of securities trading along with the volume changing hands are: Barita Investments with just 900 units closing at $6.85 and gaining 20 cents, Berger Paints gaining 48 cents to $18.98 exchanging 5,568 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at $1, with gains of 4 cents trading 523,776 shares, Caribbean Cement lost 20 cents to close at $29.80 with 77,000 shares, Carreras ended at $110 with of 27,188 shares, Grace Kennedy gained 60 cents at $41.10, exchanging 69,007 shares. 
Jamaica Broilers dropped 50 cents, closing at $18.50 with 172,757 units, Jamaica Producers traded 90 cents higher to $15.90 with 185,577 shares. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.45 trading 12,250 shares, JMMB Group closed 25 cents lower to $20, with 17,637 shares. Kingston Wharves gained 10 cents to close at $27.20 exchanging 612 units. Mayberry Investments gained 39 cents, closing at $5 trading 110,000 shares, NCB Financial Group added $1.99 to record close of $83, after exchanging 263,394 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.41, losing 9 cents with 25,000 shares, PanJam Investment traded $1.45 lower to $33 trading 51,940 shares, Proven Investments added 1 cent to close at $24.72 exchanging 148,499 shares, Pulse Investments gained 26 cents to close at $2.20, with 15,000 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.41 with 115,145 shares. Sagicor Group gained $1.74 to $31.75 trading 75,345 shares, Scotia Group closed at $44.95, losing 95 cents with 420,846 shares, Scotia Investmentsexchanged 2,000 shares at $35.12, after losing 38 cents, Seprod closed at $31, with gains of 95 cents and 500 units changing hands, Supreme Ventures lost 2 cents to close at $7.68 with 110,571 shares. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 24 US cents, losing 0.02 US cents trading 130,897 units, JMMB Group US 6% preference share exchanged 5,056 units at US$1.12, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.99, gaining 9 cents, trading 74,187 units, JMMB Group 7.5% preference share lost 4 cents, closing at $1.11 with 600,000 units exchanged and 138 Student Living variable rate preference share closed at 52 weeks’ high of $5.68, with gains of 68 cents trading 100 units.
New record for the JSE on Wednesday
Carreras jumped $17.50 to $110 on Wednesdaay after the company indicated they are considering a stock split.
Trading on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw increased number of securities changing hands including 6 preference stocks. The All Jamaica Composite Index surged 1,892.68 points to close at a new record of 268,601.52, the JSE Market Index jumped 1,724.45 points to a 4th consecutive record close, of 244,726.40.
The JSE US dollar market index rose 17.40 points to close at 201.17.
At the close of trading, 32 securities changed hands in the main market with 1 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 10 stocks advancing and 16 falling including 5 that ended at 52 weeks closing highs. At the close 7,902,954 units valued at 80,354,594 changed hands in the main market compared to 24,165,397 units valued at $225,427,641 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 18,500 units valued at US$4,810 bringing the total of all trades to J$80,890,786.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 246,967 units valued at $2,511,081 for each security traded compared to an average of 1,006,892 units valued at $9,392,818. The average volume and value for July ended at 160,668 units with an average value of $2,691,438.
In market activity, Barita Investments closed at $6.65 with trades of 1,100 shares, Berger Paints lost 20 cents, closing at $18.50 exchanging 106,569 shares, Cable and Wireless closed at 96 cents, losing 9 cents trading 16,965 shares, Caribbean Cement closed at $30, with a loss of $1.20 exchanging 18,114 shares, Carreras closed at $110, advancing $17.50, with trades of 96,316 shares, Grace Kennedy closed at $40.50, with a loss of $1.25 exchanging 55,923 shares. Jamaica Broilers was down 1 cent to close at $19 trading 652,777 shares, Jamaica Producers traded 92 cents lower to close at $15 with 2,153,273 shares exchanged. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed with gains of 6 cents to $6.45 trading 25,297 shares, JMMB Group closed 70 cents lower to $20.25, with trades of 18,890 shares and Kingston Properties exchanged 400 units at $8. Mayberry Investments gained 1 cent to close at $4.61 trading 5,627 shares, NCB Financial Group added 1 cent to close at $81.01, after exchanging 49,807 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.50, with an exchange of 13,795 shares, 138 Student Living lost 1 cent to close at $5, with trades of 46,000 shares, PanJam Investment gained 45 cents, closing at $34.45 trading 100 units, Portland JSX traded 50 cents lower to $9 exchanging 22,000 shares, Pulse Investments lost 51 cents to close at $1.94, with trades of 64,423 shares and Radio Jamaica closed at $1.41 with 31,277 shares exchanged. Sagicor Group fell $3.49 to $30.01 trading 18,656 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund lost 10 cents, closing at $11.92 trading 28,372 shares, Salada Foods closed at $8.61, with a loss of 72 cents and 60,000 shares changing owners, 
Scotia Group closed at $44.95, losing 3 cents with trades of 87,322 shares, Scotia Investments exchanged 3,000 shares at $35.50, Seprod closed at $30.05, with a gain of 4 cents and 95,000 shares changing hands and Supreme Ventures lost 10 cents to close at $7.70 with 25,235 shares exchanged. Proven Investments US ordinary shares closed at 26 US cents, gaining 0.04 US cents trading 18,500 units.
A large number of preference shares traded with 4 trading at 52 weeks’ highs.JMMB Group 7.50% preference share closed at $1.15, with a loss of 2 cents exchanging 3,950,000 units, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.90 trading 105,000 units, JPS 7% preference share gained 3 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ high of 48 cents with 41,300 units switching owners, JPS 5% C preference share closed with gains of 2 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of 38 cents trading 1,835 units, JPS 5% D preference share gained 2 cents, closing at a 52 weeks’ high of 38 cents with 71,921 units exchanged, JPS 6% preference share closed at 52 weeks’ high of 44 cents, gaining 3 cents trading 36,660 units.
NCB & Express Catering drop out
NCB Financial Group jumped to $80 on Friday & exited the top 10.
Shares of Express Catering were in strong demand during the week, with price closing at $5.20 for gains of 247 percent from the initial public issue price of $1.50. At the close of the week the stock was out of the TOP 10 and so was NCB Financial Group with the price climbing to a record $80, at the close on Friday.
Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) will not start trading until August 9, when it is expected to surge in price based on the heavy over subscription of 3.5 times oversubscribed with more than 1,200 applications.
Trading in the past week returned to a bullish mood, with the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market index hitting new highs on Thursday and Friday. The trend is expected to continue this coming week as investors react to some new results.
Caribbean Flavours and CAC 2000 that fell out of the top listing at the end of the prior week return this week with the exit of Express Catering , Lasco Financial that rose to $3.80 and Caribbean Cream that returned to $7.
The only movement in and out of the TOP 10 in the main market were Salada Foods coming in as NCB dropped out with gains in the price in the past week.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 7 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market TOP 10, holds at 7.3. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 42 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 44 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
NCB Financial and Express Catering the two stocks IC Insider.com listed as our market watch make gains during the past week. NCB has clearly broken out from a triangle of consolidation and seems to be heading higher. Express Catering could possibly rise higher but appears to be fully valued at a PE of 20 currently.
Carreras jumps $20 to $110 record high
Carreras climbed to a 52 weeks’ high of $110 on Tuesdaay.
In modest trading on main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with more stock declining than advancing but with a big jump in the price of Carreras by nearly $20 helping to drive the indices up at the close on Tuesday. At the close, 27 securities traded in the main market with 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 8 stocks advancing and 15 declining.
The All Jamaica Composite Index advanced 919.07 points to close at 257,575.32, the JSE Market Index gained 837.37 points to 234,680.30 and the JSE US dollar market index declined 12.17 points to close at 189.00.
The main market ended with 2,850,716 units valued at $31,654,846 changing hands compared to 1,923,682 units valued at $19,764,112 at the close on Monday. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 282,881 units valued at US$87,908 bringing the total of all trades to J$42,907,126.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 2 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
The main market ended trading with an average of 105,582 units valued at $1,172,402 for each security traded compared to an average of 96,184 units valued at $988,206. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 116,472 units with an average value of $2,430,947 compared with an average of 117,153 units with an average value of $2,509,606 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for June ended at 218,951 units with an average value of $3,871,959.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 35 cents lower to close at $6.65 with 150 units changing hands, Berger Paints closed at $15.68 trading 8,710 shares, Cable and Wireless lost 4 cents, closing at 90 cents with 937,467 stock units switching owners, Caribbean Cement closed at $24.80, losing 90 cents exchanging 49,814 shares, Carreras skyrocketed to a new high of $110, with gains of $19.75 while trading 4,920 units, Grace Kennedy closed at $41, with a loss of 50 cents exchanging 29,034 shares. Jamaica Broilers closed at $18.01, with a loss of 49 cents while trading 256,628 shares, Jamaica Producers gained 35 cents, closing at $14.50 with 36,616 shares traded. Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $6.49 exchanging 29,850 shares, 
JMMB Group lost 20 cents to close at $19, with trades of 38,014 shares, Kingston Properties gained 5 cents to close at $7.20 exchanging 3,282 shares, Kingston Wharves traded $1 higher to $30, with 250 units switching owners. Mayberry Investments closed at $4.55, with an exchange of 31,000 shares, NCB Financial Group traded 87 cents lower to $74.05, after exchanging 29,557 shares, PanJam Investment closed with gains of $1 to $33, trading 8,427 units, Portland JSX exchanged 300 units at $10, Proven Investments gained 4 cents, closing at $24.71 with 261,700 shares traded, Pulse Investments fell by 17 cents to $2.32 with 54,907 shares changing owners, Radio Jamaica lost 5 cents to close at $1.25, trading 179,023 shares. Sagicor Group dropped 49 cents, with an exchange of 89,872 shares, to close at $31.50. Scotia Group lost 49 cents, closing at $43.51 with 86,085 shares trading, Scotia Investments closed with gains of 89 cents to $36.99 trading 18,000 units, Seprod lost 20 cents, closing at $29.75 trading 1,490 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $14, with a loss of 5 cents trading 570 units, Supreme Ventures traded 592,150 shares at $7.80. Proven Investments US ordinary shares lost 0.02 US cents to close at 24 US cents trading 260,398 units, Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share closed at $2, losing 10 cents exchanging 100,000 units and JMMB Group US 6% preference share traded 22,483 units at US$1.12.
Express Catering enters TOP 10
Ian Dear, Managing Director of Express Catering
Trading started in Express Catering shares on Friday on the Junior Market, with the stock enjoying strong demand up to the $3 level. New information obtained this past week from the prospectus resulted in the earnings for this company being upgraded and it is included in the TOP stocks.
Importantly for Express Catering, the prospectus states that effective at the end on of May, the contract that gave rise to the payment of management fees was cancelled. The amount, the equivalent to 9 percent of revenues or roughly US$1.4 million will no longer be paid and should go towards boosting the bottom-line, and should result in the earnings per share around J$0.26 cents for 2018 fiscal year. The change means it is now a part of the TOP 10 Junior Market stocks. With the strong demand for the stock, it should spend just a short time in the list. The same out turn seems likely for Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS) once it starts to trade, with the 
IPO being nearly 4 times oversubscribed with more than 1,000 applications received for the 52 million shares.
With the initial public offers now out of the way, trading in the secondary markets saw more energy in the past week than for the previous two, with some stocks that were weak before, finding buying at the lower prices.
ISP Finance price rose to $14 after falling to $11 during the past week, but big declines in the prices of AMG Packaging and Caribbean Cream pushed out ISP as well Caribbean Flavours and CAC 2000 out of the top listing.
The only movement in and out of the TOP 10 in the main market were Sagicor Group that spent just one week a short while ago, coming back, as Cable & Wireless dropped out with a big gain in the price in the past week of 17.5 percent.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 6.6 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market TOP 10, holds at 6.7. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead.
Last week IC Insider indicated that two stocks to watch were Cable & Wireless with the price around support level and NCB Financial with very limited number of stocks currently being offered. Both stocks bounced with the former rising over 17 percent to 94 cents and NCB rising to $75 from $71.50. Active supply for NCB is very low currently and technical chart suggests a big break out for it very soon. NCB is to be watched for a possible break towards $80 and Express Catering to well over $3.
ISP Finance and C&W back in TOP 10
Pull back in the prices of several Junior Market stocks, resulted in changes in the TOP 10 junior stocks at the close of the week. The changes took place against the back ground of an unprecedented 5 issues of new shares around the same time in the market.
Some investors are of the view the public issue of shares all coming around the same time, contributed to the softness in the market over the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, this week, IC Insider.com BUY RATED Stationery and Office Supplies (SOS opens to the public for purchase, at a priced of $2 and is expected to close on the same day it opens. Express Catering IPO opened and close last week Wednesday with more than 1,000 applications received.
ISP Finance price dropped to $13.56 during the past week to re-enter the Top 10. Returning back to the TOP 10 are Caribbean Flavours and Lasco Distributors
Moving out of the top list are AMG Packaging, Lasco Manufacturing with the price rising to $4.70 from $4.30 at the close of the previous week and tTech with the price rising 50 cents to a record $10.
In the main market Sagicor Group spent just one week in the top listing with the price moving from$30 at the end of the previous week to end at $33 and is replaced by Cable & Wireless with the price down under $1 at 80 cents, support for the stock is around 75 cents, hence it could bounce back from these levels soon.
NCB Financial Group is worth watching keenly in the days and weeks ahead.
Market movement continues to be constrained by near term resistance points, it does not prevent stocks from moving in either direction, but it will tend to keep prices overall from big movements upwards.
The average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is down at 6.8 with SOS in at a PE of 5 times 2017 earnings. The PE for the main market holds at 6.7. The average PE for the overall main market, remains at 13 and 12 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 Junior Market stocks now trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the Junior Market average, while those in the main market are trading at a 49 percent discount, to the average of the market, leaving stocks with room for growth in the months ahead in the market.
Two stocks to watch are Cable & Wireless with the price around support level and NCB Financial with very limited number of stocks currently being offered.