The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange broke its winning streak of 9 consecutive days of closing records, to end on Thursday with the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index falling 1,128.83 points, to close at 316,326.8822 and the JSE Index shedding 1,028.50 points to end at 288,209.55.
Caribbean Cement posted good results that pushed the price as high as $37, but it closed at $33 with the bid at $35 after investors attempted to trade it at $45 which was cancelled after trading in the stock was suspended for an hour. NCB Financial closed down to $105.65 at the same time that it traded in Trinidad at the equivalent of $114 and JMMB Group traded at the equivalent of $35 on the Trinidad Stock Exchange but closed at a record close of $28 and Berger Paints close at $16.75, 54 percent above the price the company’s directors recommended to be a fair value. Scotia Group dropped $2 to $50 and Carreras climbed $1.50 to $13.
At the conclusion of trading 23 securities changed hands, in the main and US dollar market as 11 advanced, 7 declined and 5 traded firm with 3,021,277 units valued at $73,512,131 compared to 3,975,709 units valued at $69,965,883 on 
Wednesday and the US dollar market Equities Index declined by 0.33 points to close at 183.13 with just 1,100 units trading with a value of US$634 from just one security.
Trading ended with an average of 137,331 units for an average of $3,341,461 in contrast to 172,857 units for an average of $3,041,995 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,352,159 units valued at $18,809,431 and 1,420,512 units with an average value of $19,679,752, previously. In contrast, September closed with average of 283,480 units at $3630990 for each security traded.
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 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 with a lower offer.
8 stocks rise 8 fall
The main market closed with 8 securities rising, 8 falling and 7 traded firm with 3,975,709 units valued at $69,965,883 compared to 10,920,273 units valued at $178,163,037 on Tuesday.
In the main activity, Berger Paints finished trading at $16, with 75,396 stock units, Cable & Wireless lost 8 cents at $1.01, with 213,894 shares trading, Caribbean Cement ended 41 cents higher at $29.01, with 11,923 units, Carreras concluded trading at $11.50, with 749,555 stock units, Grace Kennedy finished trading with a loss of 24 cents at $42.76, with 18,410 shares. Jamaica Broilers finished trading at $18, with 318,870 units changing hands, Jamaica Producers settled with a loss of 40 cents at $15.60, in exchanging 24,091 shares, 
Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with a loss of 3 cents at $6.97, with 220 units, JMMB Group ended 60 cents higher at $27.60, with 157,825 stock units, Kingston Wharves settled $1.49 higher at $32.99, with 1,950 shares trading. Mayberry Investments concluded trading at $4.20, with 20,194 stock units, 1834 Investments finished at $1.40, with 2,079 units, PanJam Investment settled $1.50 higher at $41.50, with 285,310 units, Portland JSX ended trading at $9.15, with 2,000 shares, Pulse Investments concluded trading 1 cent higher at $1.61, with 47,439 units. 
Radio Jamaica ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.14, with 36,167 shares trading, Sagicor Group finished with a loss of $1.99 at $38, with 33,719 stock units, Sagicor Real Estate Fund concluded trading 35 cents higher at $14.50, with 1,209 units, Scotia Group finished trading $1 higher at $52, with 478,019 shares, Seprod finished trading with a loss of $1.25 at $28.75 as 626 stock units traded. Supreme Ventures rose 1 cent and concluded trading at $11.99, with 366,286 shares. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group 7.5% settled at $1.11, with 1,087,990 units In the US dollar market segment, Proven Investments closed with 11,330 units trading at 23.5 US cents.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
13 stock prices rose on Tuesday
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange continues its bullish mood as trading closed with the 8 consecutive record on Tuesday, with the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index climbing 1,582.36 points to a record 316,696.32 and the JSE Index advancing 1,441.71 points to a record 288,546.16.
In the main activity, NCB Financial climbed back by $4 to close at $107 with 72,595 trading and Productivity Business traded 400 preference shares for a gain of $5 to close at a record high $105.
Berger Paints jumped 97 cents to close at $16, with 263,833 shares, this compares with the price of $10.88 that company’s majority shareholder offered, to buy out the minority shares and the company’s directors recommended as a fair value. Cable & Wireless traded 2 cents higher at $1.09, with 124,962 units, Caribbean Cement ended 50 cents higher at $28.60, with 82,419 shares, Carreras concluded trading 1 cent higher at $11.50, with 505,010 shares, 
Grace Kennedy settled 20 cents higher at $43, with 3,036 stock units, Jamaica Broilers ended with a loss of 49 cents at $18, after trading 13,309 units, Jamaica Producers finished at $16, with 5,905 stock units. Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 30 cents higher at $7, with 12,934 shares, JMMB Group closed with a loss of 50 cents at $27, trading 264,989 units, Kingston Wharves ended at $31.50, with 8,255 shares, Mayberry Investments closed with a loss of 40 cents at $4.20, with 73,720 stock units trading, 
138 Student Living ended trading 9,581 shares at $5.40. PanJam Investment settled with a loss of $1.99 at $40, exchanging 925 units, Portland JSX gained 15 cents to end at $9.15, with 1,800 stock units, Pulse Investments concluded trading with a loss of 40 cents at $1.60, with 2,750 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica settled at $1.15, with 50,837 stock units, Sagicor Group jumped 99 cents higher to $39.99, with 18,676 shares. Sagicor Real Estate Fund settled 15 cents higher at $14.15, with 580,923 stock units, Scotia Group closed 50 cents higher at $51, with 2,453,400 units trading, Seprod closed at $30, with 38,390 shares and Supreme Ventures finished 9 cents higher at $11.99, with 763,256 stock units. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group finished trading with a loss of 1 cent at $1.10, with 5,568,368 units.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
8 consecutive record close for JSE – Tuesday
The Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at the 8th consecutive record high on Tuesday with the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index climbing 1,582.36 points to close at 316,696.32 and the JSE Index advanced by 1,441.71 points to 288,546.16.
Trading finished with 24 securities changing hands in the main market and 3 in the JSE US dollar market and resulted in 13 rising, 6 declining and 8 trading firm. The main market closed with 10,920,273 units valued at $178,163,037 compared to 2,056,868 units valued at $33,022,811 on Monday and the JSE US dollar market closed with 16,032 units traded, valued at US$4,842and leading to the JSE US dollar Equities Index advancing 2.74 points to 185.75.
Trading ended with an average of 455,011 units for an average of $7,423,460 in contrast to 97,946 units for an average of $1,572,515 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,498,491 units valued at $20,719,611 and previously, an average of 1,571,292 units valued at $21,647,250. In contrast, September closed with average of 283,480 units at $3,630,990 for each security traded.
NCB Financial climbed back to $107 from Monday’s to close at $103, while Berger paints traded 263,833 shares to close at $16, up 47 percent above the price the directors said was a fair price for the minority shares. IC Insider.com estimate for earnings for the year to March 2018 places the PE at a low 7 times currently versus the average market of 13.6. Productivity Business traded 400 shares for a gain of $5to close at a record high $105.
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 a reading of 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
NCB hits record high at $110
NCB Financial surged to record high of $110 on Monday but failed to hold at this level, and closed with a fall of $4 from Friday’s close, while trading 66,239 units.
Gains in 7 securities in addition to an increase in the average price of NCB pushed the market to another record close with an increase of 1,123.42 points for the All Jamaican Composite Index, to a new record close of 315,113.96 and the JSE Index ending at a new closing high with a rise of 1,023.56 points to 287,104.45.
Trading in the main and US dollar markets ended with 22 securities changing hands, of which 7 advanced, 8 declined and 7 traded firm.
In market activity, Berger Paints rose $1.03 to $15.03, trading 88,561 shares, Cable & Wireless ended trading with a loss of 3 cents at $1.07, with 149,565 stock units, Caribbean Cement traded $1 higher at $28.10, with 354,168 stock units, Carreras finished with a loss of 1 cent at $11.49, with 173,526 stock units, Grace Kennedy closed at $42.80, with 16,111 shares. Jamaica Broilers lost 46 cents to end trading at $18.49, with 77,769 stock units, Jamaica Producers settled at $16, trading 10,675 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended with a loss of 30 cents at $6.70, with 75,914 stock units, JMMB Group settled at $27.50, with 75,887 shares, 
Kingston Wharves concluded trading at $31.50, with a mere 295 shares. Mayberry Investments ended 50 cents higher at $4.60, with just 300 units, 1834 Investments closed 5 cents higher at $1.40, with 84,295 shares, PanJam Investment climbed $2.49 higher to $41.99, with 28,445 stock units, Pulse Investments added 20 cents to close at $2, with 316,977 shares, Radio Jamaica traded 333,324 units at $1.15. Sagicor Group ended with a loss of 50 cents at $39, after 26,730 units changed hands, Sagicor Real Estate Fund concluded trading with a loss of $1 at $14, with 1,695 units being exchanged, Scotia Group jumped $1.42 to $50.50, with 56,422 shares, Seprod traded at $30, with 4,420 stock units and Supreme Ventures concluded trading at $11.90, with 115,550 shares. In the main market bond market NCB US 6% bond traded 19,000 units at J$131.02 after falling by 20 cents and In the US dollar market segment Proven Investments closed with 2,300 units trading at 23.5 US cents.
7 straight record close for JSE
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index moved higher at the close of trading on Monday by 1,123.42 points to a new record close of 315,113.96, for 50 percent gain in 2017 and the 7th consecutive record close.
The JSE Index made new closing high with a rise of 1,023.56 points to close at 287,104.4 and in the US dollar market, trading ended with just 2,300 units, valued at US$541 as the JSE US dollar Equities Index closed unchanged at 183.01 after one security traded, with no price change.
Trading on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended trading on Monday with 21 securities changing hands, 7 advanced, 8 declined and 6 traded firm with 2,056,868 units valued at $33,022,811 compared to 5,159,785 units valued at $78,990,902 on Friday.
Trading ended with an average of 97,946 units for an average of $1,572,515 in contrast to 245,704 units for an average of $3,761,472 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,571,292 units valued at $21,647,250 and 1,667,082 units valued at $22,952,418, previously. In contrast, September closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded
NCB Financial surged to a new record intraday high of $110 but fell back, to close at $103, losing $3 from the last trade on Friday. Berger paints traded 88,561 shares to close at $15.03, up 38 percent above the price Ansa Coatings offered to buy the minority shares.
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 a reading of 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
When the market speaks
Markets have a way of telling stories that confound many. In May 2014of that year, the local market declined to reach 76,344.27 points on June 23, after reaching 86,590 points in mid-March.
Some investors thought the market was going to crash with some pulling funds out and moving into foreign exchange investments. The technical reading pointed in a different direction, the market by then had hit bottom and was not only heading up but much, much higher. One big clue, the market was caught in a triangular formation, a tell-tale sign of a big break out. The signal was very clear from September.
An article published on this site in September 2014 said “Technically, the main market is seeing the short term moving average on the verge of crossing the medium term moving average, a bullish sign. Importantly, many listed companies have posted some attractive results for 2014 that is supportive of an upward push in their stock price.” The rest is history as the market slowly crept higher to 84,084.94 and the slow recovery morphed into a strong bull market starting early in 2015.
Recently, the market has been sending out strong signals, one is that the main market is heading for the 500,000 points market, that is 60 percent away from the current level. The other signal to have emanated from the market, was the clear message that was pointing the major error the directors of Berger Paints were making in recommending the sale of shares by minority shareholders.
The stock market is sending a very strong message that a stock split is inevitable for NCB Financial by early 2018.
The market sent the message but some investors did not listen resulting in the surrender of 6.6 million units at a vastly reduced value to its true valuation. It is not surprising that the stock now trades at $15
At an investors’ briefing this year, the NCB Financial Group’s executives said they saw no benefit to the company of a stock split. IC Insider.com had written a piece indicating that a split is baked into the price already and could not be avoided. On Friday and Monday, the market sent and even clearer message to the directors that it cannot be delayed with the stock price jumping record $108 with only small amounts being offered for sale.
NCB jumps TOP 10
NCB Financial Group closed at a record $107 on Friday.
NCB Financial returned to the main market list last week, but with a jump of $16 to $107 during the week, it ii no longer in the top list.
Barita Investments traded up to $9 and is now out of the listing. Pulse Investments and Seprod replaced NCB and Barita as the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at new record high on Friday, the third consecutive week of record close, driving the All Jamaica Composite Index 313,990.54.
While the main market is making new highs, with gains of 49 percent for 2017, the junior market with gains of just 12 percent at the end of the previous week is now up 17 percent as the market moved higher for the past week helped by strong results by Paramount Trading, Express Catering and increased buying of Stationery and Office Supplies that pushed the price to $5.50 to sit at 10th spot and could well be off the list by the end of the coming week.
The Junior Market list had no movement in or out in the past week. Trading in Berger Paints shares recommenced on Tuesday, after just 6.6 million units were sold by investors in response to the buyout offer by Ansa Coatings at $10.88 per share with the price closing at $14 on Friday and seemingly poised to rise further during the coming week as investors attempted to trade it at $17 which was outside the daily price limit of 30 percent above the last price. The stock has much room to climb, with the March 2018 full year’s earnings that should hit $2.30 per share.
The main market blast well clear of resistance around 300,000 points on the all Jamaica Index and heading much higher to the next major resistance at the 360,000 points range.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 8.1 and a PE at 7.5 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.9 and 13.8 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 41 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 45 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for NCB, Berger, Jamaica Broiler, General Accident, Paramount Trading and Stationery and Office.
NCB trades at record $107
NCB Financial Group trades at $107
NCB Financial (NCB) surged $13 to record high of $107 while trading 26,721 units, as 10 securities gained and pushed the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index by 8,028.94 points to a record close of 313,990.54.
NCB closed with just two offers for stocks placed on the market for sale at the close on Friday for a total of 5,320 shares, an indication that supply is drying up faster that demand for the stock.
Trading in the main and US dollar markets ended with 24 securities changing hands, of which 10 advanced, 7 declined and 7 traded firm.
In the market activity, Berger Paints closed $1.50 higher at $14, with 20,799 stock units changing hands, Cable & Wireless traded with a loss of 10 cents at $1.10, with 171,802 units, Caribbean Cement ended with a loss of 90 cents to end at $27.10, with 3,910 shares, 
Carreras finished trading 30 cents higher at $11.50, with 191,102 stock units, Grace Kennedy traded 11,334 shares and gained 30 cents to end at $42.80. Jamaica Broilers ended trading 94 cents higher at $18.95, with 562 stock units, Jamaica Producers ended trading at $16, with 2,066 shares changing hands, Jamaica Stock Exchange traded at $7, with 19,850 units, JMMB Group ended trading with a loss of 10 cents at $27.50, with 159,999 stock units, Kingston Wharves rose $1.50 to $31.50, with 5,248 units, Mayberry Investments settled with a loss of 11 cents at $4.10, with 73,995 shares, 1834 Investments ended at $1.35, with 4,390 units trading, PanJam Investment ended with a loss of $1.50 at $39.50, with 12,000 stock units. 
Radio Jamaica closed 5 cents higher at $1.15, with 73,031 units, Sagicor Group ended trading at $39.50 after rising $1.50, with 71,333 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund jumped 99 cents to a new high at $15, with 3,630,842 units, Salada Foods Jamaica finished with a loss of 20 cents at $9.80, with 2,000 stock units, Scotia Group finished trading with a loss of 92 cents at $49.08, with 247,759 shares. Supreme Ventures ended trading 40 cents higher at $11.90, with 13,160 stock units changing hands. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group finished trading at $1.11, with 417,882 stock units, In the US dollar market segment, Productivity Business traded 135,846 shares at 57.5 US cents after losing 2.5 cents and Proven Investments closed with 4,015 units trading at 23.5 US cents and JMMB Group 6% US dollar preference share traded 1,500 units at $1.10.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
NCB leads JSE to 8,028.94 points rise
NCB Financial closed at a record $107 on Friday, pushing a stock split one step closer.
NCB Financial surged to a new record of high of $107 and along with 9 other stocks and pushed the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index by 8,028.94 points to a record close of 313,990.54 for a 49 percent gain in 2017.
The JSE Index to jumped 7,315.27 points to a record close of 286,080.89 on a day when two new record close was achieved by two securities. Trading picked up from Thursday’s low levels with 5,159,785 units valued at $78,990,902 trading compared to 3,438,708 units valued at $30,094,508 on Thursday.
Trading on the Main Market settled with 21 securities changing hands, of which 10 advanced, 6 declined and 5 traded firm. The US dollar market had 3 securities trading with one suffering a decline. Volume traded in this market was 141,361 units valued at US$80,724 and the US dollar Index fell 2.29 points to 183.01.
Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at a new high of $15 after rising 99 cents, trading 3,630,842 units while Berger Paints closed at $14, but attempts were made to trade it as high as $17.50 but the price exceeded the 30 percent limit it could trade at for the day. 
Trading closed with bids to buy Berger ranging from a low of $11.02 to a high of $14 to purchase 259,773 shares, 204,458 units are on sale from a low of $16.75 for 41,583 units to most at $22 for 89,388 shares.
Trading ended with an average of 245,704 units for an average of $3,761,472 in contrast to 132,258 units for an average of $1,157,481 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,667,082 units valued at $22,952,418 and 1,765,920 units valued at $24,286,888, previously. In contrast, September closed with average of 536,395 units at $1,905,441 for each security traded.
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 a strong reading of 11 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and only 1 with a lower offer.