Junior Market jumps to end June

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended June on a positive note with the market index rising 24.30 to close at 2.592.24 and ended the halfway mark of the year, down 22.6 percent and closing out the month 41 points lower than the close of May.
Trading ended with 33 securities changing hands, down from 37 on Monday, with prices of 15 stocks rising, 10 declining and eight stocks closing unchanged. The average PE Ratio of the Junior Market ended at 10.1 based on IC Insider.com’s forecasted 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 4,554,181 shares accounting for 12,472,239 compared to 13,689,006 units at 25,143,842 on Monday.
Jetcon Corporation led trading with 1.23 million units for 27 percent of total trades, followed by Mailpac Group with 786,681 shares or 17 percent and Lasco Distributors with 675,284 stock units at 15 percent market share.
The average trade for the ended at 138,005 units at 377,947 in contrast to an average of 414,818 valued at 761,935 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 245,049 units valued at 689,955 in contrast to 258,414 units valued at $659,203. Trading for May ended with an average of 150,274 units for $491,077 for each security.
 IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the Junior Market shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped $5.49 to $27 with 56,075 shares trading, AMG Packaging gained 3 cents to close at $1.68 after exchanging 7,720 shares, Blue Power advanced 16 cents to settle at $3.86 in trading 2,918 units. Cargo Handlers dropped 60 cents to $6.40 with 1,400 shares changing hands, Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 5 cents and transferred 6,549 stock units to finish at $2.20, Caribbean Flavours jumped $2.22 to end at $13.72 with an exchange of 22,218 shares. Caribbean Producers slipped 3 cents to $2.37 with 152,585 units changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries closed 9 cents higher at $1.60, trading 30,100 units, Derrimon Trading climbed 24 cents and exchanged 35,826 shares to finish at $2.42. Dolphin Cove dropped 2 cents to $8.28 with 1,460 stock units passing through the market, Fontana decreased 6 cents to settle at $5.39 with 46,002 units changing hands, Fosrich climbed 56 cents to end at $4.02 in the transfer of 117,363 shares. Honey Bun gained 8 cents and traded 43,409 stock units to settle at $5.72, Indies Pharma carved out a 15 cents gain to end at $2.63 with an exchange of 508,368 units, Jamaican Teas dropped 11 cents to close at $4.78 with investors transferring 3,642 stock units. Jetcon Corporation exchanged 1,236,791 units and fell 2 cents to settle at $1.08, Knutsford Express rose 20 cents to end at $8.90 with 11,637 stock units changing hands, Lasco Distributors shed 6 cents in the exchange of 675,284 shares to finish at $3. Lasco Manufacturing declined 45 cents to end at $3.50in the transfer of 87,821 stock units, Limners and Bards lost 24 cents to close at $2.56 trading 139,400 units, Lumber Depot advanced 13 cents and traded 133,144 stock units to settle at $1.13. Mailpac Group closed 1 cent higher at $1.99 exchanging 786,681 units, Main Event jumped 48 cents to settle at $4.48 in trading 977 shares, Medical Disposables shed 70 cents and with 300,200 shares changing hands to finish at $6.30 and Stationery and Office Supplies added 30 cents to end at $6.29 with 200 shares crossing the exchange.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market tops 2,600 again

Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange resulted in Market Index surging 52.72 points to close at 2,602.92 to cross back above the 2,600 mark after falling below it on Monday, as trading fell back to more normal levels, from the heightened level on Tuesday.
By the close of the market, investors exchanged 4,874,547 shares for $20,159,456 compared to 46,968,202 units at $126,633,229 on Tuesday. The day’s activities saw 35 securities changing hands, with the prices of 12 rising 11 stocks declining and 12 closing with prices remaining unchanged. The average PE ratio of the market ended at 9.9 based on IC Insider.com’s 2020-21 earnings.
The average trade of the day was 139,273 units at $575,984, in contrast to an average of 1,467,756 units for $3,957,288 on Tuesday. The average volume for the month to date amounts to 262,928 units at $761,592 for each security trading, in contrast to 271,188 units at $773,989. In contrast, May closed with an average of 150,274 units for $491,077 for each security.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows one stock ending with the bid higher than the last selling price and one with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, Access Financial lost $2.49 to end at $21.51 in trading 1,000 units, AMG Packaging shed 1 cent in closing at $1.61 with 5,389 shares changing hands, Blue Power dipped by 1 cent to close at $3.60 after swapping 21,320 stock units. Caribbean Flavours dropped $2.10 to $11.90 in trading 14,788 units, Caribbean Producers advanced by 5 cents to end at $2.39 with an exchange of 232,831 units, Derrimon Trading rose 10 cents and ending at $2.40 after swapping 19,100 stock units. Express Catering advanced 2 cents to end at $4.99 in exchanging 750 stock units, Fontana lost 10 cents in closing at $5.50 in trading 310,380 units, General Accident advanced by 26 cents to end at $6.01 in trading 2,352,308 units. GWest Corporation declined by 5 cents to end at 90 cents with an exchange of 1,526 shares, Honey Bun fell by 32 cents to end at $5.33 with 25,700 units changing hands, iCreate lost 3 cents to 58 cents in trading 20,000 stock units. Indies Pharma fell 11 cents to close at $2.55 in exchanging 302,614 units, Jamaican Teas shed 9 cents and ended at $4.49 in trading 22,935 stock units, Knutsford Express gained 20 cents to settle at $8.70 while exchanging 25 units. Lasco Distributors gained 1 cent to settle at $2.98 with an exchange of 22,760 stock units, Limners and Bards advanced by 1 cent to close at $2.74 after trading 106,712 stock units, Lumber Depot rose 2 cents to settle at $1.13 with 61,947 shares passing through the market. Mailpac Group carved out a 2 cents gain in ending at $1.90 and trading 221,968 units, Main Event shed 5 cents to settle at $4.10 in trading 1,333 shares, Paramount Trading advanced by 2 cents to end at $2 swapping with 1,231 units changing hands. SSL Venture gained 10 cents to end at 85 cents after trading 53,333 stock units and Stationery and Office Supplies garnered a 28 cents rise to close at $6.28 in exchanging 1,660 units.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

$127m Junior Market trades – Tuesday

Investors sent the Junior Market down at the close of trading on Tuesday with volume and value surging well over recent daily levels as Mailpac and Fontana shares dominated with 66 and 25 percent of the market respectively and Caribbean Cream chipped in with 4 percent.
The prices of the three leading trades declined to help in the Junior Market Index shedding 46.89 points to close at 2,550.20, the second lowest close for the month to date. At the end of the market, 32 securities traded down from 28 securities on Monday as the prices of 11 securities advanced, 13 declined and eight remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at ten times IC Insider.com projected 2020-21 earnings.
Trading resulted in an exchange of 46,968,202 units accounting for $126,633,229 compared to 4,779,088 shares at $20,952,617 on Monday.
Trading concluded with an average of 1,467,756 units at $3,957,288 for each security traded in contrast to 170,682 units at $748,308 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 261,844 units at $692,096 and previously 177,588 units at $463,960. In contrast, May closed with an average of 150,274 units for $491,077 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 its last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial recovered $4 of the $4.74 it lost on Monday to settle at $24 with 3,850 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging dropped 6 cents to $1.62 with 3,601 units changing hands, Blue Power slipped 4 cents in the exchange of 2,926 stock units to end at $3.61. Cargo Handlers shed 30 cents to finish at $7.50 trading 59 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers gained 10 cents in the exchange of 4,822 shares to close at $2.30, Caribbean Cream closed trading of 2,000,000 units and fell 20 cents to end at $2.47. Caribbean Producers lost 5 cents to settle at $2.34 with 650,144 stock units passing through the market, Dolphin Cove jumped 80 cents after a transfer of 1,660 shares to close at $8.30, Elite Diagnostic added 5 cents to end at $3.83 with 25,182 units changing hands. Fontana traded a staggering 11,483,741 units and dropped 16 cents to close at $5.60, Honey Bun climbed 35 cents to $5.65 with an exchange of 103,044 units, iCreate gained 3 cents in the transfer of 40,000 units to finish at 61 cents. Indies Pharma slipped 14 cents and traded 343,600 shares to finish at $2.66, Jamaican Teas ended at $4.58 after rising 23 cents in exchanging 32,850 stock units, Jetcon Corporation slipped 4 cents to $1.15 in the transfer of 17,392 shares. Lasco Distributors closed 1 cent lower at $2.97, with 619,829 units changing hands, Lasco Financial slipped 2 cents to $2.60 with 33,329 units traded, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4 after adding 1 cent in the transfer of 54,751 shares. Limners and Bards rose 15 cents to $2.73 with 348,673 shares crossing the exchange, Lumber Depot slid 2 cents and swapped 277,086 units to finish at $1.11, Mailpac Group and lost 2 cents to close at $1.88 with investors transferring a stunning 30,777,290 shares. Main Event finished at $4.15 after rising 5 cents and trading 1,000 units and Medical Disposables shed 20 cents to settle at $6.80 with 1,806 stock units crossing the exchange. In the junior market preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% climbed 16 cents to $1.16, with 1,008 units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market regains some losses – Tuesday

The Junior Market Index recovers 20.28 points of the 32 it lost on Monday to close at 2,601.68 on Tuesday as trading activity remained close to Monday levels with 30 securities changing hands on both days.  
Trading resulted in an exchange of 5,099,168 units valued at $15,226,012 compared to 4,645,198 units valued at $13,350,189 on Monday. At the close of market activities, the prices of 14 securities advanced, ten declined and six remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 10.1 times IC Insider.com projected 2020-21 earnings.
Limners and Bards stock price rose 40 cents as it controlled 24 percent of the overall market volume, with 1.2 million units traded on the heels of its recently announced 52 percent year-over-year increase in net profits for the six months ending April. Mailpac Group held 25 percent of the volume with 1.27 million shares traded and Lasco Distributors 592,000 shares for 12 percent market share rounded out the top three.
Trading concluded with an average of 169,972 units at $507,534 for each security traded, in contrast to 154,840 units for an average of $445,006 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 172,874 units at $420,020 and previously 173,151 units valued at $411,659. In contrast, May closed with an average of 150,274 units for $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows two stock ended with bids higher than its last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial climbed $2.24 to settle at $24.75 at with a mere 50 shares changing hands, Blue Power dropped 26 cents in the exchange of 147,395 stock units to end at $3.60, Cargo Handlers rose 34 cents to $7.84 with a transfer of 655 units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers fell 4 cents in the swapping of 15,350 shares to finish at $2.20, Caribbean Cream closed trading of 1,000 units and gained 8 cents to end at $2.88, Caribbean Flavours fell 50 cents to close at $14 with an exchange of 2,000 shares. Caribbean Producers gained 1 cent to end at $2.37 with 279,690 stock units passing through the market, Everything Fresh dipped 2 cents to 80 cents with 49,258 units changing hands, Express Catering jumped 60 cents to $4.90 with 23,498 shares traded. Fontana gained 4 cents and exchanged 363,036 shares to close at $5.50, Fosrich shed 24 cents in trading 62,922 units to finish at $3.56, General Accident declined 20 cents to $5.30, trading 212,864 stock units. Honey Bun closed trading of 123,257 units and gained 35 cents to end at $5.45, iCreate moved 1 cent higher to 56 cents with an exchange of 47,797 units, Indies Pharma slipped 10 cents in trading 52,511 shares to finish at $2.90. Jamaican Teas ended at $4.49 after losing 1 cent and exchanging 272,114 stock units, Jetcon Corporation rose 22 cents to $1.32 with the swapping of 149,487 shares, Lasco Distributors closed 3 cents higher at $2.98, with 592,454 stock units trading. Lasco Financial climbed 3 cents and exchanged 2,000 shares to finish at $2.54, Lasco Manufacturing lost 11 cents in trading 70,050 units to settle at $3.89, Limners and Bards closed 40 cents higher at $2.90, with 1,224,292 stock units changing hands. Mailpac Group added 5 cents to end at $1.94 with 1,268,543 shares crossing the exchange, Main Event finished at $4.48 after rising 40 cents and trading 8,753 units and Medical Disposables ended with a loss of 1 cent at $6.69 with 800 stock units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market gives back some gains

After closing higher on four of five days last week with the week closing with a gain of 42 points on Friday, the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange lost grounds on the first trading day of the week with the market Index declining 32.01 points to close at 2,581.40.
Trading on the finished with 30 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,645,198 units valued at $13,350,189 compared to 2,764,337 units valued at $7,742,462 on Friday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of nine securities advanced, 11 declined and nine remained unchanged.
An average of 154,840 shares for each security traded at $445,006 An average of 154,840 units stock traded on Monday at $445,006 each, in contrast to 86,386 units for an average of $241,952 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 173,151 units valued at $411,659 and previously 175,086 units valued at $408,136. May closed with an average of 150,274 units valued at $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial declined $2.24 in trading of 4,500 units at $22.51, CAC 2000 lost $1.40 in exchanging 4,718 units at a 52 weeks’ closing low of $8, Cargo Handlers closed 50 cents higher at $7.50, trading 25,181 stock units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 8 cents and ended with 5,133 stock units changing hands at $2.24, Caribbean Producers lost 4 cents in trading of 954,039 units at $2.36, Express Catering ended trading with 16,529 shares, after rising 10 cents to end at $4.30. Fontana dipped 51 cents in trading of 276,289 units at $5.46, Honey Bun ended market activity exchanging 201,000 shares to close at $5.10, after falling 23 cents. iCreate lost 3 cents in trading of 457,276 units at 55 cents, Indies Pharma closed trading of 957,799 units and gained 7 cents to end at $3, Jetcon Corporation closed trading of 106,326 units and gained 20 cents to end at $1.10. Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 1 cent at $2.95 with 75,054 stock units changing hands, Lasco Financial ended market activity exchanging 7,000 shares to close at $2.51 after falling 13 cents, Lasco Manufacturing ended market activity exchanging 119,598 shares to close at $4, after falling 5 cents. Limners and Bards climbed 35 cents, exchanging 537,280 shares at $2.50. Mailpac Group gained 1 cent with 284,048 shares changing hands at $1.89, Main Event dipped 32cents in trading35,314 units at $4.08, Medical Disposables rose 1 cent to end at $6.70 trading 10,000 shares and SSL Venture declined by 4 cents to settle at 75 cents after 25,931 shares crossed the market.
In the Junior Market preference segment, CAC 2000 9.5% closed trading of 8,000 units and gained 16 cents to end at $1.16 and Derrimon Trading 9% exchanged 5,010 shares with a rise of 5 cents to end at 41.55.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

3 changes to BUY RATED Top 10

The Junior Main Market rose four out of five trading days this past week, with the market gaining 2.5 percent while the Main Market lost just under 2,000 points for a loss of half of one percent.

Scotia Group this week’s featured stock

In the last week of May, the Junior Market index gained 3 percent in continuation of a 4 percent rise in the prior week while the Main Market rose 2 percent, with less than a percentage point rise for the previous week.
IC Insider.com TOP 10 weekly reports indicated for some time that the best buys in the Jamaican markets are in the Junior Market, investors by their actions since the market dived in March are confirming this by pushing the Junior Market at a faster pace than the Main Market.
For the Junior Market TOP 10, CAC 2000 and KLE Group dropped out, with full-year earnings, downgraded, with the loss incurred for the six months for CAC and KLE struggling from lack of business due to coronavirus, with little possibility of either of them making up grounds to put them back in TOP 10 contention, for 2020. Elite Diagnostic price climbed from $3.74 to $4.17 and moved out of the group. Replacing the stocks dropping out of the TOP 10 are Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Jamaican Teas and Medical Disposables. There was no change to the TOP 10 Main Market this past week.
This week’s focus: Scotia Group released half-year results to April this past week, but investors are concerned about the impact of bad loans on the profits of banks and they may be overreacting to it. Scotia Group reported a net income of $4.02 billion for the six months to April compared to $5.62 billion for the corresponding period last year. Excluding additional loan provisions of $1.11 billion due to the revision of expected credit losses, net income would be down $488 million or 8.7 percent. When the added loan provision and reduced fee income are taken into consideration, the second quarter, the results would have beaten the pretax profit in 2019, by a small margin.
The group loan portfolio increased $34 billion or 18 percent year over year, primarily due to 28 percent growth in commercial loans, with delinquency of only 0.8 percent. The retail loan portfolio increased 11 percent over the prior year and included a 14 percent increase in mortgages. The growth in loans is the most critical factor in determining likely gains in profit going forward.
The past week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 260 to 692 percent by March 2021 are Caribbean Producers, followed by Lasco Financial and Lumber Depot. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group, with expected gains of 165 to 233 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14 and the Junior Market at just 9.3, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.7 at just 61 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 62 percent of the PE of the overall market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 283 percent, for the Junior Market and 140 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is the potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Expected gains are computed based on earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

Up day for Junior Market

The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended five days of decline with a rise in the index on Monday with the Market Index rising 11.49 points to close at 2,560.56.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 13 securities advanced, 14 declined and five remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.2 times 2020-21 earnings.
Trading ended with 32 securities changing hands, compared 26 on Friday and resulted in an exchange of 12,747,813 units valued at $17,475,915 compared to 1,400,627 units valued at a mere $3,764,005 on Friday.
The average trade on Monday was 398,369 units at $546,122, in contrast to 53,870 units, for an average of $144,769 on Friday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 204,071 units valued at $469,345 and previously 156,968 units valued at $450,732. Trading in May closed with an average of 150,274 units valued at $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial dropped $2.09 trading 18,091 units in closing at $22.51, AMG Packaging gained 14 cents and exchanged 2,864 shares at $1.70, Blue Power closed with a loss of 26 cents at $3.60 after swapping 9,390 shares. CAC 2000 rose 10 cents and exchanged 1,000 shares at $9.40, Derrimon Trading lost 39 cents trading of 70,316 units at $2.20, Dolphin Cove dropped 80 cents exchanging 8,547 shares to close at $7.50. Elite Diagnostic gained 11 cents with 85,292 shares changing hands at $3.85, Everything Fresh declined by 2 cents in trading of 52,869 units at 78 cents, Express Catering closed trading of 2,789 units and gained 3 cents to end at $4.38. Fontana rose 14 cents exchanging 122,435 shares, at $6.14, Fosrich closed with a loss of 48 cents at $3.41in  swapping 11,141 shares, General Accident rose 7 cents with 19,637 shares changing hands at $5.37, Honey Bun gained 15 cents trading of 133,905 units to end at $5.45. Indies Pharma declined by 5 cents to settle at $2.21 after investors switched ownership of  32,151 units, Jamaican Teas ended trading with 57,832 shares, after rising 36 cents to close at $4.89, Jetcon Corporation closed 5 cents higher at 90 cents, with 355 stock units changing hands. Knutsford Express climbed 30 cents and exchanged 950 shares at $8.30, Lasco Distributors ended trading with 152,436 shares, after rising 7 cents to end at $2.98, Lasco Financial shed 10 cents to settle at $2.55 after exchanging 168,566 shares, Lasco Manufacturing lost 5 cents trading 16,100 units at $3.85. Limners and Bards closed, with a loss of 2 cents at $2.03 in swapping 87,179 shares, Lumber Depot lost 3cents with 11,147,733 shares crossing the market to close at $1.10, Mailpac Group closed trading of 68,279 units and gained 3 cents to end at $1.90. Main Event stock fell by 12 cents in exchanging 2,000 units at $4.35, shares of Medical Disposables declined by 13 cents to settle at $6.75 with 39,870 units changing hands, Paramount Trading gained 1 cent to end at $1.99, trading 1,000 shares and SSL Venture shed 14 cents in transferring 16,674 units at 79 cents.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

New changes to BUY RATED stocks

Junior Main Market stocks pulled back this week, resulting in few changes to the IC Insider.com TOP 10 lists as the market may be caught in the usual early summer of consolidation ahead of the release of second-quarter results.
For Junior Market TOP 10, General Accident pulled back to an attractive level of $5.32 and re-entered the TOP 10 at the expenses of Jamaican Teas. Sagicor Group moved back into the TOP 10 Main Market with Victoria Mutual Investments dropping out.
The week closed with the three top Junior Market stocks with the potential to gain between 356 to 692 percent by March 2021 as Caribbean Producers, followed by KLE Group and Lasco Financial. In the Main Market, Radio Jamaica continues to lead, followed by Berger Paints and JMMB Group with projected gains of 165 to 210 percent.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after the second quarter of 2020 up to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 14.2 and the Junior Market at just 9.5, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a mere 5.1 at 53 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at 8.6 or 60 percent of the PE of the market.
The average projected gain for the IC TOP 10 stocks is 327 percent, for the Junior Market and 139 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication that there is greater potential to make greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver some of the best returns up to March 2021. Expected gains are based on projected earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.

Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.

 

Junior Market drops 84 points this week

Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Friday resulted in another day of decline of the Market Index, for the six consecutive days of fall and shedding 83.90 points for the week.
At the close, the Junior Market Index declined 5.69 points to close at 2,549.07 with 26 securities changing hands, in an exchange of 1,400,627 units for $3,764,005 compared to 2,120,809 units at $5,882,853 from the trading of 33 securities on Thursday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 12 securities advanced, eight declined and six remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.4 times 2020-21 earnings.
The average trade for the day was 53,870 units at $144,769, in contrast to 64,267 units for an average of $178,268 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 156,968 units valued at $450,732 and previously 312,432 units at $866,497. Trading in May closed with an average of 150,274 units at $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Blue Power rose 22 cents to end at $3.86, with 20,000 stock units changing hands, Cargo Handlers closed with an exchange of 10,000 units and gained 30 cents to end at $6.51, Caribbean Producers ended trading with 75,841 shares, after rising 2 cents to close at $2.40. Consolidated Bakeries shed 13 cents in trading 100 units at $1.51, Dolphin Cove climbed 50 cents and exchanged 433 shares at $8.30, Express Catering declined by 5 cents to settle at $4.35, after trading 11,507 units. Fontana closed 1 cent higher at $6, with the trading of 54,638 stock units, General Accident lost 11 cents in exchanging 8,500 shares to close at $5.30, Honey Bun declined by 25 cents trading 10,742 units to settle at $5.30, iCreate ended trading with 104,081 shares, after rising 3 cents to end at 54 cents. Jamaican Teas declined by 45 cents trading of 171,503 units at $4.53, Knutsford Express shed 90 cents to settle at $8 in exchanging 872 units, Lasco Financial closed trading of 10,101 units and gained 24 cents to end at $2.65. Lasco Manufacturing declined by 12 cents in exchanging 117,442 shares to close at $3.90, Limners and Bards closed 5 cents higher at $2.05, with 227,798 stock units changing hands, Lumber Depot added 2 cents to close at $1.13, with 121,357 stock units trading. Mailpac Group ended trading with 127,888 shares, after rising 1 cent to end at $1.87, Medical Disposables closed trading with 7,156 shares, after gaining 12 cents to end at $6.88 and Paramount Trading ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.98 with 150,500 stock units changing hands.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.

Junior Market slips for a third day

Trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday with 36 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,571,474 units valued at $12,078,991 compared to 12,626,886 units valued at $37,770,740 from 36 stocks on Tuesday.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 9 securities advanced, 12 declined and 14 remained unchanged. The Junior Market Index declined by 7.12 points to close at 2,589.65.
The average security traded for the day ended at 126,985 units and $335,528, in contrast to 350,747 units for an average of $1,049,187 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amount 289,692 units valued at $1,086,852 and previously 372,181 units valued at $1,467,806. Trading in May closed with an average of 150,274 units valued at $491,077 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, Access Financial climbed $1.55 to settle at $24.60 with 1,000 shares changing hands, Blue Power closed with a loss of 10 cents at $3.60, with an exchange of 50,000 shares, CAC 2000 declined by 9 cents in trading of 2,575 units at $9.30. Cargo Handlers ended trading with 6,921 shares, after rising 19 cents to close at $6.40, Caribbean Cream ended t with 35,115 shares changing hands after rising 33 cents to settle at $2.80. Caribbean Flavours fell 70 cents in exchanging 20,000 shares to close at $11.30, Derrimon Trading dipped 25 cents in trading of 100 units at $2.35, Dolphin Cove fell 40 cents with 11,200 units changing hands at $7.40. Elite Diagnostic closed trading of 8,446 units and gained 5 cents to end at $3.47, Express Catering ended with a loss of 1 cent at $4.35 with 25,692 stock units changing hands, Fosrich closed with a loss of 85 cents at $3.15 swapping 6,300 shares. General Accident lost 51 cents in trading of 97,860 units at $5.52, GWest Corporation exchanged 10,996 shares to close at 95 cents, after falling 5 cents, Honey Bun climbed 25 cents and exchanged 85,194 shares at $5.45. Jamaican Teas ended trading with 118,470 shares, after rising 40 cents to end at $5, Jetcon Corporation closed 3 cents higher at 85 cents, with 41,800 stock units trading, Knutsford Express closed 8 cents higher at $8.60, trading 3,910 stock units. Lasco Distributors lost 2 cents with 717,278 shares changing hands to close at $2.91, Lasco Manufacturing declined by 22 cents in trading of 169,108 units at $4.28, Main Event lost 32 cents in ending at $4.18 while exchanging 9,108 shares and Medical Disposables climbed 22 cents and traded 14,727 shares at $6.75.

Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.