Trading closed on the Junior Market on Monday with the index slipping, as the volume of stocks transferred tumbled 59 percent at 44 percent less the value from Friday’s readings as rising and declining stocks shared the spoils equally.
Overall, 34 securities traded down from 37 on Friday and ended with the prices rising and declining, closing with 14 each as six closed unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index slipped below the 3,400 points levels again after falling 6.44 points to 3,395.86. The PE Ratio, a measure used to compute an appropriate value of a stock, averaged 13.1 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings forecast.
A total of 3,684,108 shares traded for $9,320,842 down from 8,962,101 units at $16,689,987 on Friday.
Future Energy Source led trading with 52.9 percent of the volume after exchanging 1.95 million shares, followed by Lumber Depot 14.6 percent, with 537,768 units and Jamaican Teas 4.5 percent with an exchange of just 166,833 units.
Trading averaged 108,356 units at $274,142 compare to 242,219 at $451,081 on Friday. For the month to date trading averages 180,075 units at $385,610, compared to 214,420 units at $438,989 on Friday. June closed with an average of 225,705 units at $644,459.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial popped 52 cents to $21.09 in trading 30 shares, Caribbean Assurance Brokers rallied 10 cents to $1.99 with owners swapping 500 stocks, Caribbean Flavours slipped 5 cents to $2.10 with 44,050 units changing hands. Derrimon Trading fell 9 cents to $2.42 with an exchange of 127,347 stock units, Dolphin Cove gained 10 cents to finish at $8.40 with 500 shares passing through the market, Elite Diagnostic dropped 15 cents to $2.95 with a transfer of 24,084 stocks. Express Catering rose 5 cents to $6.09, trading 128,661 units, General Accident fell 35 cents to $5.25 in switching ownership of 1,400 stock units, GWest Corporation advanced 10 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $1.40 with 1,250 shares changing hands. Indies Pharma spiked 47 cents to $3.88 with an exchange of 26,872 stocks, ISP Finance shed $1.03 to close at $21.40 with 1,000 units passing through the market, Jamaican Teas slipped 5 cents to $4.10 with a transfer of 166,833 stock units.
Lasco Distributors lost 22 cents to finish at $4 with 73,010 shares traded, Lasco Financial dipped 5 cents to $3.28 with investors switching ownership of 36,613 stocks, Limners and Bards popped 5 cents to $3.10 with 36,211 units changing hands. Medical Disposables declined by 5 cents to $4.90 with a transfer of 12,792 stock units and Stationery and Office Supplies climbed 20 cents to $8 with 467 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
The Junior Market recovered all of its Covid-19 related loss and more in hitting its highest level this week, since the first week of December 2019, helped by a number of ICInsider.com Top stocks of which 6 recorded gains between 69 percent and 81 and two over 100 percent, with the market up 29 percent for 2021 to date. 
The top three stocks in the Junior Market are Elite, Caribbean Assurance and Medical Disposables, with the potential to gain between 223 and 287 percent, following the range of 254 to 276 percent last week. The top three Main Market stocks are Radio Jamaica in the number one spot, followed by JMMB Group and Guardian Holdings, with expected gains of 171 to 379 percent versus last weeks’ 188 to 385 percent.
For the Junior Market to trade at the historical average, the PE Ratio would have to rise by 31 percent and requires a rise of 54 percent to reach the targeted PE of 20 by March 2022. Main Market stocks would need to rise by 11 percent to hit a PE of 19 and 17 percent to get to the target of 20.
The Junior Market Index slipped a mere 0.21 points to end at 3,402.30 after moving up to 3,440,85 points within half an hour of the opening.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Main Event popped 23 cents to $5.43 with an exchange of 3,340 stock units, Medical Disposables climbed 20 cents to $4.95 with 5,202 shares traded, Stationery and Office Supplies gained 15 cents to end at $7.80, with a transfer of 5,639 stocks, Tropical Battery slipped 5 cents to $1.44 with 242,180 units changing hands and tTech shed 35 cents to close at $4.40 with 400 shares crossing the exchange.
A total of 34 securities traded, down from 40 on Wednesday and ended with 18 rising, 12 declining and four, closing unchanged. Two stocks closed at 52 weeks; highs.
At the close of trading Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Limners and Bards rallied 9 cents to $3.39, with 39,371 shares clearing the market, Mailpac Group declined 20 cents to $3.70 in trading 507,840 stock units, Main Event fell 23 cents to $5.20 with the swapping of 12,470 stocks, SSL Venture added 3 cents to close at 66 cents, with 500 shares crossing the exchange and Stationery and Office Supplies rose 5 cents to close at $7.65 in exchanging 813 shares.
Market activity led to 40 securities trading compared to 39 on Tuesday and ended with prices of 18 stocks rising, 12 declining and 10, closing unchanged and GWest Corporation closed at a 52 weeks’ high at $1.05.
Trading averaged 177,816 units at $565,968 in contrast to 417,435 shares at $1,150,844 on Tuesday. The month to date trading averaged 225,705 units at $644,463, compared to 228,139 units at $648,452 on Tuesday. May closed with an average of 318,089 units at $760,337.
Limners and Bards popped 28 cents to $3.30 with an exchange of 275,726 stock units, Lumber Depot dipped 7 cents to $3.27, with 406,905 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables climbed 48 cents to $4.73 with 405,627 units passing through the market, Paramount Trading rose 11 cents to $1.26 with 376,855 stocks traded and Stationery and Office Supplies shed 40 cents to close at $7.60, with 3,622 shares crossing the exchange.
At the close, the Junior Market Index popped 3.07 points to 3,338.44, after moving as high as just over 3,398 points at the opening of the market. The PE Ratio used to compute the relative value of a stock averages 13 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of earnings for 2021-22 .
At the close, Access Financial dropped 96 cents to $20.54 in exchanging 1,162 shares, Blue Power rallied 32 cents to $3.72, with an exchange of 4,300 shares. CAC 2000 spiked $1.58 to $12.10 in trading 8 stock units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers shed 9 cents to close at $1.91, with 21,950 shares clearing the market, Caribbean Cream popped 9 cents to $5.47, with the swapping of 10,261 units. Caribbean Flavours advanced 5 cents to $2.19, trading 3,913 stock units, Caribbean Producers gained 25 cents to end at $4.35 with the swapping of 497,682 units, Derrimon Trading fell 5 cents to $2.50 in exchanging 10,296,266 units. Dolphin Cove dropped 40 cents to $8 after 1,215 units crossed the market, Elite Diagnostic slipped 15 cents to $3, trading 11,001 units, Express Catering dropped 25 cents to $6.10 in exchanging 154,986 shares. Fosrich spiked 41 cents to $8.41 after trading 1,406 units, Future Energy Source gained 17 cents in ending at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.34, with 1,165,828 shares crossing the exchange, General Accident surged 43 cents to $5.68 with an exchange of 2,785 shares. GWest Corporation gained 19 cents ending at a 52 weeks’ high of $1.04 in an exchange of 59,289 units after the company posted audited accounts showing a small profit but with a large portion of income coming from revaluation gains on the investment property. Honey Bun dropped 15 cents to $6.85 after 67,279 units crossed the exchange, Indies Pharma rallied 30 cents to $3.55 in switching ownership of 17,910 units, Jamaican Teas fell 35 cents to $4.05 in trading 1,035,902 units, Jetcon Corporation shed 6 cents to $1.29 trading 2,500 shares. 
KLE Group slipped 12 cents to $1.23, in an exchange of 78,285 units, Knutsford Express surged $1.71 to $8.75 after an exchange of 6,342 shares, Lasco Distributors dropped 16 cents to $3.95, trading 83,468 stock units, Lasco Financial dipped 9 cents to $3.24 after exchanging 54,873 stock units. Mailpac Group rose 5 cents to $3.90 with the swapping of 609,404 stock units, Main Event rallied 23 cents to $5.43 in exchanging 33,206 stock units, SSL Venture dipped 5 cents to 60 cents with an exchange of 7,000 stock units and Stationery and Office Supplies rose 40 cents to $8 after an exchange of 600 stocks.
At the close, Access Financial dropped $1.38 to $21.50 with 100 shares traded, AMG Packaging fell 14 cents to $1.56 with 55,000 stocks changing hands, Blue Power lost 20 cents to end at $3.40 with an exchange of 20,000 stock units. Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 10 cents to $2 with a transfer of 1,000 shares, Caribbean Cream fell 37 cents to $5.38 in switching ownership of 29,168 units, Consolidated Bakeries added 5 cents to end at $1.75 with 1,660 stocks traded. Dolphin Cove slipped 10 cents to $8.40 with 382 stock units changing hands, Express Catering popped 90 cents to $6.35 with an exchange of 89,197 shares, General Accident fell 25 cents to $5.25 with a transfer of 5,000 stocks. GWest Corporation rose 5 cents to 85 cents with 195,827 units passing through the market, Honey Bun gained 5 cents to end at $7 with 5,500 stock units traded, Indies Pharma dropped 48 cents to $3.25 with 291,275 shares changing hands. Iron Rock Insurance slipped 7 cents to $3.03 with an exchange of 13,250 units, ISP Finance spiked $4.45 to $22.43 with a transfer of 100 stock units, Jamaican Teas slipped 7 cents to $4.40 with 1,410,943 stocks changing hands after the price hit an intraday high of $4.60. Jetcon Corporation dropped 13 cents to $1.35 with 78,559 shares traded, KLE Group rallied 10 cents to finish at $1.35 with 2,419 units changing hands, Knutsford Express shed $1.71 to close at $7.04 with an exchange of 5,426 stocks.
Lasco Distributors slipped 9 cents to $4.11 with a transfer of 229,778 stock units, Limners and Bards lost 8 cents to end at $3.01 with investors swapping 34,350 shares. Main Event fell 23 cents to $5.20 with 26,845 stocks traded. Medical Disposables dipped 30 cents to $4.22 with a transfer of 161,393 units and Stationery and Office Supplies declined by 40 cents to $7.60 with 40,000 stock units crossing the exchange.
Main market had three days of decline but ended the week with a fall of points after recording a strong rise the previous week.
This past week the average gains projected for the Junior stocks slipped from 207 percent last week to 204 percent and the Main Market stocks moved up from last week’s 166 percent up to 172 percent with the upgrading of JMMB earnings.
The Junior Market closed the week with an average PE 13.1 based on ICInsider.com’s 2021-22 earnings and currently trades well below the target of 20 and the recent historical average of 17 for the period to March this year based on 2020 earnings. For the market to trade at the historical average, the PE Ratio would have to rise by 31 percent and require a rise of 52 percent to March 2022 to reach the targeted PE of 20.
The Main Market TOP 10 trades at a PE of 7.9 or 46 percent of the PE of that market, well off the potential of 20.
Just 32 securities trading compared to 40 on Thursday, with the prices of 15 rising, 10 declining and seven closing unchanged.
The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two stocks with lower offers.
Medical Disposables lost 9 cents to end at $4.52 with 15,200 units traded and Stationery and Office Supplies jumped 44 cents to $8 with just one share crossing the exchange.
Market activity led to 40 securities trading compared to 38 on Wednesday and ended with the prices of 21 stocks rising, 12 declining and seven closing unchanged.
Trading averaged 234,595 units at $1,015,411 in contrast to 131,513 at $378,920 on Wednesday. Trading month to date, ended with an average of 221,939 units at $628,682, compared to 221,140 units at $604,278 on Wednesday. May ended with an average of 318,089 units at $760,337.
Lasco Financial gained 13 cents to finish at $3.35 with 45,330 stocks changing hands, Limners and Bards rose 7 cents to $3.13 with 37,230 shares traded, Lumber Depot slipped 6 cents to $3.27 with a transfer of 153,063 stock units. Mailpac Group lost 5 cents to end at $3.90 with investors trading 1,539,082 units, Main Event popped 43 cents to $5.43 with 16,609 stocks changing hands and Paramount Trading fell 7 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $1.15 with 875 shares crossing the exchange.