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.
At the close of market activities, the prices of 12 securities advanced, eight declined and 11 remained unchanged. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.8 times IC Insider.com projected 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial jumped $2.24 to settle at $24.75 with just 100 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended trading with 100 shares, after rising 11 cents to settle at $1.70, Cargo Handlers gained 49 cents in exchanging 300 units at $7. Caribbean Flavours climbed $2.80 to settle at $14.50 with 22,728 shares trading, Dolphin Cove lost 47 cents in trading of 8,148 units at $7.80. Express Catering fell by 10 cents trading 48,700 units at $4.20, Fontana lost 2cents trading 56,326 units at $5.97, Fosrich closed 38 cents higher at $3.80, with an exchange of 1,050 stock units, 
Blue Power rose 26 cents and traded 2,327 shares to end at $3.86, Caribbean Assurance fell 9 cents to $2.15 with an exchange of 45,000 units. Derrimon Trading shed 14 cents in swapping 4,500 units to close at $2.45, Dolphin Cove gained 2 cents and exchanged 2,165 shares to settle at $8.27, Fontana slipped 1 cent lower to $5.99 with 245,999 stock units traded. Fosrich closed with a loss of 38 cents at $3.42, swapping 8,938 shares, General Accident fell 14 cents and exchanged 76,302 shares to finish at $5.55, Honey Bun declined by 12 cents in trading 11,712 units to end at $5.33. iCreate dipped 3 cents to 54 cents in swapping 32,288 units, Indies Pharma exchanged 1,653,278 shares, rising 59 cents after the company reported a 92 percent rise in the second quarter, to end at $2.89, Jamaican Teas closed at $4.70 after trading 183,433 shares and falling 19 cents. Knutsford Express jumped 99 cents to end at $8 with 1,173 units changing hands, Lasco Distributors fell 7 cents in the trading of 152,900 units to finish at $2.90, 
Lasco Financial slipped 1 cent to $2.50 with 183,709 shares exchanged. Lasco Manufacturing closed 10 cents higher at $3.95, with 468,332 stock units swapped, Limners and Bards ended at $2.20 after rising 23 cents and trading 138,733 shares, Mailpac Group gained 1 cent to end at $1.86 with 308,449 shares changing hands. Main Event closed 5 cents higher at $4.40, with 1,136 stock units traded, Medical Disposables fell 9 cents in the exchange of 9,173 units at $6.80, Paramount Trading shed 2 cents and swapped 321,870 units to settle at $1.98 and tTech jumped 41 cents to $4.70 with 10,597 units crossing the exchange.
Trading concluded with 27 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,550,105 units valued at $10,318,665 versus to 3,765,461 units costing $7,141,689 from 29 stocks on Tuesday. The PE ratio of the market ended at 9.5 times 2020-21 earnings.
Caribbean Producers exchanged 1,086,459 stock units to close 5 cents higher at $2.40, Derrimon Trading climbed 19 cents to $2.59 with 94,870 units trading, Elite Diagnostic ended at $4.17 after rising 17 cents and swapping 31,990 shares. Everything Fresh closed 10 cents higher at 82 cents, with 109,527 stock units changing hands, Express Catering lost 8 cents in exchanging 29,463 shares to finish at $4.30, Fontana added 10 cents and exchanged 16,442 shares to close at $6. Fosrich climbed37 cents to $3.80 with 14,720 shares crossing the market, General Accident inched 4 cents higher, trading 47,327 stock units to settle at $5.69, Honey Bun closed gained 24 cents to close at $5.45 after exchanging 70,204 stock units. iCreate moved up 3 cents to 57 cents with 338,046 units changing hands, Jamaican Teas slipped 1 cent to close at $4.89 with 3,427 shares traded, Knutsford Express shed $1.29 and exchanged 30,140 shares to close at $7.01. 
Lasco Distributors fell 3 cents in the swapping of 1,237,690 units to settle at $2.97, Lasco Financial lost 12 cents trading 19,000 shares to close at $2.51, Lasco Manufacturing slipped 4 cents to $3.85 with an exchange of 27,829 stock units. Limners and Bards gained 3 cents and traded 12,994 units to end at $1.97, Lumber Depot slipped 1 cent to $1.11 with 97,749 stock units changing hands, Mailpac Group lost 3 cents in trading 624,718 shares to close at $1.85. Medical Disposables ended at $6.89 after rising 14 cents, with 10,000 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading added 1 cent and swapped 4,784 shares to settle at $2 and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 18 cents to close at $6.02 with 14,783 shares crossing the exchange.
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 one with a lower offer. The reading suggests that the market prices should close mostly up on Wednesday.
In contrast, May closed with an average of 150,274 units valued at $491,077 for each security traded.
Iron Rock Insurance closed at $3.20 after exchanging 100 units and falling 50 cents, Jamaican Teas finished 1 cent higher at $4.90, with 3,200 stock units trading, 
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.
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.
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 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 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 
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 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.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging traded 96,209 shares to end at $1.56 after falling 14 cents, Blue Power rose 4 cents to $3.64 with 22,000 shares crossing the exchange, Cargo Handlers shed 19 cents to finish at $6.21 with 3,602 units changing hands. Caribbean Assurance gained 3 cents and exchanged 27,678 shares to settle at $2.20, Caribbean Flavours lost $1.20 in the trading of 281 shares to close at $10.10, Caribbean Producers slipped 2 cents to $2.38 with an exchange of 79,994 units. Derrimon Trading ended 24 cents higher at $2.59, with the trading of 29,510 stock units, Dolphin Cove gained 40 cents to $7.80 with 12,812 shares changing hands, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.74 after rising 27 cents in swapping 6,154 stock units. Express Catering gained 5 cents and exchanged 14,543 units to close at $4.40, Fontana climbed 19 cents to $5.99 with 276,649 shares changing hands, Fosrich gained 74 cents to $3.89 after trading 24,261 stock units. General Accident lost 11 cents in the exchange of 105,293 units to finish at $5.41, Honey Bun closed at $5.55 after rising 10 cents in the swapping of 56,743 shares, Iron Rock Insurance fell 15 cents to $3.70 with an exchange of 1,100 units. 
Jamaican Teas lost 2 cents in the trading of 2,481 shares to close at $4.98, Knutsford Express jumped 30 cents to $8.90 with 3,409 units changing hands, Lasco Financial lost 9 cents in trading 23,840 shares to close at $2.41. Lasco Manufacturing dipped 26 cents to $4.02 with 16,926 units crossing the exchange, Limners and Bards climbed 10 cents and exchanged 144,500 shares to settle at $2, Lumber Depot declined by 3 cents to settle at $1.11 with 552,285 shares changing hands. MailPac Group lost 2 cents in the trading of 279,180 units to finish at $1.86, Main Event exchanged 27,952 units and gained 29 cents to end at $4.47, Medical Disposables gained 1 cent to end at $6.76 with 2,319 shares traded. SSL Venture climbed 3 cents to 93 cents with 20,000 shares crossing the exchange and Stationery and Office Supplies fell 4 cents in the swapping of 2,238 units to land at $6.26.
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. 
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.
