The Junior Market Index having recovered 71.51 points of the 136.58 points lost on Friday, regained another 56.96 points on Tuesday to close at 3,428.20, as 17 securities rose to 6 that declined and 5 remained unchanged.
At the close of trading 28 securities changed hands, including 3 that closed at 52 weeks’ high, compared to 23 securities trading on Monday, leading to an exchanged 1,705,030 shares valued at $6,168,727, compared to 2,563,014 units valued at $10,430,621 on Monday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 4 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 3 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 60,894 units for an average of $220,312 in contrast to 111,435 units for an average of $453,505 on Monday. Trading for the month to date averages 489,796 units for an average of $2,877,021 and on the prior trading day, an average of 518,389 units for an average of $3,054,135.
Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $48, with 100 shares trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.94, with an exchange of 50,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading with a loss of 49 cents at $6.50, with 28,132 units changing hands, CAC 2000 jumped $2.50 to an all-time high of $15, with 4,785 shares trading, Caribbean Cream ended trading of 15,300 shares at $7.90. Caribbean Flavours traded 5,359 stock units and rose $1.10 to $18, Caribbean Producers finished trading 25 cents higher at $6.35, with 27,102 units, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 1 cent at $2.45, with 14,200 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended 10 cents higher at $2.90, with 334,164 shares. Elite Diagnostic rose 3 cents to $3.15, trading 169,251 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading with 152,436 shares changing hands at $2.10, Express Catering ended trading of 29,398 shares and rose 21 cents at $8.21, 
FosRich Group traded 298,283 shares and gained 4 cents to $3.25, General Accident finished trading with a loss of 20 cents at $3.80, with 2,823 shares. GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 9 cents at $2.06, trading 10,433 stock units, Honey Bun ended 20 cents higher at $4.20, trading 100 units, Indies Pharma lost 40 cents and closed with 370,098 shares changing hands at $3.50, ISP Finance jumped $2 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $22, trading 6,334 shares, Jamaican Teas settled 30 cents higher at $5.30, with 13,106 shares trading. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 2,400 stock units and rose 2 cents to $4, KLE Group finished trading 45 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.75, with 31,795 shares, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $12.50, with 500 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $4, in exchanging 3,200 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading of 101,878 stock units and rose 10 cents to $5.50, Lasco Manufacturing finished 15 cents higher at $4, switching 1,100 units, Main Event gained 50 cents to $5.60, with 25,000 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading 5,000 shares and rose $1.35 higher to $7.95 and Stationery and Office finished trading at $9, with 2,753 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market recovers 71 points on – Monday
The Junior Market Index recovered 71.51 of the 136.58 points lost on Friday, to close at 33,371.24, on Monday as 7 securities rose to a decline of 9.
At the close of trading 9 securities ended the prices closing unchanged from 23 securities changing hands, compared to 29 on Friday. Investors exchanged 2,563,014 units valued at $10,430,621, compared to 27,838,500 units valued at $164,750,850 on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 7 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 5 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 111,435 units for an average of $453,505 in contrast to 959,948 units for an average of $5,681,064 on Friday.
Trading for the month to date averages 518,389 units for an average of $3,054,135 and on the prior trading day, an average of 541,966 units for an average of $3,204,801. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.94, in exchanging 117,200 stock units, Blue Power climbed 59 cents to $6.99, with 70,243 units changing hands, Cargo Handlers settled at $15, trading 12,189 shares, Caribbean Flavours with a loss of $1.10 in trading 3,757 stock units at $16.90, Caribbean Producers finished trading 13,662 units and rose 10 cents to $6.10. Derrimon Trading ended at $2.80, with 75,428 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading with a loss of 50 cents at $16.50, with 500 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 4 cents at $3.12, with 66,264 stock units, Everything Fresh closed trading of 163,250 changing hands shares at $2.10, Express Catering lost 21 cents to close at $8, trading 65,806 shares. General Accident finished trading 10 cents higher at $4, with 1,989 shares changing hands, 
Honey Bun ended at $4, in exchanging 15,000 units, Indies Pharma lost 39 cents and closed with 1,269,841 shares changing hands to close at $3.50, Jamaican Teas settled trading of 25,350 shares at $5, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 94,876 stock units with a loss of 2 cents at $3.98. KLE Group finished trading 30 cents higher at $3.30, with 196,224 shares changing hands, Knutsford Express closed 50 cents higher at $12, with an exchange of 16,106 shares, Lasco Distributors rose 55 cents to $4.05, with 11,320 shares trading, Lasco Financial concluded trading 15 cents higher at $5.40, with 118,389 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 5 cents at $3.85, trading 7,000 units, Paramount Trading closed at $3, in exchanging 17,120 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading of 30,000 stock units with a loss of 25 cents at $9. In the Junior Market preference segment, Eppley 8.25% concluded trading at $6, with 171,500 units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Main Event & Stanley Motta in IC TOP 10
Main Event returns to IC TOP 10.
Main Event fell to $5.50 on Friday and climbed back into the Junior market IC TOP 10 stock listing, while Recently listed Stanley Motta climbed on board the main market list.
Moving on out of the top 10 are JMMB Group with a rise in the bid price to $32.70 and Caribbean Cream that closed the week at $7.90, from $6.50 last week. Both are worth watching for more gains in the coming week. Barita Investments and Berger Paints long time TOP 10 listees, moved up in price during the week but still remain in the list but could be out by the end of the coming week if current demand continues.
During the past week, the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, racked up more record closes but pulled back on sharply on Thursday and Junior market hit new highs during the week but dropped sharply on Friday due mainly to Lasco Distributors falling to $3.35 and Express Catering dropping to $6.40 before rebounding at the close.
Gains in the two markets are driving the PE ratio of the market higher with the overall PE for the Junior Market rising to 14 and the main market to 14.5 as the valuation multiple grows with historically low interest rates and high liquidity abounding.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 9.3 up from 8.9 last week, as the market continues to revalue the multiple higher and the main market PE is now 9.1, up from 8.8 last week, for the top stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 35 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings. The main market stocks trade at a discount of 38 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period.
Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. Based on an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
136 points Junior Market drop – Friday
The Junior Market dropped by an unusually large 136.58 points to close at 3,299.73 on Friday as Express Catering traded more than 23 million at $6.40 along with Lasco Distributors that fell to $3.50 and Main Event that traded at $5.10 from $6.50 did immense damage to the market index.
The major part of the damage which was done by the above three was accompanied by 11 other companies that declined on the day after the market recorded its highest close. At the close, trading ended with 29 securities, compared to 28 on Thursday, leading to 5 advancing, 14 declining and 9 remaining unchanged.
Investors exchanged 27,838,500 units valued at $164,750,850, compared to 3,874,490 units valued at $18,122,803 on Thursday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 4 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 959,948 units for an average of $5,681,064 in contrast to 138,375 units for an average of $647,243 on Thursday. Trading for the month to date averages 541,966 units for an average of $3,204,801 and on the prior trading day, an average of 531,728 units for an average of $3,009,661. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial fell $2 and closed at $48, after trading 2,000 shares, AMG Packaging ended at $1.95, with 1,714,425 stock units changing hands, Blue Power concluded trading with 48,659 units and lost 60 cents to end at $6.40, CAC 2000 finished with a loss of 50 cents at $12.50, with 2,800 shares trading, Caribbean Cream ended trading with a loss of 10 cents at $7.90, with 50,000 shares changing hands. Caribbean Flavours traded at $18, with 15,000 stock units, Caribbean Producers finished trading 2,470 units with a loss of 9 cents at $6, Derrimon Trading ended 30 cents higher at $2.80, in exchanging 328,947 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 10,839 shares at $17. Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.16, with 31,792 stock units, Eppley settled with a loss of 99 cents at $9.01, trading 2,500 units, Everything Fresh lost 19 cents in trading 58,866 shares to end at $2.10, Express Catering ended trading 19 cents higher at $8.21 after it traded down to $6.40 the bulk of 23,411,735 shares that changed hands, FosRich Group traded 111,206 shares at $3.21. 
General Accident finished trading 2,000 shares with a loss of 45 cents at $3.90, Indies Pharma gained 14 cents and closed trading with 622,765 shares changing hands at $3.89, Iron Rock concluded trading of 30,000 shares 50 cents higher to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.50, Jamaican Teas settled at $5, exchanging 100,000 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading with a loss of 10 cents at $4, after 63,601 stock units changed hands. Knutsford Express closed at $11.50, in exchanging 3,860 shares, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 50 cents at $3.50, with 744,400 shares, Lasco Financial fell 25 cents to close at $5.25, in trading of 100,000 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 10 cents at $3.90, with 51,017 units being exchanged. Main Event settled with a loss of $1.40 at $5.10, trading 175,584 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading 34,964 shares 10 cents higher at $6.60, Paramount Trading closed at $3, with 2,200 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 1,100 stock units at $9.25 and tTech ended with a loss of 55 cents at $5.55, with 5,400 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Record close for Junior Market – Thursday
The Junior Market ended traded on Thursday record high closing high as more stocks gained than fell leaving The Junior Market Index advanced by 22.73 points to close at 3,436.31
Trading ended with 28 securities compared to 26 on Wednesday including 1 from the US dollar Junior Market, leading to 13 advancing, 7 declining and 8 remaining unchanged.
Investors exchanged 3,874,490 units valued at $18,122,803 compared to 3,671,416 units valued at $14,989,400 on Wednesday in the regular market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 4 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 138,375 units for an average of $647,243 in contrast to 141,208 units for an average of $576,515 on Wednesday.
Trading for the month to date averages 531,728 units for an average of $3,009,661 and on the prior trading day, an average of 539,551 units for an average of $3,204,213. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.95, with 33,550 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 1,000 units and rose 3 cents to $7, CAC 2000 jumped $1 to a 52 weeks’ high of $13, trading 44,000 shares, Cargo Handlers settled $2 higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $15, with 500 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cream ended trading 10 cents higher at $8, with 108,677 shares. Caribbean Flavours lost 50 cents to end at $18, with 110,000 stock units traded, Caribbean Producers finished trading 59,548 units with a loss of 1 cent at $6.09, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 3 cents at $2.46, trading 111 shares, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 50 cents at $2.50, in exchanging 1,126,228 shares. Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 1 cent at $3.16, trading 31,816 stock units, Everything Fresh rose 27 cents in trading 25,134 shares to end at $2.29, 
Eppley settled at $10, with 1,695 units changing hands, Express Catering ended trading 12 cents higher at $8.02, exchanging 186,942 shares, FosRich Group traded 1 cent higher at $3.21, with 80,689 shares. GWest Corporation closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.15, as 25,528 stock units were traded, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 15 cents at $4, with 39,698 units, Indies Pharma closed trading with 252,318 shares changing hands at $3.75, ISP Finance finished trading of 2,000 shares at $20, Jamaican Teas settled 35 cents higher at $5, with 232,117 shares changing hands. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 322,842 stock units, 10 cents higher at $4.10, Knutsford Express closed at $11.50, swapping 1,960 shares, Lasco Distributors ended 5 cents higher at $4, trading 327,700 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 625,607 stock units 4 cents higher at $5.50. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $4, with 15,100 units, Main Event settled $1.20 higher at $6.50, with 15,000 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables ended trading 40 cents higher at $6.50, with 52,230 shares and Paramount Trading traded 100,300 shares at $3.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market missed record close – Wednesday
The Junior Market traded mostly at record territory for most of the trading session on Wednesday. A late pull back in the prices of Derrimon Trading and Indies Pharma pulled the index below the previous close.
The Junior Market Index declined by 9.14 points to close at 3,413.58 as trading ended with 26 securities compared to 25 on Wednesday plus 1 from the US dollar Junior Market on both days, leading to 7 advancing, 11 declining and 8 remaining unchanged. Investors exchanged 3,671,416 units valued at $14,989,400 compared to 2,560,907 units valued at $10,090,700 on Tuesday in the regular market and one in the US dollar segment.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 4 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 141,208 units for an average of $576,515 in contrast to 102,436 units for an average of $403,628 on Tuesday. 
Trading for the month to date averages 539,551 units for an average of $$3,204,213 and on the prior trading day, an average of 572,535 units for an average of $3,421,793. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended at $1.95, in trading 399,016 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 153,742 units, with a loss of 3 cents at $6.97 after trading at an intraday high of $7.50, CAC 2000 finished $1 higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $12, with 19,500 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cream ended trading of 6,250 shares and gained 64 cents to end at $7.90, Caribbean Producers closed at $6.10, trading 17,331 units. Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 20 cents at $3, with 527,890 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove concluded trading 1,300 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 23 cents at $3.17, exchanging 5,000 stock units, Everything Fresh rose 2 cents in trading 21,000 shares to end at $2.02, Express Catering ended trading of 82,777 shares with a loss of 49 cents at $7.90. FosRich Group declined 1 cent to end at $3.20, trading 5,750 shares, Honey Bun ended with a loss of 10 cents at $4.15, with 1,800 units trading, 
Indies Pharma lost 17 cents and closed with 1,534,316 shares changing hands at $3.75, Jamaican Teas settled 25 cents higher at $4.65, with 13,767 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended at $4, trading 37,117 stock units. Key Insurance traded 446,525 units with a loss of 25 cents at $3.50, KLE Group finished trading 50,000 shares at $3, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1.20 at $11.50, with an exchange of 48,384 shares, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 5 cents at $3.95, with 2,000 shares changing hands. Lasco Financial concluded trading at $5.46, with 19,000 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing finished at $4, with an exchange of 13,000 units, Medical Disposables ended trading 3,740 shares with a loss of 70 cents at $6.10, Paramount Trading gained 40 cents to close at $3, with 91,400 shares traded. Stationery and Office finished trading 24 cents higher at $9.25, after 157,954 stock units were exchanged and tTech ended 10 cents higher at $6.10, with the trading of 3,857 shares. In the Junior Market US dollar market Eppley 5% us preference share traded 117 units with at $1.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Record close for Junior Market – Tuesday
The Junior Market rose 20.24 points at the close of trading on Tuesday, to end at record close of 3,422.72 for a gain of more than 25 percent for the year to date.
Trading rose from 25 securities on Monday to 29 on Tuesday, leading to 13 advancing, 7 declining and 5 remaining unchanged, as investors exchanged 2,560,907 units valued at $10,090,700.compared to 2,777,946 units valued at $11,467,683 on Monday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 5 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 102,436 units for an average of $403,628 in contrast to 95,791 units for an average of $395,437 on Monday Trading for the month to date averages 572,535 units for an average of $3,421,793 and on the prior trading day, an average of 613,186 units for an average of $3,682,880. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging gained 5 cents to end at $1.95, with an exchange of 461,972 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 2,300 units 50 cents higher at $7, CAC 2000 finished $2 higher at record high of $11, with 11,761 shares changing hands, Caribbean Cream ended trading of 16,348 shares with a loss of 74 cents to end at $7.26, Caribbean Flavours lost 50 cents to close at $18.50, trading 7,423 stock units. Caribbean Producers finished trading 28,273 units at $6.10, Derrimon Trading ended 2 cents higher at $3.20, with 191,800 shares trading, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.40, with 10,000 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh shed 30 cents in trading 45,000 shares to end at $2, Express Catering ended trading 29,858 shares, 39 cents higher at $8.39. FosRich Group gained 20 cents to end at $3.21, exchanging 20,991 shares, General Accident finished trading 25,000 shares, to close 35 cents higher at $4.35, 
GWest Corporation closed 5 cents higher at $2.20, with 265,662 stock units changing hands, Honey Bun rose 20 cents higher to $4.25, with the trading of 6,519 units. Indies Pharma lost 2 cents and closed with 537,134 shares changing hands at $3.95, Iron Rock concluded trading of 10,000 shares at $4, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 20 cents at $4.40, with 44,845 shares changing hands, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 31,000 stock units after rising 4 cents to $4, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, exchanging 44,863 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading 618,240 stock units with a loss of 14 cents to end at $5.46, Lasco Manufacturing finished 10 cents higher at $4, with 51,934 units changing hands, Main Event gained 10 cents to close at $5.30, with 8,000 shares trading and Stationery and Office finished trading of 36,984 stock units 1 cent higher at $9.01. In the junior market preference segment, Eppley 8.75% concluded trading of 25,000 units with a loss of 20 cents at $6.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Record close for Junior Market – Monday
The Junior Market recorded gains of 5.39 points at the close of trading on Monday, to end at record close of 3,402.48, within 3 minutes of opening, to take out the old record of 3,392.58 on Monday.
Trading rose from 25 securities on Friday to 29 on Monday, leading to 7 advancing, 12 declining and 10 remaining unchanged, as investors exchanged 2,777,946 units valued at $11,467,683 compared to 2,279,431 units valued at $9,238,268 on Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 5 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 95,791 units for an average of $395,437 in contrast to 91,177 units for an average of $369,531 on Friday. Trading for the month to date averages 
613,186 units for an average of $3,682,880 and on the prior trading day, an average of 670,895 units for an average of $4,049,556. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended 1 cent higher at $1.90, with 186,246 stock units changing hands, Blue Power concluded trading at $6.50, trading 150 units, Caribbean Cream jumped to a 52 weeks’ high of $8 after gaining 50 cents and trading 58,059 shares, Caribbean Flavours traded 18,519 stock units with a loss of 30 cents at $19, Caribbean Producers finished trading at $6.10, with 12,934 units changing hands. Consolidated Bakeries traded 2,000 shares to close with a loss of 1 cent at $2.49, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 2 cents at $3.18, in exchanging 262,810 shares, Elite Diagnostic finished with a loss of 10 cents at $3.40, with 56,916 stock units being exchanged, Eppley settled with a loss of 5 cents at $10, trading 13,305 units. Everything Fresh shed 10 cents in trading 32,468 shares to end at $2.30, Express Catering ended trading 52,500 shares with a loss of 39 cents at $8, FosRich Group traded 32,340 shares 1 cent higher at $3.01, General Accident finished trading with a loss of 40 cents at $4, with 98,778 shares, GWest Corporation closed at $2.15, with 15,000 stock units. 
Honey Bun ended at $4.05, with 25,386 units, Indies Pharma lost 5 cents and closed with 1,098,497 shares changing hands at $3.95. Iron Rock concluded trading of 81,500 shares for 50 cents higher at $4, Jamaican Teas settled with a loss of 5 cents at $4.60, exchanging 38,064 shares, Jetcon Corporation gained 6 cents to close at $3.96, with 250 stock units changing hands. KLE Group finished trading 91,858 shares at $3, Knutsford Express closed $1.20 higher at $12.70, exchanging 1,800 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, with 32,479 shares, Lasco Financial gained 10 cents to $5.60, trading 110,888 stock units. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.90, with 6,289 units, Main Event settled with a loss of 1.80 cents at $5.20, in the exchange of 14,000 shares, Stationery and Office finished trading 15,900 stock units at $9 and tTech ended at $6, changing 309,410 shares. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended with a loss of 26 cents at $2.25, with 5,100 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Barita is stock to watch this week
The main stock of interest this week is Barita Investments that came into buying interest this past week leading the price to move to $12.95, this one seems headed higher in the short term as the supply that is on the market has been taken out with few stocks on offer now.
Bulls pushed the Jamaican stock market, to new heights last week, with the main market having 11 straight days of record highs and the Junior Market cleared the historical high reached in 2017, in the past week as well.
NCB Financial that was in the spotlight for the past two weeks, still has buying interest but seems to be having most bids around the $120 mark and may find it tough to break over the $130 mark where it traded during the past week.
While the stock is trading close the $130 mark in Jamaica, it is trading in Trinidad around J$115 and that may hold back the price from moving much higher locally until the price in the twin island state picks up. Scotia Group reported profit that showed gains, some of it was non-recurring income and exceptional foreign exchange gains that seems unlikely to repeat anytime soon.
While the supply of several of the main market stocks being scarce, the main market is just under 15,000 points from a major resistance level at 400,000 points and that could stymie much more movement in the short term, with some prices having moved quite a bit recently. There are several stocks priced well below the market’s average and that could encourage buying interest in them.
NCB stock closed at $129 on Friday.
Investors should keep their eyes on a number of stocks this week. NCB Financial that closed on $115, should move higher this week as demand continues to build and with limited supply on offer.
Grace Kennedy may not be ready to break out of the $60 range as yet but it’s a stock to keep an eye on. Caribbean Cement keeps trading between $46 to $50, but there appears no real desire to move the price forward. Kingston Wharves traded at a record high of $75 on limited volume in the past week but pulled back slightly to $72 at the close with a PE ratio of 46 is compared to a market average of 14.6. Supply of the stocks remain low, but some investors keep on buying. Sygnus Credit Investments picked up last week and moved back within a cent of the IPO price, buoyed by full year results of US$1.4 million. The PE ratio is 11.4, well below the market average of 14.6, that will encourage more interest in the stock. Jamaica Producers has very limited volume on offer and that could help buying at higher prices in spite of a PE of 28, twice the market average. Stanley Motta with a PE of 11 based on 2019 earnings has been recovering for the recent decline and is one to watch.
In the Junior Market, Indies Pharma, came in for continued buying that pushed the price to a record high of $4.10 on Friday against very limited supply. Some selling came into the market on Friday to ease the buying pressure on the price which could stick around the current level of $4 for a while. Bulls came in and bought out a big parcel of Access Financial that was on offer for weeks but the $50 level seems a barrier in the short term. Demand is building for Elite Diagnostic while supply has waned.
Jamaica Producers stock in demand in spite of high price.
General Accident could move higher as more demand comes in for it with limited selling, but investors may not want to be more aggressive with this stock at this time. If the company were to announce expansion into the Eastern Caribbean it may well make a difference.
Stocks with scarce supplies that could spring surprises include, Grace Kennedy, NCB Financial, Berger Paints, Caribbean Cement, Kingston Wharves, PanJam Investment, Sagicor Group, Salada Foods, Seprod and Scotia Group.
The Junior Market supplies continue to be limited for many of the listings. The list includes, Caribbean Flavours, Cargo Handlers, Derrimon Trading, Express Catering, General Accident, ISP Finance and Medical Disposables.
An overall view of stocks indicates that the main market continues to be steered higher by an upward sloping support line as well the 45 and 125 day moving averages, lending support just below, but the 400,000 points resistance could likely stall the rally in the main market for a while. The Junior Market now at an all-time high, is being steared by an upward rising long-term support line and a golden cross. The golden cross is a very strong bullish long-term signal.
Carib Producers returns to IC TOP 10
Caribbean Producers back in TOP 10
Caribbean Producers climbed back into the Junior market IC TOP 10 stock listing but there was no change to the main market list. Main Event dropped out of the top list having recovered from a big price fall in the previous week.
Caribbean Producers recently released full year results that were slightly lower than the year before but with a 10 percent rise in revenues. A lower profit margin by 2 percent and an increase of 10 percent in administrative and selling expenses resulted in lower profit but forecast suggest that earnings for 2019 should be up strongly to around 65 Jamaican cents. The company will have to report new results to see the likely increased earnings start to show up in the stock price.
During the past week, the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, racked up 5 consecutive days of record close on Friday and 11 record close in a row, while the Junior market closed the week for with two record close, for the first time since May 2017.
The gains in the two markets is driving the PE ratio of the market higher with the overall PE for the Junior Market rising from to 13 and the main market from 13.7 last week to 13.7 and 14 respectively, this week. Recent movement in the PE suggest that average PE for the market will end 2018 around 18 and 20 by the end of January as conditions continue to favour stocks as the preferred investment of choice along with real estate.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average 8.9 up from 8.7 last week, as the market continues to revalue the multiple higher. 
The latest valuation compares to an average PE for the overall market of 14.3, based on 2018 estimated earnings. The main market PE is now 8.8 and is the up from 8.5 last week, for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 14.6.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 38 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 40 percent to the market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period.
Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. Based on an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
