The Junior Market Index dropped again in trading on Wednesday by 49.39 points to close at 2,031.79 and taking the fall for the year to date to 39.3 percent, taking the market way back to July 11, 2016 levels, the second year of the last bull run.
Trading resulted in many stocks rebounding at the close of the market activities and leading to the prices of 17 securities rising, 13 declining and the prices of seven stocks closing unchanged.
Trading on the Junior Market concluded with 37 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 12,311,523 units valued at $19,911,394 compared to 38,566,809 units valued at $62,217,505 on Tuesday, with the average market PE ratio ending at 10.1 times 2019 earnings.
The trading day ended with an average of 332,743 units at $538,146 for each security traded in contrast to an average of 1,071,300 units for $1,736,994 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 282,671 units valued at $653,060 and previously 277,858 units valued at $664,104. In contrast, February closed with an average of 167,673 units valued at $488,038 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 their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial fell $2.60 to 52 weeks’ low of $19.20 after exchanging 5,000 shares, AMG Packaging shed 31 cents in the trading of 650 units at $1.59, Blue Power slipped 2 cents to $3.67 with 17,751 shares changing hands. CAC 2000 climbed 30 cents to $12.80 with 5,800 stock units traded, Cargo Handlers ended at $5.50 with 3,749 shares crossing the exchange after gaining 40 cents, Caribbean Assurance Brokers picked up 4 cents to settle at $1.95 with 110,320 stock units traded. Caribbean Cream added 1 cent in the exchange of 10,0000 shares to close at $2.81, Caribbean Producers ended the day with 105,100 units traded after falling 21 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $2.51, Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 20 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.25 in the swapping of 15,224 stock units. Dolphin Cove dropped 80 cents in trading of a mere 40 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $7, Everything Fresh exchanged 11,864 units at 80 cents after losing 5 cents, Fontana picked up 8 cents to close at $3.80 with 1,010,881 stock units traded, but only after it traded at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.50. Fosrich fell 60 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.40 with 30,688 shares swapped, General Accident exchanged 17,504 shares and declined by 20 cents to close at $4.30, GWest Corporation gained 5 cents in trading of 19,578 units at 65 cents. Honey Bun ended 50 cents higher at $5 with 11,138 stock units changing hands, iCreate climbed 2 cents and exchanged 44,589 shares at 47 cents, Indies Pharma fell 12 cents trading of 30,039 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.97. 
Jamaican Teas added 5 cents and exchanged 50,095 stock units at $4, Jetcon gained 2 cents in the swapping of 99,650 shares to close at 99 cents, Lasco Distributors fell 28 cents and traded 1,507,553 stock units to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $2. Lasco Financial climbed 30 cents in trading of 53,016 units at $2.30, Lasco Manufacturing lost 6 cents to settle at $2.80 with an exchange of 77,309 stock units, Limners and Bards traded 50,648 shares after slipping 31 cents to end at $1.95. MailPac gained 4 cents in trading 128,220 units at $1.39, Main Event rose 49 cents and exchanged 59,013 shares to close at $4, Medical Disposables rose 40 in exchanging 10,932 units at $5.70. Paramount Trading closed 2 cents higher at $1.82 with 15,000 stock units changing hands, SSL Venture traded 10,000 shares to end the day 8 cents higher at $1.10 and Stationery and Office Supplies climbed 30 cents to $6 with 31,286 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
At the close of trading nine stocks ended at 52 weeks’ lows and several stocks suffered steep fall in prices and were led by ISP Finance with a drop of $4.75, followed by Cargo Handlers $1.40, Jamaican Teas $1.05, Fontana $1.02 and Caribbean Producers with a large capitalization shed 78 cents.
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.
Iron Rock Insurance closed at a 52 weeks’ low of $2 after dropping 30 cents and swapping 83,352 shares, ISP Finance fell to $15 after shedding $4.75 with 6,000 shares crossing the exchange, Jamaican Teas dropped $1.05 after trading 186,502 shares to end at $3.95. Jetcon fell 20 cents exchanging 396,473 shares at a 52 weeks’ low of 97 cents, KLE closed trading of 100,000 units and slipped 12 cents to settle at $1.60, Knutsford Express fell 30 cents to $8 with 2,746 shares traded. Lasco Distributors exchanged 143,713 shares and gained 30 cents to close at $2.20, Lasco Financial dropped 20 cents trading of 1,231,043 units and to settle at $2, Lasco Manufacturing lost 7 cents to settle at $2.86 with 138,909 units changing hands. Limners and Bards ended 26 cents higher at $2.26 with 120,000 shares crossing the market, Lumber Depot fell 10 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $1.17 with an exchange of 448,162 stock units, MailPac closed trading of 3,497,845 units and lost 3 cents to end at $1.35. Main Event finished at $3.51 after dropping 49 cents, exchanging 120,152 shares, Medical Disposables declined by 40 cents in the swapping of 6,029 to close at $5.30, and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 20 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.70 with 26,454 stock units crossing the exchange.
The market has lost 33 percent of its value since the start of the year and 39 percent since peaking in August 2019. Trading activities concluded with 37 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 20,701,190 units valued at $69,475,355 compared to 4,544,381 units valued at $10,187,594 on Friday. At the close of market activities, the prices of 8 securities advanced, 22 declined and seven remained unchanged, with the average market PE ratio ending at just 10.7 times 2019 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial lost $1.25 in trading 6,440 shares at $21.50, AMG Packaging fell 4 cents to $1.61 with an exchange of 17,000 units, Blue Power gained 69 cents to end at $3.69 with 2,000 units changing hands. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 8 cents to end at $1.92 in swapping 102,431 units, Caribbean Cream gained 20 cents, with 3,607 shares crossing the exchange at $3, Caribbean Flavours closed 33 cents higher at $10.50, trading 948 stock units, Consolidated Bakeries lost 6 cents in swapping 516,814 shares to close at $1.45. Derrimon Trading shed 10 cents in trading of 159,167 units at to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.60, Dolphin Cove slipped 20 cents to $7.80 with 32,520 shares changing hands, Elite Diagnostic ended trading with a whopping 14,594,247 units and dropped 30 cents to $3.50. Everything Fresh shed 5 cents to end at 80 cents with 82,615 units exchanged, Express Catering lost 50 cents in trading 54,751 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.20, Fontana closed 3 cents higher at $4.74, with 403,961 stock units crossing the exchange. GWest Corporation ended market activity exchanging 284,300 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 60 cents after falling 22 cents, Honey Bun lost 13 cents in trading 28,475 units at $5.12, Indies Pharma dipped 2 cents to $1.97 in trading of 311,610 shares. Jamaican Teas closed 3 cents higher at $5, with 59,795 stock units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation exchanged 34,000 shares and declined by 8 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.17, Key Insurance dropped 40 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $2 with 11,450 stock units changing hands. 
Knutsford Express closed trading of 1,521 units and gained 30 cents to end at $8.30, Lasco Distributors declined 70 cents in trading of 44,659 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.90, Lasco Financial slipped 10 cents to $2.20 with 259,724 units traded. Lasco Manufacturing closed 8 cents lower in trading of 129,335 units at $2.93, Limners and Bards fell 25 cents in the exchange of 85,170 units at $2, Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.27 with 99,777 stock units changing hands. MailPac added 3 cents exchanging 79,795 shares at $1.38, Main Event declined by 17 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $4, with 97,399 shares traded, Paramount Trading lost 17 cents in swapping 40,442 units at $1.80. SSL Venture closed 2 cents higher at $1.02, with 2,000 stock units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies dived $1.10 to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.90 with 14,773 shares crossing the exchange.
Trading ended, with 34 securities changing hands, resulting in the prices of 10 securities advancing, 18 declining and six remaining unchanged.an exchange of 4,544,381 units valued at $10,187,594 compared to 4,910,632 units valued at $15,136,846 on Thursday. Trading left the average market PE ratio at 11 times 2019 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial shed $1.25 in trading of 13,618 units at $22.75, AMG Packaging ended market activity, exchanging 35,500 shares to close at $1.65, after falling 25 cents, Caribbean Producers dipped 50 cents in trading of 33,850 units at $3.50. Consolidated Bakeries added 1 cent in exchanging 217,000 shares at $1.51, Derrimon Trading fell 15 cents in trading of 343,000 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.70, Dolphin Cove lost 30 cents to end at $8, after trading 28,000 shares. Elite Diagnostic shed 10 cents exchanging 5,000 units at $3.80, Express Catering fell 10 cents after 20,000 units changed hands at $3.70, Fontana gained 20 cents to close at $4.71, trading 412,665 stock units, Fosrich fell 15 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $2.95, with 34,558 units changing hands. General Accident dropped $1.10 and ended market activity exchanging 67,413 shares at $5, Honey Bun declined 65 cents trading 123,374 units at $5.25, iCreate lost 2 cents with 167,462 units crossing the market at a 52 weeks’ low of 48 cents, Indies Pharma transferred 52,631 units and gained 3 cents to end at $1.99. Jamaican Teas lost 23 cents transferring 26,418 units at $4.97, Jetcon closed 5 cents higher at $1.25, with 1,039,008 stock units changing hands, Key Insurance gained 20 cents to end at $2.40, with 40,000 stock units crossing the exchange. Lasco Distributors dipped 20 cents in trading of 198,632 units at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.60, Lasco Financial gained 4 cents in exchanging 44,826 shares at $2.30, Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 115,800 units with a gain of 5 cents to end at $3.01.
Limners and Bards closed 18 cents higher at $2.25, with 139,147 stock units moving through the market, Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.28, with 24,161 stock units changing hands, Main Event closed 5 cents higher at $4.17, with 22,996 stock units trading. MailPac closed with a loss of 13 cents at $1.35, in swapping of 919,320 shares, Paramount Trading shed 3 cents to close at $1.97 exchanging 57,898 shares, SSL Venture shed 2 cents in trading of 1,443 units at $1 and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 30 cents higher at $7, with just ten stock units changing hands.
Derrimon Trading rose 5 cents to $1.85, in transferring 3,949 shares. Dolphin Cove rose 50 cents exchanging 10,378 shares to close at $8.30, Elite Diagnostic gained 50 cents higher at $3.90, with the trading of 258,458 stock units, Express Catering shed 19 cents with 59,955 shares changing hands at $3.80. Fontana declined by 19 cents to settle at $4.51, with 1,531,748 units traded, Fosrich gained 10 cents exchanging 49,334 shares at $3.10, General Accident closed trading with 86,671 shares, after jumping $1 to end at $6.10, GWest Corporation ended trading with 51,178 shares, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun jumped 70 cents in trading 65,175 units at $5.90, iCreate lost 5 cents exchanging 44,700 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 50 cents, Indies Pharma ended with 118,930 shares changing hands, after losing 4 cents to end at $1.96, Jamaican Teas rose 5 cents after trading of 6,057 units at $5.20. Jetcon Corporation shed 5 cents trading of 28,045 units at $1.20, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 147,708 units and fell 25 cents to end at $2.80, Lasco Financial added 6 cents after exchanging 34,381 shares at $2.26, Lasco Manufacturing traded 149,534 shares and lost 4 cents to end at $2.96. Limners and Bards declined by 13 cents to settle at $2.07 after exchanging 76,612 shares. Lumber Depot gained 12 cents to end at $1.29 trading 309,333 shares, MailPac rose 5 cents in transferring 847,299 shares to close at $1.48, Main Event fell 87 cents moving 48,700 units through the exchange at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.12. Paramount Trading closed 13 cents higher at $2, with 10,100 stock units trading, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 80 cents, with 57,450 units changing hands at $6.70 and tTech rose 10 cents to $4.25, trading 6,500 stock units.
Trading left the average market PE ratio down to 11.3 times 2019 earnings as the market closed with 35 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 4,810,590 units valued at $18,535,804 compared to 4,243,730 units valued at $12,185,925 from 34 on Tuesday.
Caribbean Assurance lost 9 cents trading 287,251 stock units at $2.31. Cargo Handlers ended 30 cents lower at a 52 weeks’ low of $6.50, in transferring 2,000 shares, Caribbean Cream shed 27 cents in trading of 65,600 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.80, Caribbean Producers closed 10 cents higher at $4, with 957 stock units trading. Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents to $1.50, with 100,000 stock units changing hands, Dolphin Cove lost 50 cents exchanging 2,959 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $7.80, Express Catering gained 15 cents and traded 6,540 shares at $4.15. Elite Diagnostic closed 15 cents higher at $3.40, with 190,754 stock units changing hands. Fosrich climbed 21 cents and exchanged 32,222 shares at $3, Fontana declined by 28 cents to settle at $4.70, with 311,558 units traded, General Accident closed trading with 5,000 shares, after rising 60 cents to end at $5.10, GWest Corporation ended with 51,178 shares crossing the exchange, after rising 4 cents to settle at 85 cents. Honey Bun shed 8 cents in trading of 2,386,022 units at $5.20, iCreate lost 8 cents in exchanging 52,030 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 55 cents, Indies Pharma ended trading with 80,850 shares, after rising 5 cents to end at $2. Jamaican Teas dipped 77 cents after trading of 62,299 units at $5.15, Key Insurance lost 80 cents in trading 11,501 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20, KLE Group lost 27 cents in swapping 10,000 units at $1.72. Knutsford Express ended with a loss of $1 to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $8 with 475 stock units changing hands, 
Lasco Distributors closed trading of 237,643 units and gained 6 cents to end at $3.05, Lasco Financial added 2 cents after exchanging 63,511 shares at $2.20, Lasco Manufacturing ended trading with 172,385 shares and rose 5 cents to end at $3. Limners and Bards declined by 30 cents to settle at $2.20 after exchanging 100,371 shares. Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to end at $1.17 trading 140,824 shares, MailPac lost 2 cents in transferring 279,788 shares to close at $1.43, Main Event fell 11 cents in transferring 28,885 units at $4.99, Medical Disposables dipped 3 cents in trading of 11,975 units at $5.70. Paramount Trading closed 7 cents higher at $1.87, with 42,525 stock units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 50 cents in exchanging 20,500 units at $7.50.
The fall in the market took the 2019 losses to 28.4 percent and the fall from the peak to whopping 35 percent.
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 their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1.10 at $9 swapping of 7,100 shares. Lasco Financial shed 64 cents in exchanging 190,506 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.46, Lasco Manufacturing closed 15 cents higher at $3.15, with 191,907 stock units trading after falling to an intraday low of $2.50. Limners and Bards fell 4 cents in transferring 123,710 units at $2.40, Lumber Depot ended market activity exchanging 775,632 shares to close at $1.25, after falling 12 cents, MailPac lost 20 cents in trading of 10,135,145 units at $1.50. Main Event fell 89 cents to end at $5.10, after trading 29,501 shares, Medical Disposables closed trading of 5,240 units and gained 7 cents to end at $6.30. Paramount Trading fell 24 cents in an exchange of 100,000 units at $1.70, SSL Venture closed with a loss of 10 cents at $1.02, after swapping 106,000 shares and tTech fell 70 cents to $4, after transferring 7,357 stock units.
The Market Index dropped 121.90 points to close at 2,534.51, taking the market value back to December 2016 levels.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 10 cents in trading of 27,840 units at $1.80, Blue Power fell 30 cents in exchanging 6,660 units at $3.70, Cargo Handlers lost 6 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $7 with 12,455 stock units trading. Caribbean Cream ended trading with 3,200 shares, after rising 2 cents to end at $3.09, Caribbean Flavours closed $4.33 lower to 52 weeks’ low of $10.16 in transferring 2,240 units, Consolidated Bakeries shed 19 cents with 14,314 shares changing hands to close at $1.60. Derrimon Trading ended 15 cents lower with 53,245 units crossing the exchange at $1.80, Dolphin Cove ended with a loss of $1 to close at $10 with 100 stock units changing hands, Elite Diagnostic fell 31 cents in exchanging 276,396 units at $3.70. Express Catering lost 64 cents transferring 23,842 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.75, Fontana slipped 80 cents in trading of 216,761 units at $5, Fosrich climbed 3 cents and exchanged 8,915 shares at $3.33. General Accident closed trading of 5,209 units and gained 74 cents to end at $5.99, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1 with 139,789 stock units changing hands, Honey Bun ended market activity exchanging 16,355 shares to close at $6.30 after falling 15 cents. Indies Pharma dipped 10 cents in trading 136,295 units at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.20, Jamaican Teas ended market activity in transferring 216,409 shares to close at $5 after falling 95 cents. Jetcon Corporation ended trading of 500 shares, after rising 5 cents to end at $1.30, Knutsford Express declined by 10 cents to settle at $10.10, with 1,844 units traded, Lasco Distributors exchanged 185,493 shares to close at $2.80 after falling 10 cents. 
Lasco Financial lost 10 cents in trading 65,342 shares to close at $3.10, Lasco Manufacturing lost 30 cents transferring 179,403 units at $3, Limners and Bards declined15 cents in trading 318,551 units at $2.44. Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.37 with 664,558 stock units changing hands, MailPac declined by 5 cents trading 215,722 units at $1.70, Main Event climbed 38 cents to settle at $5.99 with 47,619 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables dipped 75 cents in trading of 5,557 units to close at $6.23. Paramount Trading closed 2 cents higher at $1.94, with 25,000 stock units changing hands, SSL Venture Capital declined by 11 cents to settle at $1.12 after trading 5,882 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 50 cents exchanging 19,267 units to end at $8 and tTech closed trading of 1,100 units and gained 83 cents to end at $4.70.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading was negative with a reading of two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and eight with lower offers.
Lasco Distributors traded 100,800 shares to close at $2.90 after falling 8 cents. Limners and Bards ended trading of 237,677 units and gained 8 cents to end at $2.59, Lumber Depot closed with a loss of 2 cents at $1.38, after swapping 83,259 shares, Mailpac Group declined 5 cents in trading of 1,645,068 units at $1.75. Main Event ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.61 with 10,463 stock units changing hands, Medical Disposables closed trading of 5,500 units and gained 83 cents to end at $6.98, Paramount Trading finished the day at $1.92 after rising 2 cents with 20,000 shares traded. Stationery and Office Supplies lost 75 cents after 78,692 stock units changed hands, to close at $8.50 and tTech declined 31 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.87 with 11,194 units crossing the exchange.
Wednesday decline takes the market back to January 2017 levels as investors push the prices of some stocks well below average market value on relatively small volumes.
At the close of the market, AMG Packaging lost 10 cents in trading of 14,576 units at $1.80, Blue Power gained 6 cents exchanging 21,873 shares at $4.56, Caribbean Cream settled at $3.30 after dropping 7 cents trading of 478,546 units. Caribbean Producers dipped 65 cents in the swapping of 150,530 units at $4, Derrimon Trading fell 2 cents with 33,836 units crossing the exchange at $1.96, Dolphin Cove ended market activity exchanging 1,350 shares at $11 after falling 25 cents. Elite Diagnostic shed 30 cents to close at $4.10 with 21,336 shares changing hands, Everything Fresh lost 10 cents in trading 125,575 shares to close at 85 cents, Express Catering finished with a loss of 15 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.85, in swapping 47,640 shares. Fontana fell 30 cents in trading of 177,543 units at $5.80, Fosrich closed with a loss of 6 cents at $3.34, swapping 37,378 shares, General Accident ended market activity exchanging 44,529 shares at $6.05 after falling 34 cents. Honey Bun added 50 cents to close at $6.50, with 8,523 stock units trading, iCreate dropped 5 cents in the exchange of 34,369 units at 64 cents, Indies Pharma declined by 17 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.38 with 88,260 units crossing the market. Jamaican Teas ended with a loss of 1 cent at $6.29 with 21,534 stock units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation closed trading of 161,335 units and gained 7 cents to end at $1.25, Knutsford Express lost 35 cents to settle at $10.85 with 917 stock units traded. 
Lasco Distributors ended market activity exchanging 8,230 shares to close at $2.98 after falling 2 cents, Lasco Financial finished 20 cents higher at $3.20 with 75,804 stock units trading, after the price hit a 52 weeks’ low of $2.80, Lasco Manufacturing closed with 163,856 shares changing hands at $3.30 after falling 35 cents. Limners and Bards shed 11 cents in trading 86,934 units at $2.51, Main Event ended with 21,779 units crossing the exchange and gained 2 cents to close at $5.62, Medical Disposables exchanged 8,816 shares to close at $6.15 after falling 15 cents. Stationery and Office Supplies lost 70 cents in trading 1,100 stock units to close at $9.25, SSL Venture shed 5 cents in after transferring ownership of 20,696 units at $1.23. tTech closed 18 cents higher at $4.18, with 7,000 stock units crossing the exchange and CAC 2000 preference shares rose 20 cents to $1 after 11,547 units changed hands.