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.


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 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.
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.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market, continues to shatter daily records, with 11 consecutive record close up to Friday, as the all Jamaica composite Index pushes 1,000 points nearer to the 400,000 mark. 
Portland JSX put on 60 cents in trading 7,377 shares and ended at $9, Sagicor Group rose 69 cents and settled at $39.85, trading 48,812 shares. Seprod added 90 cents to end at $46.90 in trading 11,025 units and Sygnus Credit Investments jumped 91 cents in trading 483,665 shares close at $13.71.
The Junior Market recorded gains of 31.89 points at the close of trading on Friday, to end at record close of 3,397.09 after it traded briefly at an intraday record high of 3,408.31 points, within 3 minutes of opening, to take out the old record of 3,392.58 on Monday.
Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
GWest Corporation closed at $2.15, with 31,044 stock units trading, Indies Pharma closed with 1,012,184 shares changing hands to close of $4, Jamaican Teas settled at $4.65, trading 37,374 shares. Jetcon Corporation ended trading 20,677 stock units with a loss of 10 cents at $3.90, Knutsford Express closed at $11.50, with 500 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors ended 23 cents higher at $4, after 15,470 shares traded, Lasco Financial concluded trading 133,305 stock units with a gain of 5 cents to $5.50. Lasco Manufacturing finished at $3.90, with 19,158 units changing hands, Main Event settled $1 higher at $7, with 68,715 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables ended trading 18,135 shares with a loss of $1.15 at $6.80, Paramount Trading traded 106,383 shares at $2.60 and Stationery and Office finished trading at $9, with 15,339 stock units being exchanged.
shares, JMMB Group shed 1 cent and ended at $1.68, after exchanging 62,560 shares and Scotiabank lost 1 cent and completed trading with 6,855 units at $64.94.
Newly listed Junior Market stock, Indies Pharma jumped to a record $4 on Thursday, in recording gains of 167 percent since the IPO issue in July, at $1.50 per share.
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.

At the end of trading, the prices of 20 stocks rose, 4 declined and 6 closed trading, unchanged. The main market ended with 11,678,084 units valued at $147,689,924 changing hands, compared to 3,156,915 units valued at $54,279,819, on Wednesday.
PanJam Investment gained $1 and closed at $55 trading 7,285 stock units,
Interest rates essentially remained stable based on the latest Treasury bill auction that took place at Bank of Jamaica. The moved but was just modestly higher with a few basis points increase.
All three main indices of the Trinidad & Tobago Stock Exchange, closed higher on Thursday, with the Composite Index rising 3.71 points to 1,217.83, the All T&T Index adding 0.06 points to 1,689.65, while the Cross Listed Index inched 1.02 points higher to close at 100.28.
Bank added 10 cents and completed trading of 66,163 units at $8.50,