The Junior Market continued its freefall on Tuesday, dropping a record 152.05 points to close at 2,081.18, levels not seen since April 2016 as the 36 securities trading resulted in 23 stocks declining, seven rising and six stocks holding firm with the market losing 38 percent of its value since the start of the year.
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.
Trading resulted in an exchange of 38,566,809 units at $62,217,505, of which Derrimon Trading accounted for 28.6 million units, compared to 20,701,190 units valued at $69,475,355 on Monday, with the average market PE ratio ending at 10.3 times 2019 earnings.
The trading day ended with an average of 1,071,300 units for $1,728,264 for each security traded in contrast to an average of 559,492 units for an average of $1,877,712 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 277,858 units valued at $664,104 and previously 196,013 units valued at $553,434. 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 two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial gained 30 cents to finish at $21.80 with 6,650 shares traded, AMG Packaging exchanged 38,325 shares and added 29 cents to end at $1.90, Cargo Handlers lost $1.40 in swapping 2,045 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.10. Caribbean Assurance slipped 1 cent to $1.91 with 92,300 shares traded, Caribbean Cream swapped 17,633 units and lost 20 cents to settle at $2.80, Caribbean Producers declined by 78 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $2.72 with 120,030 shares changing hands. Derrimon Trading fell 20 cents to a 52 weeks’ low of $1.40 in exchanging a mammoth 28,587,354 units, Everything Fresh closed 5 cents higher at 85 cents with 17,356 stock units trading, Express Catering fell to a 52 weeks’ low of $3 after losing 20 cents with 129,798 shares changing hands. Fontana closed trading of 1,939,436 units and shed $1.02 to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.72, Fosrich added by 5 cents to finish at $3 in swapping of 17,160 units, General Accident dropped 50 cents in trading of 176,828 units at $4.50. Honey Bun closed with an exchange of 210,094 shares after falling 62 cents to $4.50, iCreate slipped 3 cents to 45 cents with 444,000 shares traded, Indies Pharma added 12 cents in exchanging 20,972 units at $2.09.
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.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
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.
A significant drop of $7.08 in the price of Access Financial, 68 cents fall in Honey Bun and a 90 cents decline for Medical Disposables were stocks that had a major impact on the sharp decline of the market index on the second trading day in March.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and five with lower offers.
Jamaican Teas jumped 50 cents in trading 189,940 shares to settle at $6.30, Jetcon Corporation lost 13 cents in trading 161,616 shares to close at 52 weeks’ low of $1.18, Key Insurance lost 15 cents and ended market activity exchanging 30,820 shares to close at $3. Knutsford Express closed trading of 300 units and gained 20 cents to end at $11.20, Lasco Distributors swapped 13,185 shares, after rising 30 cents to end at $3, Lasco Manufacturing added 5 cents and exchanged 63,222 shares at $3.65. Limners and Bards ended market activity exchanging 75,712 shares to close at $2.62 after falling 28 cents, Lumber Depot lost 3 cents in trading 105,531 shares to close at $1.40, Main Event fell 19 cents to close at $5.60 with 176,837 shares traded. Medical Disposables declined 90 cents in swapping 21,619 units at $6.30, Paramount Trading dipped 9 cents in trading of 651,246 units at $1.90, Stationery and Office Supplies climbed to $9.95 after rising $1.09 with 3,401 shares changing hands and tTech declined by 27 cents to settle at a 52 weeks’ low of $4 with 6,806 units crossing the exchange.
