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.
New record for Junior Market – Friday
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.
The number of securities trading remained the same as Thursday at 25 and leading to 9 advancing, 2 declining and 14 remaining unchanged, as investors exchanged 2,279,431 units valued at $9,238,268, compared to 2,749,388 units valued at $12,888,595 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 91,177 units for an average of $369,531 in contrast to 109,976 units for an average of $515,544 on Thursday Trading for the month to date averages 670,895 units for an average of $4,049,556 and on the prior trading day, an average of 732,567 units for an average of $4,441,049. 
Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $50, with 4,500 shares changing hands, AMG Packaging ended at $1.89, in exchanging 44,970 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 39,707 units, at $6.50, Caribbean Cream ended trading 40 cents higher at $7.50, with 18,100 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers rose 10 cents to $6.10, with the trading of 4,431 units. Consolidated Bakeries closed 5 cents higher at $2.50, with 56,500 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading added 20 cents to close at $3.20, with 384,647 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 7,200 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.50, with 106,043 stock units trading, Everything Fresh gained 30 cents in trading 69,825 shares to end at $2.40, Express Catering ended trading 33,999 shares, 21 cents higher at $8.39, FosRich Group traded at $3, with an exchange of 13,572 shares, 
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.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Indies gains 167% since Junior Market IPO
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.
The stock seems to have benefited from information from the company indicating the likely acquisitions and new products to come to market. Additionally, a look at the order book indicates very few stocks being offered for sale. Blue Power and Medical Disposables are two stocks that have benefited from good results recently to help push them to record closing highs on Thursday but AMG Packaging closed at a 52 weeks’ low.
The Junior Market having retreated for two consecutive days recorded gains at the close of trading on Thursday, with the market index rising 8.83 points to close at 3,365.20, as it pulled back from 3,388.43 high reached in the morning session.
Trading resulted in 25 securities, the same number that changed hands on Wednesday, leading to 11 advancing, 7 declining and 7 remaining unchanged, as investors exchanged 2,749,388 units valued at $12,888,595, compared to 3,271,099 units valued at $12,971,060 on Wednesday.
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 109,976 units for an average of $515,544 in contrast to 130,844 units for an average of $518,842 on Wednesday. Trading for the month to date averages 732,567 units for an average of $4,441,049 and on the prior trading day, an average of 806,685 units for an average of $4,908,371. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed with a gain of $2.50 to close at $50, with an exchange of 250 shares, AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.89, with 5,662 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 24,100 units and gained 50 cents to end at a 52 week’s high of $6.50, Cargo Handlers settled at $13, trading 5,187 shares, Caribbean Producers finished trading 1,143,307 units at $6. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 5 cents at $2.45, with 100 shares changing hands, Derrimon Trading ended at $3, while exchanging 566,924 shares, Dolphin Cove concluded trading 240 shares at $17, Elite Diagnostic finished trading of 141,028 stock units and rose 6 cents to $3.50. Everything Fresh dropped 34 cents in trading 69,825 shares to end at $2.10, Express Catering closed at $8.18, with 70,042 shares changing hands,
FosRich Group traded with a loss of 5 cents at $3, exchanging 7,670 shares, Honey Bun ended 5 cents higher at $4.05, with the swapping of 24,500 units, Iron Rock concluded trading at $3.50, with 32,151 shares changing hands. Indies Pharma gained 35 cents with 235,244 shares changing hands to end at a record close of $4, Jamaican Teas jumped 45 cents to $4.65, with 120,000 shares trading, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 6,879 stock units and rose 5 cents to $4, Key Insurance traded 67 cents higher at $3.75, with the trading of just 900 units, Lasco Distributors ended with a loss of 23 cents at $3.77, trading 15,700 shares. Lasco Financial concluded trading with a loss of 45 cents at $5.45, with 58,922 stock units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing closed with a loss of 9 cents at $3.90, in exchanging 94,100 units, Main Event settled 2 cents higher at $6, with 16,494 shares traded, Medical Disposables ended trading a mere 300 shares and gained $1.25 to a new high of $7.95 and Stationery and Office finished trading 29,363 stock units and rose 1 cent to $9.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Express Catering profit up but concerns linger
Ian Dear Chairman & CEO of Express Catering
Profit at Express Catering (ECL) jumped 290 percent to US$3.5 million on increased revenue of 10 percent to $15.7 million. A fall of $1.4 million in administrative cost to $6.6 million and a near $1 million rise in gross profit accounted for the bulk of the profit growth.
Earnings per share came in at 0.021 US cents. With the Starbucks franchise, which should be in full operation for the entire 2019 fiscal year and continued strong showing in tourist arrivals, revenues should climb much faster than the 10 percent experienced for 2018, helping to boost profit, which IC Insider.com is estimating at 0.035 US cents or Jamaica 45 cents.
Of grave concern is that while the company is incurring $333,000 in preference dividends on $3.5 million preference shares, amounts owing by related parties, rose from $3.6 million last year to $6 million to May, but ECL gets no income from it. That seems partially on the way to be corrected, based on information provided the company’s Chief Execuitive.
The preference shares issued is exactly the same amount due on debt owing to the company by a related party and reported in the financials for the first time in the 2017 fiscal year. While the amount owed by Margaritaville Limited increased by $2.3 million with no interest payable, Express pays dividends on the preference shares. No interest is paid to Margaritaville St. Lucia by Express for an amount due to the former, partially countering the position against the dividend payable. The preference shares, denominated in US dollar, is obligated to pay dividend at 9.5 percent per annum. That is high for a US dollar instrument now, as well as when it was contracted. These matters are clearly an untidy for a listed company with amounts owing to and from related entities, with some incurring a charge while others are not.
IC Insider.com spoke with Ian Dear who is Chairman of the company on this issue. Dear advises that the dividend to be paid shortly will result in Margaritaville Limited repaying US$4.8 million of the debt in September and it is not expected that the account will return to the above level in the future. Regardless of the above payment, the situation requires regularizing to ensure equity and transparency for the investing public.
Starbucks one of the brands Express Catering will sell at the Montego Bay Airport.
Dear went on to state, “The balance of US$5.99 million at May, due from Related Parties is made up of 3 separate Related Party accounts with amounts due from ECL as well as amounts due to ECL. This is a carry forward from the period when ECL was a fully owned subsidiary of MCL Group. The company will take steps to cancel the non-active balances by paying down the amounts due to Related Parties and collecting from Related Parties amounts due to ECL. The company declared recently a dividend of US$6 million that will result in a further substantial reduction of the existing balance.”
“The existing Preference Shares were entered into at a time of higher interest rates. Since then rates have trended downwards. ECL is currently engaging funding institutions with a view to refinancing this debt. Redemption costs as well as Arranger fees will be critical factors in this decision,” Dear, Chairman & CEO informed IC Insider.com.
Dear also confirmed that the annual results had very little revenues from the Starbucks store. He also indicated that there will be three stores initially, in the Sangster International Airport of which two opened around 2 months ago and the third was opened last week. Annual revenues should be in the order of $1 million per annum, IC Insider.com estimates.
Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are denoted in US dollars.
Junior Market retreats from record close
The Junior market retreated from record high on Monday.
The Junior Market retreated from the record close when trading resumed on Tuesday, with the market index declining by 23.46 points to close at 3,369.12, to sit just below the previous record closing high of 3,375.24, on May 24, last year.
Trading resulted in 25 securities, compared to 30 that changed hands on Monday, leading to 9 advancing, 9 declining and 7 remaining unchanged. Indies Pharma was the only security that closed at record high on Tuesday, as investors exchanged 2,700,219 units valued at $10,803,399, compared to 1,652,479 units valued at $6,242,412 on Monday.
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, 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 108,009 units for an average of $432,136 in contrast to 63,557 units for an average of $240,093 on Monday. 
Trading for the month to date averages 898,015 units for an average of $5,501,550 and on the prior trading day, an average of 1,021,454 units for an average of $6,293,646. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $46, trading 20,000 shares, AMG Packaging ended trading of 80,806 stock units and lost 4 cents in closing at $1.90, Blue Power fell 25 cents in trading 91,899 shares at $5.75, Caribbean Producers traded 215,385 units to close at $6, Derrimon Trading ended with a decline of 99 cents at $3, in the exchange of 457,427 shares. Elite Diagnostic finished at $3.16, with 11,300 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh rose 3 cents in trading 724,980 shares to end at $2.43, Express Catering ended trading of 77,833 shares, 18 cents higher at $8.18, FosRich Group traded with a loss of 10 cents at $2.90, with 30,160 shares changing hands, GWest Corporation closed at $2.15, with 66,623 stock units trading. Honey Bun fell 10 cents to $3.90, trading 475 units, Indies Pharma gained 36 cents with 317,221 shares changing hands to end at a record closing high of $3.60, 
Iron Rock concluded trading of 299,025 shares with a fall of 30 cents at $3.20, Jamaican Teas settled at $4.20, exchanging just 1,059 shares, Jetcon Corporation ended trading 69,700 stock units and rose 8 cents higher to $3.95. KLE Group finished trading of 15,000 shares at $3, Knutsford Express closed with a loss of $1.20 at $11.50, with 28,316 shares trading, Lasco Distributors ended 5 cents higher at $4.05, while exchanging 67,800 shares, Lasco Financial concluded trading of 83,248 stock units after falling 13 cents to $5.77. Lasco Manufacturing closed 1 cent higher at $4.01, with 15,416 units being swapped, Main Event settled 4 cents higher at $6.02, trading 6,600 shares, Medical Disposables ended trading of 5,000 shares and gained 3 cents to $6.70, Paramount Trading ended 3 cents higher at $2.75, exchanging 464 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading with a loss of 15 cents at $8.70, with 13,982 stock units trading.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market jumps 80 points to record close
The Junior market close at a record high on Monday after trading under the old record for more than 15 months.
The Junior Market has now joined the main market in ending at a record close, when it hit an historical high on Monday, having gained 80.58 points to end at 3,392.58 and beating the record closing high of 3,375.24, on May 24 last year.
Monday’s gain raised the gain in the market for the year to date, to 24.3 percent.
Trading resulted in 30 securities, compared to 30 that changed hands on Friday, leading to 10 advancing, 4 declining and 15 remaining unchanged. Three securities traded at new highs during trading with just two, Derrimon Trading and Indies Pharma closing at record high. Investors exchanged 1,652,479 units valued at $6,242,412 compared to 150,624,130 units valued at $942,907,794 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, 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 63,557 units for an average of $240,093 in contrast to 5,020,804 units for an average of $31,430,260 on Friday. 
Trading for the month to date averages 1,021,454 units for an average of $6,293,646 and on the prior trading day, an average of 1,207,314 units for an average of $7,396,642. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, AMG Packaging ended trading of 6,540 stock units at $1.94, Blue Power jumped to a record intraday high of $7 but concluded trading at $6, exchanging 59,817 units, Cargo Handlers settled at $13, trading 19,309 shares, Caribbean Cream ended trading $1.21 higher at $7.10, with 6,700 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers finished trading 81,015 units and climbed 50 cents higher $6. Derrimon Trading jumped 79 cents higher to a record close of $3.99, with 362,263 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove concluded trading of 671 shares and rose 50 cents to $17, Elite Diagnostic finished 4 cents higher at $3.16, trading 6,400 stock units, Everything Fresh rose 5 cents in trading 77,000 shares to end at $2.40, Express Catering rose 10 cents to $8, in exchanging 19,992 shares. FosRich Group traded 46,950 shares at $3, GWest Corporation closed at $2.15, in exchanging 36,154 stock units, Honey Bun ended at $4, with 48,100 units changing hands, 
Indies Pharma gained 25 cents with 305,131 shares changing hands to end at a record close, at $3.25, ISP Finance closed at $20, trading 350 shares. Jamaican Teas climbed 25 cents higher to $4.20, after 28,050 shares were traded, Jetcon Corporation ended trading of 1,220 stock units with a loss of 23 cents at $3.87, KLE Group lost 5 cents to end at $3, with an exchange of 10,000 shares, Lasco Distributors ended at $4, with 99,646 shares changing hands. Lasco Financial concluded trading of 53,035 stock units at $5.90, Lasco Manufacturing finished with a loss of 1 cent at $4, trading just 475 units, Main Event recovered 78 cents of Friday’s loss to close at $5.98, with 4,465 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading traded with a loss of 28 cents at $2.72, with 3,000 shares and Stationery and Office finished trading 22,219 stock units at $8.85 and tTech ended at $6, exchanging 3,977 shares. In the Junior Market preference segment, Derrimon Trading ended at $2.51, with 350,000 stock units changing hands.
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
Junior Market inching closer to record close
The Junior Market Index continues to move higher in search of a record high close.
The Junior Market Index advanced just 3.80 points to close at 3,312 on Friday, after touching 3,365 points, after just 20 minutes of market’s opening, to be just 10 points below the all-time high of 3,375.24 points reached in May last year.
Trading resulted in 30 securities, compared to 25 that changed hands on Thursday, leading to 8 advancing, 7 declining and 15 remaining unchanged.
Trading resulted in an exchange of 150,624,130 units valued at $942,907,794 compared to 2,641,236 units valued at $11,671,251 on Thursday. Express Catering fresh from reporting a near tripling of full year profit, traded a big block of 147,375 million shares with value of $912.23 million at $6.19 each. A check with the list of share holder show that the trade most likely came from National Insurance Fund from a holding of 181.783 million units which they held prior to Friday.
IC bid-offer Indicator|At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading had 6 stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices, 2 closed with lower offers.
Trading closed with an average of 5,020,804 units for an average of $31,430,260 in contrast to 105,649 units for an average of $466,850 on Thursday. 
Trading for the month to date averages 1,207,314 units for an average of $7,396,642 and on the prior trading day, an average of 107,269 units for an average of $463,868. Trading in August, averaged 244,613 units at $1,348,298 for each security traded.
At the close of trading, Access Financial closed at $46, after investors cleared out the remanence of a block 445,392 shares that were on offer for several weeks, at the close there was a bid to buy 288,915 at $46 with selling now at $50. AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.94, in exchanging 1,000 stock units, Blue Power concluded trading of 15,123 units at $6, Cargo Handlers settled 20 cents higher at $13, exchanging 24,403 shares, Caribbean Cream fell 11 cents to close at $5.89, trading 53,205 stock units, Caribbean Flavours ended trading of 9,800 shares at $19.87, Caribbean Producers traded 1,000 stock units at $5.50, Consolidated Bakeries lost 5 cents to end at $2.45, with 50,000 units changing hands, Derrimon Trading closed with a gain of 50 cents to a new 52 weeks’ closing high of at $3.20, with 226,310 shares, earlier in trading the price hit $3.90. Elite Diagnostic concluded trading at $3.12, with 9,695 shares changing hands. Eppley finished with a loss of 13 cents at $10.05, trading 6,100 stock units, Everything Fresh rose 15 cents in trading 497,847 shares to end at $2.35, Express Catering settled with a loss of 10 cents at $7.90, with 147,638,521 units changing hands, but only after the bulk of the trades took place at $6.19 cents in the morning session. FosRich Group ended trading 37,874 shares 1 cent higher at $3, General Accident traded with a loss of 4 cents at $4.25, in exchanging 8,500 shares. 
Indies Pharma gained 2 cents as it continues to trade in relatively heavy volume, ending the day with 1,437,108 shares changing hands to close at $3. Iron Rock ended 30 cents higher at $3.50, with 10,000 units changing hands, ISP Finance concluded trading 600 shares at $20, Jetcon Corporation settled at $4.10, with 16,940 shares, Knutsford Express finished trading of 100 shares at $12.70. Lasco Distributors closed at $4, exchanging 46,485 shares, Lasco Financial ended at $5.90, trading 36,879 shares, Lasco Manufacturing concluded trading of just 3,165 stock units at $4.01, Main Event suffered a sharp drop of $1.80 to $5.20, with 6,848 units trading. Medical Disposables settled at $6.67, trading 3,548 shares, Paramount Trading ended trading of 2,000 shares at $3, Stationery and Office rose by 25 cents to $8.85, swapping 10,950 shares and tTech closed at $6, with 3,212 units. In the junior market preference segment, Derrimon Trading concluded trading with a rise of 1 cent to $2.51, with 20,000 units changing hands and Eppley 8.75% settled at $6, with 1,525 shares trading,
Prices of securities trading for the day are those at which the last trade took place.
