Trading on the Junior market ended with a third consecutive record high Thursday as the closed at a new high of 2,373.89 for a gain of 7.58 points as 4 stocks rose and 2 declined with just 10 securities that trading.
Trading volume and value rose from Wednesday’s levels, ending with 1,742,459.00 units changing hands, 129 percent more than on Wednesday, while the value traded climbed by 224 percent to $12,530,207, from $3,870,697 on Wednesday.
Market activities ended with 10 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 ending with lower offers. Month end is a period when some bids increase to show stronger close than for a few days before with valuation of portfolios based on the higher bids.
In market activity Cargo Handlers stock has not traded since it closed at $86.10 on September 12, the market closed with the bid at $91 to buy 3,000 units, with no units offered for sale, next in line to buy is 6,540 shares at $89, there were stocks offered for sale at the close. The company at a recent extraordinary meeting approved a 10 for 1 stock split, to take effect from the close of business on October 21. Key Insurance remains under pressure with the offer at $2.30 to sell 30,000 units compared with the last sale of $2.49. There were no bids to buy the stock at the close.
Blue Power closed at $25 with 12,400 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream lost 23 cents with 31,000 shares 
changing hands to close at $9.27, C2W traded 37,949 shares to close at 24 cents, Honey Bun with 3,050 shares changing hands and closed at $6.19 with a gain of 19 cents. Jetcon Corporation had just 2,200 units changing hands, to end at $4.70, KLE Group ended at $2.10 with 48,500 shares changing hands after rising by 24 cents, Knutsford Express traded 10,500 units to close at $24 after shedding 48 cents, Lasco Distributors closed with a gain of 24 cents as 1,610,495 units traded at $7.24. Lasco Financial ended with 11,739 shares changing hands at $3.18, after rising by 13 cents, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $5 with 9,565 shares trading.
Another junior record close – Wednesday
September 28, 2016 by
Medical Disposables closed at a new high on Wednesday.
The market closed with 3 stocks rising, while 5 declined out of 13 securities that traded. The junior index gained 4.42 points, to close at a record 2,366.31 and is up 31.9 percent ahead of the close of 2015.
Trading volume and value rose from Tuesday’s levels, ending with 759,344 units changing hands, 54 percent more than on Tuesday, while the value traded climbed by 71 percent to $3,870,697, from $2,264,166 on Tuesday.
Market activities ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 ending with lower offers.Cargo Handlers stock has not traded since it closed at $86.10 on September 12, the market closed with the bid at $90 to buy 3,000 units, with no units offered for sale, next in line to buy is 6,540 shares at $89, there were stocks offered for sale at the close. Key Insurance remains under pressure with the offer at $2.30 to sell 30,000 units compared with the last sale of $2.49. There were no bids to buy the stock at the close.
AMG Packaging lost 1 cent in ending trading at $17.51 with 591 units changing hands, Blue Power closed at $25 with 8,500 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream gained 50 cents with 32,400 shares changing hands to close at $9.50, Consolidated Bakeries slipped 5 cents in trading 37,949 shares to close at $2.45. General Accident fell 10 cents and ended at $2.20 with 52,600 shares changing hands,
Honey Bun with 16,248 shares changing hands and closed at $6, Jetcon Corporation had just 30,993 units changing hands, to end at $4.70, Lasco Distributors closed with a loss of 5 cents as 130,170 units traded at $7. Lasco Financial ended with 124,025 shares changing hands at $3.05, after declining by 17 cents, Lasco Manufacturing rose 2 cents and closed at $5 with 252,795 shares trading. Medical Disposables traded 44,073 shares to end at a new record high of $4.36 trading as high as $4.60 but gained just 1 cent at the close, Sweet River Abattoir with 24,000 units traded with a rise of 1 cent to end at $3.85 and tTech ended with 5,000 shares changing hands at $6.50.
Junior record 17 points away – Monday
September 26, 2016 by
tTech closed at a new all-time high of $6.50 on Monday.
The market closed with 7 stocks rising, while 5 declined out of 14 securities that traded. The junior index gained 6.52 points, to close at 2,340.95 and is up 30.7 percent ahead of the close of 2015.
Trading volume and value rose 37 percent or more, from Friday’s levels, ending with 1,873,272 units valued at units changing hands, 37 percent more than on Friday, while the value traded climbed by 65 percent to $10,709,100, from $6,508,601 on Friday.
Market activities ended with 7 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 1 ending with a lower offer.Cargo Handlers stock has not traded since it closed at $86.10 on September 12, the market closed with the bid at $90.05 to buy 3,000 units, with no units offered for sale, next in line to buy is 5,765 shares at $90.01, there were stocks offered for sale at the close. Key Insurance that reported poor second quarter results continued with the offer at $2.30 to sell 30,000 units and at $2.35, there is 18,566 shares for sale and immediately below, is an offer of 152,290 units at $2.37, compared with the last sale of $2.49. There were no bids to buy the stock at the close.
AMG Packaging jumped 16 cents and ended trading at $17.50 with 31,715 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream fell 10 cents with 568,043 shares changing hands to close at $9.10, after trading 457,275 shares as low as $8. Caribbean Flavours traded 5,500 units to end at $8 with the loss of 1 cent, General Accident closed trading with 541,570 units at $2.20 after rising 10 cents but traded as high as $2.80 in the morning session, Honey Bun fell 25 cents in trading just 22,800 units to end at $6.
Iron Rock Insurance traded 10,750 shares and gained 2 cents to end at $3.30, Jamaican Teas traded 122,341 units to end at $4, Jetcon Corporation had 15,745 units changing hands, to end at $4.70, KLE group traded 1,100 shares with the price rising 1 cent to $1.85. Knutsford Express closed with a loss of 2 cents, at $24.48 with just 190 units changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed with 386,432 units trading and ended at $7.05. Lasco Financial ended with 15,850 shares changing hands at $3.25, after declining by 3 cents, Lasco Manufacturing rose 25 cents and closed at $5 with 138,708 shares trading and tTech traded 12,528 shares to end at a new record high of $6.50 after gaining 70 cents.
Juniors just 22 points from record
September 23, 2016 by
The junior market is within reach of a new high.
The market closed 5 stocks rising, while 5 declined out of 13 securities that traded. The market index gained 12.01 points, to close at 2,334.43 and is 30.3 percent ahead of the close of 2015.
Trading volume and value rose 25 percent or more from Thursday’s levels, ending with 1,372,103 units changing hands, 35 percent more than on Thursday, while the value traded climbed by 25 percent to $6,508,601, from $5,213,760 changing hands on Thursday. Market activities ended with 4 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.
At the close, Cargo Handlers stock price closed with the bid at $90.05 with 3,000 units, nearly $4 ahead of the last sale price with no units offered for sale, next in line to buy is 5865 shares at $90, there were 1,000 units offered at $100. Key Insurance that reported poor second quarter results continued with the offer at $2.35 to sell 18,566 shares, immediately below, is an offer of 152,290 units at $2.38, compared with the last sale of $2.49. There were no bids to buy the stock at the close.AMG Packaging jumped 16 cents and ended trading with 16,039 units at $17.15, Caribbean Cream rose 10 cents with 122,700 shares changing hands at $9.20, Consolidated Bakeries lost by 5 cents to end at $2.35 with 46,000 units changing hands,
C2W Music ended at 23 cents with 1,200 shares changing hands after rising 3 cents. Derrimon Trading rose 40 cents to end at $3.50 with 2,000 shares trading, General Accident closed trading with 600,171 units at $2.10, Honey Bun gained 10 cents in trading just 86,500 units to end at $6.25. Jetcon Corporation had 17,344 units changing hands to end at with a loss of 25 cents at $4.70. Lasco Distributors closed with 312,271 units trading and ended at $7, Lasco Manufacturing fell 5 cents and closed at $4.75 with 119,872 shares trading, Medical Disposables traded 16,733, shares with the price remaining unchanged at $4 and tTech traded 11,273 shares to end at $6.
Junior just 35 points from record – Thursday
September 22, 2016 by
Bulls are lurching around the juniors.
Trading volume and value rose over 60 percent from Wednesday’s levels, ending with 1,015,005 units changing hands, 60 percent more than on Wednesday, while the value traded climbed by 94 percent to $5,213,760, compared to $2,690,732 changing hands on Wednesday.
At the close, Cargo Handlers stock price closed with the bid at $90.01 with 5,765 units, nearly $4 ahead of the last sale price with no units offered for sale. Key Insurance that reported poor second quarter results continued with the offer at $2.37 to sell 152,290 units, compared with the last sale of $2.49. There were to be no bids to buy the stock at the close.AMG Packaging jumped $1.99 and ended trading with 26,361 units to end at $16.99, CAC 2000 traded just 200 shares at $6.40, Caribbean Cream lost 10 cents with 37,106 shares changing hands at $9.10, Caribbean Flavours added just 1 cent in closing at $8.01 with 5,358 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers traded just 46,370 shares to close at $3.40. Consolidated Bakeries rose by 5 cents to end at $2.40 with 6,017 units changing hands, Dolphin Cove ended at $13.70 with 500 shares trading,
General Accident fell 15 cents and closed trading with 253,080 units at $2.10, Honey Bun lost 9 cents in trading just 200 units to end at $6.15. KLE Group ended at $1.85 with 5,800 shares changing hands after rising 5 cents, Knutsford Express had 334 units changing hands to end at with a rise of 50 cents at $24.50, Lasco Distributors closed with 240,980 units trading and ended with a rise of 20 cents at $7. Lasco Financial rose by 3 cents with 2,850 shares changing hands to close at $3.28, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.80 with 388,949 shares trading, Medical Disposables traded 18,400, shares with the price remaining unchanged at $4 and tTech traded 28,870 shares at $6.
Rising junior stocks inch decliners – Wednesday
September 21, 2016 by
Jetcon ended trading at a new closing high of $4.95 on Wednesday.
The market index eased with 17.09 points, to close at 2,300.92. Market activities ended with 7 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 ending with lower offers.
Trading ended with 635,440 units changing hands, 30 percent less than on Tuesday, while the value traded dropped by 31 percent, with $2,690,732, compared to $3,876,442 changing hands on Tuesday.
At the close, Cargo Handlers have not traded for a few days but today the stock closed with the bid at $90.01 with 5,765 units, nearly $4 ahead of the last sale price with no units offered for sale. Key Insurance that
reported poor second quarter results has not traded with the offer at $2.37 to sell 152,290 units compared with the last sale of $2.49, there continues to be no bids on the stock at the close.Access Financial end trading with 1,889 units to end at $18.40, after falling 10 cents, Caribbean Cream gained 10 cents with 6,914 shares changing hands at $9.20, Caribbean Flavours lost just 1 cent in closing at $8 with 9,500 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers traded just 46,370 shares to close at $3.40. Consolidated Bakeries lost 7 cents to end at $2.35 with 3,000 units changing hands. Dolphin Cove lost $1.30 and ended at $13.70 with 100 shares trading, General Accident gained 20 cents and closed trading with 91,267 units at $2.25, Honey Bun gained 39 cents in trading 54,391 units to end at $6.24, Iron Rock Insurance traded 1,250 shares to close at $3.30 with a gain of 2 cents.
Jamaican Teas had 116,983 units changing hands at $4. Jetcon Corporation rose 45 cents in trading at new record high of $4.95, with 51,980 units changing hands, KLE Group ended at $1.80 with 45,000 shares changing hands after rising by 30 cents, Knutsford Express had 2,191 units changing hands to end at $24. Lasco Distributors closed with 44,000 units trading and ended with a loss of 24 cents at $6.80, Lasco Financial had 16,585 shares changing hands to close at $3.25, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.80 with 60,576 shares trading, Medical Disposables traded 78,577 shares with the price remaining unchanged at $4 and tTech traded 4,867 shares at $6.
Mild losses for juniors – Tuesday
September 20, 2016 by
Jetcon ended at a new closing high of $4.50 on Tuesday, with gains of 100% since listing in March.
Trading ended with 907,063 units changing hands, 9 percent more than on Monday, while the value traded dropped just 5 percent, with $3,876,442, compared to $4,086,204 changing hands on Monday.
At the close, Cargo Handlers have not traded for a few days but today the stock closed with the bid at $89.01 with 100 units, nearly $3 ahead of the last sale price with 1,000 units offered for sale at $1,000.
As was the case on Monday, Key Insurance did not trade but seems set to trade at a new low when next it does with the offer at $2.37 to sell 152,290 units compared with the last sale of $2.49, there were no bids on the stock at the close.Caribbean Cream gained 10 cents with 20,000 shares changing hands at of $9.10, Caribbean Flavours gained just 1 cent in closing at $8.01 with 4,749 shares changing hands, Caribbean Producers traded just 20,130 shares and lost 20 cents to close at $3.40. Consolidated Bakeries lost 1 cent to end at $2.42 with 26,559 units changing hands. General Accident closed trading with 348,954 units at $2.05, with a 15 cents loss, Honey Bun traded 800 units to end at $5.85, Jamaican Teas had 1,100 units changing hands at $4. Jetcon Corporation rose 35 cents in trading at new record high of $4.80, with 34,983 units changing hands but ended at new closing high of $4.50, to gain 100 percent, since listing in late March.
Knutsford Express lost 50 cents with 1,559 units changing hands to end at $24, Lasco Distributors closed with 76,469 units trading and ended with a gain of 14 cents at $7.04. Lasco Financial gained 15 cents with 1,165 shares changing hands to close at $3.25. Lasco Manufacturing lost 10 cents to close at $4.80 with 146,842 shares trading, tTech traded 46,953 shares and closed at $6, Derrimon Trading preference share gained 5 cents and ended with 500 units changing hands to close at $2.20 and Eppley 9.5% preference share, fell 20 cents in trading 176,300 shares, to end at $6.30.
Juniors make big gains – Monday
September 19, 2016 by
Eppley 9.5% preference share closed at a new high of $6.50 in Monday.
At the close the stock had a bid of $4.35 to buy 15,000 units, 10,200 units was the lowest offer at $4.80.
The market index gained 29.34 points, to close at 2,326.19. Market activities ended with 8 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.
Trading ended with 835,628 units changing hands, 83 percent less than on Friday, while the value traded dropped 87 percent, with $4,086,204, compared to $32,514,713 changing hands on Friday.At the close, Caribbean Cream closed trading with 133,630 shares changing hands at of $9, earlier in the trading session the stock traded at $9.50. Caribbean Producers traded just 13,000 shares and rose 15 cents to close at $3.60. Consolidated Bakeries closed with a loss of 1 cent at $2.43 with 105,051 units changing hands. General Accident closed trading with 81,654 units, to close at $2.20, with a 9 cents loss, Honey Bun gained 32 cents in trading 4,300 units to end at $5.85,
Jetcon Corporation fell 15 cents and ended at $4.15 with 65,867 units changing hands, after trading at new record high of $4.40. As was the case on Friday, Key Insurance has not traded but seems set to trade at a new low with the offer still at $2.38 compared with the last sale of $2.49, there were no bids on the stock at the close. Lasco Distributors closed with 76,600 units trading and ended with a loss of 15 cents at $6.90. Lasco Financial fell 20 cents with 14,000 shares changing hands to close at $3.10. Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.90 with 177,726 shares trading, Medical Disposables traded 129,000 shares and closed at $4 and Eppley 9.5% preference share, gained 39 cents in trading 7,100 shares, to end at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $6.50, after trading as high as $7.
Buy stocks before the explosion
September 18, 2016 by
Image courtesy of suphakit73/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Both markets have some appealing choices that offer investors a great deal of potential upside. Investors have been making big mistakes by ignoring these opportunities. The errors keep showing in junior market stocks where many wait until prices start to move before trying to buy, at which time the volumes dry up and prices have to move steeply for sellers to be induced to dispose of stocks. Recent cases in point are, ISP Finance, the stock was available under $3 but there were very few buyers, now there are many buyers with bids in the $6 region, a level at which there has been no stock offered for sale since it traded nearly 23,000 units at $6, earlier in September. Jetcon Corporation is another case, with the stock trading below the $3 level for a long time until recently, even as the profit of the company is running at almost twice the pace of 2015, now they are more investors interested at the higher prices at a time when the supply has evaporated. Caribbean Cream is yet another, with IC Insider pointing to strong increase in profits for a long time, now buyers are in at much higher prices but supply is limited. tTech is yet another example with the stock trading for a long time in the $4 region now there is virtually no supply as interest in the stocks grows.
While some investors focus on trailing quarterly earnings as the basis for valuing stocks, they tend to miss out on companies with explosive growth in profits. There is also the tendency to ignore one off time items. The case of Caribbean Cement is an excellent one. A Brokerage house has the earnings at just over $2 for 2016, but the ongoing earnings are likely to be in the $5.50 region for 2016 and this is what they should be using to value the company. Investors seem to miss the main point. The company incurred cost for reducing labour which will show up as lower operating cost in future periods, but investors don’t seem to appreciate that fact, added to what now appears to be an economy that is growing and could grow even more making Cement, a huge buy. The same can be said for National Commercial Bank and Scotia Group that are having a great 2016.An indication of where values could reach based on this year’s earnings can be gleaned from three stocks selling at PE ratios that are 16 to 17.5 times this year’s earnings with 11 out of the 29 junior listings having a PE of 10 times or more with, an average of 13.5. The average of the junior market is now at 10 times 2016 earnings with several stocks selling below. In the main market the top 11 stocks average PE is just over 15 with the overall average for the market at 9.
Based on close of the market on Friday the stocks to watch in the coming week are AMG Packaging that fell back sharply in the past week and is on IC Insiders top 5 junior market buys, Blue Power with limited supply. Cargo Handlers still in demand with the announcement of the 10 to 1 stock split and with the bid at $87.05 versus the last sale of $86.10. Caribbean Cream with limited supply and increased buying, Honey Bun with good demand and declining supply, but the price could be heavy with a PE of 17. The 2016 fiscal year ends this month, so investors may want to focus on the 2017 numbers as the main reason for buying. ISP Finance with no supply but with bid at $6.50 compared to last sale of $6 and with the success of the $150 million bond issue, could move if some supply appear.
Scotiabank with profit up 47% for the July quarter the stock could be very active this week.
Main market activity has been fluid, there are no indications from Friday’s trading, that there will be much change. Investors should keep an eye on Barita Investments, IC Insider’s Top stock in the main market, with bids at $3.51 at the close on Friday, compared with a last sale price of $3.25. There are currently only 5 offers on the board, amounting to 70,000 units and Scotia Group that is set to report earnings for 2016 in the region of $4 per share, after reporting a 47 percent jump in the July quarter. Investors may want to keep an eye out for Cable & Wireless that could well report decent profit for the 12 months to March next year. Note the company’s year end is set to change to December.
10 Stocks to avoid now
September 18, 2016 by
Junior market stocks gained 27 percent for the year to date but those in the main market have gone up just 6 percent over the same time. Seven stocks in the junior market have more than doubled two gained just over 90 percent and one over 80 percent.
In contrast the main market highest gain is at 93 percent followed by 64 percent. The above data points to the need for selective investment decision making to get the best out of investing in the stock market. Last week IC Insider started a list of top 5 stocks in the main and junior market. This week we introduce a list of the top 5 stocks to avoid at this time as some seems fully valued based on appreciation recently or in some cases the companies are not performing well. The list will be reviewed weekly and updates published. Even these stocks appreciate in the medium term they are likely to lag gains in the overall market.