The Junior Market Index plunged 52.88 points to close at 3,840.90 on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, with a 53 percent rise in the volume of stocks traded and a 62 percent more value than on Tuesday with 42 securities trading compared with 41 on Tuesday and ended with 15 rising, 20 declining and seven closing unchanged, after three stocks closed at 52 weeks’ high and one at a 52 weeks’ low.
Investors traded 6,681,293 shares for $19,409,351 versus 4,369,373 units at $12,002,310 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 159,078 shares at $462,127 compared with 106,570 units for $292,739 on Tuesday with the month to date, averaging 203,801 units at $477,438 compared with 206,921 stock units at $478,506 on the previous day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units for $843,878.
Stationery and Office Supplies led trading with 1.02 million shares for 15.3 percent of total volume, followed by Future Energy Source with 920,263 units for 13.8 percent of the day’s trade and Spur Tree Spices ended trading with 732,924 units for 11 percent of market share.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.7. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are computed using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, CAC 2000 slipped 9 cents to $6.90, with just 11 shares crossing the market, Cargo Handlers lost $1.04 and ended at $16.41 after investors traded 639 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers shed 36 cents to close at $2.53, with 110 stocks changing hands. Caribbean Cream popped 35 cents to $3.82, with 15 units crossing the market, Consolidated Bakeries dropped 42 cents to $2.27 after 3,499 shares were traded, EduFocal dipped 17 cents in closing at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.32 in switching owners of 219,708 units. Elite Diagnostic fell 21 cents to end at $1.68 as 80,060 stock units passed through the market, Express Catering lost 77 cents and ended at $4.27 with investors exchanging 19,071 shares, Fontana rose 40 cents to close at $11 after a transfer of 300,250 stocks. Fosrich climbed 16 cents to close at $2.06 after an exchange of 157,437 shares, Future Energy Source dipped 20 cents to close at $3.50 after an exchange of 920,263 stock units, General Accident fell 51 cents and ended at $4.43 while exchanging 30,502 units. Honey Bun rallied 25 cents to end at $6.45 with shareholders swapping 6,247 shares, ISP Finance rose $2.57 to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $31.12 in an exchange of 2,737 units,
Knutsford Express shed 19 cents in closing at $11.01 with investors dealing in 8,440 stocks. Lasco Distributors gained 24 cents and ended at 52 weeks’ high of $4.94 with investors exchanging 384,973 stock units, Lasco Financial declined 32 cents to close at $1.80 with 20,000 shares clearing the market, Lasco Manufacturing increased 19 cents to a 52 weeks’ high of $5.69 with an exchange of 234,576 stocks. Limners and Bards dropped 17 cents in closing at $1.81 after 19,256 units changed hands, Lumber Depot declined 8 cents to end at $1.96 with a transfer of 6,002 stock units, Main Event increased 32 cents and ended at $14.50 with investors dealing in 8,559 shares. Medical Disposables fell 59 cents in closing at $4.26 in an exchange of 1,014 units, 
MFS Capital Partners dipped 20 cents to $2.20 with 213,878 stock units crossing the exchange, Regency Petroleum climbed 8 cents to end at $2.28 in trading 304,736 stocks and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 20 cents to close at $1.80 in trading 1,021,750 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading drops for Junior Market on Monday
Trading slipped on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Monday, with a 35 percent fall in the volume of stocks traded as the value dropped 29 percent below Friday with trading ending with trading in 44 stocks, the same as Friday and ended with 16 rising, 15 declining and 13 unchanged.
Investors traded 5,508,204 shares at $11,474,088 compared to 8,514,607 units at $16,106,240 on Friday.
Trading averaged 125,186 shares at $260,775 compared to 193,514 units at $366,051 on Friday with the month to date, averaging 214,255 stocks at $492,082 compared to 221,835 stocks at $511,768 on the previous trading day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
ONE on ONE Educational led trading with 1.73 million shares accounting for 31.4 percent of total volume followed by Image Plus Consultants with 465,288 units for 8.4 percent of the day’s trade and Mailpac Group with 412,652 units for 7.5 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index popped 6.64 points to 3,894.06, but the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator flashed negative reading at the close.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.9. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are computed using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and eight with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial declined 52 cents and ended at $24.62 after exchanging a mere 16 shares, Caribbean Cream dropped 30 cents to close at $3.46 with just 5 units clearing the market, Caribbean Flavours fell 7 cents in closing at $1.24 with an exchange of 6,879 stocks. Dolla Financial shed 12 cents to close at $2.66 with investors exchanging 218,431 stock units, Dolphin Cove lost 55 cents to end at $16.50, with 1,107 stocks changing hands, EduFocal climbed 10 cents to end at $1.50 while exchanging 268,139 stock units after the price hit an intraday 52 weeks’ low of $1.36. Fontana gained 20 cents to close at $10.75 with traders swapping 38,852 shares, Fosrich increased 8 cents to $2.08, with 232,281 units crossing the market, 
Future Energy Source rallied 14 cents and ended at $3.75 in an exchange of 285,114 units. General Accident dipped 47 cents in closing at $4.43 after 5,433 stocks passed through the market, Honey Bun rose 45 cents to $6.52, with 18,119 stock units changing hands, Image Plus Consultants advanced 17 cents to close at $2.25 after an exchange of 465,288 shares. Iron Rock Insurance lost 29 cents in closing at $2.10 in switching ownership of 2,305 units, ISP Finance popped $2.07 and ended at $28.55 after 1,016 stock units changed hands, Knutsford Express shed 59 cents to end at $11.30 with a transfer of 359 stocks. Lasco Distributors climbed 21 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ high of $4.70 after 229,107 shares crossed the market, Lasco Manufacturing traded 188,112 shares to close at $5.35 after hitting an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $5.49, Limners and Bards fell 17 cents to $1.81 in trading 65,042 units. 
Main Event rallied $1.01 to close at $15.19 after investors traded 4,415 shares and Tropical Battery rose 10 cents in closing at $1.99 after a transfer of 153,938 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Junior Market stocks dominate ICTOP10
Everything Fresh jumped 19 percent to $1.60 to be the leading mover in ICTOP10 stocks, followed by Iron Rock Insurance, that rose 14 percent to $2.39, while Dolphin Cove and Margaritaville rose 4 percent to $17.05 and 11.34 US cents, respectively, on a week when the Junior Market slipped and the Main Market was pretty stable.
Investors may want to note the latest report on the court judgement on the Mystic Mountain sale as there were indications that Dolphin Cove was an interested buyer and they may well be amongst the preferred bidders. If they succeed, expect the stock that currently has limited offers posted on the JSE platform to jump.
Declining ICTOP10 stocks include Key Insurance, with an 11 percent fall to $2.56, followed by a fall of 7 percent for Caribbean Cream to $3.76. Berger Paints fell 7 percent to $7.05 and Edufocal lost 6 percent to $1.40.
Investors should note that Margaritaville is listed on both the Main and USD markets, with similar values.
The week closed with no new additions to the lists.
ICTop10 stocks that released results in the past week include the following:
General Accident Insurance was one of the TOP10 stocks to release results in the week, with the results validating why the stock is high on the TOP10 List. The half year results ended with revenues jumping sharply by 39 percent to $5.75 billion, with profit after tax of $165 million, up 193 percent over $56 million earned in the 2022 half year. Revenues for the June 2023 quarter surged 41 percent to $2.7 billion over the $1.9 billion in 2022, with profit of $225 million, up by 201 percent from $75 million in 2022.
Dolphin Cove reported a 5 percent increase in revenues to US$4.4 million in the June 2023 quarter over the June 2022 quarter and a 37 percent jump for the half year to US$9.2 million from US$6.76 million, with profit of US$1.153 million for the second quarter, up 10.5 percent over the $1.04 million in the June 2022 quarter and US$2.72 million for the half year, up 48 percent to US$1.84 million in the half year to June 2022.
JMMB Group reported a 25 percent jump in revenues to $14.34 billion in the June quarter from $11.48 billion in 2022 and generated a profit of $2.5 billion, thus reversing a loss of $2.2 billion in 2022.
138 Student Living reported a 12 percent increase in revenues to $347 million over the $309 million in the June 2022 quarter and a 17 percent jump for the nine months to $1.05 billion from $894 million and profit of $270 million, up 10.5 percent compared with $239 million in the nine months to June 2022 and for the June 2023 quarter and $89 million, up 48 percent to $54 million.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.1, well below the market average of 12.6. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 317 percent, to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 13 most highly valued Main Market stocks representing 28 percent of the Main Market, are priced at a PE of 15 to 95, with an average of 30 and 21 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 22 for the top half and 17 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.5 compared with the market at 10.9. There are 10 stocks representing 21 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 40, averaging 20, which is well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 15, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and projected to rise by 278 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
The markets are not bullish, but there continue to be cases of slow upward movements in some prices as investors respond to some recent attractive results leading them to quietly nibble away at many stocks, gradually reducing the supply of a number of them that are attractively priced. The list includes stocks such as Access Financial, AMG Packaging, Everything Fresh, Dolphin Cove, Caribbean Cream, Caribbean Assurance Brokers, Lasco Distributors and Lasco Manufacturing, Main Event and Transjamaican Highway.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners. Accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading slips on the Junior Market
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange slipped modestly on Thursday after trading took place in 41 securities compared with 42 on Wednesday and ended with prices of 18 rising, 15 falling and eight closing unchanged with the volume of stocks traded drooped 73 percent and the value 77 percent lower than Wednesday.
Investors traded a mere 4,143,867 shares for $10,013,554 compared to 15,211,591 units at $44,456,814 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 101,070 shares at $244,233 compared with 362,181 shares at $1,058,496 on Wednesday with the month to date, averaging 224,470 units at $525,323 compared with 236,182 stock units at $552,001 on the previous day. Trading in July averaged 326,541 units at $843,878.
ONE on ONE Educational led trading with 1.15 million shares for 27.8 percent of total volume, followed by Future Energy Source with 1.01 million units for 24.5 percent of the day’s trade and Stationery and Office Supplies with 329,995 units for 8 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index lost 10.43 points in closing at 3,862.94.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.8. 
The PE ratios of Junior Market are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial fell $2.26 in closing at $22.88 with investors transferring a mere 57 shares, AMG Packaging dropped 24 cents to end at $2.29 after exchanging 1,340 stocks, Blue Power rallied 27 cents and ended at $2.27 in trading 1,515 stock units. Cargo Handlers climbed $1.10 to $17.50 as investors exchanged 693 units, Caribbean Cream dipped 24 cents to close at $3.76 after an exchange of 13,145 stock units, Consolidated Bakeries lost 41 cents and ended at $2.31 after a transfer of 115 units. Dolla Financial declined 12 cents in closing at $2.81 in switching ownership of 65,279 shares, Dolphin Cove rose 49 cents to $16.50 with shareholders swapping 16,144 stocks, 
Fontana gained 10 cents and ended at $11.10 after trading 23,036 shares. Fosrich shed 8 cents to close at $2 in an exchange of 320,641 units. Future Energy Source dipped 16 cents to end at $3.59, with 1,013,620 stocks crossing the market, General Accident advanced 33 cents to end at $4.83 and closed with an exchange of 5,101 stock units, Honey Bun declined 16 cents to close at $6.06 with a transfer of 8,916 stocks. Iron Rock Insurance popped 29 cents to $2.39 with stakeholders trading one unit, JFP Ltd climbed 11 cents in closing at $1.63 while trading 44,242 stock units, Lasco Distributors rose 9 cents to end at $4.19, with 56,828 shares clearing the market. Lasco Financial rallied 13 cents to $2.13 in an exchange of 125,016 stock units, Limners and Bards gained 17 cents and ended at $1.98, with 240 stocks crossing the exchange, Main Event climbed 61 cents in closing at $15 in traversing the market with 754 shares. 
MFS Capital Partners increased 11 cents to close at $2.50, with 253 units changing hands and Stationery and Office Supplies popped 30 cents in closing at $2.14 with an exchange of 329,995 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Big jump for Junior Market
The Junior Market Index surged 95.27 points to 3,873.37 at the close of trading on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Wednesday, following a 50 percent rise in the volume of stocks traded and a 108 percent bounce in value compared to Tuesday, helped considerably by trading in 
shares of Lasco Manufacturing, following trading in 42 securities versus 44 on Tuesday and ending with prices of 15 rising, 20 declining and seven closing unchanged.
Investors traded 15,211,591 shares for $44,456,814 up from 10,150,305 units at $21,390,870 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 362,181 shares at $1,058,496, compared to 230,689 shares at $486,156 on Tuesday with the month to date, averaging 236,182 units at $552,001 compared with 222,612 stock units at $497,455 on the previous day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
Lasco Manufacturing led trading with 4.14 million shares for 27.2 percent of the total volume with a value of $21.55 million for 48.55 percent of the total value of stocks traded, followed by EduFocal with 3.08 million units for 20.3 percent of the day’s trade. 
Dolla Financial chipped in with 2.88 million units for 18.9 percent market share, ONE on ONE Educational ended with 1.77 million units for 11.7 percent of the market volume and Stationery and Office Supplies with 1.53 million units for 10.1 percent of total volume.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.5. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging popped 23 cents to close at $2.53 with a transfer of just 500 shares, CAC 2000 advanced 84 cents and ended at $6.99 after 6,481 stocks passed through the market, Cargo Handlers climbed 36 cents to $16.40 with shareholders swapping 600 units. 
Dolla Financial gained 23 cents in closing at $2.93 following switching ownership of 2,881,799 shares, EduFocal rose 17 cents to end at $1.57 with an exchange of 3,084,681 stocks, Express Catering rallied 60 cents to end at $5.10 after a transfer of 800 stock units. Fosrich gained 8 cents to end at $2.08, with 97,890 shares crossing the market, Future Energy Source lost 12 cents and ended at $3.75 after an exchange of 247,772 units, Image Plus Consultants dipped 14 cents in closing at $2.14, with 24,527 stock units crossing the exchange. JFP Ltd declined 11 cents to close at $1.52 while traders were exchanging 437,963 stocks, Lasco Financial dropped 15 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $2 after hitting an intraday low of $1.50 in trading 22,140 units, 
Lasco Manufacturing climbed 64 cents and ended at $5.20 after an exchange of 4,144,606 shares, Main Event shed $1.49 to end at $14.39, with investors transferring 1,027 units and Medical Disposables fell 20 cents to $4.65, with 7,494 stock units clearing the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Declining stocks top ICTOP10
Only one ICTOP10 Junior Market stock rose at the end of the past week while six declined, with the Main Market fearing a bit better, with six declining and three rising as the week closed with no new additions to the TOP10 lists.
The Junior Market’s Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 13 percent to $2.95 while Iron Rock Insurance dropped 13 percent to $2.10, followed by a 12 percent decline for Everything Fresh to close at $1.34, Edufocal lost 10 percent to $1.49 and OneonOne, Dolphin Cove and Image Plus all lost 4 percent.
The Main Market had a 15 percent rise in Key Insurance to $2.88, followed by a 9 percent increase in 138 Student Living to $4.65. Jamaica Broilers fell 9 percent to $31.99, Caribbean Cement lost 6 percent to end at $51.75, followed by a 5 percent fall in Guardian Holdings and Margarittaville down 4 percent to 10.9 US cents.
Key Insurance was three of the TOP10 companies to release results in the week. The half year results ended with revenues up 23 percent to $1.3 billion and profits of $14 million and $9 million for the June quarter, both were helped by Investment income that jumped $118 million from $47 million in the six months and $62 million versus $29 million in the June quarters.
Everything Fresh reported a 14.4 percent increase in revenues to $827 million for the June quarter and a 32 percent jump for the half year to $1.67 billion and a profit of $43 million for the second quarter compared with $30 million in 2022 for the June quarter, and $78 million r the half year versus $38 million in 2022.
Edufocal reported a 36 percent jump in revenues to $98 million in the June quarter and a 59 percent jump for the half year to $211 million, delivering a profit of $23 million for the second quarter compared with $10 million for the June 2022 quarter and $66 million for the half year versus $12 million in 2022.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.3, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 317 percent, to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 14 most highly valued Main Market stocks representing 30 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 95, with an average of 30 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 23 for the top half and 18 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.3 compared with the market at 10.6. There are 11 stocks representing 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 34, averaging 19, which is well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 15, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and is projected to rise by 278 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the level of likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Junior Market slips
Trading closed on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Friday, with the volume of stocks traded declining 21 percent and the value 26 percent lower than on Thursday, with 44 securities trading compared with 40 on Thursday and ended with prices of 18 stocks rising, 16 declining and 10 closing unchanged.
Investors traded 4,704,278 shares for $11,000,031 versus 5,932,563 units at $14,914,276 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 106,915 shares at $250,001 compared with 148,314 shares at $372,857 on Thursday with the month to date, averaging 221,353 units at $510,225 compared with 240,794 stock units at $554,433 on the previous day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
EduFocal led trading with 1.02 million shares for 21.7 percent of total volume, followed by Stationery and Office Supplies with 533,275 units for 11.3 percent of the day’s trade and Image Plus Consultants with 369,657 units for 7.9 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index dipped 10.58 points to finish at 3,915.47.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Access Financial lost $2.27 in ending at $22.88 with shareholders swapping 1,231 shares, AMG Packaging declined 20 cents in closing at $2.29 in an exchange of 79,192 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers traded 150,750 shares and rallied 7 cents to close at $2.95. Caribbean Cream dropped 12 cents to end at $4.03 as investors exchanged 987 stocks, Dolphin Cove dipped 10 cents and ended at $16.40, with 613 stock units crossing the market, EduFocal fell 18 cents to close at $1.49 with an exchange of 1,022,469 stock units. Fosrich increased 16 cents to end at $2.16 after exchanging 276,968 units,
Honey Bun shed 69 cents to close at $6.05 after an exchange of 40,126 shares, ISP Finance dived $5.26 in closing at $21.23 in an exchange of 5,000 stocks. JFP Ltd rallied 10 cents and ended at $1.80 after a transfer of 2,601 shares, Lasco Manufacturing lost 12 cents to close at $4.88 after the price hit an intraday 52 weeks’ high of $5.29 and ended with 5,036 stocks being exchanged. The supply of Lasco Manufacturing shares has been drastically reduced over the past two weeks, a factor worth watching in the near term. Lumber Depot rose 12 cents to end at $2.07 with a transfer of 95,145 units. Main Event popped $1.05 in closing at $15.40 while exchanging 51,967 stocks, MFS Capital Partners advanced 8 cents to $2.48 and closed with an exchange of 21,035 units, 
Regency Petroleum climbed 8 cents and ended at $2.51 after 170,072 stocks changed hands and Spur Tree Spices dipped 10 cents to close at $2.20 after 262,428 shares passed through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Juniors recover some of Tuesday’s loss
Trading surged on the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange Wednesday, with a 246 percent jump in the volume of stocks traded accompanied by a 197 percent rise in value over Tuesday, 
following trading in 44 securities compared with 47 on Tuesday and ended with 16 rising, 21 declining and seven closing unchanged.
Investors traded 24,163,009 shares for $48,793,161 up from 6,987,786 units at $16,424,294 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 549,159 shares at $1,108,935 compared with 148,676 shares at $349,453 on Tuesday. The month to date, averages 257,685 units at $587,598 compared with 184,400 stock units at $456,518 on the previous day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
Mailpac Group led trading with 16.6 million shares for 68.7 percent of total volume, followed by Stationery and Office Supplies with 2.17 million units for 9 percent of the day’s trade and mage Plus Consultants with 1.02 million units for 4.2 percent of the day’s trade.
At the close, the Junior Market Index increased 31.96 points to 3,914.45.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.7. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
At the close, Cargo Handlers fell 20 cents and ended at $18.80 as investors exchanged 1,140 shares, Caribbean Flavours shed 12 cents to close at $1.23 after a transfer of 100 units, Consolidated Bakeries declined 18 cents to $2.60, with 11,961 stock units crossing the market, Dolphin Cove dropped 80 cents to end at $16.20 after exchanging 1,500 stocks, EduFocal dipped 12 cents in closing at $1.67 after 55,500 units crossed the market, 
Express Catering rallied 46 cents in closing at $5.11 while exchanging 5,908 shares, General Accident lost 20 cents in ending at $4.70 in switching ownership of 800 stocks, Honey Bun popped 57 cents to $6.25, with 1,663 stock units changing hands, Image Plus Consultants dipped 10 cents to close at $2.20 with shareholders swapping 1,017,821 units, Indies Pharma fell 15 cents to end at $3 with a transfer of 13,318 shares, ISP Finance advanced $1 and ended at $26, with 3,029 stock units crossing the exchange, Lasco Manufacturing climbed 43 cents in closing at $5 in trading 75,717 stocks, Limners and Bards increased 10 cents to end at $1.80 after investors traded 1,420 stock units, 
Stationery and Office Supplies shed 20 cents to $1.97 with an exchange of 2,166,626 shares and tTech rose 54 cents to close at $2.26, with stakeholders exchanging 718 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Junior Market plunges
The Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange suffered a big drop on Tuesday, following a 19 percent fall in the volume of stocks traded, valued 22 percent lower than on Friday, after trading in 47 securities compared with 42 on Friday and ended with 17 rising, 20 declining and 10 closing unchanged and four closing at 52 weeks’ low.
A total of 6,987,786 shares were traded for $16,424,294, down from 8,609,687 units at $20,924,228 on Friday.
Trading averaged 148,676 shares at $349,453, compared with 204,993 stocks at $498,196 on Friday with the month to date averaging 184,400 units at $456,518 compared to 197,517 stock units at $495,832 on the previous trading day. July closed with an average of 326,541 units at $843,878.
Stationery and Office Supplies led trading with 1.47 million shares for 21.1 percent of total volume, followed by Dolla Financial with 1.41 million units for 20.1 percent of the day’s trade and JFP Ltd with 973,410 units for 13.9 percent market share.
At the close, the Junior Market Index dropped 59.53 points to close trading at 3,882.49.
The PE Ratio, a measure of computing appropriate stock values, averages 10.6. The PE ratios of Junior Market stocks are calculated using the last traded price in conjunction with ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for the financial years ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and three with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging gained 20 cents in closing at $2.49 with shareholders swapping 580 shares, Blue Power lost 17 cents to end at $2.35, with 19,460 stocks crossing the market, CAC 2000 declined $1.45 and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $4.53 in an exchange of 5,302 units, Caribbean Assurance Brokers popped 30 cents to close at all $2.90 after an exchange of 1,008 units. Caribbean Cream rose 10 cents to $4.15, with 4,918 stock units crossing the market, Caribbean Flavours increased 12 cents to close at $1.35 with an exchange of 204 stocks, EduFocal climbed 13 cents to end at $1.79 in switching ownership of 4,260 shares, Elite Diagnostic advanced 10 cents in closing at $2.10, with 305 units changing hands. 
Express Catering dropped 53 cents to $4.65 with investors transferring 57,266 units, Honey Bun shed 62 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $5.68 after 89,092 stocks passed through the market, Image Plus Consultants rallied 8 cents in closing at $2.30 with a transfer of 257,407 shares, Indies Pharma climbed 11 cents to end at $3.15 in trading 1,205 stock units. Iron Rock Insurance dipped 31 cents to $2.10, with investors exchanging 22,991 stock units, Lasco Distributors fell 34 cents to close at $3.86 while trading 14,288 shares, Limners and Bards dipped 29 cents and ended at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.70 in an exchange of 15,055 stocks, Lumber Depot advanced 14 cents and ended at $2.15 after a transfer of 212,009 units. ONE on ONE Educational dropped 8 cents to 97 cents after exchanging 542,595 stocks, Paramount Trading lost 9 cents to close at $1.97 with 428,066 shares clearing the market, 
Spur Tree Spices declined 8 cents to end at $2.25 in trading 27,991 stock units, Stationery and Office Supplies fell 17 cents in closing at $2.17 after an exchange of 1,474,594 units and tTech shed 54 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.72, with 2,134 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Margaritaville tops ICTOP10
Margaritaville was the top performing ICTOP10 stock after jumping 30 percent during the week to close at 11.35 US cents in the first week on the TOP10. That was the only notable gainer in the Main Market list, although JMMB Group added 5 percent to close at $28.55.
Margaritaville, located in the Turks & Caicos Islands
The Junior Market’s Iron Rock Insurance jumped 15 percent to $2.41, followed by a 12 percent rise in the price of Everything Fresh to $1.53, with General Accident adding just 4 per cent to close at $4.90.
The Main Market had a 14 percent fall in Key Insurance to $2.51, followed by 8 percent in 138 Student Living, ending at $4.28. The Junior Market’s Caribbean Assurance Brokers fell 13 percent to $2.60 and Edufocal was down 8 percent to $1.66. The week closed with no new additions to the ICTOP10.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.3, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 326 percent, to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 14 most highly valued Main Market stocks representing 30 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 30 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 23 for the top half and 18 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.8 compared with the market at 10.9. There are 11 stocks representing 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 40, averaging 20, that is well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 16, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and is projected to rise by 248 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but not always. 
ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.