Tuesday, 8th October 2013 | The Jamaica Stock Market continued its recent negative run on Tuesday as the prices of 16 stocks fell to only 3 that recorded gains. The day saw Scotia Group with 8,073,038 units carrying a value of $165,517,642 trading as the price closed at $20.50, down 50 cents on the day.  There were 12,893,800 units changing hands with a value of $195.44 million.

The JSE main index closed at 84,093.36 a decline of 178.23, the all Jamaica Index fell to 83,655.66, off by 313.60 and the junior market was up by 24.05 to 755.53.

Main market | On one of the days with high level of participation, infrequent trader Berger Paints swapped 463,361 units to close at $2.26 for a value of $1,042,288; Carreras that is under pressure based on drop in sales and negative views about the recent and poorly executed smoking ban saw just 9,698 shares changing hands with a value of $436,276 as the price closed at $44.79, down by 21 cents. Caribbean Cement gained 12 cents to close at $2.05 on 14,542 units; Desnoes & Geddes’ 62,616 units resulted in the price closing at $4.51, being down a cent; Gleaner Company that has been having pressure on its profit exchanged 1,070,850 units valued at $1,262,978 to close at $1.15, down by a cent; Jamaica Broilers lost 8 cents while trading 15,330 units to close at $4.52; Jamaica Money Market Brokers saw 100,000 units valued $800,000 traded as the price closed at $8, up 10 cents.

National Commercial Bank traded 79,771 units valued at $1,475,786 to close at $18.50 and lost 50 cents; Pan Jamaican Investment traded 166,500 units valued at $8,158,713 to close at $49; Sagicor Investments traded 177,490 units with a value of $2,937,460 to close at $16.55 down by 45 cents. Sagicor Life traded 27,645 units to close at $9; Scotia Investments traded 25,360 units to close at $26.18, down by 8 cents; Seprod traded 400,000 units with a value of $5,560,000 to close at $13.90 down 10 cents; Supreme Ventures gained 18 cents to close at $2.73 with 12,400 shares; Proven Investments 8% preference shares traded 1,034,140 units valued at $5,263,773 to close firm at $5.09.

Junior market | Caribbean Cream exchanged 20,000 units to close firm at $1; General Accident Insurance lost ground as 14,000 units traded to close at $1.61, down by 29 cents; Lasco Distributors lost 2 cents with 29,325 units to close at $1.48; Lasco Financial Services traded 1,005,106 units to close down 5 cents at $1.20 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 40,512 units to close at $1.50, down 5 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market in a sideways movement with bids for 5 stocks being higher and 5 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Monday, 7th October 2013 | Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange was dominated by Pan Jamaican Investment Trust with 2,337,726 shares valued at $114,570,615 to close at $49, down $1.01.

The market started the week on a losing note as 10 stocks fell with 5 advancing resulting the market indices falling except for the Junior market. The JSE main index closed at 84,271.59, a decline of 128.23; the all Jamaica Index fell to 83,969.26 off by 225.63 and the junior market was up by 10.35 to 779.58. Trading volume climbed to 7,493,963 units at a value of $162,072,928.

Apart from Pan Jam, Grace Kennedy had a good volume of 506,967 units costing $28,390,506 with the price ending at $56 down 50 cents and National Commercial Bank had 475,649 units valued at $8,808,290 to close at $19 for a loss of 33 cents. Grace traded at the equivalent of $63 in Trinidad on Monday, quite a difference from the $56 price trading in Kingston.

Barita Investments exchanged 501,500 units as the price closed at $2.40 down by 9 cents valued at $1,203,600; Cable & Wireless 34,200 traded firm at 18 cents; Carreras only had 1,400 trading down 10 cents to $45; Caribbean Cement 3,500 units to trade to close at $2.01 down 19 cents; Gleaner 33,720 $1.16, down a cent; Jamaica Broilers Group 5,492 units $4.60 up 8 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers traded 41,551 units at $8 valued at $327,369 as the stock lost 20 cents during trading; Mayberry Investments contributed 607,886 units that traded firm at $2.60 for a value of $1,580,504; Radio Jamaica traded 1,542,283 units  to close at $1.31, down 9 cents, carrying a value of $2,021,864; Scotia Group exchanged 35,473 units to close firm at $21 valued at $744,943; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% traded 1,000,000 units at $3 for a value of $3,000,000; Proven Investments 8% preference shares traded 124,000 units firm at $5.09 valued at $631,160. Sagicor Investments gained 45 cents to land at $17 with 3,119 units changing hands.

Junior Market | Caribbean Cream traded 38,903 traded firm at $1; Caribbean Producers chipped in with 30,000 units to close firm at $2.09; Dolphin Cove gained 65 cents to close at $8.65 with only 1,115 units; KLE Group fell to another all-time low with 10,000 shares changing hands at $1.40 down 21 cents; Lasco Distributors only traded 10,515 units trading to close at $1.50 up by a cent; Lasco Financial Services traded 16,612 firm to close at $1.25 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 53,073 units firm at $1.55.  

IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed a slight bias to lower prices for some stocks with bids for 6 stocks being higher and 7 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Friday, 4th October 2013 | The Jamaica stock market closed down on the last day of the week as 11 stocks fell with 6 advancing resulting the market indices falling sharply. The JSE main index closed at 84,399.82, a decline of 640.92; the all Jamaica Index fell to 84,194.89 off by 1,127.68 and the junior market was down by 3.40 to 769.73. Trading volume climbed to 12,147,981 units but most were low priced Cable & Wireless and Gleaner Company stocks resulting in only $13,968,037 of trading.

Cable & Wireless landed 4,020,000 units as the price closed down a cent at 18 cents; Carreras exchanged 23,390 units to close down 90 cents at $45.10; Caribbean Cement chipped in with 167,905 units as it gained  cents to close at $2.20; Gleaner Company 6,900,078 units to close at $1.17; Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 20,000 units to close at the IPO price of $2.85; Mayberry Investments 10,738 $2.60; Sagicor Investments traded 15,000 units to close firm at $16.55; Sagicor Life 20,843 units at $9; Scotia Group 70,032 at $21; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% 100,000 units at $2; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% 70,000 $3 and Proven Investments 8% 39,650 $5.09.

Junior market | Dolphin Cove traded 27,141 units to close down 20 cents at $8; General Accident 35,000 units to close at $1.90, down 9 cents; Lasco Distributors gained a cent as 36,866 units changed hands to close at $1.49 and Lasco Financial Services traded firm as 436,543 units traded to close at $1.25.

Thursday, 3rd October 2013 | Investors came to the rescue of Carreras stock in today’s trading as the price closed up by $3 to $46 from Wednesday’s $43 closing prices. Investors bought 44,019 units between $42.99 and $48 before allowing it to fall to $46, the last traded price for the day. The big question is the sustainability of the rise with few very active bids amounting to approximately 50,000 on bid between $42 and $46 with quite some supply below $49 or lower. The eagerness, or lack thereof, of investors to get out will probably determine where the price goes in the several weeks ahead of the next quarterly results.

The all Jamaica Index closed down by 506.35 to 85,322.57, the JSE index closed at 85,040.74, decline of 287.78 and the junior market was up 3.31 to 772.63, on a day when 12 stocks advanced, 5 declined and the prices of 10 remained unchanged. There was trading in 8,723,711 units with a value of $181,118,390.

Big Trades | There was big trades in Grace Kennedy 503,800 units closing at $56.50 for a total value of $28.22 million as the price held firm at 56.50; Pan Jamaican Investment 1.87 million units valued at $91.5 million as the price closed at $49 down by a dollar; National Commercial Bank trading 2,844,771 units with a value of $52.4 million to close at $19.33, up by 33 cents after falling as low as $18.11 shortly before the close. The bulk of the trades in Grace was a cross by one broker amounting to 500,000 units but those for Pan Jam and NCB were trades with third parties. This suggest that there is wider interest in owing stocks by large investors.

Cable & Wireless traded 499,886 units and close up a cent at 19 cents; Caribbean Cement gained 12 cents and closed at $2.20 with 39,159 units; Jamaica Broilers 125,847 units resulted in a close at $4.60, down 19 cents; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 190,000 closing at $8 up 20 cents; Mayberry Investments 5,000 at $2.70 up 10 cents; RJR gained 8 cents to close at $1.40 but with only 100 shares trading; Scotia Group traded only 24,563 and closed at 22.84 up $1.54; Supreme Ventures chipped in with 27,100 units and closed firm at $2.55; Proven Investments 8% had 909,000 units valued at $4,624,810 trading, as the price closed unchanged at $5.09.

Junior market | Blue Power 11,000 shares were exchanged at $9.30 down 20 cents; Caribbean Cream 48,174 units traded to close firm at $1; Cargo Handlers gained 70 cents to close at $13.70 with 6,005 units changing hands. Consolidated Bakeries 67,110 units changed hands 18 cents cheaper, to close at $1.21; General Accident Insurance had 81,100 units changing hands, the price closed at $1.99, up 14 cents; Jamaican Teas 553,636 units traded firm at $4; Lasco Distributors traded 17,000 units and closed at $1.48 up 2 cents; Lasco Financial Services traded up to $1.25 with a 4 cent gain as trading took place in 394,595 shares and Lasco Manufacturing chipped in with 382,839 units with the price falling to $1.52, down 3 cents.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market consolidating with bids for 3 stocks being higher and 4 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Wednesday, 2nd October, 2013 | The main market indices climbed on Wednesday, the third such increase in as many days. Will these gains hold? The all Jamaica Index closed up 489.46 to 85,828.92, the JSE index closed at 85,328.52 for an increase of 278.18 and the junior market was down 4.72 to 769.32.

Scotia Group accounted for the bulk of the increase as the stock traded as high as $22.99 during the day but closed at $21.30 at the end of trading with 718,222 units. On a day when 4 stocks advanced and 8 declined there was trading in 4,123,904 with a value of $51,473,251.

Main Market | Cable & Wireless traded 525,000 to close at 18 cents. Carreras got hit again as news broke that sales are down 25 percent after the smoking ban was introduced, but investors failed to note that the figures represented an improvement over the 30 percent drop in the period prior to the ban due to overstocking by traders who made purchases to beat a price increase earlier in the year. The stock traded 8,031 units, helping to pull the closing price down to $43, a $3.61 fall. Gleaner Company had a small trade of 40,320 shares and closed firm at $1.21; Grace Kennedy closed up 50 cents to $56.50 with 81,795 units; Jamaica Broilers 31,404 units help the price to close at $4.79, costing it a cent from Tuesday’s close; Kingston Wharves  exchanged 23,144 to close a cent up at $6.02; Mayberry Investments 59,519 units traded firm at $2.60; National Commercial Bank traded 329,585 and closed unchanged at $19; Pan Jamaican Investment 23,798 units traded firm at $50; Sagicor Life 115,633 units helped in adding 4 cents to the price to close at $9.05; Seprod traded 1,399,582 shares to close at $14, down 50 cents.

Juniors | Trading in the junior market was sparse as Caribbean Producers had a volume of 152,977 units trading to close at $2.08; Lasco Distributors had just 12,582 units and closed firm at $1.46; Lasco Financial Services had 201,720 units in closing unchanged at $1.21 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 336,000 to close firm at $1.55.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market consolidating with bids for 3 stocks being higher and 5 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Tuesday, 1st October, 2013 | The Jamaica Stock Market started October in a spirited manner when the level of trading rose on Tuesday with 10,321,856 units trading valued at $95,698,771. Activity resulted in 32 companies stocks trading, with 9 stocks increasing in price to 5 that fell. The main market index climbed 550.14 to 85,050.34, the all Jamaica grew 967.97 to 85,339.46 and the junior market index was up 5.21 to 774.04.

The movement in the market on Tuesday is in line with the IC Insider comments that “eight of the stocks with higher bids are in the main market and could well result in a better start of the new month . . .”

Main market | A numbers of selected stocks in the main market had good volumes resulting in some price movements but that could well be related to portfolio realignment than an indication of greater market interest. Cable & Wireless had a volume of 20,644 units as the price remained unchanged at 18 cents; Caribbean Cement exchanged 17,741 units at $2.10, gaining 23 cents in the process; Desnoes & Geddes chipped in with 15,000 units and closed frim at $4.57; Jamaica Producers had a good volume with 2,000,000 closing firm at $18.25; National Commercial Bank Jamaica 1,101,900 traded firm at $19; Sagicor Life’s 2,547,861 units helped to push the price up by 41 cents to $9.01; Salada Foods put in 100,560 shares to close firm at $8.50; Seprod’s 509,552 units help push the price up a dollar to $14.50; Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% traded for the first time since listing last week as 499,000 units traded at $2; Proven Investments 8% exchanged 78,440 units as the price remained unchanged at $5.09 and Proven Investments ordinary stock traded 51,560 units firm at US11.9 cents.

Junior market | C2W Music traded at a new all-time low with 44,000 units changing hands as the price was down 4 cents to 93 cents. Caribbean Cream traded 22,776 units firm at $1; Caribbean Producers Jamaica 61,100 units closed unchanged at $2.08; Consolidated Bakeries saw an 18 cents climb in the price $1.39 with 35,200 shares trading; General Accident Insurance had 32,000 units going through the market as the price increased 3 cents to $1.85; Lasco Distributors 294,845 units helped to move the price down by 4 cents to $1.46; Lasco Financial Services 1,488,652 traded at $1.21, off by 2 cents; while Lasco Manufacturing 1,115,311 units gained it 4 cents to close at $1.55; Paramount Trading had 16,324 units with the price closing firm at $3.20.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market consolidating with bids for 5 stocks being higher and 6 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.

Monday, 30th September 2013 | Trading accounted for 12,298,941 units valued at $76,393,065 as the stocks of 24 companies traded on the last day of the month. The main market index was up 215.13 to 84,500.20, the all Jamaica index gained 378.51 to 84,371.49 and the junior index was up 7.02 to 768.83 as 9 stocks advanced to 7 declining.

The market measured by the all Jamaica and junior market indices was little changed during the month of September with the all Jamaica being up by a few points and the junior market down a few.

Trading patterns | During the last two trading days in August, the main market indices made noticeable advances as the prices of a few stocks moved up. However, on first day of trading in September, the indices dropped back wiping out the two-day gains. The all Jamaica index fell by more than 1,000 points and added more losses on the second day. By day three, the all Jamaica Index recovered all its losses but lost some more the following day. The last day of September is showing some of the same patterns as the last day of August.

Main Market | In Monday’s trading there were some big volumes, which included National Commercial Bank with 1,559,057 units valued at $29,309,186 with the price closing at $19 down 50 cents from Fridays close of $19.50. On Thursday, the stock closed at $18.60. Sagicor Life exchanged 1,029,279 units at $8.60 for a value of $8,851,610, the price gained 10 cents for the day. Jamaica Money Market Brokers was the other big volume mover with 1,491,600 units worth $11,929,695 as the price closed at $8, up 5 cents. Carreras traded 128,675 units valued at $6,045,561 as the price closed at $46.70 dipping by 50 cents; Caribbean Cement exchanged 42,236 shares but the price dropped 33 cents to close at $1.87; Gleaner Company traded 193,910 units at $1.21 up 3 cents; Scotia Group contributed just 12,265 units at $21.20, up 20 cents and Proven Investments 8% had 704,700 units trading firm at $5.09 for a value of $3,586,923.

Junior market | There was some pick up in trading in the junior market after prices for a number of the stocks declined to what could well be support levels. Access Financial Services put in a volume of 11,780 units as the price $8.40, down 10 cents; Caribbean Producers, which is again in the limelight with negative publicity about directors being charged for improper importation of meats into the island, traded only 16,188 units at $2.08, losing 2 cents on the day; Consolidated Bakeries chipped in with 73,386 units at $1.21, down 14 cents while Dolphin Cove gained 44 cents as it exchanged a good volume of 1,442,316 and closed at $8.45 as $12,185,925 was involved in the trade. Lasco Distributors contributed to the level of trading with 1,006,800 units at a closing price of $1.50 up 6 cents with a value of $1,509,838 and Lasco Financial Services had one of its best days’ volume wise with 4,373,000 units as it gained 3 cents to close at $1.23 worth $5,259,807.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market consolidating with bids for 9 stocks being higher and 5 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price. Eight of the stocks with higher bids are in the main market and could well result in a better start for October when compared to September.

Friday, 27th September 2013 | The standoff between buyers and sellers continued at the Jamaica Stock Exchange with only 17 stocks trading on a day when there were 5 stocks advancing to 2 that declined. The all Jamaica Index closed down 229.56 at 83,992.98 while the JSE composite market index closed at 84,285.07m off by 130.47 and the junior market fell by less than a point at 761.81.

On another trading day that was not very active, a total of 3,304,133 shares traded valued at only $12,213,637 as trading was dominated by Lasco Distributors with 1,446,912 units and Proven Investments 8% 930,915 units.

For the week, the market recorded a decline for the two market indices and the junior market had a slight increase. However, investors should not be fooled by the declines as the supply of stocks is low in many cases and the moving average technical indicator is flashing positive signals for the period ahead.

Main Market | The number of stocks with meaningful volume in the market were not many. However, Gleaner Company put in a volume of 60,000 as it traded firm at $1.18; Jamaica Broilers Group had only 16,254 units with the price closing at $4.90 gaining 10 cents in the process; Jamaica Producers Group traded firm at $18.25 with 20,086 shares; Kingston Wharves dropped 89 cents to $6.01 as 7,000 shares changed hands; National Commercial Bank had one of the more buoyant trading session in recent weeks with 170,697 as the price gained 60 cents to close at $19.50; Scotia Group exchanged just 1,190 units at $21 for an increase an of 21 cents. Jamaica Money Market Brokers 8.75% traded 205,000 firm at $3 with a value of $615,000 and Proven Investments 8%, 930,915 units traded firm at $5.09 for a total value of $4,738,357.

Junior market | Only stocks of 3 companies traded with Caribbean Producers trading 33,812 units firm at $2.10; General Accident Insurance, fresh from announcing a second interim dividend for the year, put in one of its better days with 385,896 units and closed at $1.80, up 10 cents and Lasco Distributors had a good day with 1,446,912 but closed down 6 cents to $1.44.

Market intelligence | There are limited supplies for a number of stocks. For example, National Commercial Bank has buying around the $18.50 level as buyers try to get the stocks as cheaply as possible, but there is not much selling below $24. With less than 400,000 units on offer at the end of trading on Friday, the market is thin for the stock. For Scotia Bank, some buying is around the $20-21 mark and selling mostly around $22.50 to $24. Sagicor Life has only 6 offers for less than 130,000 units between $9 and $11 while buying is between $8 to 8.50. There is good support for Pan Jamaican Investment at $48 as the stock retreated in price in recent days. Jamaica Broilers seems to have come in for some selling during the week with the price falling to the $4.60 level, while supply has increased just above $5 and demand has pulled back below $4.80.

IC bid-offer Indicator | At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator showed the market consolidating with bids for 6 stocks being higher and 6 stocks with offers lower than their last selling price.