Trading levels on the Jamaica Stock Exchange slipped at the close on Monday from Friday’s with the number of securities and volume trading falling, compared to Friday. At the close the All Jamaica Composite Index fell 919.74 points to close at 188,471.81, with the year to date gains at 12.6 percent. The JSE Market Index fell 822.42 points to finish at 169,569.09 and the JSE combined index dropped 623.42 points to end at 182,889.85 with a gain for the year to date of 15.6 percent.
At the close 1,386,155 units valued at only $14,662,262 changed hands, compared to 2,121,591 units valued at $35,719,971 changing hands on Friday. The junior market accounted for 143,487 units trading valued at $754,871 of the stocks traded.
The average trade for the day in the main market ended at 62,133 and 108,809 units month to date. On Friday, an average of 81,096 units traded and for the month to date, 155,485 units, in comparison the average for the October was 220,811 units.
The market closed with 31 securities trading as the prices of 7 gained while 16 declined in the overall market, including 4 stocks rising and 4 falling, in the junior market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 5 with lower offers.
In market activity, Berger Paints traded 43,963 units and rose 5 cents to $6.35, Cable & Wireless closed with a loss of 5 cents to end at 80 cents with 344,471 units trading, Caribbean Cement dropped 50 cents with 18,591 units changing hands to close at $30, Carreras traded 2,675 shares and lost $1 to end at $65. Grace Kennedy fell 65 cents and ended up trading 17,455 units at $40.80, Jamaica Broilers gained 30 cents and closed at $15 with 6,050 shares changing ownership,
Jamaica Producers rose 20 cents in trading 1,000 shares to close at $8.20, Jamaica Stock Exchange fell 20 cents and ended at $5.50 after trading 339,443 shares. JMMB Group traded 59,840 shares to end at $13.45 with a loss of 25 cents, Mayberry Investments ended with 12,951 shares trading to close at $3.65 for a fall of 35 cents, National Commercial Bank ended trading of 19,790 shares to close at $46, Pan Jamaican Investment closed at $23.70 after trading 3,000 shares. Radio Jamaica closed with a 14 cents loss at $1.31 with 22,974 shares trading, Sagicor Group had 85,203 shares changing hands to close at $24, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded with a fall of 13 cents to close at $10.12 with 93,001 units switching owners, Scotia Group traded 117,800 shares to close at $31.21, Scotia Investments dived $4.45 in trading 6,200 shares to end at $26.55 and Seprod fell 50 cents in trading 43,847 shares to end at $27.
Jamaican stocks close down – Monday
Juniors at new record close – Monday
Paramount Trading closed at an all-time high on Monday.
Trading was slow during the day and ended with a fraction of the volume and value traded on Friday. The volume of stocks traded that fell sharply on Friday, suffered even further decline on Monday with the volume dropping of 78 percent from Friday’s levels and ending with just 143,487 units changing hands, valued at a mere $754,871, down 30 percent from $1,074,606 on Friday.
At the close of trading 11 securities traded, down from 19 on Friday, while 4 stocks advanced and 4 declining, including 1 that traded at an all-time high. Market activities ended with 6 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 ending with lower offers.An average of 34,104 units with an average value of $56,558 traded, compared to 34,104 units with an average value of $56,558 on the preceding trading day. The average for the month to date is 160,784 units for an average of $1,002,217 compared to 129,138 units at $709,705 for October.
In trading activity, Caribbean Cream closed with 13,200 shares changing hands but fell 35 cents to end at $7.65, Caribbean Producers rose 38 cents in trading just 300 shares to end at $3.50, Dolphin Cove closed with 750 units changing hands at $15.29.
Honey Bun with 50,315 shares changing hands lost 20 cents and closed at $5.50, Jetcon Corporation traded only 1,300 shares and gained 1 cent to close at $5, Key Insurance traded 25,621 shares and closed at $2, Lasco Distributors ended with 20,883 shares trading at $6.95, after declining by 5 cents. Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.89 with 7,445 shares changing hands after slipping 1 cent. Medical Disposables traded 10,000 units, to end at $4.80, Paramount Trading rose 10 cents to a new all-time high of $4 with just 2,470 shares changing hands and tTech gained 68 cents and ended with 11,000 shares changing hands at $5.80.
Moderate trading for Jamaican stocks
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange started the new weekly session in the morning session on Monday with very moderate traded with the main market indices falling mildly and the junior market down slightly with just 3 junior stocks trading after 75 minutes of market activity.
Market activity resulted in 8 stocks falling while the prices of 2 securities rose.
Berger Paints with 43,963 shares at $6.35, is the leading traded stock followed by, Sagicor Real Estate Fund 42,000 units at $10.23 and Jamaica Stock Exchange with 16,123 units at $5.69.
The all Jamaica Composite Index fell 171.32 points to 189,220.23, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index lost 153.19 points to 170,238.32, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index declined 142.06 points to close at 183,371.21 and the junior market index lost 3.32 points to 2,481.66.
At 10:45 am, a total of 15 securities traded, resulting in a volume of only 153,140 shares changing hands carrying a value of $1,460,514. The average number of shares traded amounts to just 10,209 units.
Juniors on edge of new record – Friday
General Accident traded at a new high on the junior market on Friday.
Trading volume had a sharp drop of 94 percent from Thursday’s levels, ending with just 647,967 units changing hands, valued at a mere $1,074,606, down 99 percent from $76,439,888 on Thursday.
At the close of trading 19 securities traded, up from 16 on Thursday, resulting in 8 stocks advancing and 6 declining, including 2 that traded at an all-time high and one at an intraday high.
The market index climbed 27.57 points to close with 2,481.66 points, just below the all-time record of 2,482.44, reached on Monday, putting the gain for the year to date, to 39 percent.
Market activities ended with 9 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and 4 ending with lower offers.
Paramount Trading share price was adjusted to reflect the 10 for 1 stock split approved at the end of October trading at a new high of $3.90 with a gain of 50 cents with just 1,000 shares be active. The stock is up 333 percent for 2016 and an astonishing 1,500 percent since it went public in December 2012.An average of 34,104 units with an average value of $56,558 traded, compared to 703,152 units with an average value of $4,777,493 on the preceding trading day. The average for the month to date is 160,784 units for an average of $1,002,217 compared to 129,138 units at $709,705 for October.
In trading activity, AMG Packaging slipped 30 cents and ended with 3,530 shares changing hands at $19.50, Cargo Handlers ended with 800 shares trading at $11.80 after falling 30 cents, Caribbean Cream closed with 2,213 shares changing hands and regained 20 cents to end at $8, Consolidated Bakeries lost 5 cents in trading just 100 shares to end at $2.45. C2W Music traded 650 shares to end at 23 cents, Derrimon Trading ended at $5 with 4,800 shares changing hands, after rising by 40 cents, Dolphin Cove closed with 300 units changing hands at $15.29, General Accident rose 12 cents and
closed trading with 23,850 units at a 52 weeks’ high of $3.12. Honey Bun with 10,162 shares changing hands lost 30 cents and closed at $5.70, Jamaican Teas traded 1,085 shares to close at $3.90, Jetcon Corporation traded 48,759 shares and fell 1 cent in closing at $4.99 but the stock traded at a 52 weeks’ intraday high of $5.01. KLE Group traded 62,225 shares and rose 2 cents to $1.15, Lasco Distributors ended with 20,083 shares trading at $7, after rising by 10 cents, Lasco Financial ended with just 25,537 shares changing hands but fell 13 cents to close at $3, Lasco Manufacturing closed at $4.90 with 29,538 shares changing hands. Medical Disposables traded 2,225 units, gained 20 cents to end at $4.80, tTech gained 7 cents and ended with 17,900 shares changing hands at $5.12 and Eppley 9.5% cumulative preference share, ended with 1,382 units changing hands at $6.18.
Jamaican stocks rise but short of record
NCB closed at a new 52 weeks’ high on the JSE on Friday following full year results.
The JSE Market Index rose 213.19 points to finish at 170,392 and the JSE combined index gained 481.02 points to end at 183,513 with a gain for the year to date of 15.6 percent.
At the close 2,121,591 units valued at $35,719,971 changed hands, compared to 18,462,121 units valued at $230,990,500 changing hands on Thursday. The junior market accounted for 256,384 units trading valued at $1,074,606 of the stocks traded.
The average trade for the day in the main market ended at 81,096 and 155,485 units month to date. On Thursday, an average of 277,373 units traded and fro the month to date, 229,873 units, in comparison the average for the October was 220,811 units.
The market closed with 42 securities trading as the prices of 20 gained while 12 declined in the overall market, including 8 stocks rising and 6 falling, in the junior market.IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 15 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 4 with lower offers.
In market activity, Cable & Wireless closed at 85 cents with 76,118 units trading, Caribbean Cement climbed 50 cents with 26,634 units changing hands to close at $30.50, Carreras traded 18,989 shares and gained 50 cents to end at $66, Grace Kennedy end up trading 28,611 units at $41.45. Jamaica Broilers gained 20 cents and closed at $14.70 with 4,058 shares changing ownership, Jamaica Producers lost 20 cents in trading 566,435 shares to close at $8, Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at $5.70 after trading 174,446 shares, JMMB Group traded 2,000 shares to end at $13.70.
Mayberry Investments ended with 21,000 shares trading to close at $4 for a fall of 1 cent, National Commercial Bank ended trading of 292,035 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ high of $46, the stock closed with just one offer at $50 to sell 200 units. Trading in 138 Student Living, ended with 181,667 shares changing hands to close with a fall of 50 cents at $5, Pan Jamaican Investment closed at $23.70 after trading 57,959 shares, Radio Jamaica closed with a 5 cents loss at $1.45 with 10,186 shares trading, Sagicor Group had 86,046 shares changing hands and rose 5 cents to close at $24. Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded with a rise of 3 cents to close at $10.25 with 28,498 units switching owners, Scotia Group slipped 9 cents in trading 87,290 shares to close at $31.21, Seprod fell 50 cents in trading 21,445 shares to end at $27.50. Supreme Ventures rose 30 cents trading 9,840 shares to close at $5.10 and Proven Investments traded 161,675 units rising slightly to close at 19.97 US cents.
Jamaican stocks retreat from record
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed down on Thursday after hitting a new record on Wednesday. The All Jamaica Composite Index dropped 1,569.85 points to close at 189,153.12, bringing the year to date gains to 13 percent. The JSE Market Index fell 1,403.72 points to finish at 170,178.32 and the JSE combined index declined 1,147.57 points to end at 183,032.25 with a gain for the year to date of 15.6 percent.
At the close 18,462,121 units valued at $230,990,500 changed hands, compared to 6,616,334 units valued at $97,621,824 changing hands on Wednesday. The junior market accounted for 11,250,424 units trading valued at $76,439,888 of the stocks traded.
The average trade for the day in the main market ended at 277,373 and 229,873 month units to date. On Wednesday, an average of 186,716 units traded and 182,374 month to date. The average for the October was 220,811 units.
The market closed with 42 securities trading as the prices of 9 gained while 17 declined in the overall market, including 4 stocks rising and 7 falling, in the junior market.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 10 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 1 with a lower offer.
In market activity, Barita Investments fell 10 cents in trading 122,337 units to close at $4, Berger Paints traded 49,519 shares to end at $6.25 after rising 2 cents, Cable & Wireless rose 3 cents and closed at 85 cents with 56,000 units trading. Caribbean Cement had just 10,748 units changing hands to close at $30, Carreras traded 1,980 shares to end at $65.50, Grace Kennedy climbed 46 cents in trading 50,947 units at $41.45, Jamaica Broilers gained 50 cents and closed at $14.50 with 241,400 shares changing ownership, Jamaica Producers lost 4 cents in trading 994,195 shares at $8.20. Jamaica Stock Exchange fell 30 cents, ending at $5.70 after trading 213,422 shares, JMMB Group traded 6,000 shares to end at $13.70, Kingston Properties traded 6,000 shares and closed at $10. 
Margaritaville Turks traded 1,629,049 shares to close at 22.01 US cents, after declining by 2.5 cents, National Commercial Bank ended with the trading of 49,275 shares to close at $45.50, Pan Jamaican Investment closed at $23.70 after trading 2,751,998 shares, Pulse Investments traded at $3 with 50,000 units changing owners. Radio Jamaica closed unchanged at $1.50 with 16,593 shares trading, Sagicor Group had 678,392 shares changing hands and rose 5 cents to close at $23.95, Scotia Group slipped 49 cents in trading 43,593 shares to close at $31.30, Seprod fell 50 cents in trading 14,051 shares to end at $28. Supreme Ventures lost 20 cents trading 2,000 shares to close at $4.80, Proven Investments traded 121,922 units slipping slightly to close at 19.9 US cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.5% preference share, traded 92,320 units to close at $2.10.
Lasco Distributors dominates
The junior market had a big day of trading on Thursday as Lasco Distributors dominated trading with 10.5 million units, the market index fell 11.27 points to 2,454.09, putting the gain for the year to date to 37 percent.
Paramount Trading share price was adjusted to reflect the 10 for 1 stock split approved by the company at the end of October, no trading took place on Thursday.
At the close of trading 16 securities traded, up from 12 on Wednesday, resulting in 4 stocks advancing and 7 declining. Market activities ended with 5 securities closing with bids higher than their last selling prices and none ending with a lower offer.
Trading volume had a sharp jump of 477 percent from Wednesday’s levels, ending with 11,250,424 units changing hands, valued at $76,439,888, up by 462 percent from $13,610,614 on Wednesday.
An average of 703,152 units with an average value of $4,777,493 traded, compared to 162,369 units with an average value of $1,134,218 on the preceding trading day. The average for the month to date is 176,619 units at $1,120,425 compared to 129,138 units at $709,705 for October.
In trading activity, Access Financial lost 94 cents in trading 7,771 shares to end at $2.06, AMG Packaging climbed 30 cents and ended with 5,500 shares changing hands at $19.80, Cargo Handlers ended with 2,400 shares changing hands at $12, Caribbean Cream closed with 19,956 shares changing hands and lost 20 cents to $7.80. Caribbean Flavours closed trading with 1,430 units and gained 11 cents to close at $8.51, Consolidated Bakeries traded 3,805 shares to end at $2.50, C2W Music traded 650 shares to end at 23 cents, 
Dolphin Cove closed with 2,000 units changing hands at $15.29 but lost 20 cents in the process. Honey Bun with 18,825 shares changing hands lost 10 cents and closed at $6, Jamaican Teas traded 18,100 shares to close at $3.90 with a fall of 10 cents, Jetcon Corporation traded 38,928 shares and gained 25 cents in closing at $5. Knutsford Express traded 714 shares at $22, Lasco Distributors ended with 10,502,964 shares trading at $6.90, after easing by 10 cents, Lasco Financial ended with just 1,000 shares changing hands to close at $3.13, Lasco Manufacturing rose 5 cents and closed at $4.90 with 304,871 shares changing hands and Medical Disposables traded 321,510 units but dropped 40 cents to $4.60.
Jamaica Stock Exchange falls
Trading in the morning session on 
Thursday with the Jamaica Stock Exchange saw the main market indices falling and the junior market inching up after 75 minutes of market activity.
In trading, Barita Investments had 122,337 shares changing hands at $4, Jamaica Broilers Group had 216,400 shares trading at $14.50, Jamaica Stock Exchange had 134,135 shares changing hands at $6, Lasco Distributors exchanged 444,354 units at $7 and Lasco Manufacturing traded 294,700 shares at $4.85.
The all Jamaica Composite Index fell 545.35 points to 190,177.62, the Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Index lost 487.64 points to 171,094.40, the Jamaica Stock Exchange combined index declined 393.22 points to close at 184,056.60 and the junior market index rose 5.74 points to 2,471.10.
At 10:30 am, a total of 24 securities traded, resulting in a volume of 1,402,956 shares changing hands carrying a value of $11,287,935, compared to 1,424,992 shares changing hands carrying a value of $9,572,892, on Wednesday.
The average number of shares traded amounts to 58,457 units compared to 71,250 on Wednesday. Market activity resulted in 8 stocks falling while the prices of 8 securities rose.
JSE feeds public with erroneous info
Jamaica Stock Exchange is one of Jamaica important financial institutions. It is responsible for billion of dollars of investments. Investors rely on it to be transparent and to provide accurate and timely information on which investment decisions can be made. Why does the feed the public with erroneous information, and leave it out in the public without moving speedily to correct same?
Cargo Handlers posted their full year results to September, with profit of $154 million after tax, up from $136 million in 2015 and $30 million for the fourth quarter versus $29 million in 2015.
All of the above is fine but the company is reporting earnings per share as 40 cents for the quarter and $3.30 for the 12 months, based on what they have erroneously claimed are based on the weighted average number of shares held during the period. That of course is nonsense. The company split its stock into 10 units for each one held, subsequent to the year-end, hence there were no additional shares issued up to September. Even if the stock split occurred during the financial year, the split would not give rise to computing the average number of shares in issue. With a stock split or stock bonus the earnings per share is to be computed on the full amount of shares issued at the time of the financial report. Only when fresh capital is introduced from outside the company, would the weighted average number of shares be computed.
The earning per share is in fact 80 cents, for the 2016 last quarter and $4.16 for the 12 months. Unfortunately, the Stock Exchange posted the results with the error from Monday and they are still on the website with no change to date and no note to inform investors of the error. If the Jamaica Stock Exchange wants to be taken seriously it needs to do better than this.
Cargo Handlers last quarter’s net position flowed from a 17 percent rise in revenues to $78 million and 29 percent increase for the full year to $324 million. Other operating expenses rose 19 percent for the quarter to $39.8 million and for the full year 28 percent to $132 million.
The numbers may not show it fully, but growth may have slowed considerably, as such growth in profit in the medium term could be quite moderate as can be gleaned from the movement in the quarterly results. At a price of $12 per share, with 375 million units issued the stock price is a tad rich currently with one of the highest junior market PE ratios at 30 times the 2016 earnings. Expectations of investors in the stock have to be that the December quarter’s earnings will rise close to 50 percent, to justify the current price. That level of profit increase looks steep.
JSE all Jamaican closes at record 190,723
NCB closed at a new high on Wednesday.
At the close 6,616,334 units valued at $97,621,824 changed hands, compared to 7,411,988 units valued at $113,469,413 changing hands on Tuesday. The junior market accounted for 1,948,431 units trading valued at $13,610,614 of the stocks traded.
The average trade for the day in the main market ended at 186,716 and 182,374 month to date units. On Tuesday, an average of 255,960 units traded and 178,031 month to date. The average for the October was 220,811 units.The market closed with 37 securities trading as the prices of 16 gained while 10 declined in the overall market, including 4 stocks rising and 3 falling, in the junior market. Three stocks in the overall market, traded at new highs.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 8 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
In market activity, Barita Investments traded 10,750 units and to close at $4.10, Berger Paints traded 10,285 shares to end at $6.23 after rising 23 cents, Cable & Wireless lost 6cents and closed at 82 cents with 1,036,093 units trading. Caribbean Cement fell 85 cents with just 6,940 units changing hands to close at $30, Carreras traded 3,500 shares and rose 30 cents to end at $65.50, Grace Kennedy climbed 94 cents in trading 32,059 units at $40.99, Jamaica Producers gained 9 cents in trading 30,000 shares at $8.24. JMMB Group traded 2,054 shares and lost 10 cents, to end at $13.70, Jamaica Stock Exchange dived $2, ending at $6 after trading 89,061 shares,
Kingston Properties traded 29,600 shares and closed at $10. Margaritaville Turks traded 85,200 shares to close at a 52 weeks’ high of 24.50 US cents, after rising by 0.50 cent, National Commercial Bank rose 1 cent in trading 104,502 shares to close at a new 52 weeks’ closing high of $45.50, Pan Jamaican Investment gained 40 cents and closed at $23.70 after trading 2,700,060 shares, Sagicor Group had 21,526 shares changing hands and rose 48 cents to close at $23.90. Scotia Group climbed 59 cents in trading 60,823 shares to close at $31.79, Seprod fell $1.50 in trading 20,949 shares to end at $28.50, Supreme Ventures traded 147,357 shares to close at $5. Proven Investments traded 172,995 units and rose 1 cent to close at 20 US cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.25% preference share traded 80,000 units to close at $2.40.