The JSE stock traded at an outlandish $13.50 & dropped 47% since.
It is not nice to watch one’s investment lose value while others grow delivering big gains at the same time. Many investors plunge into investments that will result in just that happening, as they err and refuse to let go and reinvest, to recover their loss, from gains elsewhere.
A look back at prices in 2005, reveals shocking results of costly ill-timed investments. In June 2005, investors in a bout of excess exuberance, pushed Mayberry Investments to $8.40 from a listed price of $5.05, weeks after it listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, 12 years later it is still to reach back to that level. That is a huge blow to investors who held on to the shares from then.
The sad thing is that many investors who wanted to sell could not, as attempts were made to control the price from a big drop as selling started to overwhelm buying a few days after nearly 40 million shares were traded around the $7-8 level. Mayberry is an outstanding example of investors making huge errors based on inadequate information and paying dearly for it.
But Mayberry’s stock is not the only one that investors underwent a long period of suffering from, they have a number of top notch companies as their friends that that performed poorly until fairly recently. Scotia Group was pushed to $33.50 in March 2005 based on results that were not sustainable as the bank benefited by a poor decision of the Central Bank to push interest rates on CDS paying interest at elevated levels for about two to three years. The banks of course made a killing when rates fell back. Added to that, Scotia effected a stock split that sent the stock flying.
Well it was not until late 2016 that the price exceeded the 2005 high. JMMB Group’s shareholders saw the price of the stock peaking at $22 in April 2004 only to see it fall away and not getting back to that level until recently this year. That is not great for a stock that is not a great dividend payer.
Grace Kennedy hit a high of $123 (Now $41 after stock split in 2016), in January 2005, it has taken nearly 12 years to recover the loss and it has still not delivered much more in gains since its full recovery.
Markets tend to repeat past behaviors, over and over but sometimes they take a break from the norm. PE ratios are the end product of investors’ perception of values for stocks. There are other measures but the PE is the most widely used. When PEs are pushed well beyond where the majority of investors thing the value ought to be, they induce added buying or selling. Investors who buy when the market has pushed valuation well above what is considered the norm, usually pay a steep price for so doing. The 2005 examples are cases in point. An accepted concept is that the PE ratio should be line with profit growth. One year’s growth cannot be used by itself but investors have to try and determine that themselves.
Most of the stocks in the IC Insider’s Exuberant 10, were pushed in 2017 by excessive enthusiasm and in some cases wrong information. Stock splits helped to fuel some of the excess as well. The attached table shows the stocks that were pushed well above their appropriate values and the levels of correction since. Some may fall even more than their latest price as they can be considered overvalued based on known earnings for the current period. A few that are not on the list could see a decent fall as well, included in this latter list are Knutsford Express and Kingston Properties.
The main market ended trading with an average of 152,336 units valued at $2,520,428 per security traded, compared to an average of 53,569 units valued at $1,427,066 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 392,814 units with an average value of $5,480,092 compared with an average of 406,174 units and $5,644,518 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7, after falling 69 cents while exchanging 351,722 shares. JMMB Group exchanged 50,672 units at $20, Kingston Properties traded 52,625 shares at $12, Kingston Wharves lost 50 cents to close at $30.50, trading 5,378 units, Mayberry Investments traded 1,900 shares at $5.30, NCB Financial Group closed at $70.99, with gains of 38 cents after exchanging 242,233 shares, 1834 Investments lost 6 cents and closed at $1.40, with 135,646 shares changing owners, 138 Student Living exchanged 15,000 shares at $4.49, PanJam Investment closed at $35.62, gaining 62 cents in trading 20,553 shares. Portland JSX gained 5 cents to close at $10.15 with an exchange of 2,416 shares, Pulse Investments traded 17,157 shares at $14.50, Radio Jamaica lost 7 cents to close at $1.65, trading 126,425 shares, Sagicor Group added 2 cents to close at $33.02 exchanging 1,021,346 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund gained 12 cents, closing at $10.80, with 17,797 units changing hands. Salada Foods jumped $1.02 to close at $8.50 trading 10,000 shares, Scotia Group closed at $42, with an exchange of 85,543 units, Scotia Investments closed at $36.50, with a loss of $1 trading 500 shares. Seprod closed at $30 exchanging 170,000 shares, Sterling Investments closed at $15.50 trading 11,700 shares and Supreme Ventures lost 1 cent to close at $7.49 in an exchange of 211,461 shares. Margaritaville Turks closed at 34 US cents, with 20,500 units changing hands, Proven Investments closed at 28.5 US cents, gaining 0.01 US cent in trading 35,875 ordinary shares and JMMB Group 7.50% preference closed at $1.10 with trades of 775,000 units trading.
Trading continues to show improving levels on Thursday on the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, with the value of trading rising for the third day in a row. The market closed with 27 securities changing hands including 1 trading in the US dollar market. At the close, 9 st0cks advanced and 10 declined. 
The main market ended trading with an average of 53,569 units valued at $1,427,066 per security traded, compared to an average of 46,690 units valued at $1,036,264 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 406,174 units with an average value of $5,644,518 compared with an average of 426,916 units and $5,892,603 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
NCB Financial Group closed at $70.61, losing 89 cents after exchanging 43,749 shares, 1834 Investments closed at $1.46, with 75,850 shares changing owners, 138 Student Living exchanged 4,372 shares at $4.49, PanJam Investment closed at $35, with a loss of 50 cents trading 22,040 shares. Pulse Investments traded 5,000 shares at $14.50, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.72, with trades of 2,450 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $33, gaining 50 cents exchanging 207,022 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $10.68, with gains of 3 cents trading 7,400 units, Scotia Group traded 10 cents lower to close at $42, with an exchange of 5,300 units, Seprod closed at $30 exchanging 6,846 shares, Sterling Investments traded $1.40 lower to close at $15.50, with trades of 10,210 shares, Supreme Ventures gained cents to close at $7.50 trading 10,106 shares. Proven Investments closed at 28.4 US cents, losing 0.1 US cent in exchanging 1,450,000 ordinary shares, JMMB 7.50% preference gained 1 cent to close at $2.06, with 231,200 changing hands and JMMB Group 7.50% preference closed at $1.10 with trades of 20,000 units.
Trading in the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday with 26 securities changing hands with 1 trading in the US dollar market. At the close, 8 stocks advanced and 12 declined. 
The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 426,916 units with an average value of $5,892,603 compared with an average of 450,680 units and $6,196,124 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
NCB Financial Group closed at $71.50, losing 50 cents after trading 13,881 shares, 1834 Investments gained 1 cent to close at $1.46, with trades of 2,800 shares, 138 Student Living exchanged 32,606 shares at $4.49, PanJam Investment closed at $35.50, with a loss of 11 cents exchanging 14,745 shares. Radio Jamaica closed at $1.72, gaining 7 cents trading 10,616 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $32.50 with trades of 431,201 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $10.65, losing 64 cents exchanging 10,599 units, Scotia Group closed at $42.10, with a loss of $1.20 trading 28,989 units, Scotia Investments traded 5,193 shares at $37.50, after losing 35 cents, Seprod dropped $4 to close at $30 exchanging 27,802 shares, strong>Sterling Investments traded 10,400 shares at $16.90 and Supreme Ventures lost 49 cents to close at $7, with trades of 75,850 shares. Proven Investments closed at 29 US cents trading 8,950 ordinary shares and JMMB Group 7.50% preference closed at $1.10 with trades of 243,195 units.
The main market ended trading with an average of 540,034 units valued at $5,668,669 per security traded, compared to an average of 86,187 units valued at $1,067,570 on Wednesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 557,915 units with an average value of $7,436,562 compared with an average of 559,541 units with an average value of $7,597,279 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
Portland JSX traded 20 cents lower to close at $10.10 with 725 shares changing hands, Pulse Investments closed at $14.40 exchanging 1,000 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.69 after gaining 3 cents and trading 193,574 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $33.50 after recovering from $30.01 earlier in the day with trades of 2,292,158 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $10.99, losing 6 cents while exchanging 13,883 units, Salada Foods lost 15 cents in closing at $7.85 with 9,000 shares being exchanged, Scotia Group closed at $41.51, losing 49 cents with 28,375 units changing hands, Scotia Investments traded 1,500 shares at $37.85, Seprod closed at $34.50, with a loss of 50 cents exchanging 5,630 shares, Supreme Ventures lost 9 cents to close at $7.40 trading of 64,251 shares. Margaritaville Turks closed at 37 US cents, gaining 3 US cents with 730 units traded, Proven Investments closed at 29 US cents trading 12,150 ordinary shares, JMMB 7.5% preference share gained 23 cents and closed at $2.05, while exchanging 2,000 units and JMMB Group 7.25% preference share gained 1 cent to close at $1.31 with trades of 35,000 units.
The main market ended trading with an average of 86,187 units valued at $1,067,570 per security traded, compared to an average of 4,295,095 units valued at $50,020,709 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date ended at 559,541 units with an average value of $7,597,279, compare with an average of 606,876 units and $8,250,250 on the previous trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
NCB Financial Group closed at $72, with a 1 cent gain after trading 130,222 shares, 1834 Investments traded 4 cents lower to close at $1.80, with an exchange of 2,089 shares, 138 Student Living traded 15,685 shares at $4.49, PanJam Investment closed at $35.55, with trades of 5,346 shares. Pulse Investments closed at $14.40, with gains of 40 cents as 11,463 shares were exchanged, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.66, losing 4 cents trading 132,912 shares, Sagicor Group gained 50 cents to close at $33.50, with trades of 17,041 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at $11.05 and lost 14 cents exchanging 6,683 units, Scotia Group closed at $42, with 14,663 units changing hands, Seprod traded 25,000 shares at $35, Sterling Investments lost 15 cents to close at $16.75 with an exchange of 1,000 shares, Supreme Ventures lost 1 cent to close at $7.49, with trades of 151,466 shares. Margaritaville Turks closed at 34 US cents with 10,821 units traded, Proven Investments closed at 29 US cents trading 8,084 ordinary shares, JMMB Group 6% US preference share closed at US$1.10 with trades of 3,800 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.10, with 244,205 units changing hands.
The main market ended trading with an average of 4,295,095 units valued at an average of $50,020,709 compared to an average of 166,816 units with an average value of $2,795,160 on Monday. The average volume for the month to date ended at 538,261 units carrying an average value of $7,554,509 versus 196,730 units an average value $3,693,945 on the prior trading day. The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units and $5,254,387.
Radio Jamaica closed at $1.70, gaining 5 cents trading 27,400 shares, Sagicor Group traded 90 cents lower to close at $33, with trades of 953,208 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $11.19, with gains of 19 cents exchanging 112,260,515 units, Scotia Group was down $2 to close at $42, with 987,439 units changing hands, Scotia Investments closed at $37.85, trading 200 shares, Seprod traded 3,300 shares at $35, Sterling Investments closed at $16.90 with an exchange of 22,584 shares, Supreme Ventures jumped 65 cents and closed at a record high of $7.50 exchanging 25,353 shares. Proven Investments 8.25% preference share gained 3 cents to close at $5.20 with trades of 19,200 units, Margaritaville Turks closed at 34 US cents with 1,845 units traded, Proven Investments closed at 29 US cents trading 17,800 ordinary shares, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.82, losing 8 cents with an exchange of 178,125 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.10, with 100,000 units changing hands, Proven Investments preference share jumped $1 to hit a 52 weeks high of $6.17 while trading 34,200 shares.
The average volume and value for April ended at 382,748 units with an average value of $5,254,387.
Radio Jamaica closed at $1.65, losing 10 cents trading 78,685 shares, Sagicor Group gained 20 cents to close at $33.90, trading of 658,471 shares, Sagicor Real Estate fund closed at $11 exchanging 36,714 units, Scotia Group gained $1 to close at $44, with 357,959 units changing hands, Scotia Investments closed at $37.85, with trades of 801 shares, Seprod traded 23,218 shares at $35, Sterling Investments lost 11 cents to close at $16.90 with an exchange of 9,236 shares, Supreme Ventures closed at a record high of $7.50, with gains of $1.11 exchanging 71,624 shares. Proven Investments closed at 28.1 US cents trading 8,755 ordinary shares, Margaritaville Turks closed at 34 US cents with 1,100 units traded, JMMB Group 6% US preference share closed at US$1.11 with trades of 1,000 units, JMMB 7.5% preference share closed at $1.90, with an exchange of 8,046 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.10, gaining 3 cents with 74,855 units changing hands.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 9 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.
NCB Financial Group closed at $71.25, with a loss of 75 cents after trading 95,793 shares, 1834 Investments lost 1 cent to close at $1.74, with an exchange of 1,141,499 shares, PanJam Investment closed 59 cents lower at $35.01, with 545,610 shares changing hands. Pulse Investments gained $1.80 to close at an all-time high of $13.80, exchanging 47,819 shares, Radio Jamaica closed at $1.75, gaining 5 cents trading 2,100 shares, Sagicor Group closed at $33.70, gaining 30 cents with 337,874 shares trading, Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed at $11 exchanging 60,209 units, Scotia Group lost 50 cents to close at $43, with 377,024 units changing hands, Scotia Investments closed at $37.85, losing 60 cents with trades of 2,257 shares, Supreme Ventures closed at $6.39 exchanging 149,641 shares, Proven Investments traded 16,100 ordinary shares at 29 US cents, Margaritaville Turks gained 0.08 US cents to close at 34 US cents with 272 units traded, JPS 9.5% preference share closed at $1,325, with gains of $78 exchanging 4,954 units and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share closed at $1.07, losing 3 cents with 204,000 units changing hands.