The Junior Market recovered from a slight dip on Monday to record modest gains on Tuesday even as the number of securities declining outweigh those advancing as trading picked up, buoyed by dominant activity in shares of Lumber Depot, Main Event and Mailpac.
Lumber Depot dominated trading with 4.8 million shares
At the close of the market, the index advanced 17.20 points to close at 2,416. Market activities concluded with the prices of ten securities advancing, 13 declining and six remaining unchanged. The market average PE ratio ended at 9 times 2020-21 earnings.
Trading ended on Tuesday with 29 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 12,280,544 units valued at $26,562,508 compared to 11,413,765 units valued at $23,915,377 from 34 securities on Monday.
Trading ended with an average of 423,467 units at $915,949, for each security traded, in contrast to 335,699 units for an average of $703,393 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 483,382 units valued at $1,101,248 and previously 486,618 units valued at $1,111,255. In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows one stock ended with bids higher than its last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close of the market, Caribbean Assurance Brokers gained 5 cents to close at $2.25 with 647,069 units changing hands, Caribbean Cream gained 1 cent to settle at $2.27, exchanging 140,204 shares, Caribbean Producers ended with a loss of 8 cents at $2.52 in the swapping of 120,967 shares. Consolidated Bakeries rose 5 cents to $1.75 with 559 shares traded, Elite Diagnostic declined by 13 cents and swapped 32,000 units to settle at $3.75, Everything Fresh finished at 72 cents after falling 14 cents and trading 52,159 units. Fontana ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.29 with 71,023 stock units changing hands, Fosrich exchanged 26,217 shares and climbed, 30 cents to end at $3.95, General Accident declined by 32 cents to settle at $4.98 with 51,100 shares changing hands. iCreate slipped 1 cent to 45 cents with an exchange of 1,007,244 units d, Jamaican Teas shed 2 cents in trading of 4,262 units to settle at $4.08, Jetcon Corporation declined 2 cents with 5,278 units crossing the market to close at $1. Knutsford Express climbed $1.99 to settle at $8.99 with 46,231 shares changing hands, 
Lasco Distributors shed 3 cents in trading of 43,601 units at $2.95, Lasco Financial closed market activity with 14,650 units crossing the exchange and gained 4 cents to end at $2.92. Lasco Manufacturing exchanged 32,261 shares and rose 2 cents to end at $3.90, Limners and Bards fell 6 cents to $1.94 in trading of 12,443 units, Lumber Depot declined 2 cents in swapping 4,795,516 units to finish at $1.13. Mailpac Group ended activity 1 cent higher at $1.76 with 1,472,663 shares traded, Main Event climbed 5 cents to settle at $1.19 with 1,880,010 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables exchanged 114,000 shares and rose 54 cents to end at $5.55. Stationery and Office Supplies closed with a loss of 50 cents at $6 in the swapping of 67,329 shares and tTech shred 77 cents to settle at $3.98 with 238,233 shares crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
KLE Group fell 10 cents in trading of 50,000 units to finish at $1.60. Lasco Distributors closed trading of 2,323 units and gained 1 cent to end at $2.98, Lasco Financial lost 7 cents in trading 10,995 shares to close at $2.88, Lasco Manufacturing exchanged 9,020 shares to settle at $3.88 after falling 2 cents. Limners and Bards dipped 1 cent to $2 with 5,446 stock units changing hands, Lumber Depot ended with a loss of 1 cent at $1.15 with 297,770 units trading, MailPac Group swapped 8,166,074 shares and rose 7 cents to end at $1.75. Medical Disposables fell 49 cents to $5.01 with 160,455 shares exchanged, Stationery and Office Supplies climbed 40 cents and traded 582 shares to close at $6.50 and tTech climbed 54 cents to $4.75 with 2,000 shares crossing the exchange.
This week’s focus: General Accident is set to do very well. Last year’s earnings grew 48 percent from an increase of 22 percent in gross premium income and a 25 percent increase in net premium. The company acquired majority shares in the Trinidad based
Uncertainties exist in the economy and financial markets accordingly, and it is not possible to determine the exact impact on company earnings for the rest of the year. Actual earnings could vary materially from IC Insider.com’s forecast. Looking beyond the immediate fallout or benefits for companies can be useful in guiding investment decisions for above-average gains in the period ahead.
The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 12.8 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020-21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a just 5.3 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.5.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis when new information is received that affects earnings significantly.
At the close, the Junior Market Index advanced 35.13 points to close at 2,414.24 after risen over 50 points at one stage of the day and left the average PE ratio ended at 8.8 times 2020-21 earnings. Market activities resulted in prices of 6 securities advancing, 12 losing and 12 remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
iCreate ended with a loss of 1 cent at 47 cents, with 5,793 stock units changing hands, Jamaican Teas fell
The market closed with 35 securities changing hands with prices of 11 securities advancing, 12 declining while 11 remained unchanged. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 8.7 based on 2020-21 earnings. Investors exchanged 24,912,363 units valued at $54,086,454, compared to 115,474,401 units valued at $258,980,019 on Wednesday from 33 companies.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Jamaican Teas shed 5 cents in trading of 48,718 units at $4.30, Lasco Financial fell by 8 cents in trading of 24,185 units at $2.90. Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 2,319,260 units and gained 27 cents to end at $3.97, Limners and Bards climbed 21 cents, exchanging 34,694 shares at $2.01, Lumber Depot gained 1 to end at $1.16, trading 180,795 shares. Mailpac Group closed with a loss of 6 cents at $1.69, in swapping of 15,790,186 shares, Main Event shed 40 cents in trading of 13,623 units at $3.85. Medical Disposables declined by $2 to settle at $5.50, in exchanging 300,000 shares, Paramount Trading shed 37 cents in trading of 5,000 units at $2 and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 10 cents higher at $6.10, with 3,500 stock units changing hands.
In comparison, March closed with an average of 226,230 units, valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
Knutsford Express lost 99 cents in swapping 2,198 shares to close at $8, Lasco Distributors finished 1 cent higher at $2.97 with 21,000 stock units trading, Lasco Financial shed 12 cents in the exchange of 5,700 units to close at $2.98. Lasco Manufacturing traded 32,562 shares and gained 15 cents to end at $3.70, Limners and Bards dipped 10 cents to $1.80 in trading of 41,964,069 units, Lumber Depot ended 1 cent higher at $1.15 with 107,917 shares changing hands. MailPac Group exchanged 68,195,556 units and climbed 15 cents to end at $1.75, Main Event rose 25 cents to $4.25 with an exchange of 1,000 shares at $4.25, Medical Disposables climbed 91 cents and traded 30,200 shares to settle at$7.50. SSL Venture closed with a loss of 26 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of 75 cents in the swapping of 5,141 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies closed trading 30 cents higher at $6 with 23,387 units crossing the exchange.
the Main Market, Berger Paints leads the pact, followed by Radio Jamaica and Sygnus Credit Investments with projected gains of 180 to 186 percent.
The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 13 and the Junior Market a mere 9, based on current 2020/21 earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages a just 5.4 with the Main Market at a much higher level of 8.2.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March 2021. Forecasted earnings and PE ratio for the current fiscal year are in determining potential gains. The ranking of stocks is in order of likely increases, with the highest-ranked, being the most attractive. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
