Trading on Thursday resulted in a close mix of rising and declining stocks that left the Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closing with a marginal rise in the market index after an exchange 66 percent fewer shares than on Wednesday and 64 percent fall in value.
Trading ended with 39 securities changing hands, the same number as on Wednesday, and ended with 12 stocks rising, 13 declining and 14 remaining unchanged. The Market Index gained 0.84 points to finish at 2,735.54.
The average PE Ratio ended at 14 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Traders exchanged 5,759,973 shares valued at $15,204,035, down from 17,186,260 units at $42,228,070 on Wednesday.
Derrimon Trading was the volume leader with 18.9 percent of total trade after an exchange of 1.09 million shares, followed by Limners and Bards with 18.3 percent after transferring 1.05 million units and Jamaican Teas 13.6 percent with an exchange of 782,148 units.
Trading averaged 147,692 units at $389,847 in contrast to 440,673 at $1,082,771 on Wednesday. 
The month to date averaged 244,500 units at $580,467, compared to 250,531 units at $592,343 on Wednesday. December closed with an average of 263,428 units for $638,694 for each security that traded.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows six stocks ended with bids higher than the last selling price and two with lower offers.
At the close, AMG Packaging fell 12 cents to $1.50 with 27,762 shares traded, CAC 2000 jumped $1.30 to $10.50 with a transfer of 1,248 units, Caribbean Cream lost 11 cents to end at $4.70 with 26,317 stocks changing hands. Caribbean Flavours advanced 19 cents to $1.99 trading 280,685 stock units, Caribbean Producers dropped 27 cents to $2.40 with an exchange of 207,022 shares, Derrimon Trading exchanged 1,087,570 units and rose 12 cents to $2.50. Elite Diagnostic rose 14 cents to $2.99 with a transfer of 71,351 stocks, Fosrich advanced 28 cents to $4.48 with 9,258 units changing hands, Iron Rock Insurance shed 70 cents to $3.30 with a transfer of 651 stock units. Jamaican Teas traded 782,148 shares and lost 18 cents to end at $2.82, Jetcon Corporation gained 7 cents to finish at 68 cents with 274,727 units changing hands, Knutsford Express advanced 10 cents to $6.60 trading 100 stock units.
Limners and Bards traded 1,053,372 stock units and gained 8 cents in closing at $2.66, Lumber Depot lost 7 cents to close at $1.98 with 457,000 shares changing hands, Main Event dropped 14 cents to $3.10 with an exchange of 2,000 units. Paramount Trading fell 5 cents to $1.40 with 3,000 shares changing hands, Stationery and Office Supplies shed 42 cents to end at $4.12 with 6,000 stocks traded and tTech dropped 68 cents to $4.09 with 1,000 units crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Lumber Depot was second-largest volume trader with 5.6 percent of the day’s trade for 963,551 units and Jamaican Teas rounded out the top three with 5.3 percent market share and the trading of 918,783 shares as investors continue their appetite for these stocks.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and four with lower offers.
Limners and Bards dropped 12 cents to $2.58 with 81,825 stocks changing hands, Lumber Depot exchanged 963,551 units and climbed 26 cents to settle at $2.05, Medical Disposables fell 20 cents to $4 with 8,000 shares passing through the market. Stationery and Office Supplies advanced 24 cents to $4.54 with 8,000 units traded and tTech jumped 63 cents to $4.77 and finished with 20,887 shares crossing the exchange.
Trading ended with 37 securities changing hands compared to 32 on Monday and ended with the prices of 13 rising, 15 declining and nine remaining unchanged.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with the bid higher than the last selling price and two with lower offers.
Limners and Bards lost 5 cents to end at $2.70 with a transfer of 194,451 stocks, Lumber Depot exchanged 1,789,149 units and fell 11 cents to close at $1.79,Mailpac Group gained 5 cents to end at $3.85 with 761,818 stock units passing through the market. Main Event rose 9 cents to $3.24 with 6,300 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading rose 4 cents to $1.44 with a transfer of 2,004 units, Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 20 cents to $4.30 with 4,800 stocks traded and Tropical Battery closed 1 cent higher at $1.10 with 675,081 shares crossing the exchange.
Market activity ended with 32 securities changing hands, down from 35 on Friday and closed with 14 stocks rising, 11 declining and seven closing unchanged.
December closed with an average of 263,428 units at $638,694.
Knutsford Express shed 15 cents to close at $6.60, with the swapping of 3,055 shares, Lasco Financial rose 5 cents to $2.65 after investors swapped 41,352 stocks, Limners and Bards shed 5 cents in closing at $2.75 trading 102,847 shares, Lumber Depot lost 5 cents to end at $1.90, in switching ownership of 402,876 stocks. Mailpac Group closed 10 cents higher at $3.80 after trading 1,619,301 stock units and Main Event slipped 9 cents to $3.15, with 2,333 shares changing hands.
initially reported by the company to just $29 million with the stock selling off to a low of 95 cents but bounced a bit thereafter.
The top three stocks in the Junior Market with the potential to gain between 208 to 363 percent are Caribbean Producers followed by Elite Diagnostic and Lasco Financial. With expected gains of 124 to 331 percent, the top three Main Market stocks are, Berger Paints followed by Scotia Group and Carreras.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 174 percent and 127 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings. IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2021 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on likely gain for each company, taking into account the earnings and PE ratios for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in movements in and out of the lists weekly. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
The rally for the year to date is not broad-based. It is driven by a small number of stocks, primarily, Express Catering, FoshRich, Jamaican Teas, Mailpac, Lumber Depot, Caribbean Cream and Lasco Manufacturing.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Lasco Manufacturing climbed 39 cents to $4.11 with 44,773 shares traded, Limners and Bards advanced 19 cents to $2.80 with a transfer of 92,336 stocks, Paramount Trading increased by 14 cents to $1.44 with a transfer of 5,086 stock units and Stationery and Office Supplies advanced 15 cents to $4.50 with 87,147 shares passing through the market.
December averaged 263,428 units at $638,694.
Lasco Financial dropped 14 cents to $2.51 in exchanging 25,330 shares, Lasco Manufacturing slipped 18 cents to $3.72 trading 42,196 stock units, Limners and Bards lost 9 cents in closing at $2.61, with 44,572 shares crossing the market. Lumber Depot rose 22 cents to $1.93, in exchanging 153,241 stock units, Main Event added 24 cents to close at $3.24 trading 7,510 shares. Paramount Trading shed 14 cents to settle at $1.30, with 104,200 stocks crossing the exchange and Tropical Battery lost 6 cents to close at $1.04, with 316,244 shares changing hands.
Trading ended with 35 securities changing hands compared to 37 on Monday and concluded with the prices of 13 stocks rising, 16 declining and six remaining unchanged. The average PE Ratio ended at 14.1 based on ICInsider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Knutsford Express fell 15 cents to $6.60 with 999 stocks changing hands, Lasco Distributors dropped 20 cents to $3.20 with an exchange of 38,500 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing increased by 7 cents to $4.07 with 8,500 shares traded, Lumber Depot exchanged 3,047,431 stock units and lost 5 cents to close at $1.54. Mailpac Group shed 30 cents trading 1,398,183 shares to finish at $3.60 Main Event fell 10 cents to $3 with a transfer of 48,902 units and Tropical Battery advanced 9 cents to $1.09 with 3,894,959 shares crossing the exchange.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and five with lower offers.
Limners and Bards slipped 20 cents to $2.62 after trading 50,000 units. Lumber Depot gained 13 cents in ending at $1.59, after switching ownership of 38,266 stock units, Mailpac Group rose 15 cents to $3.90, with an exchange of 798,398 shares, Medical Disposables closed at $4.22, after gaining 12 cents transferring 57 stock units. Stationery and Office Supplies slid 44 cents to $4.10, with 31,308 units crossing the market, Tropical Battery slipped 12 cents to $1, trading 4,760,765 shares after the company posted audited accounts showing profit falling to just $29 million from $73 million based on the interim, full-year results. tTech lost 5 cents to close at $4.10, with 29,396 units crossing the exchange.
The Main Market slipped a bit to end the first half of January, with a modest loss but technical indicator points to it heading towards the 460,000 points level on the All Jamaica Composite Index, soon. The Junior Market is up 2.4 percent since the 2020 close and is a few points away from the level reached at the close of March 5 last year, having surpassed the April high, as the bullish golden cross takes full hold on the market to launch a big rally.
The stock gained 50 cents at the close on Friday but traded as high as $5 during the week and moved from fifth spot last week to ninth position on the 2020/21 TOP10 list. Jamaican Teas gained 25 percent since December and seems poised to move higher as interest in the stock grows since the announcement of a three for one stock split late last year. An indication of increased interest is the exchange of 4 million shares on Friday. The stock moved from the fourth position last week to seventh this past week as it gained 24 percent for the week.
The current TOP 10 report is based on earnings for 2020/21 as there are substantial gains ahead, for many stocks in the listings.
The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere 7.6 at just 52 percent of the market average. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 9.2 or 56 percent of the PE of that market.