The Junior Market continues its rapid recovery on Tuesday after falling sharply in March with Market index adding 44.09 points to close at 2,686.90 on Tuesday after trading resumed after closing on Thursday for the Easter break.
Junior Market has gained in 165 of the last 17 days and broken above resistance around 2,00 points and is heading to the next resistance level of 3,200.
Tuesday’s rise in the market index was the eleventh consecutive positive movement for the market and since the bottoming of the Junior Market has had 15 days of positive gains and just two days of decline. Trading resulted in all but three of the listed stocks being active and ended in 37 securities changing hands. The prices of 16 securities rose, 13 fell and eight remained unchanged.
Market activities ended in an exchange of 3,632,719 shares valued at $13,551,367 compared to 10,755,502 units valued at $28,037,452 from 30 securities on Friday. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.7 based on 2020/21 earnings.
Trading concluded with an average of 98,182 units at $366,253 for each security traded, in contrast to an average of 358,517 units for $934,582 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 292,905 units valued at $692,646 and previously 328,750 units at $742,729 for each security. In comparison, 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 no stock ended with the bids higher than the last selling price and four with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial fell 55 cents in trading 15,911 units at $28, with increased interest in the stock in the low to mid-$20 range. AMG Packaging ended with a loss of 3 cents at $1.85 with an exchange of 29,423 shares, Cargo Handlers finished $1 higher at $7 with 2,915 stock units changing hands, Caribbean Assurance gained 16 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $2.41 with 93,035 units traded. Caribbean Cream advanced 51 cents to $3.35 in the swapping of a mere 59 shares, Caribbean Producers added 90 cents in exchanging 367,829 units to settle at $3.90. Derrimon Trading finished 6 cents higher at $1.67 with 6,528 stock units trading, Elite Diagnostic slipped 3 cents in swapping 15,185 units at $4.72, Express Catering finished with a loss of 48 cents at $4.02 with 23,037 shares changing hands. Fontana traded 653,532 shares after rising 17 cents to end at $6.20, Fosrich closed trading of 25,065 units and dipped 2 cents to finish at $3.47, General Accident gained 2 cents to settle at $5.22, trading 153,000 stock units. GWest Corporation declined 1 cent in trading of 2,500 units at 90 cents, Honey Bun jumped 62 cents to $7.25 with 34,078 shares traded, iCreate closed 4 cents higher at 62 cents after swapping 39,253 shares. Indies Pharma lost 5 cents with 32,113 shares changing hands to settle at $2.55, Jamaican Teas climbed 40 cents to end at $4.40 with the swapping of 725,857 shares, Jetcon Corporation exchanged 2,582 shares to close at $1 after slipping 9 cents.
Knutsford Express fell 25 cents to $8.05 with 4,832 shares crossing the exchange, Lasco Distributors concluded trading of 84,402 units and lost 15 cents to finish at $2.90, Lasco Manufacturing slipped to $4.02 after exchanging 101,875 shares and dropping 26 cents. Limners and Bards traded 206,694 units after rising 10 cents to close at $2.10, Lumber Depot slipped 1 cent to $1.19 with 478,200 units changing hands, MailPac fell 4 cents to $1.74 with 363,353 units traded. Main Event gained 19 cents to settle at $5 with an exchange of 4,489 shares, Medical Disposables lost 60 cents to close at $6.90 with 16,297 shares changing hands, Paramount Trading added 1 cent and swapped 10,580 units to end at $2.25. SSL Venture closed at $1.01 after rising 3 cents after trading 204 shares and Stationery and Office Supplies picked up 5 cents to settle $7.05 with 6,401 stock units crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the day’s last transaction unless otherwise stated.
The current IC Insider.com TOP 10 list is based on the profit of companies reporting full year’s results for the financial year ending after 2020 second quarter and up to the second quarter in 2021.
The three top Junior Market selections are Caribbean Producers, KLE Group and Lasco Financial with the potential to gain between 270 to 533 percent by 2021. In the Main Market, Berger Paints leads the pact followed by Radio Jamaica and then Carreras with projected gains of 146 to 170 percent.
Junior Market and 139 percent from 153 percent last week for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020/21 earnings.
In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units, valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
iCreate closed trading of 8,975 units and gained 2 cents to end at 58 cents, Indies Pharma lost 28 cents in trading 39,989 stock units to settle at $2.60, Iron Rock Insurance exchanged 55,000 shares and added 1 cent to end at $3. Jetcon Corporation dipped 7 cents in trading 3,031 units at $1.09, Knutsford Express lost 70 cents in trading 1,002 shares to close at $8.30. Lasco Manufacturing climbed 5 cents and exchanged 208,750 shares at $4.28, Limners and Bards fell 11 cents to $2 with 81,159 units crossing the market, MailPac closed trading of 5,207,096 units and gained 3 cents to end at $1.78 and Main Event closed with a loss of 19 cents at $4.81 with 51,109 shares crossing the exchange.
At the close of the market, Blue Power exchanged 25,109 shares after rising 15 cents to end at $4.33, Caribbean Assurance Brokers traded 20,300 shares and rose 28 cents to close at $2.19, Caribbean Cream dipped 24 cents in swapping 9,542 units at $2.50. Caribbean Producers closed trading of 510,860 units and gained 20 cents to end at $2.90, Consolidated Bakeries added 7 cents to end at $1.79 with 102,400 shares changing hands, Dolphin Cove closed trading of 8,821 units and gained 3 cents to settle at $7.80, Elite Diagnostic shed 2 cents in trading of 42,386 units at $4.97. Everything Fresh ended at 95 cents after shedding1 cent and exchanging 10,191 shares, Express Catering jumped 50 cents and traded 25,350 shares at $3.70, Fontana closed 35 cents higher at $6.35 with 1,555,291 units changing hands. Fosrich gained14 cents and exchanged 1,250 shares at $3.49, General Accident declined by 46 cents to settle at $5.20 with 12,000 units traded, GWest Corporation ended with a loss of 1 cent at 89cents with 1,800 stock units changing hands. iCreate dipped 2 cents in trading 24,065 units at 56 cents, Indies Pharma closed trading of 61,924 units and gained 8 cents to end at $2.88, Iron Rock Insurance fell 1 cent to $2.99 with 9,500 stock units crossing the exchange. Jamaican Teas closed trading of 371,802 units and added 1 cent to finish at $4, KLE Group climbed 25 cents after exchanging 3,000 shares at $1.70, Knutsford Express dipped 15 cents to $9 with 3,332 units traded. 
Lasco Financial ended with a loss of 1 cent at $3.24 with 45,675 stock units changing hands, Lasco Manufacturing closed 3 cents higher at $4.23, with 228,919 shares trading, Limners and Bards shed 5 cents in trading of 16,950 units at $2.11. Lumber Depot fell 3 cents in trading of 235,061 units at $1.20, Medical Disposables climbed 12 cents and exchanged 5,849 shares at $7.50, Paramount Trading exchanged 28,788 units and gained 19 cents to end at $2.24. SSL Venture slipped 7 cents to 98 cents in the trading 1,450 shares, Stationery and Office Supplies lost 15 cents swapping 16,100 units to settle at $7 and tTech closed 75 cents higher at $4.25, with 500 stock units crossing the exchange.
Market activity closed with 34 securities changing hands, resulting in an exchange of 3,831,781 units valued at $12,509,279 compared to 8,266,110 units valued at $19,972,528 from 33 securities on Monday.
At the close of the market, Access Financial surged $5.55 to finish at $28.55 with 9,214 units traded, AMG Packaging fell 4 cents to $1.64 with an exchange of 150,243 shares, Blue Power swapped 51,780 stock units and gained 16 cents to settle at $4.18. Cargo Handlers climbed 47 cents in trading 123,064 shares to close at $6, Caribbean Assurance rose 26 cents higher at $2.17 with 23,097 shares traded, Caribbean Cream exchanged just 900 units and lost 8 cents to settle at $2.74. Caribbean Producers climbed 30 cents to $2.70 with 725,027 shares changing hands, Consolidated Bakeries rose 27 cents exchanging 463 shares to close at $1.72, Dolphin Cove slipped 3 cents to $7.77 with 2,007 units traded. Elite Diagnostic exchanged 153,500 shares and gained 48 cents to finish at $4.99, Everything Fresh slipped 1 cent to 96 cents with 70,752 units changing hands, Express Catering moved 7 cents higher to $3.20 after swapping 134,026 shares. Fontana closed trading of 418,060 units and shed 30 cents to end at $6, Fosrich slipped 5 cents to $3.35 in exchanging 48,782 units, General Accident finished 5 cents lower at $5.66 with 11,000 units crossing the market. Honey Bun ended with an exchange of 206,570 shares, with a fall of 55 cents to end at $5.95, Indies Pharma shed 9 cents in swapping 114,227 units at $2.80, Jamaican Teas lost 1 cent and traded 17,050 shares to end at $3.99. 
Jetcon finished 14 cents higher at $1.16 with 57,632 units changing hands, Key Insurance exchanged 114,796 units to end at $3.85 after adding 35 cents, Lasco Distributors gained 6 cents in trading 37,750 shares to finish at $3.05. Lasco Financial picked up 2 cents and swapped 400 units to close at $3.25, Lasco Manufacturing jumped 69 cents to $4.20 with 98,285 shares traded, Limners and Bards ended 6 cents higher at $2.16 with 32,350 units changing hands. Lumber Depot rose 10 cents to $1.23 with an exchange of 97,133 stock units, MailPac closed trading of 452,052 units and gained 5 cents to end at $1.75, Medical Disposables shed 58 cents in the exchanging of 49,030 shares to close at $7.38. Paramount Trading declined by 15 cents with 495,040 shares crossing the exchange to settle at $2.05 and Stationery and Office Supplies jumped $1.14 to close at $7.15 with 5,000 stock units changing hands.
At the close of the market, Caribbean Assurance Brokers exchanged 26,087 shares and climbed 23 cents to close at $2.17, Caribbean Cream finished 1 cent higher at $2.82 with 5,350 units changing hands, Caribbean Producers swapped 696,817 shares, after slipping 10 cents to end at $2.40. Consolidated Bakeries shed 20 cents exchanging 12,701 stock units at $1.45, Dolphin Cove added 1 cent to close at $7.80 with 1,000 shares crossing the exchange, Elite Diagnostic traded 98,336 shares, after rising 41 cents to end at $4.51. Everything Fresh closed 5 cents higher at 95 cents, with 353,495 stock units changing hands, Express Catering gained 13 cents in trading of 256,472 units at $3.13, Fontana closed trading of 571,861 units and jumped 40 cents to end at $6.30. FosRich picked up 5 cents in exchanging 13,178 shares at $3.40, GWest finished 10 cents higher at 90 cents with an exchange of 10,000 units, Honey Bun gained 50 cents after trading 513,160 shares to settle at $6.50. iCreate finished 8 cents higher at 58 cents with the transfer of 737,372 stock units, Indies Pharma closed trading of 129,871 units and lost 1 cent to end at $2.89, ISP Finance fell 10 cents to $15.90 with the trading of a mere 6 units. Jetcon Corporation exchanged 19,078 shares and added 3 cents to close at $1.02, Key Insurance closed 50 cents higher at $3.50, with 170,430 stock units trading, Lasco Distributors climbed 4 cents to settle at $2.99 in trading 182,893.
Lasco Financial closed trading of 71,211 units and slipped 1 cent to end at $3.23, Lasco Manufacturing dropped 14 cents to $3.51, with 80,623 stock units trading, Limners and Bards closed at $2.10, having lost 10 cents with 6,000 units changing hands. Lumber Depot gained 8 cents to end at $1.13, with 1,697,016 shares changing hands, MailPac gained 10 cents in exchanging a volume leading 2,056,859 shares to close at $1.70, Medical Disposables slipped 28 cents to settle at $7.96 with 34,418 shares changing hands. Paramount Trading exchanged 12,688 shares to close at $2.20 after rising 5 cents, Stationery and Office Supplies fell 99 cents to $6.01 with 50,500 shares traded and tTech closed 75 cents lower at $3.50, with 42,063 stock units crossing the exchange.
Stocks leaving the TOP are Lasco Manufacturing with a gain of 33 percent after the stock rose from $2.75 the previous week to close at $3.65. General Accident moved from $4.50 to $5.71 to record a 27 percent rise and Sygnus US dollar-based stock gained 25 percent to close at 15 US cents and left the main market TOP 10. Eppley rose 31 percent for the week in closing at $16 and Elite Diagnostic is up a stunning 50 percent but remains in the TOP 10. Access Financial closed the prior week at $18.35 and is now up 33 percent to $24.50.> Some of the gains in the market arose from oversold conditions as well as funds returning to investors last week from the refund of the Trans Jamaica Highway IPO.
While local stocks make a strong recovery this past week, thanks no doubt to some of the IPO refund coming back into the market. Investors must not lose sight that significant uncertainties abound about the local and global economy and how each company may be affected. It is not possible to determine the exact fallout and benefits from the crisis and the impact on company earnings. Actual earnings could vary materially from IC Insider.com’s forecast.
The expectations are for the company to return to normality for the 2021 fiscal year that ends in June 2021 that will give buyers of the stock around current prices a big payday.
With the tourism industry virtually closed, companies heavily dependent on the industry will have little or no sales for a while from March. The Group consists of Caribbean Producers, Dolphin Cove, Everything Fresh and Express Catering. Entertainment company Main Event and restaurant operator KLE Group will be hurt from patrons staying home as well as fewer tourists visiting Montego Bay and patronizing the restaurant in that town. Once this period of disruption has passed, KLE should benefit from economies of scale with the full ownership of the additional restaurant.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 5.5 with the Main Market at 8.5.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows six stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Lasco Financial closed trading of 116,341 units and gained 2 cents to end at $3.24, Lasco Manufacturing closed 5 cents higher at $3.65, with 149,773 stock units trading, Limners and Bards closed with 6,055 units changing hands and gained 2 cents to end at $2.20. Lumber Depot gained 1 cent to end at $1.21, trading 171,387 shares, MailPac lost 30 cents in exchanging 22,001,550 shares to close at $1.60. Medical Disposables climbed $1.74 to settle at $8.24 with 511,971 shares changing hands. Paramount Trading rose 27 cents and exchanged 616,305 shares at $2.25, the stock closed trading with 1,735,965 units on the bid at $2 with only two offers to sell, on the board amounting to 35,000 shares at $2.50 and $3. SSL Venture closed 21 cents higher at $1.06, with 9,500 stock units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies closed 11 cents higher at $7, with 62,074 stock units trading.
Thursday gains reduced the market losses for the year, from a high of 39.3 percent in March to 26.5 percent presently. At the close of market activities, prices of 16 securities advanced, eight declined and ten remained unchanged with 34 securities changing hands. Trading resulted in an exchange of 13,283,703 units for $24,888,541 compared to 7,297,716 units at $17,298,654 on Wednesday. The average PE ratio of the Junior Market ended at 9.1 based on 2020/21 earnings.
Caribbean Assurance Brokers rose 1 cent in trading 196,792 shares to close at $2.01, Caribbean Flavours shed 50 cents trading of 139 units at $10, Consolidated Bakeries ended with an exchange of 10,000 shares, after rising 6 cents to end at $1.38. Derrimon Trading closed 7 cents higher at $1.90, exchanging 10,100 stock units, Elite Diagnostic climbed 57 cents and closed at $3.87, with 27,924 stock units changing hands, Everything Fresh ended trading with 6,009 shares, after rising 19 cents to end at 84 cents. Fontana gained 20 cents to end at $5.50 with 163,657 shares crossing the exchange, Fosrich traded of 6,000 shares, after rising 32 cents to end at $2.90, General Accident ended with a loss of 1 cent at $5.71 with 2,100 stock units changing hands. Indies Pharma ended market activity after 22,547 shares changed hands to close at $2.40 after falling 5 cents. Iron Rock Insurance closed 50 cents higher at $3, trading 18,308 stock units, Jetcon Corporation fell 11 cents in trading of 187,000 units at 99 cents, Knutsford Express closed with 5,874 shares crossing the market after rising 55 cents to end at $9.20. Lasco Distributors close with a loss of 2 cents at $2.98, swapping of 26,344 shares, Lasco Financial closed with 5,700 units crossing the market to gain 22 cents and end at $3.22, Lasco Manufacturing ended 10 cents higher at $3.60, in trading 80,700 stock units. 
Limners and Bards climbed 28 cents and exchanged 61,233 shares at $2.18, Lumber Depot added 1 cent and swapped 3,106,285 shares at $1.20, MailPac rose 14 cents in trading 8,397,683 shares to close at $1.90. Main Event closed 90 cents higher at $5, with 9,729 stock units trading, Medical Disposables ended with a loss of 5 cents at $6.50, after swapping 157,053 shares. Paramount Trading closed 8 cents higher at $1.98, with 85,812 stock units trading, SSL Venture fell 19 cents in trading of 1,000 units to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 85 cents and Stationery and Office Supplies closed with a loss of 11 cents at $6.89 after 7,200 shares changed hands.
Trading ended with an average of 208,506 units for an average of $494,247 in contrast to 431,990 units for an average of $1,058,626 on Tuesday. In contrast, March closed with an average of 226,230 units valued at $542,563 for each security traded.
Derrimon Trading shed 2 cents with ownership of 118,857 units being switched and closed at $1.83, Everything Fresh shed 12 cents in trading of 65,000 units at 65 cents. Fontana closed 31 cents higher at $5.30, with 874,689 stock units crossing the exchange, Fosrich declined 31 cents in trading of 50,250 units at $2.58, Honey Bun close market activity with a loss of 50 cents in ending at $6, after 68,861 shares changed hands. iCreate closed 2 cents higher at 53 cents, with 8,542 stock units trading. Iron Rock Insurance fell 50 cents in trading of 5,100 units at $2.50, ISP Finance climbed $2.50 to settle at $16 with 104 shares changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed trading of 47,412 units and gained 2 cents to end at $3. Lasco Financial closed trading of 81,600 units and gained 5 cents to end at $3, Lasco Manufacturing closed trading of 80,689 units and gained 32 cents to end at $3.50, Limners and Bards fell 38 cents in trading of 177,041 units at $1.90, Lumber Depot ended trading with 811,825 shares, after rising 1 cent to end at $1.19.
MailPac ended with 3,203,608 stock units changing hands, after rising 7 cents to end at $1.76, Main Event lost 42 cents in exchanging 10,093 shares to close at $4.10, Medical Disposables closed trading of 3,325 units and gained 4 cents to end at $6.55. Paramount Trading fell 4 cents to close at $1.90, after swapping 19,724 shares, SSL Venture closed 4 cents higher at $1.04, with 11,490 stock units crossing the exchange and Stationery and Office Supplies gained $1.30 to end at $7, trading 11,190 shares.