Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market closed on Tuesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 121 percent, valued 55 percent lower than on Monday, and resulting in five securities being traded, compared to six on Monday with two rising and three declining but the market outperform the rest of the Jamaica Stock Exchange markets that plunged at the close of trading.
Overall, 198,410 shares were traded, for US$3,547 compared to 89,619 units at US$7,899 on Monday.
Trading averaged 39,682 units at US$709, versus 14,937 shares at US$1,316 on Monday, with a month to date average of 19,171 shares at US$821 compared with 10,625 units at US$867 on the previous day. in contrast November ended with an average of 249,102 units for US$14,204.
The US Denominated Equities Index popped 3.47 points to stop trading at 227.61.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville declined 1.75 cents to 12.25 US cents, with 74 stock units clearing the market, Proven Investments climbed 1.85 cents to 14.65 US cents in switching ownership of 1,319 units, Sterling Investments shed 0.02 of a cent to close at 1.58 US cents after trading of 1,420 shares. Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share dropped 2.2 cents and ended at 8.2 US cents with an exchange of 206 stock units and Transjamaican Highway rose 0.02 of a cent in closing at 1.72 US cents, with 195,391 shares changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
The JSE USD Market rose on Tuesday
Main Market surge failed to ignite ICTOP10
The All Jamaica and the Junior Market indices closed the week higher than the previous week but with the Junior Market trading at its lowest since early June this year. The Main Market index which includes overseas companies, slipped back during the week. Stocks measured by the All Jamaica Index recorded gains of 4,565 points from the end of October in the past week and traded at a near two months high and have been flashing bullish signals with a sharp breakout looking very likely.
Some positives are visible in the market, with a sharp decline in the volume of some stocks being sold. Scotia Group is one such stock, as it approaches the release of full year results and an announcement on dividends, but buying interest is currently low keyed. The stock trades at an extremely low PE of 5.7 times projected 2023 earnings. AMG Packaging trades at 6.5 times 2024 earnings with a very limited supply of stocks on offer.
Even as the Main Market index rose in the past week, winners were hard to find the Main Market ICTOP10, with the highest riser up just 3 percent as Key Insurance dropped 20 percent to $2, followed by Palace Amusement down 14 percent to $1.12 and Sygnus Credit Investments declining 7 percent to $11.11.
The Junior Market has 6 stocks gaining, with Iron Rock Insurance jumping 20 percent to $2.65, Express Catering rallying 7 percent to $4 and AMG Packaging rising 4 percent to $2.59 while Caribbean Creamfell 16 percent to $3.10.
There was just one new addition to the ICTOP10 with a listing for the Junior Market with Access Financial dropping out of the list and replaced by Honey Bun, with projected earnings per share of 70 cents for the fiscal year ended September and $1 for 2024.
Indications of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5, well below the market average of 12.9. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 302 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings and now provides better values than the Junior Market.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 15 of the most highly valued stocks representing 31 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 29 and 19 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 23 for the top half and 20 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 6.9, over half of the market, with an average of 13.1. There are 15 stocks, or 30 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 49, averaging 20 that are well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, with the market projected to rise by 200 percent on or around May 2024.
Of import is that the averages of both markets are now converging around a PE of 20 for close to a third of the market, as the year is coming to a close and with more information available on the full year’s earnings.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
First Rock trades 19m shares in JSE USD Market
Trading jumped sharply on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Wednesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands surging 16,744 percent valued 15,601 percent more than on Tuesday and resulting with trading of seven securities , compared to three on Tuesday with four rising, no declining and three ending unchanged.
Overall, 22,289,394 shares were traded, for US$1,286,713 compared to 132,328 units at US$8,195 on Tuesday.
Trading averaged 3,184,199 shares at US$183,816 compared with 44,109 shares at US$2,732 on Tuesday, with a month to date average of 252,426 shares at US$14,653 compared with 79,969 units at US$4,702 on the previous day. October ended with an average of 47,977 units for US$4,392.
The US Denominated Equities Index advanced 4.45 points to cease trading at 228.23.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows five stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share inched 0.2 of a cent higher to 4.44 US cents after an exchange of 19,350,000 units, Margaritaville rose 1.79 cent to close at 13.79 US cents after a mere one stock passed through the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ended at 57 US cents with 1,187 shares changing hands, Proven Investments ended at 15 US cents after an exchange of 2,771,930 stock units, Sterling Investments advanced 0.1 of a cent to end at 1.6 US cents after 1,206 shares were traded, Sygnus Credit Investments remained at 8.71 US cents in an exchange of 65,266 units and Transjamaican Highway popped 0.01 of a cent to 1.56 US cents, with 99,804 stocks changing hands.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Strong performance in ICTOP10 stocks
The main market has been quietly rising since the start of November and closed the past week at the highest level since the start of the month while the Junior Market declined to the lowest level since early May this year but the performance of the ICTOP10 was mostly positive, with the Junior Market having 4 stocks gaining between 5 and 15 percent and two with declines of 6 and 7 percent. The Main Market had two stocks gaining 5 and 11 percent and two falling by 3 percent.
Against the above market movements, there was just one new addition to the ICTOP10 with listings for the Junior Market with Caribbean Flavours moving out with a 15 percent gain for the week to close at $1.39 and Access Financial taking its place. The other big action in the Junior Market, resulted in Paramount Trading gaining 12 percent to close at $1.68, Caribbean Cream rising 9 percent to $3.70 and Jamaican Teas adding 5 percent to end at $2.35. Lasco Manufacturing dropped 7 percent to $4.20 and Express Catering fell 6 percent to $3.75.
The Main Market closed the week with Key Insurance climbing 11 percent to $2.50, while 138 Student Living rose by 5 percent to $4.22.
Access Financial Services is enjoying a turnaround in its fortunes with profit for the second quarter to September surging 153 percent over the same period in 2022 to reach EPS of 51 cents even with allowances for credit losses rising to $89 million from $54 million in the 2022 period as revenues from interest climbed 25 percent to $556 million and revenues net of finance cost was up 9.5 percent to $567 million. 
For the half year, profit jumped 76 percent to $234 million as loan granted borrowers rose almost $600 million to $5.36 billion from $4.76 billion in September 2022 and the same amount since March this year. The company had more than $760 million available to lend plus cash flows from profit that should pushed lending up around 25 percent year over year and helped to swell profits for the year substantially above the six months levels.
Elsewhere, we upgraded Scotia Group’s earnings to $6 per share making it a more attractive IC TOP10 stock.
An indication of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 318 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 15 of the most highly valued stocks representing 31 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 29 and 19 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 23 for the top half and 20 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 7, over half of the market, with an average of 12.9. There are 15 stocks, or 31 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 47, averaging 20 that are well above the market’s average of 12.9. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, with the market projected to rise by 260 percent on or around May 2024.
Of great import is that the averages of both markets are now converging around a PE of 20 for close to a third of the market, as the year is coming to a close and with more information available on full year’s earnings.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Minor slippage in JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Thursday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining 6 percent, with a value marginally more than on Wednesday, resulting in trading of three securities, compared to six on Wednesday with one rising, one declining and one ending unchanged.
At the close of the market, 345,389 shares were traded, for US$6,537 compared with 368,630 units at US$6,490 on Wednesday.s
Trading ended with an average of 15,130 shares at US$2,179 versus 61,438 units at US$1,082 on Wednesday. Trading for the month to date average 78,208 shares at US$4,738 compared with 77,132 units at US$4,813 on the previous day. October ended with an average of 47,977 units for US$4,392.
The US Denominated Equities Index shed 0.87 points to lock up trading at 225.03.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.6. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville fell 0.3 of a cent to 12 US cents in switching ownership of 10,000 stocks, Proven Investments inched 0.01 of a cent higher to 15.01 US cents with investors trading 83 units and Transjamaican Highway ended at 1.6 US cents as 335,306 shares passed through the market .
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Buoyant JSE USD Market trading
Trading remains buoyant on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market for a second day running on Tuesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 63 percent valued 101 percent more than on Monday, and resulted from trading in seven securities, compared to four on Monday with three rising, one declining and three ending unchanged.
A total of 830,053 shares were traded, for US$28,943 up from 509,457 units at US$14,389 on Monday.
Trading on Tuesday averaged 118,579 shares for US$4,135 versus 127,364 shares at US$3,597 on Monday, with a month to date average of 78,103 shares at US$5,044 compared to 74,955 units at US$5,114 on the previous day and above October that ended with an average of 47,977 units for US$4,392.
The US Denominated Equities Index advanced 0.38 points to 227.85.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville climbed 1.26 cents and ended at 12.3 US cents, with 2,500 stocks crossing the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ended at 57 US cents with investors trading a mere one unit, Productive Business Solutions remained at US$1.55 with investors swapping 5 shares. Proven Investments fell 0.01 of a cent in closing at 15 US cents in an exchange of 109,252 stock units, Sterling Investments remained at 1.7 US cents passed through the market 4,075 shares, Sygnus Credit Investments popped 0.01 cent to 8.71 US cents while exchanging 4,135 units and Transjamaican Highway increased by 0.14 of a cent in closing at 1.73 US cents in switching ownership of 710,085 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Shakeup in ICTOP10
A load of third quarter results hit the market during the past week, while some were good a large number were disappointing, collectively they offered no help to a market that continues to struggle with the Main Market being steady at the end of the week but the Junior Market declined compared with the previous week, for a second week of decline, having undergone wild daily swings during the week.
Price movements in the market and reduced profits in some cases resulted in three new ICTOP10 listings for the Junior Market and none for the Main Market.
Action in the Junior Market, resulted in Iron Rock Insurance gaining 10 percent to $2.19, followed by a 9 percent rise in Dolphin Cove to $18 after an announcement of an 80 cents dividend to be paid in December and the release of third quarter results and Jamaican Teas added 14 cents for a 7 percent rally. Everything Fresh shed 7 percent to $1.45, followed by Caribbean Cream down 6 percent to $3.38 and Lasco Manufacturing dropping 5 percent to $4.50.
The Main Market closed the week with few notable price changes and ended with Palace Amusement Company gaining 7 percent to $1.30, while 138 Student Living declined by 5 percent to $4.
There were no new additions to the Main Market IC TOP 10, however, the Junior Market, had 3 new additions with Express Catering coming in as well as Caribbean Flavours and Lasco Distributors, replacing Dolphin Cove enjoyed b appreciation during the week, Everything Fresh that also dropped out following downward adjustment to earnings, after the company released third quarter results with weak profit performance although revenues in the quarter rose nicely over the similar period in 2022 and Caribbean Assurance with management advising of a surprising 40 percent cut in “the International Comprehensive Health Insurance Programme’s renewal commission rate, with a corresponding 40 percent increase in its new business rate, with the expressed intention of incentivising the production and consistent growth of new business.” Unfortunately, Management gave no timeline when revenues will return to traditional levels.
An indication of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 320 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 14 of the most highly valued stocks representing 29 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 30 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 23 for the top half and 16 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 6.9, just over half of the market, with an average of 13.1. There are 14 stocks, or 29 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 46, averaging 21 that are well above the market’s average of 13. The top half of the market has an average PE of 18, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, with the market projected to rise by 260 percent on or around May 2024.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
ICTOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading falls back for JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining 92 percent valued 94 percent lower than on Thursday, resulting in trading in eight securities, compared to nine on Thursday and ended with prices of three rising, two declining and three ending unchanged.
Overall, 306,262 shares were traded, for US$15,475 compared with 3,636,438 units at US$276,260 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 38,283 units at US$1,934, up from 404,049 shares at US$30,696 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 72,517 shares at US$5,185 compared with 76,029 units at US$5,518 on the previous day. October ended with an average of 47,977 units for US$4,392.
The US Denominated Equities Index popped 1.05 points to close trading at 228.67.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.6. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville ended at 11.04 US cents and closed with an exchange of 5,101 units, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy fell 1.99 cents to 57 US cents after an exchange of just one stock, Proven Investments lost 0.99 of one cent to close at 15 US cents with investors transferring 57,463 shares. 
Sterling Investments rallied 0.02 of a cent in closing at 1.7 US cents after investors exchanged 863 stock units, Sygnus Credit Investments ended at 9 US cents with stakeholders exchanging 3,000 shares, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share popped 1.4 cents in closing at 10.4 US cents 3,000 stocks crossing the market and Transjamaican Highway gained 0.07 cents to 1.67 US cents while exchanging 236,685 units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business Solutions 9.25% preference share ended at US$11.50 with investors dealing in 149 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
New additions to ICTOP10
A series of third quarter company results were released during the past week, and most reported good numbers that augur well for the stock prices in the months ahead. Some of the results are companies in the ICTOP10. During the week the JSE Main Market rose but the Junior Market lost ground moderately for a second week.
Price movements in the market resulted in two new ICTOP10 listings for the Junior Market and one for the Main Market. In the Junior Market, Dolphin Cove rose 6 percent to $16.50 and AMG Packaging rose 4 percent to $2.44 after trading at a 52 weeks’ low of $1.95 during the week. Paramount Trading dropped 12 percent to $1.48, followed by Everything Fresh shedding 11 percent to $1.56, Iron Rock Insurance fell 9 percent to $2 and Caribbean Assurance Brokers declined 8 percent to end at $2.85.
The Main Market closed the week with Sygnus Credit Investments climbing 7 percent to $11.90, Margaritaville and Jamaica Broilers rising 6 percent to $17.58 and $34.97 respectively. General Insurance dropped 9 percent to end at $5.04.
Lasco Financial and Lasco Distributors released half year results but dropped out of the Junior Market ICTOP10 and Lasco Manufacturing also reported six months results but remained in the ICTOP 10. Following the release of the results, Lasco Distributors earnings were reduced from $1.65 to $1.60 for the full year and sits at number 12 in ICInsider.com rankings. 
Importantly selling in the stock has been drastically reduced with just 19 offers up to $15.90 amounting to less than 200,000 shares and 19 bids above $4, with the highest bid amounting to more than the total stocks being offered. Earnings per share for Lasco Financial were reduced to 15 cents for the year and holds the 31st spot on the list.
Jamaica Teas also released results for the year to September, showing an improvement over 2022 and disclosed expected improvements from major changes already undertaken, which should improve 2024 results added to that, stocks should do better in the coming year, resulting in exposure of projections for 2024 as such it along with Caribbean Cream are now in the ICTOP10.
Returning to the Main Market TOP 10 is Palace Amusement Company replacing Caribbean Cement.
The average PE for the JSE Main Market ICTOP 10 stands at 5, well below the market average of 12.2. The Main Market ICTOP10 is projected to gain an average of 319 percent by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
An indication of where stock prices could be by May 2024 can be seen from stocks with the highest values in the Main and Junior Markets.
In the Main Market ICTOP 10, a total of 14 of the most highly valued stocks representing 29 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 108, with an average of 30 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, and a PE of 23 for the top half and 16 excluding the stocks with overweight values.
The PE of the Junior Market TOP10 sits at 5.7, just over half of the market, with an average of 11.9. There are 11 stocks, or 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 48, averaging 21 that are well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 17, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, with the market projected to rise by 260 percent on or around May 2024.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but this is not always so. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks will likely deliver the best returns on or around May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading drops Thursday on JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Thursday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining 30 percent, valued 91 percent lower than on Wednesday, resulting in the trading of four securities, compared to eight on Wednesday, with two rising, one declining and one ending unchanged.
Overall, 308,440 shares were traded for US$5,303 compared with 443,134 units at US$59,410 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 77,110 units at US$1,326, versus 55,392 shares at US$7,426 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 30,013 shares at US$2,210 compared with 25,303 units at US$2,299 on the previous day. October ended with an average of 47,977 units for US$4,392.
The US Denominated Equities Index popped 0.33 points to end at 227.49.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending and or around August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Margaritaville ended at 12 US cents with 54 stocks crossing the market, Sterling Investments lost 0.1 of a cent to close at 1.75 US cents while exchanging 25 units, Sygnus Credit Investments inched 0.1 of a cent higher in closing at 9.1 US cents after 336 shares passed through the market and Transjamaican Highway rose 0.02 of a cent to end at 1.72 US cents after trading 308,025 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
