
Barita climbs to a new closing high of $50 on Friday to gain 593% in 2018..
Stocks on the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market ending 2018 with a credible gain of 31.7 percent but brokerage house Barita Investments surged a by a huge 593 percent to be the markets best performing stock in 2018.
Barita Investments gain mostly came after Cornerstone Investment Holdings officially sealed the deal to take over the company and laterally, after announcing a rights issue to shareholders at an exercise price of $15.50. The stock closed the year at $52. But there is a lot more going on with this company as the new majority owners take a more aggressive approach to capture more business locally and within the wider Caribbean.
Four stocks end 2018 with gains of more than 100 percent contributed to the year’s performance but the year’s movement fell below that of 2017, when the index rose 50.7 percent. The next best performer could only deliver a
211 percent rise in contrast to the stunning gains by Barita. Salada Foods ended the year with a jump in price to $35 on strong gains in profit, to capture the number 2 best performing spot rising by 211 percent for the year, followed by Palace Amusement with gains of 159 percent, the third year in a row that it is occupying the top 10 list. Kingston Wharves grew 135 percent to be one of 4 stocks to reappear in the top 10 for two consecutive years. Jamaica Broilers gained 67 percent. Pulse Investments reappeared in the Top 10 with a rise of 66 percent and heavy weight, PanJam Investment put in a strong showing of 65 percent, while Supreme Ventures chipped in with 57 percent, Mayberry Investments rose 52 percent and NCB Financial with 50 percent to retain one of the Top 10 spots for the second year in a row.
The worst performing stocks included Ciboney down 71 percent due mainly to the sale of property it previously owned
with most of the proceeds distributed as a dividend thus reducing the value of its assets to a few million dollars. 138 Student Living was next with a fall of 42 percent with Portland JSX ending with a loss for the year of 25 percent following on from Kingston Properties with 22 percent and Sygnus Credit Investments with 20 percent from it 2018 IPO price. Both Ciboney and Carreras that are in the top 10 worst performing stocks in 2018 are coming from the top 10 in 2017.

The Jamaica Stock Exchange main market made more gains in the indices in closing of Friday further eroding the 13,784 points lost between Monday and Wednesday. 
JMMB Group rose 89 cents and ended at $33.90, with an exchange of 37,478 shares, Mayberry Investments shed $2.50 to settle at $10.50, in exchanging 15,799 units, 


Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange resulted in further declines in the market indices but by less than the approximate 2,000 points decline on Friday, even as advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones.
Trading resulted in an average of 128,374 units valued at an average of $2,989,139 for each security traded. In contrast to 442,474 units for an average of $1,930,933 on Friday. For the month to date an average of 223,710 shares valued at an average of $4,528,884 versus 231,530 shares valued at an average of $4,665,985 on Friday. July closed with an average of 169,022 units valued at $3,514,756, for each security traded.
Mayberry Jamaica Euities jumped $1 to settle at an all-time closing high of $10, trading 349,204 units, PanJam Investment gained 40 cents and concluded trading 985 shares and closed at $52, Sagicor Real Estate Fund jumped $1.50 to $13.50, with 28,511 shares, Salada Foods shed 25 cents to close at $16.75, in exchanging 1,200 units, Scotia Group shed $1 in traded 83,372 shares to close at $52, Sygnus Credit Investments rose 40 cent to close at $10.50 in trading 11,629 shares and Wisynco Group rose 34 cents and finished trading 211,342 shares to end at $9.39.
for just 8.4 percent of the day’s volume after trading at an intraday high of $10 and Supreme Ventures with 604,043 units and 4.9 percent of the main market volume.
Victoria Mutual Investments lost 42 cents in concluding trading at $3.51, with 604,043 stock units and Wisynco Group fell 25 cents and finished trading 105,450 shares to end at $9.05.
There are several changes to the TOP stocks, following an eventful week of trading on the Jamaican Stock Exchange, with the main market posting records on all five days and closing at record highs, on four of them. 


The sharp movement in the prices of some main market stocks this past week, encouraged by minimal supplies, is a warning sign of a tsunami that is on the way for the market. Late comers to buying stocks who try to join the party will find get stocks but at a much higher prices than weeks ago.
The shortage of supply is set to result in a big rise in prices going forward before supplies will be able to satisfy what is likely to be a rising demand.
On Friday, prospectuses for Stanley Motta and Mayberry Jamaican Equity were published. These issues are not priced to bounce based on the underlying nature of these companies. Stanley Motta is a real estate play that will provide income that is better than most fixed interest securities with growth moderate going forward, while Mayberry is a close end mutual fund that growth is going to depend of appreciation in the investments held or to be acquired.
Radio Jamaica that came for increased buying in the past week could get more attention with the network broadcasting the popular world cup matches as adverting revenues should climb as a result from the coverage. Others worth watching include Caribbean Cement, Berger Paints with little selling, Grace Kennedy for which there is also limited supply and Pulse Investments that traded a large volume on Wednesday and Thursday with the price shooting to $2.28 before pulling back on Friday. In the Junior market, demand for Derrimon Trading closed the week at a new high, during the past week and seems poised to move higher. Stationery and Office Supplies settled down during the week is set to rebound soon as selling around the $8 level starts to ease. Jamaican Teas pulled back in the past week to $5.50 but with limited stocks being offered for sale, it is worth watching.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange pulled back at the close of trading on Friday as declining stocks was 60 percent more than as those advancing to end a week that had 2 days of new record close and still ended the week 2,561 points ahead of the close of the previous week.
Grace Kennedy gained 50 cents and ended trading at $50.50, with 5,120 shares. Jamaica Broilers declined by 90 cents, trading 25,789 stock units to end at $22.10, with, Jamaica Producers gained 10 cents and finished trading at $16.95, with 1,654 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.20, with 2,500 shares after rising 17 cents, JMMB Group ended at $29.45, trading 219,128 shares with a rise of 45 cents. Kingston Properties fell 35 cents concluded trading at 52 weeks’ low of $5, with 6,000 shares, Kingston Wharves fell 35 cents and finished at $45.65, with 26,730 stock units changing hands, Mayberry Investments shed 44 cents and settled at $6.06, with 26,247 units, NCB Financial Group shed 49 cents and ended trading at $99.50, with 766,949 shares. 1834 Investments traded at $1.09 after rising 3 cents with 30,000 shares changing hands, 138 Student Living lost 8 cents and settled at $4.60, with 1,000 units, PanJam Investment closed at $51.45, with 27,225 stock units, Portland JSX lost 87 cents to end at $9.25, with 10,000 units, Radio Jamaica finished at $1.05, with 71,058 shares.
Sagicor Group settled at $38.15 and lost 95 cents after trading 73,246 shares, Sagicor Real Estate Fund eased 1 cent and settled at $13.79, with 14,201 shares. Scotia Group rose 57 cents in closing trading at $50.60, with 46,014 units, Sterling Investments dropped $2.50 and closed at $9.50, with 591 shares, Supreme Ventures lost 30 cents and ended at $14.20, with 72,325 shares. Victoria Mutual Investments concluded trading with a fall of 10 cents at $4, exchanging 568,164 stock units and Wisynco Group rose 4 cents, finishing at $9.84, with 169,237 units. In the main market preference segment, JMMB Group 7.5% lost 4 cents and finished at $1.04, with 1,000 stock units changing hands.
The Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday with modest volumes, but the market indices moved to new record close.
Carreras concluded trading at $10.30, with 39,046 units, Caribbean Cement jumped $2.50 to finish at $42, with 23,000 shares, Ciboney Group settled at 12 cents, with 50,000 shares. Grace Kennedy rose $1, ending trading at $51, exchanging 26,789 shares, Jamaica Broilers rose 20 cents to $23, with 2,100 stock units, Jamaica Producers finished trading at $16.85, with 14,960 units, Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at $7.30, trading 43,660 shares. JMMB Group ended with a loss of 65 cents at $27.60, trading 358,700 shares, Kingston Properties dropped 65 cents and concluded trading at $5.35, with 2,400 shares, Kingston Wharves fell 50 cents and finished at $46, with 61,766 stock units, Mayberry Investments settled with a gain of 10 cents at $6.50, trading 2,090 units. NCB Financial Group rose 25 cents and ended trading at $98.25, with 20,462 shares, PanJam Investment closed with a fall of 5 cents at $51.45, exchanging just 200 stock units, Radio Jamaica eased just 1 cent and finished at $1.07, with 104,000 shares trading,
Sagicor Group settled with a loss of 70 cents at $38.50, exchanging 21,654 shares. Sagicor Real Estate Fund added 1 cents and settled at $13.81, with 890 shares, Scotia Group rose 35 cents in trading 59,507 units to close at $51.50, Supreme Ventures ended 30 cents higher at a 52 weeks’ high of $15.30, with 9,314 shares, Victoria Mutual Investments rose 7 cents and concluded trading at $4.07, with 311,254 stock units and Wisynco Group lost 25 cents and finished trading at $9.75 with 1,080,201 units changing hands.