Rising stocks were dominant at the end of trading on Junior Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange one day after Jamaica’s general election was held with the governing party retaining power. At the close on Friday, stocks enjoyed modest gains for the third consecutive day after 61 percent fewer shares traded than on Thursday.
Trading ended with 28 securities changing hands compared to 31 on Thursday and ended with the prices of 12 stocks rising, the prices of eight declining and eight, with remaining unchanged.
At the close, the Junior Market Index rose 12.62 points to settle at 2,469.98, the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10 based on IC Insider.com’s forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
The market closed with an exchange of 1,643,360 shares for $5,533,060 compared to 4,265,667 shares for $9,982,025 on Thursday.
Mailpac Group led trading with 865,762 shares for 52.7 percent of total volume, followed by Lasco Financial with 140,446 units for 8.6 percent of the day’s trade and Caribbean Flavours with 118,584 units for 7.2 percent market share.
Trading ended with an average of 58,691 units at $197,609 in contrast to 137,142 units at $322,001 on Thursday. For the month to date, the average trade resulted in an exchange of 83,389 units at $246,517, in comparison to 90,668 units at $260,932 to Thursday. Trading in August resulted in an average of 104,426 units at $321,996.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close of the market, Access Financial rose 1 cent to settle at $20.97 with 7 stock units traded, AMG Packaging gained 14 cents to end at $1.70 in an exchange of 100 stock units, Blue Power fell 22 cents to finish at $3.10 with 4,198 units changing hands. Caribbean Flavours jumped 50 cents to close at $18.50 with investors transferring 118,584 stock units, Caribbean Producers slipped 1 cent to $2.39 with 19,000 stocks traded, Elite Diagnostic added 1 cent to settle at $3.06 with investors switching ownership of 2,930 shares. Everything Fresh declined by 5 cents to end at 65 cents in an exchange of 37,527 stock units, Fontana gained 2 cents in to close at $4.73 with 40,975 stocks changing hands, Fosrich advanced 10 cents to finish at $4 with investors transferring 13,761 stock units. General Accident increased by 2 cents to settle at $6.42 after trading 512 shares, 
GWest Corporation fell 19 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 56 cents with an exchange of 112,000 stock units, Indies Pharma dropped 21 cents to end at $2.63 with investors switching the ownership of 95,088 stocks. Jetcon Corporation rose 3 cents to finish at 83 cents with 31,162 units changing hands, Lasco Distributors closed 2 cents higher at $3.12 with 11,000 stock units traded, Lasco Financial dropped 9 cents to end at $2.06 with investors transferring 140,446 stocks. Lasco Manufacturing climbed 18 cents to finish at $3.79 in an exchange of 2,176 shares, Mailpac Group gained 14 cents to settle at $2.14, trading 865,762 units, Medical Disposables added 10 cents in closing at $4.99 with 12,387 stocks changing hands. SSL Venture declined by 11 cents to finish at 75 cents with 8,084 units trading and Stationery and Office Supplies lost 4 cents to end at $5.61 after with 9,986 stock units crossing the exchange.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading ended with 31 securities changing hands compared to 35 on Wednesday and ended with the prices of 15 stocks rising, the prices of 10 declining and six, with remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows five stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and seven with lower offers.
Indies Pharma gained 19 cents and ended at $2.84, with and 14,008 stock units clearing the market, ISP Finance climbed $2 in closing at $15 in transferring 1,000 units, Jamaican Teas rose 63 cents to close at $4.69, after an exchange of 3,000 units. Jetcon Corporation slipped 4 cents to 80 cents trading 9,510 stock units, Knutsford Express finished 10 cents higher at $6.90, with a transfer of 3,649 shares, Lasco Distributors carved out a gain of 10 cents to close at $3.10, with 51,906 shares crossing the market. Lasco Financial gained 2 cents to settle at $2.15, in trading 51,250 shares, Lasco Manufacturing lost 18 cents to end $3.61 after exchanging 6,000 units, Limners and Bards shed 12 cents in closing at $2.61, while trading 374,097 shares. Lumber Depot gained 6 cents to end at $1.05, with a transfer of 4,511 units, MailPac Group closed at $2, with a gain of 1 cent in trading 3,522,281 shares, Main Event rose 30 cents to end at $3.70, in exchanging 100 units and tTech shed 60 cents to settle at $5.50 with investors swapping 40,849 shares.
At the close of the market, Access Financial gained 9 cents to end at $20.90, with 500 shares crossing the market, AMG Packaging lost 15 cents to close at $1.56 trading 3,100 stock units, Cargo Handlers shed 55 cents to settle at $6 while exchanging 7,493 units. Caribbean Cream lost 30 cents in ending at $4.20 with investors switching ownership of 26,646 shares, Caribbean Flavours climbed 74 cents to $18.33, in exchanging 14,174 stocks, Caribbean Producers lost 9 cents in closing at $2.31 and transferring 183,684 shares. Derrimon Trading gained 20 cents to end at $2.50, after exchanging 9,200 units, Elite Diagnostic rose 44 cents to $3.45 and clearing the market with 389 shares, Everything Fresh picked up 3 cents to end at 70 cents after exchanging 100 units. Express Catering shed 59 cents to settle at $3.35 trading 50,224 shares, Fontana lost 4 cents to finish at $4.75, with 137,591 shares passing through the market, Fosrich lost 20 cents and closed at $3.80 with 16,501 stock units crossing the market. General Accident closed 41 cents higher at $6.48, in exchanging 26,026 stock units, Honey Bun ended at $4.80, with a loss of 30 cents and 22,155 stock units crossing the market, iCreate slipped 2 cents to 68 cents trading 13,646 stock units. 
Indies Pharma shed 14 cents to end at $2.65 trading 14,764 shares, Iron Rock Insurance lost 25 cents to close at $2.90 with investors switching ownership of 6,225 units, ISP Finance rose $1 to settle at $13, with 902 units passing through the market. Jamaican Teas dropped 54 cents to $4.06, after clearing the market with 42,687 shares, Jetcon Corporation gained 4 cents to finish at 84 cents, in transferring 605,400 stocks, KLE Group gained 6 cents to end at $1.42, after trading 5,000 units. Knutsford Express lost 10 cents to close at $6.80, with 4,308 units crossing the market, Lasco Financial shed 1 cent to close at $2.13, in trading 67,204 shares, Lasco Manufacturing gained 19 cents and ended at $3.79, with an exchange of 34,639 shares. Limners and Bards carved out a gain of 3 cents after ending at $2.73 and a transfer of 30,260 stock units, MailPac Group lost 1 cent to end at $1.99 with investors swapping 50,600 shares. Medical Disposables rose 22 cents to finish at $4.89 trading 7,305 stocks and Stationery and Office Supplies gained 5 cents to settle at $5.65 with investors swapping 9,846 units.
At the close, the average PE Ratio of the market ended at 10.2 based on IC Insider.com forecast of 2020-21 earnings.
At the close of the market, Access Financial advanced $6.02 to $26.10 in an exchange of 10,056 shares, AMG Packaging gained 3 cents to end at $1.73 with 28,100 stock units changing hands, Blue Power closed at $3.20, after losing 5 cents and exchanging 15,500 shares. Caribbean Assurance Brokers lost 1 cent to finish at $2.08, in trading 6,818 units, Caribbean Cream ended at $3.90, with a loss of 7 cents in exchanging 9,780 units. Caribbean Flavours shed 50 cents, in falling to $17.50 with investors swapping 26,783 stock units, Caribbean Producers fell 1 cent to $2.44 and clearing the market with 22,090 stocks, Consolidated Bakeries slipped 1 cent to settle at $1.35 in exchanging 35,000 shares. Elite Diagnostic gained 1 cent to close at $3.01 while exchanging 24,431 units, Express Catering dropped 48 cents to settle at $3.46 in trading 199,371 shares, Fontana declined 20 cents to $4.79 after exchanging 74,757 stock units. General Accident shed 50 cents to close at $6.10 with 210,110 shares crossing the market, iCreate gained 5 cents to close at 70 cents after trading 210,000 shares, Iron Rock Insurance rose 30 cents in closing at $3.15, with investors switching ownership of 2,000 units. Jamaican Teas carved out a gain of 20 cents in ending at $4.70, with 11,034 stock units changing hands, Jetcon Corporation ended 5 cents higher at 80 cents, in transferring 3,500 stock units, Knutsford Express closed at $6.90, with gains of 5 cents trading 19,911 stock units. Lasco Distributors lost 18 cents to end at $3.01 after exchanging 39,926 shares, Lasco Financial gained 6 cents to end at $2.15 in an exchange of 49,500 stock units, Lasco Manufacturing finished 9 cents higher at $3.60, with 8,900 stock units crossing the market.
Limners and Bards carved out a gain of 13 cents to end at $2.69 while exchanging 4,888 stock units, Lumber Depot lost 5 cents in closing at $1 while trading 17,125 stocks, MailPac Group declined 2 cents to $2, after exchanging 1,258,085 shares. Medical Disposables fell 23 cents to $4.67, with a transfer of 7,653 stock units, Paramount Trading shed 18 cents to settle at $1.52, in an exchange of 10,200 stock units, Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 20 cents to settle at $5.60 after trading 46,175 stock units and tTech lost 1 cent to end at $5.40 with investors swapping 3,112 stocks.
During the past week, companies continued the release of midyear results, with little impact on the market. Jamaica Broilers released decent first-quarter results to the end of July, with a slight improvement in after-tax profit, with operating profit rising 25 percent on lower revenues. Wisynco Group full-year audited financials showed modest gains in profit while Blue Power profits jumped 41 percent. Of the three, only Jamaica Broilers is in the TOP 10. At the close of the week, Medical Disposables dropped out of the Junior Market listing and replaced by Jetcon Corporation. NCB Financial returns to TOP 10 and now sits at the bottom of the list, having replaced Eppley.
Caribbean Producers heads the list, followed by Lasco Financial and Elite Diagnostic, the focus on all three is on the 2021 fiscal year results, projected to show recovery from the 2020 financial year final numbers. The top three Main Market stocks, with expected gains of 205 to 264 percent, are Berger Paints followed by Radio Jamaica and JMMB Group, all three suffered declines during the week.
The average projected gain for the Junior Market IC TOP 10 stocks is 291 percent, and 161 percent for the JSE Main Market, based on 2020-21 earnings, an indication of potentially greater gains in the Junior Market than in the Main Market.
Trading ended with 25 securities changing hands compared to 32 on Thursday and ended with the prices of seven stocks rising, 13 declining and five remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Jetcon Corporation lost 9 ents, in ending at 75 cents and clearing the market with 76,129 shares, Lasco Distributors lost 1 cent to close at $3.19, with 50,892 shares changing hands, Lasco Financial finished at $2.09, after slipping 7 cents and exchanging 287,275 shares. Lasco Manufacturing shed 9 cents to end at $3.51, with a transfer of 314,834 shares, Limners and Bards settled at $2.56, having lost 4 cents trading 22,468 stock units, Lumber Depot gained 5 cents to end at $1.05 with investors swapping 244,122 shares. Mailpac Group picked up 2 cents to finish at $2.02, trading 128,728 stock units and Medical Disposables lost 5 cents to close at $4.90 in an exchange of 10,810 units.
Trading ended, with 32 securities changing hands, compared to 34 on Wednesday and ended with the prices of 10 stocks rising, 15 stocks declining and seven ending, with prices remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows one stock ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and none closing with lower offers.
Jamaican Teas lost 6 cents to settle at $4.84, with an exchange of 188,647 units, KLE Group declined 6 cents to close at $1.36 with 47,759 units traded, Knutsford Express dropped 5 cents to finish at $6.85 with 220 stock units changing hands. Lasco Distributors gained 5 cents to end at $3.20 with investors transferring 9,000 stock units, Lasco Financial rose 7 cents to close at $2.16 after exchanging 14,100 units, Lasco Manufacturing traded 300,713 units and shed 38 cents to finish at $3.60. Limners and Bards ended 9 cents higher at $2.60 with investors switching ownership of 163,400 shares, Lumber Depot fell 5 cents to close at $1 with 380,966 shares changing hands, Medical Disposables lost 5 cents to finish at $4.95 with 3,960 units traded and tTech dropped 8 cents to settle at $5.41 with 8,222 units crossing the exchange.
Trading concluded with 34 securities changing hands compared to 31 on Tuesday and ended with the prices of 17 stocks rising, the prices of 12 declining and five with prices remaining unchanged.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
Fosrich slipped 5 cents to close at $3.70, with 2,327 units changing hands, General Accident advanced 5 cents to end at $6.34 with investors transferring 11,000 shares, Honey Bun gained 1 cent to finish at $5.10 with investors switching ownership of 2,285 units. iCreate increased by 2 cents to close at 70 cents with 15,331 stock units traded, Indies Pharma gained 7 cents in the exchange of 74,978 stock units to settle at $2.82, Jamaican Teas fell 4 cents to finish at $4.90 with 43,715 stock units changing hands. Jetcon Corporation closed 2 cents higher at 84 cents in the exchange of 33,751 shares, Lasco Distributors lost 9 cents to end at$3.15 with investors switching ownership of 63,559 units, Lasco Financial traded 163,583 stock units and fell 7 cents to settle at $2.09. Lasco Manufacturing gained 9 cents to finish at $3.98 with 33,050 shares traded, Limners and Bards traded 133,577 stocks and advanced 23 cents to close at $2.51, Lumber Depot ended 5 cents higher at $1.05 with investors transferring 92,005 stock units. Mailpac Group exchanged 217,089 stocks and gained 3 cents to settle at $2, Main Event declined by 10 cents to finish at $3.40 with investors switching ownership of 7,198 stock units, Medical Disposables lost 10 cents to end at $5 with 52,970 stock units traded. Stationery and Office Supplies climbed 20 cents to close at $5.80, with investors transferring 142 shares and tTech advanced by 8 cents to settle at $5.49 with 2,948 units crossing the exchange.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the market shows four stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
Honey Bun climbed 26 cents to close at $5.09 with a mere 10 units changing hands, iCreate finished 1 cent higher at 68 cents with 321,388 units crossing the market. Indies Pharma declined by 5 cents in exchanging 27,770 stock units to close at $2.75, Iron Rock Insurance advanced 40 cents to end at $3.20, in trading 24,000 shares, Jamaican Teas rose 29 cents to close at $4.94 with 154,886 units changing hands. Jetcon Corporation fell 4 cents to settle at 82 cents in an exchange of 48,603 stocks, Lasco Distributors advanced 24 cents to finish at $3.24 with 70,312 units traded, Lasco Manufacturing gained 9 cents to end at $3.89 with investors transferring 20 units. Limners and Bards exchanged 274,649 shares and dropped 38 cents to close at $2.28, Lumber Depot slipped 2 cents to $1 with investors switching ownership of 20,000 stock units, Mailpac Group declined by 10 cents to settle at $1.97 with 563,033 units traded. Main Event increased 10 cents to close at $3.50 with investors transferring 6,284 stock units, Stationery and Office Supplies dropped 19 cents to finish at $5.60 in the trading of 124,072 stocks and tTech fell 9 cents to settle at $5.41 with 25,878 shares crossing the exchange.
The fall elevating it back into the Junior Market TOP 10, with Lasco Distributors dropping out, while there was no change to the main market list.
The targeted average PE ratio of the market is 20 based on the profits of companies reporting full year’s results, from now to the second quarter in 2021. Both the Junior and Main markets are currently trading well below this level, an indication of the potential gains ahead. The JSE Main Market ended the week, with an overall PE of 15 and the Junior Market 10.6, based on IC Insider.com’s projected 2020-21 earnings. 
The average PE ratio of the Junior Market has been slowly rising, with better profit opportunities than the Main Market and narrowing the gap. The PE ratio for the Junior Market Top 10 stocks average a mere six at just 56 percent to the average of the overall Junior Market. The Main Market TOP 10 stocks trade at a PE of 8.1 or 54 percent of the PE of the overall market.
IC TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to March 2021 and ranked in order of potential gains, based on possible 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 will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Revisions to earnings per share are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
