Main Event rose in price and Medical Disposables (Meds) dropped out of the TOP 10 and were replaced by Caribbean Cream and Jamaican Teas.
Main Event rose from $5.50 to $5.75 on Friday, enough to lift them out of the Top list. Earnings at Meds were lowered with the release of the 6 months results with a 21 percent increased sales, in the September quarter but a reduction in profit margin and net profit.
JMMB Group rose from $29.50 to a record close of $30.50 and is sitting at the lower end of the main market list. Grace Kennedy reported good September quarter results, excluding one off gains while Berger Paints‘ six months results show revenues for the September quarter rising 21 percent and profit is up approximately 70 percent when the cost associated with the offer from Ansa Coatings offer is taken out. Berger traded to close on Friday at $15 and is one to watch in the week.
This coming week should see a raft of company results that could shake up the top 10 in both markets. On Friday Lasco Financial, a former TOP 10 stock, reported profit that more than doubled in September quarter to $100 million and up 63 percent to $167 million for the six months. These results could encouraged increased buying in the stock.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks is at 9.1 and a PE at 7.3 for the main market TOP 10.
The average PE for the overall main market trades at 14 and 13.7 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 39 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 48 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for Caribbean Cement, Cable & Wireless that is expected to post improved profit in the latest quarter from increasing revenues, NCB Financial, Berger Paints, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Access Financial, General Accident that is expected to benefit from a rise in premium rates, Lasco Financial, Paramount Trading and Stationery and Office.
JSE main market inched higher
Trading on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended on Friday with 22 securities changing hands, 6 advanced, 8 declined and 8 traded firm with 5,777,201 units valued at $107,680,730 compared to 2,566,192 units valued at $67,621,781 on Thursday.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index advanced by 102.47 points to close at 320,729.33, the JSE Index advanced by 93.36 points to close at 292,220.70. The US dollar Equity market lost 6.54 points to close at 169.09 as two securities traded resulting in 29,583 units valued at US$19,957.
Trading ended with an average of 262,600 units for an average of $4,894,579 in contrast to 128,310 units for an average of $3,381,089 on Thursday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 207,395 units valued at $3,425.086 and previously, 199,991 units valued at $3,227,959. 
In contrast, October closed with average of 1,185,251 units at $16,528,582 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 9 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
JMMB Group traded at a 52 weeks’ high and ended $1 up to $30.50 after trading as high as $30.70. Caribbean Cement finished with a loss of $1.99, NCB Financial rose $1.15 to $108, and Seprod climbed $1.99 to $30 while Jamaica Producers traded just over 4 million shares.
Stationery & Office Supplies back in TOP 10
Stationery & Office Supplies back in IC Insider.com TOP 10
There is just one change in and out of the IC Insider.com TOP 10. Lasco Distributors dropped out, resulting from the Judge’s ruling in their claim against Pfizer, suggesting that damages will be substantially lower than the amount claimed.
Lasco is replaced by Stationery and Office Supplies returning after just one week out of the top list. The company should report results for the nine months during the coming week. BUY RATED Caribbean Cement that was expected to exit the top list during the past week remains with the price retreating to close the week at $31 as investors failed to follow through on the pick up in price in the prior week in response to the third quarter results to September. Berger Paints also slipped back, with the price falling from $17 last week to end at $14 this past week, 
but it traded during the week as high as $18.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks is at 8.4 and a PE at 7.3 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 43 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 48 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for, Cable & Wireless that is expected to post improved profit in the latest quarter from increasing revenues, 
NCB Financial, Berger Paints that should release September results early this week, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Access Financial, General Accident that is expected to benefit from a rise in premium rates, Paramount Trading after the company announced new expansion into chlorine and bleach production and Stationery and Office with September results early this week.
13 stocks fall to push JSE indices down
Trading on the Main and US dollar markets of the Jamaica Stock Exchange finished on Tuesday with 26 securities changing hands, 7 advanced, 13 declined and 6 traded firm as the main market indices dropped.
The market suffered declines of a dollar or more in Grace Kennedy, NCB Financial, PanJam Investment, Sagicor Group, Scotia Group and Seprod.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined by 2,137.38 points to close at 321,469.52 and is up 54 percent for 2017 to date. The JSE Index declined by 1,947.39 points to close at 292,895.09 and is up 53 percent for the year to date and the US dollar index rose 2.14 points to 185.27, up 12.6 percent for the year so far.
Trading ended with 7,565,517 units valued at $85,572,923 compared to 1,993,979 units valued at $25,589,860 on Monday in the main market. Three securities traded in the US dollar market accounting for 437,702 units for $115,825. The trades brought the total value of trading in both markets to $100,282,636.
The average of 328,936 units changed hands for an average of $3,720,562, in contrast to 99,699 units for an average of $1,279,493 on Monday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 1,185,251 units valued at $16,528,582 and 1,228,254 units valued at $17,171,780, previously. In contrast, September closed with average of $283,480 units at $3,630,990 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading for the main and US dollar markets shows 11 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
Cement to head out of TOP 10
Caribbean Cement increased sales by 14% in Q3 2017.
IC Insider.com BUY RATED Caribbean Cement that showed all the signs of a big pay day is set to break out of the TOP this coming week as investors belated respond to this year’s results.
The company posted earnings of 88 cents for the September quarter, from a 15 percent increase in volume sales and should earn over $3 per share for 2017 and seems set to earn more than $4 in 2018 as it benefits from an upsurge in construction activity that will accelerate next year. The stock climbed to trade at a 52 weeks’ high of $40 on Friday, but closed at $36.10, a strong 33 percent ahead of the close of the previous week. Berger Paints is up 21 percent from last week’s close and is heading higher with very good prospects for increased profits this fiscal year and the next, as construction activity continues to benefit from increased demand, helped by falling interest rates that will make home ownership less costly than before.
Pulse Investments dropped out of the Top tier and Cable and Wireless has returned, the next set of results should help to move this stock higher. The Junior Market saw one change with Main Event entering, just edging out Stationery and Office Supplies.
The main market enjoyed the fourth consecutive weekly record close, driving the All Jamaica Composite Index to a record 321,000.17. 
The market is well clear of resistance around 300,000 points on the all Jamaica Index and continues heading to the next major resistance at the 360,000 points range, on its way to the 500,000 points mark in 2018.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks is at 8.3 and a PE at 8 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market trades at 14.2 and 13.8 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 40 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 44 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for Caribbean Cement, Cable & Wireless, NCB, Berger Paints, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Access Financial, General Accident, Paramount Trading and Stationery and Office.
NCB jumps TOP 10
NCB Financial Group closed at a record $107 on Friday.
NCB Financial returned to the main market list last week, but with a jump of $16 to $107 during the week, it ii no longer in the top list.
Barita Investments traded up to $9 and is now out of the listing. Pulse Investments and Seprod replaced NCB and Barita as the main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed at new record high on Friday, the third consecutive week of record close, driving the All Jamaica Composite Index 313,990.54.
While the main market is making new highs, with gains of 49 percent for 2017, the junior market with gains of just 12 percent at the end of the previous week is now up 17 percent as the market moved higher for the past week helped by strong results by Paramount Trading, Express Catering and increased buying of Stationery and Office Supplies that pushed the price to $5.50 to sit at 10th spot and could well be off the list by the end of the coming week.
The Junior Market list had no movement in or out in the past week. Trading in Berger Paints shares recommenced on Tuesday, after just 6.6 million units were sold by investors in response to the buyout offer by Ansa Coatings at $10.88 per share with the price closing at $14 on Friday and seemingly poised to rise further during the coming week as investors attempted to trade it at $17 which was outside the daily price limit of 30 percent above the last price. The stock has much room to climb, with the March 2018 full year’s earnings that should hit $2.30 per share.
The main market blast well clear of resistance around 300,000 points on the all Jamaica Index and heading much higher to the next major resistance at the 360,000 points range.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for the Junior Market Top stocks is at 8.1 and a PE at 7.5 for the main market TOP 10. The average PE for the overall main market trades at 13.9 and 13.8 for Junior Market, based on 2017 estimated earnings.
At the close of the week, IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 41 percent to the average of the market for Junior Market Top stocks and 45 percent for the main market.
Market Watch| Investors should keep a keen eye for NCB, Berger, Jamaica Broiler, General Accident, Paramount Trading and Stationery and Office.
Jamaican stocks shooting for the stars
NCB could push JSE into breakout territory soon.
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index raced to a record close of 300,363.16 on Friday, just around resistance level.
The market seems poised to break through the above level sooner than later.
This resistance is a short term one, going back to 2014, when the market started to move up within the channel shown in the accompanying chart. The market made a number of attempts to break out but was constrained by the upper resistance line. It is now making the second attempt to do so within a month and could finally do that, this coming week if NCB Financial makes its final attempt to really move higher in line with its fundamentals, with full year results that should at least reach $9 per share and the announcement of a big final dividend payment, just a few weeks away. Supporting the upward move is the shortage of the stock with only 33,603 units offered for sale at the close of the market on Friday. At the same time the stock trades in Trinidad at J$100.
Th all Jamaica Composite Index trades jsut at resistance and is itching to break out of the channel going back to 2014.
The market decisively broke through the long term resistance of 280,000 points, starting in Mid-September. The resistance line can be traced back to late 1994 and the then 2015 peak, signaling that a big move is ahead as there are no major resistance until the 360,000 market and then 505,000 depending on the pace of the market move.
The technical indicators point to a market that is clearly heading higher with the fundamentals lending support to the technical. The all Jamaica Composite Index has decisively broken through the long term resistance of 280,000 points, starting in Mid-September and heading to higher highs.
The fundamental factors include and growing economy, interest rates that are declining, low inflation, business and consumer confidence that are at record highs, employment on the rise, construction, tourism and the mining sectors growing and likely to have some direct impact on listed companies.
The market decisively broke through the long term resistance of 280,000 points, starting in Mid-September and now has no long term barrier to push much higher.
Bank leading is climbing well above the rate of inflation a good indicator for pickup in economic activities. Government fiscal operations are running with a surplus currently. The wayward Jamaica dollar seems to be tamed with the currency now at a slightly lower value than at the end of 2016. Importantly, there are few areas that can now compete well with the stock market.
Also supporting the rise higher is the fact that the average PE ratio of the main market is over 13, with the top half selling at 16.5, with more than half of the market priced 11 times and below, suggesting big gains ahead for underpriced stocks. The list includes big capitalized stocks such as Caribbean Cement, Grace Kennedy, Jamaica Broilers, JMMB Group, Sagicor Group, NCB Financial and Scotia Group.
Record close for majors
The JSE All Jamaican Composite Index jumped for the third day in a row rising 2,504.83 points to close at a new record close 294,165.86 on Tuesday, helped by jump in the price of NCB Financial and Scotia Group.
The JSE Index advanced by 2,282.19 points to close at a new record close of 268,018.37, while the JSE US Equities Index advanced by 8.17 points to close at 184.98. Carreras traded at a new intraday high of $14 but ended trading down at $12.60 after trading nearly 1 million shares.
The market has broken through long term resistance of 290,000 points on the All Jamaican Composite Index but it sits just above the 300,000 points level which is a short term resistance with the market being hemmed at that level and 277,000 points on the low end. (See chart showing trading taking place within the channel)
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange main market closed on Tuesday with 22 securities changing hands and one in the US d0llar market, leading 8 advancing, 11 declining and 4 trading firm. Trading volume jumped sharply to 78,668,713 units valued at $1,059,742,531 with Sagicor Real Estate Fund accounting for 76.5 million units, compared to 13,618,629 units valued at $432,506,372 trading on Monday. 
In the US dollar market trading accounted for 48,005 units valued at US$11,484, bringing the total trades in the markets to $1,061,223,932.
Trading ended with an average of 3,575,851 units for an average of $48,170,115 in contrast to 504,394 units for an average of $16,018,755 on Monday. The average volume for the month to date is 2,040,122 units valued at $32,094,435. In contrast, September closed with average of 283,480 units valued at $3,630,990 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows a very strong 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices, up from 7 on Monday and 2 with lower offers, compared to 4 on Monday.
JSE main stocks eke out gains – Wednesday
Trading on the Main Market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange closed on Wednesday with 25 securities changing hands, the same as on Tuesday and 2 trading in the US dollar market, leading to 11 advancing, 8 declining and 8 traded firm.
The market recorded modest gains in the two main indices, with the All Jamaica Composite Index rose 106.77 points to close at 282,019.56, the JSE Market Index inched 97.28 points to 256,951.71. The JSE US dollar market index slipped 0.73 points to 187.26.
Trading ended with 4,718,872 units valued at 99,127,989 with an average of 188,755 units for an average of $3,965,120 compared to 4,433,242 units valued at 88,443,093 on Tuesday,
with an average of 177,330 units at an average of $3,537,724. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to $273,638 units valued at $2,921,507 compared to 278,353 units valued at $2,866,580, previously. In contrast, August closed with average of 184,094 units with an average of $4,336,090, for each security traded. Trading in the US dollar market accounted for 85,233 units at a value of US$21,022 and brought total trades in both markets to JS$101,860,817.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading in the main and US dollar markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 7 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 3 with lower offers.
NCB Financial listed a US dollar bond with a coupon rate of 6 percent, but no trades were executed.
NCB Capital stock talk
NCB Capital Markets (NCBCM) recommends that investors maintain focus on stocks of companies with diversified revenue streams by operations, geography and currency in its latest recommendations on the Jamaican stock market.
According to the brokerage house, main market companies tend to have more mature operations, stronger fundamentals and are likely to pay more attractive dividends for investors heavily dependent on cash flows. This should form the core of a moderate investor’s equity portfolio. Investors with the appropriate risk appetite should also take a closer look at some Junior Market stocks given that the potential for growth is greater than their main market counterparts. More aggressive investors should also consider taking an active approach to stock market investing by crystalizing gains on stocks that are trading above their fair value estimates, with a view to re-enter at more favourable prices in the near term.
Jamaica Broilers is a recommended buy by NCBCM
Interestingly, there are only three stocks recommended as buys, with six stocks placed on the sell list.
NCBCM recommends investors buy Jamaica Broiler with a forward price of $24, JMMB Group with a forward price of $23.80 and PanJam Investment with a forward price of $43.63.
The brokerage house is recommending selling Caribbean Cement, based on their assessment that the fair value price for the cement producer is $29.92 which is below the current price of $29.99, also on the sell list is Honey Bun, that they are saying that the PE ratio and price to book multiples for Junior Market manufacturing companies were used to derive a fair value estimate of HONBUN with a forward price of $3.70. Jamaica Producers is on the sell list as well with a forward price of $12.99 based on a price to book valuation, Mayberry Investments’ forward price is put at $3.95 and therefore a sell NCBCM says. The fair value of Scotia Group is estimated at $46.48, which is below the current price. The projected dividend yield of 3.5% is not sufficient to offset expected capital loss the NCB Financial brokerage arm says.
Scotiabank is a recommended sell by NCBCM
Stocks that are recommended as holds are Carreras based on the justified P/E and Dividend Discount Model resulted in valuation for Carreras up to $113.91 per share. Kingston Wharves forward price is $29.24, close to existing market price and Sagicor Group with fair value estimate of $34.21.
Ratings Definitions| BUY: The company has sound or improving fundamentals that should allow it to outperform the broader market over the next 12 months. The risk factors to achieving price targets are minimal.
HOLD: We believe the stock is fairly valued at the current price. The company may have issues affecting fundamentals that could take some time to resolve. The risk factors to achieving price targets are moderate. Some volatility is expected.
SELL: The stock is overpriced relative to the soundness of the company’s fundamentals and long-term prospects or the stock is fully priced.