Trading on the Jamaica stock market on Monday continues to be modest, with 3,391,899 units valued at $45,816,950 in all market segments changing hands. All market indices lost ground as more stocks declined than rose. A total of 36 securities traded with the prices of 11 stocks rising, 15 fell, including 3 stocks rising and 8 declining from the junior market.
The junior market accounted for 626,581 shares valued at $2,868,043 of all trades.
The JSE Market Index dropped 392.24 points to end at 161,110.22. The all Jamaica Composite Index declined 438.67 points to close at 179,011.90 and the JSE combined index fell 455.71 points, to end at 172,082.96.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 17 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with lower offers.
At the end of market activities, Berger Paints gained 15 cents and ended at $4.50 while trading 104,073 units, Cable & Wireless traded 62,432 shares traded to close at $1.20, after gaining 2 cents, Caribbean Cement dropped $1 to close at $24 after trading 3,000 units. Carreras traded 128,030 shares but slipped 20 cents to $64.60, while 1834 Investments traded 363,105 shares to close at $1, Grace Kennedy lost $3 and closed at $120 with 8,491 units changing hands. Jamaica Broilers ended with 372,057 units changing hands and gained 20 cents to close at $15 as the company released audited accounts showing earnings per share of $1.44, up from 86 cents as the Jamaican operations saw a surge in segment profits of nearly $1 billion. Jamaica Producers traded 3,630 units after rising 10 cents to end at $48.10, Jamaica Stock Exchange traded 8,160 shares at $25.10, JMMB Group traded 27,985 units to close at $9.72. Kingston Wharves traded 3,222 units and gained 46 cents to close at $14.56, Mayberry Investments closed with 7,500 shares changing hands at $3.55, to record a gain of 3 cents, National Commercial Bank ended with 183,554 units changing hands with a fall of 10 cents to $41.90. 
Pan Jamaican Investment Trust dipped 49 cents in trading 216,417 shares to close at $25.01, Radio Jamaica fell 5 cents to close with 104,000 shares changing hands at $1.65, Sagicor Group ended with 187,634 shares changing hands at $23.05, Scotia Group rose 70 cents with 264,308 shares trading to close at $32, the stock traded as high as $32.60. Seprod lost 50 cents while trading 90,850 units, to end at $16.60, Supreme Ventures traded 14,840 units and gained 15 cents to close at $4.69, Proven Investments traded 260,600 units to close at 17 US cents but after hitting a 52 weeks’ low of 15 US cents and JMMB Group 7.5% preference share traded 126,340 shares to close at $1.04.
JSE ends June negatively – Thursday
The JSE stock closed at a new high of $25 on Thursday.
Two stocks closed at new highs. The junior market accounted for 383,501 shares valued at $1,786,848 of all trades.
The JSE Market Index fell 480.10 points to end at 159,717.44. The all Jamaica Composite Index lost 536.94 points to close at 177,454.23 and the JSE combined index slip 261.15 points, to end at 170,807.02.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 13 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Berger Paints lost 15 cents and ended at $4.30 while 11,081 units were traded, Cable & Wireless dropped 6 cents with 23,024 units traded to close at $1.18, Caribbean Cement jumped $2.40 to close at $24 after trading 407,370 units. Carreras traded 14,142 shares but slipped $1.10 to $65.40. Ciboney gained 1 cent while trading at 21 cents with 140,000 shares changing hands, 1834 Investments traded 221,434 shares to close at $1, Grace Kennedy closed at $123 with 62,637 units changing hands, Jamaica Broilers ended with 233,400 units changing hands and gained 53 cents to close at $14.75. Jamaica Producers traded 63,690 units after losing $1.10 to end at $47.99, Jamaica Stock Exchange jumped $3 to end at 52 weeks’ high of $25 while trading 3,000 shares, JMMB Group dropped 11 cents in trading 14,600 units to close at $9.72. Kingston Wharves traded 501,315 units and declined by $2.10 to close at $13.90, Mayberry Investments closed with 449,880 shares changing hands at $3.52, National Commercial Bank ended with 12,280 units changing hands with a rise of 98 cents to $43, Pan Jamaican Investment Trust gained 50 cents and traded 20,920 shares to close at $26.
Pulse Investments lost 1 cent to close at $2.54 with 14,985 shares changing hands, Radio Jamaica rose 23 cents to close with 5,899 shares changing hands at $1.63, Sagicor Group ended with 17,464 shares changing hands at $23.03, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 780,642 shares but fell by 3 cents to close at $10.12. Scotia Investments dropped $1.40 with 3,000 shares trading to close at $26, Supreme Ventures ended trading, with 28,302 units trading with a loss of 1 cent at $4.53. Proven Investments traded 25,174 units at 17 US cents, Proven Investments 8% preference share traded 11,300 shares at $5.
JSE rises with moderate trades – Wednesday
Kingston Wharves traded at a new high of $16 on Wednesday.
Two stocks closed at new highs and one in the junior market hitting a new intraday high. The junior market accounted for 1,318,717 shares valued at $3,968,524 of all trades.
The JSE Market Index climbed 632.43 points to end at 160,197.54. The all Jamaica Composite Index gained 707.31 points to close at 177,991.17 and the JSE combined index jumped 820.66 points, to end at 171,068.17.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 14 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Berger Paints lost 5 cents and ended at $4.45 while 3,000 units were traded, Cable & Wireless dropped 1 cent with 320,996 units traded to close at $1.24, Caribbean Cement declined by 90 cents to close at $21.60 after trading 11,092 units. 1834 Investments traded 59,839 shares but lost 2 cents to close at $1, Grace Kennedy shed $1.25 to close at $123 with 11,639 units changing hands, Jamaica Broilers ended with 5,007 units changing hands, lost 28 cents to close at $14.22, JMMB Group gained 11 cents in trading 24,219 units to close at $9.83. Kingston Wharves traded 1,300 units and gained $2 to close at a 52 weeks’ closing high of $16, Montego Bay Ice jumped $1.37 to a new 52 weeks’ high of $20 with 195,400 shares were traded. National Commercial Bank ended with 17,150 units changing hands with a 1 cent gain to $42.02 at the close, 138 Student Living traded 500,000 shares with a loss of 1 cent at $4.50,
Pan Jamaican Investment Trust fell 50 cents and closed with 321,590 shares trading at $25.50. Radio Jamaica lost 28 cents and closed with 73,338 shares changing hands at $1.40, Sagicor Group ended with 42,432 shares changing hands at $23.03 after adding 2 cents, Sagicor Real Estate Fund traded 71,501 shares to close at $10.15. Scotia Group had 116,189 shares changing hands to close with a slip of 2 cents to $30.78, Scotia Investments jumped $1.40 with 16,459 shares trading to close at $27.40, Supreme Ventures ended trading, with 51,736 units at $4.54. JMMB Group 7.5% preference share traded 2,134,200 units with a rise of 2 cents at $1.05 and JMMB Group 7.25% preference share traded 17,800 shares at $2.45.
TTSE inches up – Wednesday
Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market accounted for 639,447 shares valued at $3,501,364 changing hands. At the close, 13 securities traded with 4 gaining, 3 declining, while 6 remained unchanged.
The Composite Index advanced by 1.08 points or to close at 1,137.15, the All T&T Index rose 2.33 points to close at 1,791.05 and the Cross Listed Index fell by 0.03 points to 64.32.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 6 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 8 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Angostura Holdings contributed 31,835 shares valued at $413,855 to end at $13 after rising by 10 cents, First Citizens jumped 75 cents to close at $34.50 while trading 3,899 shares, the stock was offered at $34 at the close. Massy Holdings rose 5 cents and closed at $55.30 with 15,000 shares changing hands valued at $829,500 and National Commercial Bank traded 214,186 shares valued at $557,234 to close 1 cent higher at $2.61.
Losses| Republic Financial Holdings declined by 1 cent to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $107.18 with just 20 shares changing hands, Scotiabank lost 2 cents to close at $53.80 with 1,810 shares traded and Unilever Caribbean fell 3 cents with only 30 shares trading at a 52 weeks’ low of $64.77.
Firm Trades| Clico Investments ended with 22,693 shares changing hands, valued at $514,223 at $22.66, JMMB Group traded 237,519 shares at 60 cents, National Flour Mills had 217 shares changing hands at $2.30. Prestige Holdings had just 50 units changing hands at $10.90, Sagicor Financial traded 112,177 units value of $809,917 and ended at $7.25 and West Indian Tobacco closed trading with 11 shares at $126.28.
TTSE ends higher – Tuesday
Trading on the Trinidad and Tobago stock market accounted for 731,354 shares valued at $2,437,546 changing hands. At the close, 14 securities traded with 2 gaining, 2 declining, while 10 remained unchanged.
The Composite Index advanced by 0.16 points or to close at 1,136.07, the All T&T Index fell 0.24 points to close at 1,788.72 and the Cross Listed Index advanced by 0.08 points to 64.35.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Praetorian Property Mutual Fund contributed 465,450 shares valued at $1,172,780 to end at $2.51 after rising by 1 cent and Sagicor Financial traded 14,300 units to gain 8 cents and ended at $7.25.
Losses| Republic Financial Holdings declined by 5 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of $107.19 with just 30 shares changing hands and Scotiabank lost 2 cents to close at $53.82 with 442 shares traded.
Firm Trades| Clico Investments ended with 8,820 shares changing hands to end at $22.66, Guardian Holdings closed trading at $12.80, with 5,555 shares changing hands, 
JMMB Group traded 202,344 shares at 60 cents, Massy Holdings closed at $55.25 with 11,920 shares changing hands valued at $658,580. National Commercial Bank traded 18,514 shares to close at $2.60, National Flour Mills had 1,915 shares changing hands at $2.30, One Caribbean Media traded 30 shares to end at $21.24. Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $22.25 with 1,000 units changing hands, Trinidad Cement had 1,000 shares changing hands ended at $3.42 and West Indian Tobacco closed trading with 34 shares at $126.28.
Firstcaribbean jumps 43c on TTSE – Monday
First Caribbean traded at a 52 weeks’ high on Monday
The Composite Index advanced by 6.92 points or to close at 1,135.91, the All T&T Index rose fell 0.17 points to close at 1,788.96 and the Cross Listed Index advanced by 1.91 points to 64.27.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 5 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 6 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Firstcaribbean International Bank traded 9,390 shares and gained 43 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $7 and Sagicor Financial traded 35,743 units to gain 3 cents and ended at $7.14.
Losses| One Caribbean Media traded 1,500 shares and fell 5 cents to end at $21.44, Prestige Holdings with 20,474 units changing hands ended at $10.90 to record a loss of 5 cents, Scotiabank lost 1 cent to close at $53.84 with 328 shares traded and West Indian Tobacco shed 1 cent in trading 26 shares at $126.28.Firm Trades| Clico Investments ended with 314,708 shares changing hands valued at $7,131,283 to end at $22.66, Guardian Holdings closed trading at $12.80, with 9,333 shares changing hands, Massy Holdings closed at $55.25 with 3,250 shares changing hands. National Commercial Bank traded 39,690 shares, to close at $2.60 and Trinidad and Tobago NGL closed at $22.25 with 1,000 units changing hands.
Declining stocks beat advancers – Tuesday
Grace Kennedy dropped $6.99 to $118 on Tuesday.
Overall, 40 securities changed hands on Tuesday as the prices of 8 stocks in the overall market rose, 14 declined, including 3 stocks rising and 5 declining, from the junior market. Two stocks ended at a new 52 weeks’ high, with one of them being in the junior market.
The JSE Market Index fell 617.58 points to end at 158,948.20. The all Jamaica Composite Index declined 690.69 points to close at 176,593.92 and the JSE combined index dropped 531.51 points, to end at 170,411.03.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, in the main and junior markets, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading showed 12 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 2 with lower offers.At the end of market activities, Barita Investments traded unchanged at $3.08 with 10,000 shares changing hands, Berger Paints traded 7,812 shares to end at $4.50, Cable & Wireless lost 1 cent to close at $1.28 after trading 106,983 units, Caribbean Cement dipped by $3 in trading 23,433 shares and closed at $21. Carreras had 10,357 units trading, to close with a fall of 46 cents at $62.55. Ciboney traded 50,000 shares but slipped a cent to 15 cents. Grace Kennedy plunged $6.99 to close at $118 with 9,000 shares trading, Jamaica Broilers traded 203,919 units changing hands with a decline of 30 cents to close at $14.50. Jamaica Producers traded 859,586 shares and gained 50 cents to end at a 52 weeks’ high of $46.50, JMMB Group fell 20 cents in trading 1,215,063 units to close at $9.80. Kingston Wharves traded just 5,060 shares at $12.50, National Commercial Bank traded 1,860 shares
at $41.52 after shedding 48 cents, while 138 Student Living traded 500,000 units and rose 5 cents to close at $4.55, Pan Jamaican Investment Trust traded 26,729 shares to end at $27. Radio Jamaica closed trading with 300,000 shares with the price falling 18 cents to end at $1.52, Sagicor Group ended with 30,427 shares changing hands after gaining 5 cents to $22.70, Scotia Group rose 80 cents to close at $32 with 19,767 units changing hands. Scotia Investments traded 3,000 shares but added 10 cents to close at $26.10, Seprod traded 1,000 shares unchanged at $17, Proven Investments traded 13,7000 shares at 19.48 US cents and Jamaica Money Market Brokers 7.50% preference share ended with 1,000,000 units traded at $2.10.
NCB gains from Palmyra sale
National Commercial Bank is set to benefit from the sale of Palmyra Resort and Spa in Montego Bay, St James Jamaica and an adjoining power plant, owned by Caribbean Green Power Systems Limited that were in receivership, to Sagicor Managed Funds.
Richard Byles, President and CEO, Sagicor Group, announced recently, that the Sagicor Group through their managed funds, acquired the property and assets.
The sale means that NCB will recover monies that were lent to Palmyra, but was classified as non performing loans.
The announcement by Byles did not state the amount paid for the acquisition. With this acquisition the total amount invested over the last four years by Sagicor and its managed funds, amounts to approximately US$200 million in the acquisition and refurbishing of resort properties and attractions, namely, Hilton Rose Hall Hotel, Runaway Bay Golf Club, Jewel Runaway Bay, The Jewel Lagoon Waterpark, Jewel Paradise Cove, Jewel Dunn’s River and Double Tree by Hilton at the entrance to Universal in Orlando.
NCB to benefit from sale of Palmyra..
According to Byles, the company ‘now has J$41 billion invested in hotel properties, making us the 3rd largest hotel owner in Jamaica, earning on behalf of our clients, US$100 million each year. The Montego Bay property is only partly complete, with the design originally meant to have more apartments built out, but slow sales and inadequate capital led to financiers pulling the plug on increased lending.
National Commercial Bank had set aside over J$3 billion for a large client, a few years ago, was incurring cost relating to the receivership, will be a big winner with the sale, as they will recoup much of what they provided for, if not more, cut the cost of receivership and importantly, have more funds to generate added income.
New highs & lows for TTSE stocks – Wednesday
NCB ended at a 52 weeks’ high on TTSE and is poised to move higher.
The Composite Index fell 0.04 points to close at 1,109.75, the All T&T Index fell 0.76 points to close at 1,758.64 and the Cross Listed Index rose 0.09 points to end at 61.20.
IC bid-offer Indicator| The Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator ended with 4 stocks with bids higher than their last selling prices and 7 with offers that were lower.
Gains| Massy Holdings put on 1 cent and closed at $48.17 in trading 400 shares, National Commercial Bank (NCB) rose by 2 cents, in trading 1,200 shares at $2.47, for a 52 week’s closing high. NCB price seems set to rise further with bid at $2.48 to buy 165,344 shares and the offer at $2.75 to sell 55,000 units. National Flour ended with 5,760 shares changing with a gain of 1 cent at $2.22. Sentiment benefitted from the rise in the price of oil on the world market, resulting in investors pushed Trinidad and Tobago NGL up 44 cents, to close at $21.50 with 34,013 units valued at $725,503 changing hands.
Losses| Angostura Holdings fell by 14 cents and closed at $12.75, with 3,454 units changing hands, Guardian Holdings lost 1 cent to close at $12.84 with 275 shares changing hands, JMMB Group traded 68,179 shares and lost 1 cent to end at 60 cents.
Point Lisas traded 32,319 shares and closed with a loss of 10 cents at a 52 weeks’ low of $3.70, Prestige Holdings with 5,447 units changing hands ended at $11.11 to record a loss of 19 cents. Scotiabank lost 18 cents in trading 38,080 units for a value of $2,023,860 to end at 52 week’s Low of $53.10 and West Indian Tobacco traded 424 units with a loss of 2 cents to close at $126.28.Firm Trades| Clico Investments ended with 3,901 shares changing hands at $22.65, First Citizens had 21,481 shares changing hands to close at $30 and Sagicor Financial Corporation with 37,526 shares changing hands for a value of $267,936, closed at $7.14.
Buy Rated stocks set for growth
TTSE has declined almost 10% from peak and could fall another 9% from May to hit support around 1,600 points. (See orange trendline).
In Trinidad, the market drifted from a peak in the all T&T index at 1,956.55 on December 8, 2015 to a 2016 low of 1,758.40 on May 19. The movements the Jamaica’s junior market saw the index peaking at 2,357.20 on 12th of January and bottomed out on the 7th of April at 1,762.87 points, for a decline of 24.5 percent but have since recovered most of the decline.
Much have happened with companies releasing results since with a number of the results in Trinidad being flat to declining, while most in Jamaica show good increased profit, while interest rates have declined in Jamaica and been static in Trinidad. Added to the profit out turn, a few companies in Jamaica announced stocks splits which have driven the respective prices of all the companies up strongly. Grace Kennedy, one of IC Insider Buy Rated stocks that has been lagging in performance, came to life as the company reported strong increase in the March quarter results, with the price jumping to $115 and seems to have more room to grow, based on the improved results. Pan Jamaican Investment gained 42.5 percent since it was last reported on at the end of April, helped by a 5 for 1 stock split and is up 82 percent since selected to the BUY RATED list. The company has good long term growth prospect but may have plateaued at the current price, around $26.50.
Honey Bun one of IC Insider’s 2015 additions to the BUY RATED list is now placed on Market Watch
Honey Bun added to the BUY RATED list in November 2015, gained 112 percent since April and 387 percent since being added to the list. Strong growth in profits and a 5 for 1 stock split helped in moving the value of the stock. ISP Finance added in April, is up 20 percent but there is little supply to be obtained, a recipe for a strong rally in the price ahead. Knutsford Express was put on hold when last reported on and has slipped 20.5 percent, is now restored to a buy below $20 while Lasco Distributors placed on a Watch list last time, is up 52.6 percent and is now placed on watch list at current price at $7.60, supply seems to be drying up for this stock, following release of full year’s results. While investors have priced in a potential big inflows from their law suit claim with Pfizer, at a PE ratio around 20 times fiscal 2017 operating profit, investing at the levels could result in an investment that may underperform the market in the medium term.
Cable & Wireless is up 22.5 percent since April and 332 percent since it debuted on the list in February 2014. The company reported a small profit from operation, for this year to March, and seems headed for earnings around 20 cents per share for 2017. The price should be heading higher before too long, but demand is not electric currently.
General Accident and Honey Bun are placed on the watch list with the former unable to get profit to rise outside the range of 30 cents per share and the latter now being priced at a PE of 18, well ahead of the average for the junior market. Honey Bun supply notwithstanding the 5 for 1 stock split, is scarce but profit growth could continue to be strong thus lending support to the stock going forward.Companies in Trinidad are not doing well but their performance is not disastrous in the main with the price of a number of stocks have pulled back sharply and will offer good entry points when it is time to buy into that market. The time may not be right to enter that recession affected market just yet. Technical reading of this market shows it peaking at 2,032 points and have lost 13.5 percent since then and could fall another 9 percent from the May 2016 levels to reach 1,600 points before the decline is over. A look at the trading report shows that the prices of some major companies remain under pressure and is likely to fall as demand remains weak.
Technical and fundamental assessments suggest that Access Financial, Caribbean Cream, Medical Disposables and National Commercial Bank are due for a break out sooner than later, with Caribbean Cement to follow.