The main market of Jamaica Stock Market indices chalked up more records last and closed the week at another record high on Friday and the Junior Market closed at a 9 months’ high as the markets continue the usual summer bounce.
A number of positive results and chronic shortage of many of the stocks are helping in putting upward pressure on prices resulting in three changes to the IC TOP 10 at the end of the week.
Medical Disposables rose to $6.40 at the end of the week and was the sole stock moving out of the TOP 10 and AMG Packaging returned to the TOP 10.
Caribbean Cement traded as high as $50 on Friday as supply has virtually dried up, not surprising with the company cutting finance cost and reports of several projects slated to come on stream later this year. Berger Paints also moved higher to $21 on Friday and remains scarce. Iron Rock jumped to a new high of $4.07 on Friday as the company shows promise of making a profit sooner than later.
The coming days will see a flood of quarterly results be released and could impact the prices of stocks.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks averages 7.9 compared to an average PE for the overall market of 12, based on 2018 estimated earnings and the main market PE stands at 8.2 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 13, a good indicator of the level of undervaluation of these stocks. Work done by IC Insider.com 
suggest that the PE ratio is likely to end around 16 times earnings by year as investors continue to gradually upgrade the multiple they are prepared to pay for stocks, which would lift prices sharply over the next several months from current levels.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 34 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 39 percent to the market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period. Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. 
Based on an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
Medical Disposables back in IC TOP 10
Medical Disposables back in IC TOP 10
The main market of Jamaica Stock Exchange ended at a record close on Friday and the Junior Market closed at a 9 months’ high as the markets keep moving higher resulting changes to the IC TOP 10.
At the close on Friday, Proven Investments ended at 19 US cents and fell out of the top list and is replaced by Victoria Mutual Investments. Jetcon Corporation and Paramount Trading dropped out of the top flight, to be replaced by Fosrich Group and Medical Disposables. IC insider.com lowered profit forecast for Paramount with the company showing only a small profit of less than a million
dollars in the fourth quarter compared to nearly $11 million in 2017 after gross profit rose 29 percent or $28 million. Jetcon squeezed out by price changes, elsewhere Medical Disposables rose to $5.80 but made it back in the list with strong profit out turn for the first quarter to June and an upgrade of earnings for the full year, of 65 cents per share from 60 cents.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks averages 7.4 compared to an average PE for the overall market of 12, based on 2018 estimated earnings and the main market PE stands at 8 for the top 
stocks, compared to a market average of 13, a good indicator of the level of undervaluation of these stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 38 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 40 percent to the market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns within a 12 months period. Stocks are selected based on projected earnings for each company’s current fiscal year. 
Based on an assumed PE for each, the likely gains are determined and then ranked, with the stocks with the highest potential gains ranked first followed by the rest, in descending order. Potential values will change as stock prices fluctuate and will result in movements of the selection in and out of the lists for most weeks. Earnings per share are revised on an ongoing basis based on new information received that can result in changes in and out of the list as well.
Verdi’s Il Trovatore Sunday at Cineplex
Il Trovatore
This latest offering commences this Sunday at 11: 30 at Palace Cineplex. Soprano Anna Netrebko’s dramatic and vocal skills are on full display in her role as—Leonora, the Verdi heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of the gypsy troubadour. Tenor Yonghoon Lee sings the ill-fated Manrico, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky is his rival, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick is the mysterious gypsy with the troubled past. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production.
Skyscraper – The heights of courage
Global icon Dwayne Johnson leads the cast of Legendary Entertainment’s Skyscraper as Will Sawyer- former FBI Hostage Rescue Team leader and US war veteran, who now assesses security for skyscraper buildings.
Johnson is on assignment in China when he finds the tallest, safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he’s being framed for it. A wanted man on the run, Will Sawyer must find those responsible, clear his name and somehow rescue his family, who is trapped inside the building, above the fire line. Written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, We’re the Millers), the 3D action-thriller is produced by Beau Flynn (Rampage, San Andreas), Johnson, Thurber and Hiram Garcia (Rampage, San Andreas, Jumanji). The film also stars; Neve Campbell, Pablo Tell Schreiber and Byron Mann.
Record run for IC TOP stocks
Kingsley Cooper Chairman of Pulse that gained 67% during the past week.
Pulse Investments, in the main market TOP 10, up to the week starting June 25, jumped 67 percent this past week, to close at $3. Current listings, Caribbean Cement traded at $45 and Grace Kennedy at $56 both at 52 weeks’ highs during the week.
Former listing, Derrimon Trading ordinary share traded at an all-time high of $20.50 during the week while, the preference share traded at $2.45 for at a new high. The week closed out with 138 Student Living, falling to a 52 weeks’ low of $4.40 but C2W Music climbed to a 52 weeks’ high of $1.30 as the main market moved within just 300 points of the record high reached on June 13, while the Junior Market traded at the highest level during the week, since December last year.
There is just one change to the TOP 10 listings at the end of the week, with Stationery and Office Supplies that just slipped off the Junior Market list at the end of the previous week returning after Caribbean Producers that dethroned it in the previous week was squeezed it out, as Carib Producers rose to $5.50 from $5.10 at the end of the previous week.
With the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks at 6.2 compared to an average PE for the overall market of 11, based on 2018 estimated earnings and the main market PE at 7.9 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 13, suggest that the rest of the year should deliver better returns than the first half. A look back on the markets shows that they made noticeable rise in August last year, a pattern that goes back several years and could well do so again.
The sharp reduction in Bank of Jamaica policy rate to an unprecedented 2 percent and Treasury bill interest rates to record lows of 2.5 percent, is set to push stocks values much higher unless profits for most of the listed companies decline. The shortage of supply of many listings continues and 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.
Last week prospectuses for Stanley Motta and Mayberry Jamaican Equities were published and this week Indies Pharma is released. The first two 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 moderate capital appreciation going forward, while Mayberry Jamaican Equities is a closed end mutual fund, growth is going to depend of appreciation in the investments held or to be acquired. Indies Pharma, with IC Insider.com preliminary earnings estimate for 2018 of 16 cents per share, could get a bounce sometime after listing and could reach $2.40. The stock sits in the mid-range of IC Insider.com’s ranking of Junior Market stocks with a PE of 10 just a bit less than the average of 11 for the market but most IPOs have traded around 15 times the current year’s earnings.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 39 percent to the market.
Stocks to Watch The stocks to watch this week include, NCB Financial. PanJam Investment could move higher again, as there continues to be buying but there is very limited supply of the stock on offer. Radio Jamaica that came for increased buying recently seems to be seeing supplies coming to market at $1.20 or higher and could get more attention with the network broadcasting the popular world cup matches as adverting revenues should climb 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. In the Junior market, Demand for Derrimon Trading should continue with a resolution to be voted on at the upcoming AGM to split each share into 10 units. Supplies for Stationery and Office continue to trade around the $8 mark with limited supply, the stock could move higher in coming days or weeks. Jamaican Teas pulled back in the past week from $5.50 to $5 this week, but with limited stocks being offered for sale, is worth watching.
Grace, CPJ, Palace & Salada in TOP 10
Jamaican stocks have not had a spectacular year with six months having elapsed so far. The main market grew 6 percent and the Junior Market is up just over 11 percent for the year to date.
Palace Amusement with an increase of 164 percent was the only stock to double in price, C2W Music and Express Catering came close with more than 90 percent gain, while former TOP 10, Stationery and Office Supplies came in with an attractive 63 percent.
With the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks at 6.2 compared to an average PE for the overall main market, of 11, based on 2018 estimated earnings and the main market PE is 7.9 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 13, suggest that the rest of the year should deliver better returns than the first half. The sharp reduction in Bank of Jamaica policy rate to an unprecedented 2 percent and Treasury bill interest rates to record lows of 2.5 percent, is set to push stocks values much higher unless profits for most of the listed companies were to fall. A factor that is at play that is not known to the vast majority of investors, is the lack of supply for many stocks. 
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.
Out of the top lists are JMMB Group that rose by week end while Jamaica Broilers earnings was downgraded to $2 per share based on lower 2018 results from ongoing business operation and Pulse inched up in price to be squeezed out of the main market list. Stationery and Office Supplies slipped off the Junior Market list after Caribbean Producers just got squeezed in, with the price slipping to $5.10. Grace Kennedy, Palace Amusement and Salada Foods return to the top list with the latter price falling from $14.25 at the close of the previous week to $11.70 now. Importantly, Palace implemented price increases mainly between 4.8 and just over 8 percent for the movies, effective at the start of July, this resulted in projected earnings for 2019 now put at $150 per share, up from $140 at our last revision.
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.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 45 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 39 percent to the market.
Stocks to Watch The stock closed without an offer at the close of the week. NCB Financial, PanJam Investment could move higher again this week as there continues to be buying but there is very limited supply of the stock on offer. 
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.
JSE Trading climbs sharply – Friday
Jamaica Broilers traded more half of Friday’s volume.
The volume traded on the Jamaica Stock Exchange rose sharply on Friday to 16,726,086 units valued at $358,993,001 from just 3,989,661 units valued at $65,937,392, Thursday.
The sharp increase in Friday’s volume was led by Jamaica Broilers Group with 8,778,922 units accounting for nearly 53.5 percent of the day’s volume followed by Radio Jamaica with 2,669,432 units and 15.96 percent of total volume and Carreras with 1,124,379 units and NCB Financial with 1,089,615 shares.
At the close on the Jamaica Stock Exchange on Thursday, the main market indices rose with All Jamaican Composite Index climbing 2,198.27 points at 335,563.64, while the JSE Index rose 2,002.87 points to 305,736.36. The market closed out the half year mark with an increase of just 6 percent. Palace Amusement led the stocks rising with an increase of 168% followed by Kingston Wharves with 40 percent, PanJam Investments up 29 percent with Jamaica Broilers and Caribbean Cement up 28 percent each.
Stocks with major price changes are, Caribbean Cement rose $1 to end at $41, Carreras rose 80 cents and closed at $10, Grace Kennedy rose 66 cents to $52.26, Jamaica Broilers lost 50 cents to end at $23, JMMB Group rose 60 cents to close at $29, NCB Financial jumped $1.50 to $98, Productive Business Solution preference share lost $2 in closing at $103 and Scotia Group rose 80 cents to end at $51.
Market activities in the main and US dollar markets resulted in 24 securities trading of which 12 advanced, 4 declined and 8 closing unchanged, compared to 27 securities trading on Thursday.
In the US dollar market, 156,168 units traded valued at $17,178 with Sygnus Credit being the sole stock trading in the segment with the price ending at 11 US cents. The JSE USD Equities Index closed unchanged at 155.
Trading resulted in an average of 727,221 shares valued at $15,608,391, compared to 166,236 units valued at an average of $2,747,391 for each security traded on Thursday. For the month to date, 250,168 units traded with an average value of $5,895,281 and on the previous day, 229,774 units traded with an average value of $5,182,608. May closed with an average of 589,414 shares with a value of $16,532.367, 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 closing with lower offers.
NCB & JMMB back in TOP 10
JMMB Group, NCB Financial and Pulse Investments moved into the IC Insider.com TOP 10 at the close of the past week as Berger Paints and Palace Amusement exited the main market TOP 10.
There was no new entry to the Junior Market listing but Jamaican Teas climbed to a new high of $6 during the week and closed just below, at $5.95 and Stationery and Office traded down to $6.85 as an investor moved more than 400,000 shares at that price, the stock rebounded to $8 on low volumes as active supply has declined below this price level. Grace Kennedy rose to a new all-time high and Berger Paints rose to $22 during the week and were eased out of the top list. Earnings for Palace for 2018 and 2019 were revised lower even with the report that the company plans on opening a new cinema in the fast growing Portmore area, in 2019 and just eased out of the listing. 
Barita Investments fell by 25 percent during the week from $12 down to $9 as demand at the higher price evaporated.
Recent TOP 10 member PanJam Investment traded at a new high during the week and remains a buy with very limited supply of stock for sale while former TOP 10 listings jumped sharply during the week from $28.50 to $42.18 after the company announced that the directors will meet to discuss a dividend and stock split.
During the week Sygnus Credit was listed on the main and US dollar markets and Everything Fresh became fresh new listing on the Junior market. 
The shares of both, traded higher than the Initial Public Issue price. Sygnus US dollar listing remains above the IPO price while the Jamaican dollar denominated stock is trading below the IPO price.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks ended at 6.3 compared to an average PE for the overall main market of 11, based on 2018 estimated earnings. The main market PE is 7.7 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 12.7.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 42 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 39 percent to the market.
Stocks to Watch The stock closed without an offer at the close of the week. NCB has good growth prospects for patient investors, the stock continues to trade around $100 where there is some selling but that level could be taken out soon and pave the way for more gains. 
PanJam Investment could move higher this week as there continue to be very limited supply of the stock on offer. Radio Jamaica could come in for increased 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 and Grace Kennedy for which there is also limited supply. In the Junior market, Demand for Derrimon Trading has been increasing recently and pushing the stock to new high during the past week. Stationery and Office Supplies settle down during the week before rebounding. Jamaican Teas came in for more buying in the week but with limited stocks being offered for sale is worth watching.
CAC & Broilers back in TOP 10
Jamaica Broilers returns to the main market TOP 10 list with a fall in the price to $22.10 by the end of the week from $26.30 last week and CAC 2000 returns after last been on the list, in December.
CAC replaced Medical Disposables while JMMB Group moved up to $29.45 to be replaced by Jamaica Broilers.
During the week the main market traded at a record close on two days but closed the week below the record high. The main market saw new buying interest coming in for a number of stocks, at the same time that supply for them have dried up. Interest rates on Treasury bills fell in the June auction and inflation remains negative for the year to May. With those developments the main market seems poised to move to more records in the weeks ahead. Strong upward movement is also being signaled by the fact that, the market is breaking out of a wedge formation.
The junior market broke through a declining resistance line during the early part of the week but retreated by week end. Technical indicators are pointing to a strong upward movement, with a golden cross approaching, with the long term moving average line set to cross over the medium and short term lines not too far away.
The past week was very eventful for the Jamaica Stock market as the main market surged to new all-time highs and the Junior Market surged more than 100 points in the early part of the week and broke through resistance before pulling back.
At the close of Friday, the average PE ratio for Junior Market Top stocks ended at 6.2 compared to an average PE for the overall main market of 11, based on 2018 estimated earnings. The main market PE is 7.7 for the top stocks, compared to a market average of 12.7.
IC Insider.com’s TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 44 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks but it’s a third of what the average PE for the year is likely to be of 20 times earnings and main market stocks traded at a discount of 41 percent to the market.
Stocks to Watch CAC 2000 reported strong half year results during the past week, with the second quarter more than doubling even after accounting for cost associated with issuing new preference shares. NCB Financial sits just below the TOP 10 list and has good growth prospects for patient investors. During the week, the price moved to $100 where there is some selling but that level could be taken out during the coming week and pave the way for more gains. 
PanJam Investment could move higher this week as there is very limited supply of the stock on offer. Investors should also keep an eye out for Sygnus Credit shares that list on Monday and should see a slight bounce in the price. Others worth watching include Caribbean Cement, Berger Paints and Grace Kennedy for which there was increased demand by the end of the week. In the Junior Market, Stationery and Office Supplies could decline further during the week but could find support in the mid $6 to low $7 region before rebounding. Jamaican Teas came in for buying in the week but supply has been limited and could result in more gains for the stock that traded at a record close of $5.50 during the week.
Hamlet Sunday at Palace Cineplex
Consumed with revenge, Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch plays the titular role in the National Theatre Live: Hamlet.
As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Hamlet is directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. Now seen by over 750,000 people worldwide, The National Theatre Live: Hamlet will be showing this Sunday, June 17, 2018, 11:30 am at Palace Cineplex.
