The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange opened November with the major indices falling marginally as declining stocks beat out rising ones.
At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index declined 674.79 points to close at 543,079.52; the JSE Index lost 611.43 points to 494,576.50 and the JSE Financial Index was down 0.15 points to close at 134.41.
Trading closed with 40 securities changing hands in the main and US dollar markets with 12 advancing, 18 declining and 10 traded firm. Main market activity ended with 38 securities trading 11,107,535 units valued at $113,371,137, in contrast to 38,125,741 units valued at $101,388,568 on Thursday with 40 securities trading.
Sagicor Select Funds dominated trading with 3.8 million shares for 34 percent of total volume, followed by Wigton Windfarm with 3.1 million units accounting for 28 percent of the day’s trade and Wisynco with 816,449 shares for 7 percent of the market’s trade.
The market closed with an average of 292,304 units valued at $2,983,451 for each security traded, in contrast to 953,144 units valued at an average of $2,534,714 on Thursday. The market closed out October with an average of 957,488 units valued at $13,947,047 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 1 with lower offers. The PE ratio of the market ended at 17 with the main market ending at 17.8 times 2019 current year’s earnings.
In main market activity, Barita Investments gained 50 cents to close at $70.50 after trading 55,812 shares, Caribbean Cement lost 50 cents to end at $77, after exchanging 52,135 units, Carreras dropped 90 cents trading 612,631 stock units to settle at $7.90, Eppley dropped $1.50 to close at $14.50, after swapping 680 shares. Grace Kennedy closed $1.49 lower to $66, with 77,510 stock units changing hands, Jamaica Producers gained $1.10, ending at $24 with 3,651 units traded, Jamaica Stock Exchange lost 40 cents to close at $29.10, with 43,202 shares crossing the exchange. JMMB Group closed 30 cents lower at $42.70 in trading 19,543 stock units, Mayberry Investments lost 35 cents, to settle at $7.15 with 215,225 shares changing hands, NCB Financial gained $2 to close at $205, after swapping 43,196 stock units. PanJam Investment closed at $98, after losing $2 with 19,021 units traded, Pulse Investments lost 30 cents exchanging 17,920 shares to end at $4.40, Sagicor Group declined $2 to $64, with 53,384 shares traded. 
Sagicor Real Estate Fund closed 39 cents lower at $11.50, in swapping 44,315 stock units, Salada Foods advanced $2.70 to $32, in exchanging 26,000 units, Scotia Group climbed $3.99 and ended at $58.99, trading 603,998 shares, Seprod closed $1.50 lower to $52.50 with 2,003 units traded. Stanley Motta lost 54 cents to end at $5.20, with 19,600 shares changing hands, Supreme Ventures gained 83 cents to close at $25.98, with an exchange of 472,471 shares and Wisynco Group surged $1.50 in swapping 816,449 shares to close at $23.50 as investors responded positively to the Group’s strong September quarterly results with profit jumping 53 percent.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 42,285 units traded at US$1,396 with the market index gaining 0.23 points to close at 202.79. Sterling Investments gained 0.2 US cents trading 39,000 units to close at 2.4 US cents and Sygnus Credit Investments exchanged 3,285 shares at 14 US cents.
Strong JSE month end rise
The main market of the Jamaica Stock Exchange ended October on the up but is down a significant 23,316.22 points for the month and 7 percent below the peak reached in early August.
At the close, the JSE All Jamaican Composite Index climbed 3,949.97 points to close at 543,754.31, the JSE Index advanced 3,577.89 points to 495,187.93 and the JSE Financial Index gained 0.33 points to close at 133.41.
Trading closed with 44 securities changing hands in the main and US dollar markets with 21 stocks advancing, 11 declining and 12 traded firm. Main market activity ended with 40 securities trading 38,125,741 units valued at $101,388,568, in contrast to 29,380,399 units valued at $238,224,184 on Tuesday with 38 securities trading.
Wigton Windfarm dominated trading with 30 million shares for 80 percent of total volume, followed by Sagicor Select Funds with 3.25 million units accounting for 9 percent of the day’s trade and Carreras with 1.2 million shares for 3 percent of the market’s trade.
The market closed with an average of 953,144 units valued at $2,534,714 for each security traded, in contrast to 773,168 units valued at an average of $6,269,057 on Tuesday. The average volume and value for the month to date amounts to 957,274 units valued at $13,330,997 and previously an average of 957,488 units valued at $13,947,047 for each security traded. The market closed out September with an average of 1,585,081 units valued at $14,071,562 for each security traded.
IC bid-offer Indicator| At the end of trading, the Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator reading shows 19 stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and just 1 with a lower offer. The PE ratio of the market ended at 17.1 with the main market ending at 17.9 times 2019 current year’s earnings.
In main market activity, Barita Investments lost $1 to settle at $70 trading 33,922 shares, Caribbean Cement ended at $77, after gaining 50 cents in exchanging 7,900 shares, Carreras ended with 1,216,915 shares trading and gained 90 cents to close at $8.80. Eppley Caribbean Property Fund added $2 and closed at $34 with 1,000 shares changing hands, Eppley gained 50 cents to close at $16, in swapping 100 shares, Grace Kennedy jumped $1.32 while exchanging 17,906 shares, to end at $67.49. Jamaica Broilers closed 85 cents higher at $34 with 13,729 shares changing hands, Jamaica Stock Exchange rose 58 cents to $29.50 in trading of 104,408 shares, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy rose to another record high with a gain of $5 to close at $260, after trading of 500 shares. Investors in the stock were responding to the 3 for 1 rights issue scheduled for November at $140 per share. NCB Financial declined to $203, after losing $2 in exchanging 27,999 shares, 138 Student Living closed 50 cents higher to end at $4 with 100 shares changing hands, PanJam Investment closed at $100, after rising $2.05 with an exchange of 20,250 shares. Proven Investments traded 515 shares and jumped $5 to end at $45, Sagicor Real Estate Fund rose 29 cents to $11.89 with an exchange of 30,100 shares, Salada Foods added 30 cents to settle at $29.30 after 2,832 shares crossed the exchange. 
Scotia Group gained $1.70 to close at $55 as investors swapped 22,215 shares, Seprod jumped $2.32 to close at $54, trading 47,960 units, Stanley Motta closed at $5.74 with a rise of 34 cents, after exchanging 46,937 shares. Sygnus Credit Investments closed 24 cents lower to end at $21.26 after trading 54,201 shares and Wisynco Group rose $1 exchanging 1,044,580 shares to close at $22 before the company reported a 53 percent rise in profit for the September quarter.
Trading in the US dollar market ended with 26,512 units valued at US$6,713 with the market index rising 9.18 points to close at 202.56. Productive Business Solution increased 2.5 cents and completed trading at 60 US cents exchanging 6,800 shares, Proven Investments lost 0.9 US cent trading 7,692 units to close at 27 US cents, Sterling Investments lost half a cent and closed at 2.2 cents US after trading 10,000 shares and Sygnus Credit Investments exchanged 2,020 shares to end at 14 US cents.
IC TOP 10 steady in market volatility
The main market slipped on each trading day, this past week with the market index dropping more than 11,000 points and has corrected nearly 8 percent from the peak in August while the Junior Market fell 65 points but the TOP 10 stocks had one change.
Jetcon Corporation rose in price by the end of the week to $1.99 from $1.85 at the close of the previous week and dropped out of the Junior Market TOP 10, while CAC2000 moved back into the top 10 at the number ten spot.
Market activity resulted in no change to the top three Junior Market stocks, leaving Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 233 percent as the leader, followed by Iron Rock with potential gains of 233 percent and Jamaican Teas with 167 percent.
Radio Jamaica closed the week down at $1.80 from $1.99 with projected gains of 178 percent, up from last week’s 151 percent and remains the leading undervalued main market stock. Carreras is the number two stock with likely gains of 129 percent and Berger Paints with projected gains of 95 percent is next.
The main market closed the week with the overall PE of 17.2 and the Junior Market at 11.8 based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average is at 7.8 and the main market PE fell to 10.8 from 11.1 for the previous week.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 34 percent to the average for Junior Market stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 37 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. 
Projected earnings, along with the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest ranked being the most attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
42% gain pushes MPC out of IC TOP 10
Infrequent trader MPC Caribbean Clean Energy after just six weeks on the TOP 10 main market chart with the price at $134 dropped out this week, with the price hitting $190 for a gain of 42 percent.
MPC was the only stock leaving the main market listing and is replaced by Stanley Motta with the stock price dropping to $5.50. Jetcon Corporation returns to the Junior Market after General Accident rising to $8 and falling to the 13th position on the overall Junior Market ranking.
Market activity resulted in no change to the top three Junior Market stocks, leaving Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 240 percent as the leader, 
followed by Iron Rock with potential gains of 204 percent and Jamaican Teas with 158 percent.
Increased investors’ interest pushed the price of Radio Jamaica to $1.99 with projected gains now down to 151 percent from last week’s 213 percent but still remains the leading main market stock with potential gains. Carreras sits at the number two spot with likely gains of 125 percent and Jamaica Broilers with projected gains of 100 percent is next.
The main market, closed the week with the overall PE of 17.3, inching up from 17.2 for the previous week and the Junior Market rose to 12 from 11.1 last week based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average rose to 7.9 from 7.7 and the main market PE remains at 11.1.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 34 percent to the average for Junior Market stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 36 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, along with the 
PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest-ranked being the most attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
Financials & entertainers join IC TOP 10
Scotia Group joins IC TOP 10
Buy Rated Junior Market stocks have two new entrants this week with Dolphin Cove price dropping to $9 and Access Financial trading at $35 joining the list while Honey Bun with the price rising to $6.50 and CAC2000 that rose to $13.50 exiting the top listing. Scotia Group dropped back to $57.10 from $61.50 at the end of the previous week and returns to the main market TOP 10 list at the expense of Stanley Motta.
Market activity resulted in no change to the top three Junior Market stocks, leaving Caribbean Producers
with projected gains of 240 percent as the leader, followed by Iron Rock Insurance with potential gains of 201 percent and Medical Disposables with 186 percent.Radio Jamaica (RJR) share price that slipped during the previous week to a low of $1.35 and closed that week at $1.60, climbed further this past week with increased investors’ interest that pushed the price to $1.80 with projected gains to 213 percent, to remain the leading main market stock. Carreras sits at the number two spot with likely gains of 125 percent and Jamaica Broilers with projected gains of 100 percent is next. Berger Paints slipped to the fourth spot with a downward revision of earnings to $1.80 for the year.
The main market, closed the week with the overall PE of 17.2, inching up from 17.1 for the previous week and the Junior Market remaining unchanged at 11.1 based on current year’s earnings.
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks average remains at 7.7 and the main market PE at 11.1, up from 10.4 at the close of the previous week.The TOP 10 stocks now trade at a discount of 31 percent to the average for the Junior Market stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 36 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, along with
the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest-ranked being the most attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
Bun & Teas in IC TOP 10 BUY RATED
Buy Rated Junior Market stocks have two new entrants this week with Honey Bun and Jamaican Teas returning to the top listing. Both companies’ fiscal year ended September, with earnings for the 2020 fiscal year, used in valuing them.
The new listings are expected to benefit from growth in the core business, with Honey Bun continuing to benefit above the norm from the expansion of the factory late last year and new products being manufactured while Jamaican Teas could benefit from investment gains from the portfolio of QWI Investments.
Dropping from the Junior Market TOP 10 are Elite Diagnostic and Express Catering. There were no changes to the main market TOP 10.
Market activity, left Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 240 percent as the leading Junior Market stock with likely gains, followed by Iron Rock Insurance with potential gains of 204 percent and Medical Disposables with projected gains of 184 percent.
Radio Jamaica (RJR) share price slipped during the week to a low of $1.35 but bounced to close the week at $1.60, pushing projected gains to 213 percent, to remain the leading main market stock. RJR is benefiting from increasing revenues, resulting from a more buoyant economy, the rollout of new services, the signing of an agreement with Flow that will add to revenues without the added cost and lower costs in a number of areas, with more to come. 
Carreras sits at the number two spot with projected gains of 125 percent with the price slipping a bit during the week and Berger Paints with projected gains of 115 percent in next.
The main market, closed the week with the overall PE of 17.1 down from 17.7 the previous week and the Junior Market is at 11.1 from 11.7 based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 7.7 compared to 7.9 the previous week and the main market PE remains at 10.4.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 31 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 39 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, along with the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest-ranked being the most attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
IC TOP 10 focus on QWI
Attention by investors seems set to be focused on QWI Investments, which commences trading on Monday, but being the end of the month, investors could be seeing other stocks recording interesting movements.
Buy Rated stocks had few changes with Elite Diagnostic and Express Catering climbing back into the Junior Market TOP 10 with the price of Elite dropping to $5.40 from $5.60 at the end of the previous week while Seprod returns to the main market list at the expense of Scotia Group.
Slipping out of the IC TOP 10 listing is Jetcon Corporation that remained at $1.80, Main Event earnings were adjusted down with the decline of profit reported in the July quarter due to increased cost that exceeded revenues and Scotia Group rose to $60 from $57.50 and dropped out of the TOP 10. 
Market activity, resulted in Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 244 percent being the leading Junior Market stock with potential gains, followed by Iron Rock with likely gains of 200 percent and Medical Disposables with projected gains of 186 percent.
Radio Jamaica closed the week with projected gains of 194 percent as the leading main market stock with the price falling to $1.70 from $1.90 during the week. Berger Paints sits at the number two spot with projected gains of 132 percent as more interest comes in for this stock coupled with reduced selling ahead of the most important quarter coming up when sales exceed all other quarters and Carreras with projected gains of 112 percent.
The main market closed the week with the overall PE of 17.7 up from 16.7 the previous week and the Junior Market is up to 11.7 from 11.3 based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 7.9 compared to 7.8 the previous week and the main market PE remains at 10.4. These levels of PE ratios point to big upside for TOP 10 stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 32 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 41 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. 
Projected earnings, along with the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains with the likely gains ranked in descending order with highest-ranked being the most attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
IC TOP 10 relatively stable
Jamaica Broilers announced a new acquisition last week
The Jamaica stock market was impacted last week by fresh share insurances and acquisitions by two IC TOP 10 listed companies.
Investors’ attention was on pumping funds into Barita Investments’ rights issue and QWI Investments’ initial public offering in the past week and led to more muted market activity, with the latter attracting more than 4,000 investors and in excess of $1.5 billion.
Other major developments in the past week were the announcement that TOP 10 BUY RATED General Accident picked up 55 percent of the Trinidad based Motor One Insurance company but investors hardly seem to notice. Another Top 10 listing, Jamaica Broilers announced yet another takeover of a poultry processing plant in the USA. Market activity in the coming week will be further affected with 
Proven Investments selling half of their holdings in Access Financial stock by way of a public offer, at an attractive price of $32 each. Market conditions resulted in just two changes to IC TOP 10 BUY RATED list as CAC 2000 returned to the top 10 Junior Market list, replacing Caribbean Cream and Scotia Group moved back into the main market listing at the expense of Seprod.
Changes in prices left Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 233 percent, followed Iron Rock by with likely gains of 201 percent and tTech with projected gains of 167 percent as the three most attractive Junior Market stocks.
Radio Jamaica closed the week with projected gains of 163 percent as the leading main market stock with the price falling to $1.90 by the end of the week. Berger Paints sits at the number two spot with projected gains of 121 percent as more interest comes in for this stock coupled with reduced selling ahead of the most important quarter coming up when sales exceed all other quarters and Carreras with projected gains of 112 percent.
The main market, closed the week with the overall PE of 16.7 down from 17.7 the previous week and the Junior Market is down to 11.3 from 11.6 based on current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 7.8 compared to 7.7 the previous week and the main market PE slips to 10.4. These levels of PE ratios point to big upside for TOP 10 stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 31 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 38 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, along with the PE ratio for each company’s current fiscal year are used in determining potential gains. The likely gains are ranked in descending order, with the highest-ranked being the most attractive and moving down the least attractive. 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
IC TOP 10 MPC hits new record high
Prices pulled back during the past week but the new IC TOP 10 BUY RATED main market stocks MPC Caribbean Energy surged to an all-time high of $153.06 and is still in the TOP 10 and seems poised to move higher with no sellers in sight.
Seprod returns and Scotia Group moved out to be the only changes to the main market list. Jetcon Corporation, Caribbean Cream and Caribbean Flavours return to the Junior Market TOP 10 replacing CAC 2000, Dolphin Cove and Jamaican Teas.
The three most attractive Junior Market stocks are Iron Rock with projected gains of 257 percent, followed by Caribbean Producers with likely gains of 237 percent and tTech with projected gains of 208 percent.
Radio Jamaica closed the week with projected gains of 138 percent as the leading main market stock followed by Berger Paints with projected gains of 132 and Carreras with projected gains of 112 percent.
The main market, closed the week with the overall PE of 17.7 down from 18.3 the previous week and the Junior Market is down to 11.6 from 12.1 based on current year’s earnings. 
The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 7.7 compared to 8.4 the previous week and the main market PE is now 10.5. These levels of PE ratios point to big upside for TOP 10 stocks.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 33 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 41 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, for each company’s current fiscal year, are used in determining, the selected stocks. 
The PE for and projected earnings for each stock are computed to show potential gains for the year, which are ranked 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.
Big surprise entry to IC TOP 10
IC TOP 10 BUY RATED main market stocks got a surprise entry as MPC Caribbean Energy surged into the top list for the first time to sit at fourth position at the expense of Seprod.
There was no other change in the main market list but the Junior Market IC Insider.com TOP 10 had two new entrants with CAC 2000 returning after a week’s absence, along with Dolphin Cove. They replaced Access Financial and Express Catering with the prices of both moving higher by the end of the week.
MPC is making the top list after the company reported profit of US$126,746 or the June quarter before the company’s investment in the solar plant in Westmoreland, Jamaica, starts contributing full quarterly revenues and profit.
The three most attractive Junior Market stocks are Caribbean Producers with projected gains of 233 percent, followed by Iron Rock with likely gains of 200 percent and General Accident with projected gains of 188 percent.
Radio Jamaica inched to $2.13 at the close of the week leaving it with projected gains of 135 percent and the leading main market stock with the highest likely gains followed by Carreras with projected gains of 112 and Berger Paints with projected gains of 110 percent after the stock closed the week at $20.
The main market closed the week with the overall PE of 18.3 and the Junior Market remains at 12.1 current year’s earnings. The PE ratio for Junior Market Top 10 stocks averages 8.4 and the main market PE is now 10.2. These levels, point to big upside for TOP 10 stocks to the end of March next year and Junior Market stocks in particular as they lag, the values of the main market by a third.
The TOP 10 stocks now trade at an average discount of 34 percent to the average for the Junior Market Top stocks and main market stocks trade at a discount of 44 percent to the overall market.
TOP 10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns to March next year. Projected earnings, for each company’s current fiscal year, are used in determining, the selected stocks. 
The PE for and projected earnings for each stock are computed to show potential gains for the year, which are ranked 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 as new information is received that can result in changes in and out of the list.
This report is compiled by persons who may have an interest in the securities commented on.