Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday with a 206 percent jump in the volume of stocks changing hands, valued 41 percent less than on Thursday, with nine securities traded, which was similar to trading on Thursday and closed with the price of one rising, three declining and five ending unchanged.
A total of 745,414 shares were traded for US$22,909 compared with 243,793 stock units at US$38,581 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 82,824 units at US$2,545 versus 27,088 shares at US$4,287 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 43,097 shares at US$3,288 compared with 23,234 units at US$3,659 on the previous day. July ended with an average of 95,306 units for US$2,965.
The US Denominated Equities Index fell 7.39 points to close at 240.62.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is calculated based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows no stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and none with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share ended at 4 US cents with a transfer of 10,000 shares, Margaritaville increased 0.24 of a cent to 11.35 US cents after exchanging 42 stock units, Proven Investments remained at 14.5 US cents with investors swapping 2,298 units. 
Sterling Investments fell 0.1 of a cent to 1.6 US cents, with 10,008 stock units changing hands, Sygnus Credit Investments ended at 9 US cents after 28,006 shares were exchanged, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share ended at 10 US cents after investors traded 29 stocks and Transjamaican Highway declined 0.2 of a cent to 1.61 US cents with 694,286 units clearing the market.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 6% ended at US$1.05 after a transfer of 45 stocks and Productive Business Solutions 9.25% preference share dropped 30 cents to close at US$11.70 in an exchange of 700 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
JSE USD Market slips on higher volume
Decline for JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Thursday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 40 percent, valued 41 percent more than on Wednesday, resulting in nine securities traded, the same as on Wednesday with three rising, three declining and three ending unchanged.
A total of 243,793 shares were traded for US$38,581 compared to 174,417 units at US$27,278 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 27,088 units at US$4,287 compared to 19,380 shares at US$3,031 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 23,234 shares at US$3,659 compared to July with an average of 95,306 units for US$2,965.
The US Denominated Equities Index fell 5.28 points to end at 248.01.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.9. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows one stock ended with a bid higher than the last selling price and none with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share remained at 4 US cents, with 91,243 shares crossing the exchange, Margaritaville increased 2.09 cents and ended at 11.11 US cents, with 5,673 stock units passing through the market, Proven Investments shed 0.3 of a cent to close at 14.5 US cents in trading 12,070 units.
Sterling Investments dipped 0.1 of a cent to 1.7 US cents with 21,206 stocks crossing the market, Sygnus Credit Investments lost 1.93 cents in closing at 9 US cents, with investors exchanging 25,868 stock units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share ended at 10 US cents in trading four stock units and Transjamaican Highway popped 0.14 of a cent in closing at 1.81 US cents after a transfer of 84,684 stocks.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 5.75% rose 10 cents and ended at US$2 with an exchange of 750 units and Productive Business Solutions 9.25% preference share remained at US$12 after an exchange of 2,295 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Solid gains for ICTOP10 stocks
Junior Market stocks put in an outstanding performance ranging from 13 to 38 percent, with declines being far lower, with the top losers suffering a ten percent fall after five stocks slipped on the ICOP10 and three stocks recorded strong gains. The Main Market TOP10 was far less robust, with gainers hitting 13 percent at the top and losers 6 percent and less.
Margaritaville Turks could land big gains.
With the healthy price movements, three new additions to the TOP10 lists are added this week. Margaritaville is now topping the Main Market Top 10, with potential gains of 820 percent as the company made a major leap forward in fortunes, following the rebound in tourism traffic in the region and Caribbean Producers fell out of the TOP10 with a 4 percent price rise for the week. Image Plus Consultants and Iron Rock Insurance return to the Junior Market ICTOP10 as Dolla Financial and Elite Diagnostics enjoyed considerable price recoveries and dropped out.
For the week, five Junior Market TOP10 stocks rose and five declined, while the Main Market ended with four rising and only two falling.
In the Junior Market, Dolla Financial was the star performer as it recovered from a 9 percent drop last to $2.08 to post a stunning 38 percent jump to $2.88, following news that Supreme Ventures acquired 15 percent of the company, but before a report that the CEO Kadeen Mairs resigned. Elite Diagnostics jumped 29 percent to $2 after falling the previous week to $1.55 and Dolphin Cove rose 13 percent to $16.88, also rising are iCreate and OneonOne, with gains of 5 percent to $1.05, respectively. Falling stocks include Everything Fresh, down 10 percent to $1.37, Caribbean Cream, followed by shedding 8 percent to $4.15, General Accident, fell 6 percent to $4.70 and Caribbean Assurance Brokers, lost 4 percent to end at $2.99.
In the Main Market, Caribbean Cement climbed 13 percent to $57.60, but that was before the company released six months’ results, with profit ending at $2.87 following a blowout second quarter with earnings of $2.53 per share and now seems on target for $8 for the year. Sygnus Credit Investments rose nine percent to $12.12, but JMMB Group fell six percent to $27.20 and Guardian Holdings slipped 4 percent to $438.
Elsewhere in the market, Lasco Distributors and Lasco Manufacturing released first quarter results, with a rise in profits for both. Pretax profit at Lasco Distributors jumped a robust 57 percent to $602 million and post-tax climbed a solid 38 percent to $448 million and resulted in ICInsider.com upgrading earnings for the full year to 65 cents from 55 cents previously. Lasco Manufacturing’s performance was more subdued, with pretax profit rising 28 percent and aftertax 27 percent to $721 million and $526 million, respectively and are in line with ICInsider.com’s full year’s forecast of 70 cents per share. Both companies are just outside the ICTOP10 but are ICBUYRATED with good upside potential.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 5.3, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 326 percent, to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 14 most highly valued Main Market stocks representing 30 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 95, with an average of 30 and 21 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 23 for the top half and 18 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.8 compared with the market at 11. There are 11 stocks representing 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 39, averaging 20, well above the market’s average. The top half of the market has an average PE of 16, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently, and projected to rise by 248 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the level of likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
Investors continue to nibble away at a number of stocks and gradually reducing the supply of several of them that are attractively priced as the market moves through the summer months, the start of the stock market year when new results will be coming to the market for investors to assess and determine what to do.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market, but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate, resulting in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Slippage in JSE USD Market
Trading slipped on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Friday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining 64 percent valued 83 percent less than Thursday, resulting in the trading of five securities, compared to six on Thursday with one rising, three declining and one ending unchanged.
A total of 394,211 shares were traded at US$7,160 compared to 1,106,224 units at US$42,488 on Thursday.
Trading averaged 78,842 shares at US$1,432 compared to 184,371 units at US$7,081 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 91,138 shares at US$2,901 compared to 91,697 units at US$2,968 on the previous day. June ended with an average of 60,969 units for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index dipped 1.26 points to end at 244.02.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville fell 0.28 of one cent to 8.72 US cents as investors exchanged 2,802 shares, Proven Investments fell 0.4 of a cent to 14.5 US cents with investors trading 2,344 units. Sygnus Credit Investments dipped 0.01 of a cent to 10.92 US cents, with 564 stocks changing hands, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share ended at 10.4 US cents after 4 stock units passed through the market and Transjamaican Highway added 0.01 of a cent in closing at 1.8 US cents, with stakeholders exchanging 388,497 stocks.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading rises on the JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Tuesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 65 percent, valued 9 percent more than on Monday, resulting from trading in seven securities, compared to six on Monday with one rising, three declining and three ending unchanged.
Overall, 329,260 shares were traded for US$12,513 compared to 199,644 units at US$11,531 on Monday.
Trading averaged 47,037 shares at US$1,788 versus 33,274 units at US$1,922 on Monday, For the month to date an average of 89,821 shares were traded for US$2,831 compared with 93,076 stock units at US$2,910 on the previous day. Trading in June ended with an average of 60,969 shares for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index rallied 3.28 points to 248.03.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.8. The PE ratio is calculated based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share ended at 4 US cents while exchanging 25,107 shares, Margaritaville shed 0.35 of a cent to close at 9 US cents, with 400 stocks changing hands, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy ended at 57 US cents in trading 63 stock units. Proven Investments advanced 0.05 of a cent to 14.85 US cents as investors exchanged 200 stock units, Sygnus Credit Investments declined 0.02 of a cent to end at 10.93 US cents, with 150 stocks clearing the market and Transjamaican Highway dipped 0.01 of a cent and finished at 1.63 US cents with shareholders swapping 302,852 stock units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share ended at US$12.50 after an exchange of 488 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
JSE USD trading dips as market index rises
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Monday, with the volume of stocks changing hands declining a solid 66 percent, with a 62 percent lower value than on Friday, resulting in the trading of six securities, compared to nine on Friday, with three rising, one declining and two ending unchanged.
A total of 199,644 shares were traded at US$11,531 compared with 584,142 units at US$30,721 on Friday.
Trading averaged 33,274 shares at US$1,922 compared with 64,905 units at US$3,413 on Friday, with a month to date average of 93,076 shares at US$2,910 compared to 97,248 units at US$2,979 on the previous trading day. June ended with an average of 60,969 units at US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index popped 5.89 points to finish at 244.77.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.8. The PE ratio is calculated based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows two stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share remained at 4 US cents, with investors trading 1,300 shares, Productive Business Solutions ended at US$1.80, with nine stocks crossing the market, Proven Investments gained 0.8 of a cent to close at 14.8 US cents in trading 8,284 units. Sygnus Credit Investments increased 2.95 cents and ended at 10.95 US cents one stock crossing the market and Transjamaican Highway advanced 0.09 of a cent in closing at 1.64 US cents with 189,500 stocks changing hands.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share fell 30 cents to close at US$12.50 with a transfer of 550 stock units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Major price changes for ICTOP10
The past week was one of contrast, with the Main Market rising and the Junior Market declining moderately, as the ICOP10 stocks recorded mixed results ranging from increases of 21 percent and losses of as much as 12 percent, at the same time, Transjamacian Highway that ended last week at $2.78, came under selling pressure on Friday and closed at $2.50 after reaching a record high of $2.88 on Monday and continues to a great buy, especially with the price pulling back.
Guardian Holdings jumped 21 percent during the week
For the week, 5 Junior Market TOP10 stocks declined and just two rose, while the Main Market ended with 5 rising and 4 declining. Image Plus closed at a record high on Friday and dropped out of the TOP10 along with Iron Rock Insurance. Everything Fresh and Elite Diagnostic replaced them, with the latter dropping to a record low of $1.55. There were no changes to the listing for the Main Market TOP10.
In the Junior Market, Image Plus having listed in January this year and never got the usual big IPO bounce, now seems to be just coming into its own, with a 20 percent jump to close the week at $2.50 after the price hit a record high of $2.60 on Friday and was followed by Caribbean Cream, up 10 percent to $4.49 as declining stocks dominated the week with iCreate dropping 12 percent to $1, followed by Dolla Financial shedding 9 percent to $2.08, with Dolphin Cove and OneonOne falling 8 percent to $15 and $1 respectively.
Guardian Holdings jumped 21 percent to $455, following changes in NCB Financial top management team, while Caribbean Producers rose 8 percent to $10.77, Sygnus Credit 
Investments fell 12 percent to $11.17 and Caribbean Cement slipped 9 percent to $50.03.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 6, well below the market average of 13.1. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 256 percent, to May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 14 most highly valued Main Market stocks representing 30 percent of the Main Market are priced at a PE of 15 to 98, with an average of 30 and 20 excluding the highest PE ratios, with a PE of 23 for the top half and 18 excluding the stocks with the highest PEs.
The Junior Market Top 10 PE sits at 5.6 compared with the market at 11.1. There are 9 stocks representing 19 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 41, averaging 21 that are well above the average of the market. The top half of the market has an average PE of 16, possibly the lowest fair value for Junior Market stocks currently and projected to rise by 264 percent to May 2024.
The divergence between the average PE ratio of the Main and Junior Markets and the overall market valuation are important indicators of the level of likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
Investors continue to nibble away at a number of stocks and gradually reducing the supply of several of them that are attractively priced as the market moves through the summer months, the start of the stock market year when new results will be coming to the market for investors to assess and determine what to do.
ICTOP10 focuses on likely yearly winners, accordingly, the list includes some of the best companies in the market but not always. ICInsider.com ranks stocks based on projected earnings, allowing investors to focus on the most undervalued stocks and helping to remove emotions in selecting stocks for investments that often result in costly mistakes.
IC TOP10 stocks are likely to deliver the best returns up to the end of May 2024 and are ranked in order of potential gains, computed using projected earnings for the current fiscal year. Expected values will change as stock prices fluctuate and result in weekly movements in and out of the lists. Revisions to earnings are ongoing, based on receipt of new information.
Persons who compiled this report may have an interest in securities commented on in this report.
Trading climbs for JSE USD Market
Trading picked up on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Friday, with a 22 percent rise in the volume of stocks changing hands after the value jumped 46 percent over Thursday, resulting in the trading of nine securities, compared with five on Thursday, with two rising, five declining and two ending unchanged.
A total of 584,142 shares were traded for US$30,721 up from 477,710 units at US$21,075 on Thursday.
An average of 64,905 shares were exchanged at US$3,413 compared with 95,542 stocks at US$4,215 on Thursday, with a month to date average of 97,248 units at US$2,979 compared with 101,029 units at US$2,928 on the previous day. June ended with an average of 60,969 units for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index fell 4.07 points to settle at 238.88.
PE Ratio a measure used to compute appropriate stock values, averages 8.5. The PE ratio for the USD Market is based on the last traded price divided by ICInsider.com’s projected earnings for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share rose 0.15 of a cent to 4 US cents, with 12,000 shares passing through the market, MPC Caribbean Clean Energy fell 6 cents and finished at 57 US cents with seven units being traded, Productive Business Solutions remained at US$1.80 with three stocks clearing the market. 
Proven Investments ended at 14 US cents after a transfer of 1,051 stock units, Sygnus Credit Investments lost 1.05 cents to close at a 52 weeks’ low of 8 US cents in an exchange of 18,859 stock units, Sygnus Real Estate Finance USD share shed 0.6 of one cent to 10.4 US cents as investors exchanged 29 stocks and Transjamaican Highway popped 0.03 of a cent in closing at 1.55 US cents after an exchange of 547,150 units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share dropped 65 cents to close at US$12.80 after trading 1,205 shares and JMMB Group 6% declined 1 cent to end at US$1.08 with an exchange of 3,838 shares.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading picked up for JSE USD Market
Trading picked up pace on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Thursday, with the volume of stocks changing hands rising 28 percent valued 117 percent more than on Wednesday and resulting in five securities being traded, compared to seven on Wednesday on a day when there were no stocks rising, but two declined and three were unchanged.
A total of 477,710 shares were traded for US$21,075 compared to 372,527 units at US$9,733 on Wednesday.
Trading on Thursday averaged 95,542 shares at US$4,215 compared to 53,218 units at US$1,390 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 101,029 shares at US$2,928 compared with 101,410 units at US$2,839 on the previous day. June ended with an average of 60,969 units for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index rallied 0.96 points to conclude trading at 242.95.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 8.7. The PE ratio is calculated based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and three with lower offers.
At the close, Margaritaville ended at 9.35 US cents in an exchange of 12,050 shares, Proven Investments remained at 14 US cents in trading 33,162 units, Sygnus Credit Investments shed 0.4 of a cents to close at 9.05 US cents in switching ownership of 11,752 stocks and Transjamaican Highway dipped 0.33 of a cent to close at 1.52 US cents after 417,000 stock units passed through the market.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 5.75% closed trading at US$1.90 after an exchange of 3,746 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Trading jumps on the JSE USD Market
Trading picked up sharply from the depressed level on Monday on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market on Tuesday, with the volume of stocks changing hands jumping 261 percent, valued 238 percent more than on Monday and resulting in trading in eight securities, compared to four on Monday, with three rising, three declining and two ending unchanged.
Overall, 934,611 shares were traded for US$22,159 up from 258,699 units at US$6,551 on Monday.
Trading averaged 116,826 shares at US$2,770 versus 64,675 shares at US$1,638 on Monday, with a month to date average of 106,600 shares at US$2,995 compared with 105,165 units at US$3,027 on the previous day. June ended with an average of 60,969 units for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index shed 3.59 points to settle at 252.37.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9. The PE ratio is computed based on the last traded price divided by projected earnings done by ICInsider.com for companies with their financial year ending between November 2023 and August 2024.
Investor’s Choice bid-offer indicator shows three stocks ended with bids higher than their last selling prices and two with lower offers.
At the close, First Rock Real Estate USD share rallied 0.19 cents to end at 4.59 US cents with an exchange of 1,532 shares, Margaritaville fell 1.65 cents to 9.35 US cents and closed with 25,453 stock units changing hands, Proven Investments shed 0.86 of a cent in closing at 14.04 US cents with a transfer of 6,695 stocks. 
Sterling Investments rose 0.16 of a cent to 2 US cents after exchanging 12,100 units, Sygnus Credit Investments declined 1.5 cents to 9.45 US cents in switching owners for 1,850 shares and Transjamaican Highway ended at 1.85 US cents with shareholders swapping 885,269 stock units.
In the preference segment, Productive Business 9.25% preference share remained at US$13, with two stocks crossing the market and JMMB Group 6% popping 8 cents higher to US$1.08 while exchanging 1,710 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
