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.
Slippage in JSE USD Market
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.
Stocks gained in JSE USD Market
Trading on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market ended on Monday, with a 78 percent rise in the volume of stocks changing hands after a 75 percent rise in value compared with trading on Friday and resulted in an exchange of four securities, compared to two on Friday, with two rising, none declining and two ending unchanged.
A total of 258,699 shares were traded for US$6,551 compared with 145,233 units at US$3,750 on Friday.
Trading averaged 64,675 units at US$1,638 versus 72,617 shares at US$1,875 on Friday, with a month to date average of 105,165 shares at US$3,027 compared with 108,220 units at US$3,132 on the previous trading day. Trading in June ended with an average of 60,969 units for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index rose 3.47 points to 255.97.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.2. 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 ended at 4.4 US cents with 143 shares changing hands, Proven Investments rose 0.37 of a cent to close at 14.9 US cents after a transfer of 12,315 stocks, Sygnus Credit Investments ended at 10.95 US cents after trading 21 stock units and Transjamaican Highway popped 0.05 of a cent to end at 1.85 US cents with investors transferring 246,220 units.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
Transjamaican out of ICTOP10
With a continually rising price, Transjamacian Highway rose 11 percent during the week to $2.78, up 57 percent since added to the Market Watch list in April and dropped out of the TOP10 this past week, while Everything Fresh closed at $1.60 and dropped out of the Junior Market TOP10.
Transjamaican Highway Gained 57% since the end of April, with more gains to come.
The Main Market continues to struggle and closed at its lowest level since the end of August 2018 based on the All Jamaica Composite Index that is down 10.7 percent for the year to date, to be highly oversold. The Junior Market fell sharply on Friday as the market pulled back from the 4,000 mark level with a modest fall year to date thus reversing last week’s positive outcome.
The Junior Market is still up 10 percent since the low in March and is currently on a big bull run over the coming months, signalled by two indicators. The Main Market is likely bottoming after the traditional sell off in May before settling off in the early summer ahead of a rebound later. The action is now with the Junior Market with more potential for growth.
For the week, 6 stocks declined and only one rose on the Junior Market and the Main Market ended with two rising and seven declining, with Caribbean Cement coming into the Main Market TOP10 and Caribbean Assurance Brokers returning to the Junior Market TOP10.
In the Junior Market, iCreate dropped 12 percent to $1.14, followed by a 10 percent decline in Caribbean Cream to $4.07, before the company released first quarter results showing marked improvements in some critical areas that lead to increased profit. Dolla Financial shed 6 percent to $2.28 after posting improved Q2 results over 2022, with profit almost doubling to $105 million and the half year climbing 92 percent to $227 million. Image Plus fell 5 percent to $2.09 following first quarter results that showed profit falling from $88 million pretax to $64 million as revenues were up 6.8 percent to $300 million. Administrative costs climbed 29 percent to $117 million.
Everything Fresh remained at $1.60, but that was all it needed to drop out of the TOP10 as Caribbean Assurance Brokers slipped from $3.30 to close at $3.09 to return to the TOP10.
While Transjamaican was the highest mover in the Main Market with the most significant change during the week and had much more room to run, Guardian Holdings declined 10 percent to $377, while Caribbean Producers fell 9 percent to $10, with all other price changes being 3 percent or less.
At the end of the week, the average PE for the JSE Main Market TOP 10 is 6, well below the market average of 13.2. The Main Market TOP10 is projected to have an average of 264 percent, by May 2024, based on 2023 forecasted earnings.
The 14 most highly valued Main Market stocks are priced at a PE of 15 to 110, with an average of 31 and 21 excluding the highest PE stocks, 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 11.4. There are 11 stocks representing 23 percent of the market, with PEs from 15 to 44, 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 259 percent by 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 likely gains for ICTOP10 stocks.
In the market generally, Investors continue to nibble away at a number of stocks and, in the process, 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 will likely 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.
Trading plunges on the JSE USD Market
Trading ended on Thursday with a sharp decline in the volume and value of stocks changing hands on the Jamaica Stock Exchange US dollar market resulting in seven securities traded, up from just two on Wednesday and finishing with the prices of three rising, three declining and one ending unchanged, with an 88 percent fall in the volume of stocks traded valued 40 percent less than on Wednesday
A total of 112,148 shares were traded for US$10,192 in comparison with 929,491 units at US$16,864 on Wednesday.
Trading averaged 16,021 shares at US$1,456 down from 464,746 units at US$8,432 on Wednesday, with a month to date average of 109,617 shares at $3,181 compared to 124,507 units at US$3,455 on the previous day. June ended with an average of 60,969 shares for US$3,967.
The US Denominated Equities Index climbed 8.38 points to 255.82.
The PE Ratio, a measure used in computing appropriate stock values, averages 9.3. 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 two stocks ending with bids higher than their last selling prices and one with a lower offer.
At the close, Margaritaville declined 0.48 of one cent in closing at 11 US cents with stakeholders exchanging 500 shares, Proven Investments dipped 1.05 cents and ended at 13.55 US cents after 6,317 units crossed through the market, Sterling Investments rallied 0.24 of a cent to end at 1.84 US cents after a transfer of 1,086 stock units, 
Sygnus Credit Investments lost 0.05 of cent to close at 10.95 US cents with investors transferring 500 stocks and Transjamaican Highway gained 0.18 of cent to close at 1.98 US cents in an exchange of 98,751 stocks. Thursday’s closing price, the equivalent of J$3.05 some 11 percent more than the last traded price of $2.74 in the Main Market.
In the preference segment, JMMB Group 5.75% remained at US$1.90 with 2,494 units clearing the market and JMMB Group 6% increased 0.98 of one cent to end at US$1 with 2,500 shares passing through the market.
Prices of securities trading are those for the last transaction of each stock unless otherwise stated.
