On Friday the BISX brought down the house in grand style by eclipsing the previous 250 plus trading days.
The question wasn’t which stocks traded but rather which stocks did not. So let’s begin with the wall flowers.
Premier Real Estate continues to enjoy the dubious distinction of having identical numbers for both its 52-week high and its 52-week low, namely $10.
An indication of investors ‘view of this stock is hinted at by the fact that the BISX’s Last Traded column, divided into Price and Volume is blank. Nada nothing.
The other stock FamGuard remained on the sidelines probably for the simple reason that according to the BISX, there were no FamGuard stocks available for sale.
And understandably so, since FamGuard as part of its alliance with Sagicor which saw issued shares jumped from eight million to 10 million, recently bought back 625,000 shares as part of the deal-and a hefty premium too.
Now to recording topping figures: 2,360,421 shares were traded on Friday December 30 in 28 trades. The total value of the trades was $9,413,496.96. When the dust settled, the BISX had nudged ahead by a measly 37 basis points to close at 1,350.71.
The BISX’s near parlous jump on Friday, is due in large measure to the simple fact that only two of the 17 stocks were able to see a price increase and only by a mere two pennies in both instances.
So to the price movers. Commonwealth Bank which has been enjoying the favour of its investors was the most actively traded stock, taking nine trades to move 181,479 shares for $9.11, not quite its 52-week high but getting two cents closer to $9.17 is not bad on a day of trading, when buyers were not giving an inch.
The other price mover, Kerzner International’s BDRs managed the same measly two pennies on a single trade of 144,352 shares to end at $6.87, a dime and a penny below its 52-week high of $6.98.
The only other matters of note were Abaco Markets Limited (AML)’s whopping 360,803 shares that moved in a single trade. Certainly more than the beleaguered company has been able to muster all year. It closed at the abysmal price of $0.73. Mind you, if it ever sees those heady days of $6 per share, some lucky investor would have made well over a million in profit. In the meantime, they can hope for a more modest improvement like a dollar.
The champion of the volume movers, Fidelity Bank (BAB) (formerly British American Bank) moved nearly half a million shares, 441,539 to be exact, in a single trade. Fidelity remained unchanged at $1.10, $0.10 below its 52-week high.
Doctors Hospital (DHS) moving 295,940 shares in three trades, was the next big mover. It closed at $2.17.
At 119 shares in a single trade, JS Johnson could not be termed a volume mover, registering the transaction for the record only, since it did nothing to tarnish the outstanding price appreciation it has enjoyed in 2005. It ended the year at its 52-week high of $9.05.
The magnitude of the trading activity coupled with the lack of any appreciable price movement suggest that companies may have been buying back their shares in an attempt to boost their earnings per share (eps) ratio or executives were being rewarded with company shares for a job well done.
The BISX requires reports of executive share purchases to be filed with itself. Such transactions will no doubt be made available to the investing public.
By: C. E. HUGGINS, Business Editor, The Nassau Guardian
