Chart of the week: Why Jamaican stocks are racing ahead
In 2018, Jamaica’s benchmark stockmarket index rose by 29% in US dollar terms, the world’s best equity-market performance.
In 2018, Jamaica's benchmark stockmarket index rose by 29% in US dollar terms, the world's best equity-market performance. In the past five years, it has quadrupled. This sort of jump usually reflects a radical improvement in the macroeconomic backdrop.
But in this case it's chiefly due to the market's small size and illiquidity. It "doesn't take much investment to make a tiny market boom", says Bloomberg. The total value of the index's 37 stocks is less than $11bn, "smaller than the valuation of Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc". Moreover, many companies are majority-owned by foreign conglomerates, which further reduces the number of shares available. Some stocks don't trade "for days or even weeks".
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Sign up to Money Morning
Our team, led by award winning editors, is dedicated to delivering you the top news, analysis, and guides to help you manage your money, grow your investments and build wealth.
-
My 8% Nationwide regular saver has matured - what are my options?
The building society’s popular 8% account is maturing for many savers. Should you stick with Nationwide or move to a competitor?
By Ruth Emery Published
-
How your investment portfolio could benefit from a UK homebuilding boom
News Asset managers have committed funds to address the UK’s housing shortage but is it worth building this into your investment portfolio?
By Marc Shoffman Published
-
What would the greatest mathematician of the Middle Ages say about gold today?
Sponsored Italian mathematician Fibonacci is most famous for a curious sequence of numbers. Continuing his series on technical analysis, Dominic Frisby explains what these numbers are, and what they can tell us about gold’s next move.
By Dominic Frisby Published
-
How moving averages can reveal trades worth betting on – and ones to avoid
Sponsored Dominic Frisby looks in more depth at how moving averages can help you catch turning points in markets and help you decide which trades are worth pursuing.
By Dominic Frisby Published
-
This chart pattern could be extraordinarily bullish for gold
Charts The mother of all patterns is developing in the gold charts, says Dominic Frisby. And if everything plays out well, gold could hit a price that investors could retire on.
By Dominic Frisby Published
-
Believe it or not, this market is a “buy”
Charts With the world in the state it’s in and the market so volatile, buying stocks right now might go against all your instincts. But that’s just what you should be doing, says Dominic Frisby. Here, he explains why.
By Dominic Frisby Published
-
Chart of the week: avocados and bitcoin are in sync
Charts An amusing new spurious correlation has been spotted between the price of bitcoin and Mexican Hass avocados. In reality, of course, they have nothing to do with each other beyond “superficial price action”.
By moneyweek Published
-
Chart of the week: Kuwait's stockmarket is ready for take-off
Charts Kuwait's stockmarket is due to be promoted from “frontier” status to an emerging market by index provider MSCI next June. That should entice almost $10bn of global investors’ cash into the country.
By moneyweek Published
-
Chart of the week: US stocks outrun profits
Charts The US stockmarket has become totally detached from underlying profits of its constituent companies over the past three years.
By moneyweek Published
-
Chart of the week: Dr Copper diagnoses an ailing economy
Charts The price of copper has slipped by a fifth this year and is now at a near-two-year low of around $5,600 a tonne.
By moneyweek Published