The Jamaica Stock Exchange Public Stock Market Game Starts Today BUT…

The Jamaica Stock Exchange’s public stock market game is expected to start today Oct 22, 2013, and up to this morning (Oct 22, 2013) I am yet to see the ‘banner’ that we are to search for, somehow find on their homepage, and after being successful in doing that, proceed to click on and register for the competition.

We previously wrote about the public stock market game, which was launched on Oct 3, 2013. It is a game that is open to almost everyone and you will be able to trade a virtual portfolio of J$100,000 and the winner (the person with the highest portfolio on Oct 22, 2014) will receive J$100,000. Now hours before the game starts I am yet to see where persons would go on their website to sign up.

Jamaica Stock Exchange Homepage – Oct 21, 2013

Based on the information posted here

“Individuals can enter by login on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s website www.jamstockex.com and register by clicking the banner on the Home Page”

I’m not sure if I missed it or what, but for somebody who visits the JSE’s site regularly I not sure that would have happened.

A Sign Of A Bigger Problem

To me, this is only a small part of a bigger problem. I don’t think the JSE understands the importance of having an accurate, timely, and regularly updated website and communication strategy. Trust me on this one, because I have taken months to study how the JSE and their website operates. For an organization that wants to be the de-facto source for publicly listed companies, I find errors and poor communication to be too common.

I have written to the JSE and called them on many different occasions only to get different answers. In most cases, they conceded that yes it was an error on their side. (Up to Friday I called an pointed out an error to them which they corrected). As a result, I have since had to ask myself many questions on a daily basis about the Jamaica Stock Exchange. Specifically for this game though I am wondering,

• What kind of game will this be if I am not even able to find the button to register?
• Why is that, I am either unclear of where on the site to go to sign up for the competition?
• Is  it already closed? Or will the banner come up some time during the day? Why can’t something be posted so that we are clear as to what is happening?

Apart from the competition, I have been asking a few other questions,

• Why is it that the site is updated late or sometimes with errors? (there was a point when the 52 week high and low columns on the daily reports was incorrect, and when I called they advised that they are aware of the error and are working on it. Yet still nothing was posted to say that this was a problem!)
• Why do I get the feeling that the JSE is more concerned with communicating with brokers and big companies (with fax machines to receive their press releases) than the regular public that uses its website.
• Why is it that for sometimes basic things, the public is not made aware until after it has happened?

I will leave you with an example of something that I would like to see improved. This is an expansion of the last bullet point above. In many countries, when a company is going public, it is normally publicized when the company will start trading. We in Jamaica will also include a range of dates in the prospectus of when we think that MIGHT happen. But once the final date is set and the company will have its listing and begin trading, I do not see any advisory anywhere in any media or on the JSE’s site itself about that. Yes an advisory may be sent to brokers, but what if you’re not a broker?

Overseas, the public normally knows for instance that Facebook or even First Citizens Bank in Trinidad will start trading on a particular day. However, I don’t think it is common knowledge (outside of those normally involved, the brokers or those closely associated) in Jamaica to know when a company will have its listing ceremony and begin trading. That for example is a simple thing that can be fixed. Does that have to be a secret?

I hope that when time comes for the game to start, we will all be clear as to what the Jamaica Stock Exchange is doing, and I hope the public will also be clear on what to do.