Getting Bermudians interested in their own stock market - that is the task Jeremy Dyck has been charged with.

For the investment advisor for LOM Securities (Bermuda) has just added the finishing touches to the Bermuda Stock Exchange domestic issuers' 'Blue Book 2007' - an overview of companies listed on the BSX detailing a brief description of each, 2006 and half-year 2007 results and forecasts and recommendations for investors in the future.

The book, which was published today, with getting an exclusive sneak preview, catalogues major players such as Butterfield Bank, Argus Group Holdings, Belco Holdings, KeyTech, and BF&M and even the likes of small cap firms Stevedoring Services and Mediahouse.

Mr. Dyck, who is also a chartered financial analyst, was brought in by CEO Scott Lines to undertake the research and put the book together.

"It is just the kind of information the BSX and domestic issuers are all about," he said.

"We are obviously trying to get some interest in the report out there and that includes most Bermudian investors from anyone that wants to get into investing to really more established investors.

"At the same time, we are also trying to increase the exposure of the BSX because a lot of the potential investments fly under the radar and some of these companies have performed really well, so it is all about getting the word out that they are there.

"I think a lot of people will be surprised how the domestic issuers have performed - they have performed almost 20 percent up on annualised return until the end of last year.

"A lot of that I would call the top five companies in Butterfield Bank, Belco, Argus Group, BF&M and KeyTech, who all have market capitals over $100 million and these five companies probably make up 80 to 90 percent of the Index and they have done very well over the last five years."

Mr. Dyck, who only arrived on the Island two months ago from Canada, has had his work cut out to get all of the groundwork done, but is happy that his labour have now come to fruition.

"Obviously I came here not knowing much about the businesses in the BSX, but I came and I immediately got hold of the financial facts and figures from the BSX companies and basically pored over those and then I went about dissecting those financials and getting an idea of how these companies are performing and their growth prospects ahead and then I scheduled meetings with the chief financial officers of each via email and phone," he said.

"I learnt a lot about these companies through meeting with their respective management and I went about writing the report after meeting with them.

"Taking previous research reports we came up with these price targets which are more of a guideline as to the way we think the stock may be going next year."

He highlighted a number of companies included in the report predicted to do well in the forthcoming year such as insurers the Argus Group (life and pensions) and BF&M (property and casualty).

"We like the two big insurance companies, the Argus Group and BF&M - they have both shown excellent growth," he said.

"BF&M, we think is particularly undervalued, but both have shown great earnings growth over the past three years and as the whole level of earnings grows they have sold their stocks and raised their dividends, which we know Bermudians like to see their dividends appreciate."

Meanwhile, Mr. Dyck also recommended Bermuda Commercial Bank (BCB), which has made a remarkable turnaround after three of its directors resigned over allegations of money laundering activity involving clientele of First Curacao International Bank NV (FCIB), the bank's main shareholder.

"We think BCB is interesting - obviously it is a special story because they are looking for a buyer or merger partner, so we think they should get taken out at a higher price than when they Holdings is another business he reckons it is worth putting your money into, considering its redevelopment of the former Bermuda Bakery site into a state-of-the-art financial centre.

"I think their plans are very impressive," Mr. Dyck said.

"It is all about the whole accounting treatment of the potential value of the land and the property which is not always realised by these companies in the price of the stocks and not on the balance sheet."

Mr. Dyck also believes Mediahouse is another safe bet with earnings per share of $7, mainly due to overseas growth, particularly in its Caribbean directories division, but he had to remain impartial where his own firm LOM was concerned, just giving a straightforward overview of their earnings.

Elsewhere, Bermuda Press (Holdings) was rated as a 'hold' by Mr. Dyck, who said that despite experiencing a lot of growth, he did not see them growing as much as the likes of Argus and BF&M.

"A lot of these are mid-companies operating in a mid-market and most of their growth is coming from overseas operations," he said.

"Butterfield Bank, for example, is expanding through the Caribbean, but, equally, the likes of Bermuda Container Line, Bermuda Aviation Services and Stevedoring Services are experiencing rising expenses, mainly in electricity and labour costs.

"With more companies issuing shares on the BSX they are trying to get their shares into more of the public's hands to make it more of a liquid market.

"We'll have these books at the desk at LOM and we are advising people that if they are interested in these stocks to leave us their email address so we can keep them updated.

"We are planning to do further six-month reports and news releases on the BSX and Domestic Issuers in the future."