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Don’t believe everything you hear

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By Michael O’Connor, theislandinvestor.com

A new year, a new market rally.

Lower inflation, a Chinese reopening boom and a resilient labour market resulted in the biggest January gain in the S&P 500 in eight years as Wall Street switched from cautious to confident at the drop of a hat.

In true market fashion, last year’s losers have turned into this year’s darlings. The Tech-heavy Nasdaq Index jumped almost 11% (now up over 17% at the time of writing).

Facebook for example is now up 110% following its 66% loss last year, Netflix is up 120% while Coinbase is up 140%.

Job losses

One of the major contributors to the current market run has been the continued strength in the labour market.

Despite headline news about countless lay-offs, we remain in one of the strongest labour markets in history.

In the US, 517,000 jobs were added in January - the largest monthly gain since last July.

The unemployment rate is now 3.4%, the lowest level since early 1969.

Tech lay-offs have been front and centre, but as always, there is far more to a story than the headline the media are pushing.

Yes, 1.5 million people lost their jobs in the US during December.

However, the crucial data point the media left out was that US employers hired 6.2 million people over the same time period.

In fact, despite the media focus, the ratio of lay-offs to hires are well above historical standards.
Ireland’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 4.4 percent in January well below the 5% from the same period a year previous.

Three points to note

Despite the struggles in the tech industry at the moment, it only represents a tiny proportion of the overall labour market. Job losses in tech have been more than offset by new job openings across airlines, hospitality and retail.

Even during periods of robust economic growth, employers subtracted hundreds of thousands - and sometimes millions - of jobs per month.

Data needs context

Yes, current tech cut backs are concerning but there is more to the story than just one data point. During the pandemic these companies pulled forward three years’ worth of demand into one. Consumer tech demand exploded. Head counts expanded rapidly. The pace was never going to be sustainable.

From its fiscal year-end in September 2019 to September 2022, the employee count at Amazon doubled, Microsoft’s rose 53%, Google parent Alphabet Inc.’s increased 57% and Facebook owner Meta’s ballooned 94%.

Wall Street Journal

A single data point never tells the whole story, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story eh?

The truth is, for now, hiring remains strong, and the volume of current job openings out there suggests hiring could remain strong in the months ahead.

Some leading indicators such as wage growth, temp roles and quit rates continue to fall, pointing towards the potential rise in unemployment numbers to com - but we are not there yet.

In my opinion we have reached ‘peak’ employment conditions. As the lag effects of tighter economic policy take hold, this labour market strength will start to show more signs of weakness, but we are slowing from a very strong positions. Don’t let the headline news send you into a frenzy just yet.

Find my full market outlook on www.theislandinvestor.com.

If you need help creating your own investment portfolio, just reach out to me at
mike@theislandinvestor.com or simply scan the QR code.

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s

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Paralympic legend Jason Smyth visits St Brendan’s


World renowned Paralympian and world record holder Jason Smyth paid a visit to St Brendan’s College on Wednesday afternoon as part of a high profile visit to Killarney.


The six time Paralympic gold medallist spoke to second year students from St Brendan’s College, alongside students from neighbouring schools St Brigid’s Presentation Secondary School and Killarney Community College.
The interactive talk and interview took place ahead of World Sight Day, with the legendary sprinter sharing his personal journey with Stargardt disease, a genetic eye condition that left him legally blind at eight years old.
The Derry native, who holds the world record as the fastest Paralympian on earth over 100 metres, offered inspiring insights into overcoming physical adversity and achieving success at the highest level of world sport.
The school visit formed the opening leg of his Killarney schedule before he took centre stage later on Wednesday evening at The Killarney Plaza Hotel & Spa.
Smyth headlined An Evening with Paralympian Jason Smyth, an event organised by the Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce as part of its winter schedule, sponsored by AIB.

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Deerpark Retail Park placed on market for fifteen million euro

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Deerpark Retail Park in Killarney has officially been placed on the market with a guide price in excess of 15.4 million euro, excluding VAT.

International real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed as the sole sales agent to handle the high-profile commercial property sale on behalf of its current owner, Investcorp.

Investcorp, a global investment management firm headquartered in Bahrain, had previously acquired the prominent shopping complex.


The sale represents one of the largest commercial property offerings to launch in County Kerry this year.

Located roughly 1.3 kilometres west of Killarney town centre, the scheme enjoys strong regional connectivity and sits adjacent to independently owned operations including a Tesco Extra store, a Tesco petrol filling station, JYSK, and Aldi.


Constructed in 2006, the development extends across approximately 10,482 square metres, or 112,835 square feet.

The scheme comprises a mix of modern retail warehouse units and a complementary neighbourhood centre, offering 13 individual units in total with Part Open and Part Bulky Use planning permission.

The units range in size from 94.6 square metres up to 1,994.9 square metres. Visitors have access to approximately 248 customer parking spaces across the commercial grounds.

The park is currently 100 per cent occupied by a strong line-up of established national and international brands.

Key retail tenants include Marks & Spencer, Boots, DID Electrical, Maxi Zoo, and Mountain Warehouse.

The neighbourhood centre element accommodates service and convenience operators such as Costa Coffee, Card Factory, and Salon B.

The first-floor accommodation is fully let to Peak Performance Academy, which provides additional rental diversification.

Additionally, the scheme benefits from an agreement with Tesla to operate eight electric vehicle charging bays within the customer car park.


Commercial figures show that the property generates a total current rental income of 1,326,458 euro per annum, with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 4.45 years to break options and 6.46 years to lease expiry.

Cushman & Wakefield noted that the quoted guide price of 15.4 million euro reflects a net initial yield of 7.83 per cent, assuming standard purchaser costs of 9.96 per cent.

The selling agents highlighted that the fully occupied asset offers investors an attractive income profile alongside scope for additional income generation through parking commercialisation.

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