Conor White says that while there is a lot of talk of doom and gloom – and even though the short-term prospects are poor – Ireland Inc. must plan for the inevitable recovery that will come, albeit later than expected The path for the Irish economy has become decidedly uncertain and it is not unfair [...]

Conditions have remained difficult in financial markets over the last quarter, impacting bond and equity markets. The rising price of oil continues to put upward pressure on headline inflation and as a result, we have seen Central Banks become more sensitive to inflationary concerns. With these higher inflation expectations and more aggressive language from Central [...]

Conor White writes that investing in ‘tracker bonds’ can not only protect your capital, it can also allow you to take advantage of any potential market increases if they should rise from their current depressed levels. With the credit crunch significantly impacting on the property and equity markets, and interest rates struggling to keep up [...]

Conor White takes a closer look at the investment value of alternative assets, which are driven by factors not directly related to the business cycle and which could potentially produce a positive return in a negative market. Recent turbulence in global stock markets has left many investors nursing losses in their investment portfolios. With sentiment [...]

Conor White takes a look at the current market situation and concludes that things might even get worse before we see sustainable recovery. It has been a very disappointing start to 2008 in financial markets and certainly a lot worse than we expected. The initial cause of our recent problems, what has been termed the [...]

Despite the current uncertainty in world stock markets, Conor White says that two companies – Reckitt Benckiser and Suez – offer good value which should deliver returns better than the prospective market average h4. Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser is a global player in household products. They do not, however, participate in lower margin detergents which [...]

Conor White takes a closer look at Ireland’s ongoing obsession with property and the changing rental market in this country, and he concludes that the bottom has not yet been reached in the Irish housing market Ireland’s obsession with housing has taken on a different guise over the past eighteen months or so. Interest now [...]

Conor White reports on the growing interest amongst investors in alternative asset-types and recommends ‘funds of hedge funds’ as a method of gaining exposure to hedge funds – but with minimal risk Recent turbulence in the world stock markets has left many investors nursing losses in their investment portfolios. With sentiment currently against equity markets, [...]

Many headwinds face Irish equities in 2008, including slowing economic growth, declining house prices, the elevated cost of wholesale funding and the rising Euro. At Goodbody’s, we remain below consensus in both Irish GDP estimates and key stock metrics in the market to reflect these perceived risks. Whilst valuations have fallen precipitously through 2007 (ISEQ [...]