Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE TURMOIL THAT reverberated throughout global stock markets from US import tariffs hit home for different Irish shareholders last week when they braced themselves to check their shares.
People who spoke to The Journal shared how they saw their investments of thousands of euros drop by as much as 30-40% as Donald Trump slapped on new taxes and raised others.
Those who summoned the courage to look, anyway.
“I had €21,000 in different shares, mainly in big tech, and they had dropped to €14,500 when I checked,” said Barry, an engineer in his late 30s who took an interest in the stock market during the pandemic.
At one point during the trade shocks, the US stock index suffered its biggest one-day fall since 2020 but markets rebounded as Trump reversed course and the EU suspended its counter-measures.
“Over the past week they’ve regained just about €1,600, so it’s a big change right now to what it was looking like,” Barry added.
“I’m supposed to hold on and wait and see to let them build up, which makes sense for me right now as I don’t have anything major to pay for in the short or medium term. But it would definitely have you wondering about what’s next.”
A survey from the Banking and Payment Federation of Ireland (BPFI) found that 15% of Irish adults own shares in companies, far less than the more than 50% of US citizens, but a number that grows larger when you account for pension funds.
Paul Overy, a qualified financial adviser with Ask About Wealth in Dublin, said he has seen the unease when discussing the issue with clients over the past week. In short, they’re “not happy” about the losses they’re seeing.
“When I asked them what their pension is, they tell me that two months ago it was 90 grand, and now it’s 50 grand – or it was 90 grand and now it’s 75 grand.”
But Overy, who is also a lecturer at the International College Dublin business school, was among those cautioning people to consider holding onto their stocks rather than “panicking” and cashing in out of fear they will plunge further.
“It’s not a loss until you sell,” Overy argued. “Just like it wasn’t a gain when you went from 60 grand to 90 grand, until you sell.”
He cited one client in their late 40s who was nervous about the drop in the value of their pension.
“But with that 48-year-old, he or she is not dipping their hand in the cookie jar for 12 years until their retirement – so it’s the value in 12 years that’s important, not the value today. And you can audibly hear them say ‘Okay, that’s fine.’”
John Lowe, chief executive of Money Doctors, was encouraging people to stick to their long-term investment plans and not panic during market volatility.
“It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” he told The Journal.
“Five years ago we had the Coronavirus which is probably the last big drop and stocks went down 20-30%,” he said.
“People panicked and those who got out and decided ‘right, this is too hot for me’, unless they put their stocks back, they would have lost out and missed the rebound six months later when the stocks came back.”
Lowe added that people should examine the options presented by some insurance companies for managed funds that are able to move shares into “safer, more cautious funds” when the market has another volatile moment.
For those who are thinking of investing in shares over the coming months, Overy said it was best to be wary of further uncertainty.
“Not only there could be turmoil, there will be turmoil,” he said. “It’s because human beings do stupid stuff all the time. You know, whether that’s invasions in Europe or whether that’s tariffs out of the White House, that’s just the nature of the beat.”
“From an investment point of view, if you are not happy that there will be major downturns in this portfolio in the future, then don’t do it. Don’t get on the rollercoaster if it makes you sick.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Rosanna has nice cylinders in that pic
Is that what they’re calling them now !
I always taught they were *^%#.
But Journal won’t let me say that
Scaremongering by Calor just because you have encountered competition❓
Give me a break❗
Looking at this luscious blonde in the add… Who needs gas to keep warm. LOL
TITS!
Yes, apparently you can say tits.
(purposely ignoring antonob btw)
refilling cylinders is dangerous to the profits of those who operate a cartel.
Big government is watching.
Really, is that the best photo to illustrate the story?
Honestly – that is the ONLY picture of Calor Gas cylinders I could find on our photo services. Promise.
Would you rather it was a hot man in that pic?
A pirate would have been better
Stephen,
lol…..aarrrghhhh…………gas companies are pirates……..
You’re a gas man stephen
It’s the only reason I clicked on the article;) #BigCans
Her mothers name is Flo…
That’s what they said about Hitler!!
Yes, yes it is.
That’s a gas story.
Any more like it?
@Stephen: YES!!!!!
Good Choice.
Ok, so pirate refilling can be dangerous. Freezing to death or catching pneumonia because you have to choose between food or heat isn’t exactly enticing either.
raw chicken and no gas would entice you to illegally fill your bottle.
@ Dali Obama Personally, right now no. But if I was in a position where I was watching my children freeze and could only afford some of this illegal gas then I’d consider it in a heartbeat.
The only reason scams like this are so successful now rather than 10 – 15 years ago is because desperate people will do desperate things, they’re exploiting that. When you turn on your TV you’re bombarded with adverts for “Cash for gold” and Short term loan companies with enormous interest rates, it’s the same thing but in this case the scammers wear suits and ties.
I wouldn’t mind filling Rosanna’s cylinder.
I actually just got sick in my mouth a bit.
Can we always assume the customer is aware that the gas bottle has been refilled illegally? What about customers who might be ripped off paying full price for dodgy gas bottles. Now THAT would piss me off. Like paying for beefburger and getting horseburger. Neeeigh!
I don’t see what the problem is. It’s like cheaper medicine. Cheaper than the real thing but does the same thing. And they’re grinding down the original branded name so it’s not as if they are deliberately trying to pass off as the real brand.
Don’t be fooled, generic drugs are not the same as branded drug’s. Its only the active ingredients in off patent there are many other compound in them besides. There’s only cents in the difference anyway.
tim,
explain + link……………….please
Really, I always wondered that!
With out boring everyone to death 2 thing’s. I was prescribed klacid last week for a chest infection, the pharmacy gave me cloram. When I wouldn’t take them and asked for the real stuff there was only 12 cents in the difference, worked out less than 2 cent per tab. Lipotor for example has other compounds besides the statens in it, ie the time release agents that allow the active ingredient be released in to your blood stream. Some generic manufacturers havent this technology perfected and their versions can release the active ingredient in to your blood stream very fast making you feel unwell.
tim,
I know full well that vit b3 (niacin, NOT niacinamide) is more effective and safer than statins at reducing cholesterol, and with no side effects.
All B vits have to be taken with a b complex, because the enzymes depend on each other for efficacy, those who take independent b vits are wasting their money.
of course the best way to beat cholesterol is to give up dairy, and/or processed meat.
Generics are IDENTICAL to the original patents. Even if the non-active ingredients differ, then the drug must go through the entire FDA approval process which takes years and tens of millions. No generic manufacturer will do that as their competitors will get the jump on them going to market and the costs of approval will mean they will not be much cheaper.
That’s not accurate. Generics have to go through an abbreviated clinical trial process, in which they have to prove they are bioequivalent to the reference drug, i.e. available to the body in the same concentrations at any given point in time. “Same concentration” usually means +/- 20% depending on the drug. You can put in any non-active ingredients you like as long as they’re generally regarded as safe.
tl;dr – They are not identical. They are supposed to be functionally identical, more or less.
How many mistakes can you make in a paragraph?
if only people really knew the dangers of what one of these could do they might change their tune. Its a safety issue above everything else. Calor are regulated to provide a product at a certain standard the other company clearly doesn’t care about anyones safety
I wonder if there was an accident with one of these rogue Calor cylenders,if people would or would not be covered for personel injury compensation,its a point that should be kept in mind by people that use them.
I have dealt with all sorts of dangerous goods during my career in transport,One thing you don’t mess around with is butane gas or any other sort of gas as it is in a pressurised container 200 bar.
If something happened the cylinder it would be like a missile taken off seriously injuring a person.
Just ask Rosanna! Both of hers went off and now she’s halfway to Mars. Probably do a photo shoot for playboy when she lands
“grinded”?
I think Rosanna’s cylinders were rebranded ,I’ll personally check they’re the real deal!
Fine pair of cylinders there helping to keep Rosanna balanced
Their gas must be cheaper then calor !!
Yes, but how can a company the fraction of the size of Calor provide a product so much cheaper than them? They must be cutting costs somewhere, and that may not be in the best interests of customers even if they are saving a few shillings.
I dealt with a smaller gas supplier.
When I switched fuels, I gave them back their cylinders but they did not return my deposit. Only when I threatened them with the Small Claims Court did I get my money back.
How many other customers never got their money back? How many of these small companies are operating similar scams?
Can you let people know the name of this company for future reference,can you also say if you have ever recieved a deposit back from any of the larger companies,I say this because I know of many who have not and if you look at some of the forums,like boards.ie or similar you will see that there are quite a large amount of complaints by people with regard to this fictitious deposit scheme,
Also,did they have you fill out a deposit return form when you first got these cylinders.
The cylinders are the property of Calor and they include a rental cost in the price of the refill to recoup the cost of the cylinder. Hence the reason pirate filling is cheeper as they only have the gas and filling costs.
You say they include a rental cost in the price of the refill,how do you know this.
Why then does the consumer have to buy the cylinder originally and then also have a rental cost included in the price of the refill.
Would this not be double/triple charging for a product,if so this practice needs to be stamped out.
A lot of the comments here are obviously trying to mislead the public.when they say pirate filling they are trying to scare the public into believing there were something wrong with the cylinders.
What actually happened here is customers like you or I had to buy an empty cylinder origionaly from a dealer be it calor flo or whom else.when you bought the cylinder as far as I am concerned this cylinder was mine or yours.
Therefore I should be able to have this cylinder filled by whom ever I want to fill my cylinder.
Calor and flo gas say these are their cylinders,but as far as I am aware my parents,myself and any person I know bought their cylinder and were never informed it was not then theirs,Has anybody ever been asked to fill out a rental form for these cylinders as in the uk,can anybody come on here and say they had filled out a rental form for either calor or Flo gas within the last 10 or 20 years,
Look at the ruling of the european court with regard to filling of gas cylinders and inform yourselves as to what the real story is here.
http://www.jenkins.eu/…/re-fills-brim-with-uncertainty-in-gas-repackaging-cas
While gas in itself costs aprox 800 euros per ton consumers need to ask themselves this most important question,why are we paying so much per cylinder of gas,the cylinder only contains aprox 9 euros worth of gas why are we paying 3 or 4 times this price.Also one very important question consumers need to raise with these companies is the fact that when you return your bottle there is always some gas remaining, possibly as much as 2 or 3 kgs,we are effectively paying for the same product twice.By this statement I mean if you buy 11kgs of gas and pay say 33 euro,3 euro per kg and you can only extract 9kgs from the cylinder you should effectively get a refund of €6.But they will never tell you there is still 2kgs left in the bottle so in real terms the next bottle costs you 39 euro or 3.90 per kg you return the cylinder again with 2kgs inside and the next costs you €40.80.
There is a tare weight on the cylinder say 13kgs if you weigh the cylinder and it is 1 or 2 kgs over this tare weight then you are effectively being scammed of the remaining gas content.
By eliminating the smaller competition the larger operators effectively control the market place and can charge whatever they like,there is no competition in the irish market in relation to this product,in real terms €20 is more than enough to have to pay for this product in a standard 11.34kg cylinder.
Wake up consumers,sensationalist headlines like pirate filling,while may be true in some cases only serve the interests of conglomerates whose only true intention is to control and dominate markets for their own financial gain.
Consumers should purchase their OWN cylinder,and retain ownership themselves and support the smaller companies,which in turn will create more jobs that this country needs so badly.
As stated previously the gas in an 11kg cylinders at todays market price is worth about €9 that is why the smaller operator is cheaper,THEY DO NOT TRY AND TAKE MASSIVE PROFITS TO KEEP THEIR SHAREHOLDERS IN LUXURY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE HARD PRESSED CONSUMER.
The real cost of an new empty cylinder is aprox €20.Consumers can get at least 10 years from this cylinder.
If you can SAVE €10 per refill that is a very large saving,and if you can also get an allowance for the remaining gas content in your cylinder on return the savings are very substantial indeed.
Invaluable writing . I learned a lot from the points . Does someone know if my business might be able to get a template AL MVT 32-13 example to fill out ?
have your say