Saint Patrick’s Day – what should an investor focus on?

Guest post by Oleg Vaisman

March 17 will be St Patrick’s Day, a day which is celebrated worldwide. Among all traditions and celebration spirits, Capital.com, as a fintech company, would like to provide some commentary on the financial background of the event.

To begin, usually the stock markets react positively on St Patrick’s Day, which can be attributed to the positive mood of people who are awaiting the celebration. This also has a positive impact on investments.

Analysing the stocks from March 17 to March 20, it is seen that a lot of them are rising during this period. We analysed the performance of 3 particular stocks for the period from 2015 to 2018. We took these 3 particular stocks because Tesco represents one of the greatest according to market share grocery retailer, as well as at that time purchasing activity increases. CRH is the largest Irish company and S&P500 in order to have a look of St Patrick’s Day affect on the performance of an American stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 large companies.

Tesco – a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer, holds more than 22% of market share in Ireland. It is one of the largest retailers in the world according to profits. It has stores in 12 countries across Asia and Europe, and additionally is the grocery store market leader in the UK.

2015: 3.1%

2016: 2.2%

2017: 0.9%

CRH –  an international group of diversified building materials businesses. It manufactures and supplies a wide range of products for the construction industry. CRH is headquartered in Ireland, where it ranks as the largest Irish company. It is also listed on the FTSE 100.

2015: 8.5%

2016: -1%

2017: 0.5%

S&P 500 – an American stock market index. According to previous data, the index rose every year between 2006 and 2010 during the four day period, 15 March – 18 March. Our survey data on recent years, from March 17 to March 20, shows the following:

2015: 1.6%

2016: 1.1%

2017: -0.2%

St Patrick’s Day is also a huge day for commerce, especially for various pubs, bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. A lot of marketing and advertising spendings affect businesses during those days. Trades increase massively before, during and after St Patrick’s Day. The tourism sector benefits as well  – hotels and hostels, tours and museums, and car hire are benefit significantly. It is estimated that around 140, 000 people visit Ireland on St Patrick’s Day.

Attention this year should be drawn to the reports coming in before St Patrick’s Day. Such big players as: Hyundai Motor Co Ltd, LG Chem Ltd, Tiffany & Co. Inc., and Power Assets Holdings Ltd will conduct annual general meetings and report Q4 earnings. This can also affect the performance of a particular stock during the holiday period.

Now some data about St Patrick’s Day – it is estimated that around $6 Billion will be spent during the celebration. St Patrick’s Day is ranked 4th among the biggest drinking holidays.. A 150% increase is seen in the consumption of beer on that day with a 70% increase in shipments of cabbage during these days.

What is your attitude towards St Patrick’s Day? If you think that the holiday presents an excellent trading opportunity, you could well be correct. You can try trading the market movements using CFDs. The benefits of trading CFDs, with reputable brokers such as Capital.com, include segregated accounts, account security and broker services, which are regulated by a financial regulator.

It’s important to remember that you trade at your own risk. You can lose all your invested capital once you begin trading. Do not, in any circumstance, trade with money that you can’t afford to lose. This commentary shall not be regarded as investment advice.

About Capital.com

Capital.com is a fintech startup providing an AI-powered trading platform designed to take trading to the next level. Available on both desktop and smartphone, the trading platform lets users trade CFDs on the world’s top markets including Forex, cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices and more. The company received a $25 million investment from VP Capital and Larnabel Ventures. Capital.com is licensed by CySEC.

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