About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 2020)
Nate McCullough | News Editor 770-718-3431 | news@gainesvilletimes.com The Times, Gainesville, Georgia Wednesday, January 29, 2020 BUSINESS ‘Game-changing’ events in 2019 Norton gives top economic cases of last year during annual forecast SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Frank Norton Jr. gives his annual economic forecast Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the Lanier Technical College Ramsey Conference Center. BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Area real estate executive Frank Norton Jr. delivered his annual economic report Tuesday, Jan. 28, citing 10 “game-changing” events that took place in 2019. Norton, CEO and chairman of Gainesville-based The Norton Agency, spoke to a packed room in Lanier Technical College’s confer ence center. Norton, whose presentation is detailed in his Native Intelligence 2020 report, described what he saw as the top economic events last year. SK Innovation having ‘ripple effect’ SK Innovation, a Korean devel oper and manufacturer of lithium- ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles, has started building a $1.67 billion new electric vehicle battery factory in Commerce. The facility will generate 2,000 jobs by 2025. “The city of Commerce acted like a deer in the headlights in 2019, defeating almost every multi-family rezoning application presented to them,” Norton said. “2,000 SK employees must live somewhere.” “We are seeing massive rent increases for residential rentals within a 30-minute drive to Com merce,” Norton added. “Expect gentrification of entire lower middle-class neighborhoods and a changing complexity for both Com merce and Jackson County school systems.” Downtown developments are ‘cool’ “The advent of suburban malls, retail strips or stand-alone big box users diluted the downtown community impact from 1980 to 2005, leaving boarded-up plated glass storefronts, crumbling side walks and dark service alleys,” Norton said. Today, downtowns are exploding. Part of what changed is “millen- nials are longing for a third space — not work, not home, but a third space to hang out,” Norton said. But also, aging baby-boomers are “seeking the very same thing.” Facebook ‘bullies’ “Today, with the waning influ ence of print media and the emerg ing power of Facebook, Twitter, neighborhood email blasts, the thundering social media-driven roar is affecting traditional growth decisions,” Norton said. “The normal course of a com munity’s business is now sliced, diced and dissected, and our elected and paid leadership is all but tarred and feathered.” Residential lot inventory is low “The good lots in good locations in regard to schools, market, ter rain have all been snapped up, built on and absorbed over the last 10 years,” Norton said. “Those remaining in that category are commanding strong prices and are providing strong returns. Most new homes are in “in-fill” locations and age-related, such as active-adult, developments. “We hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but new home prices will never be as cheap as they are today.” Crashing land prices “Land prices are crashing in specific markets where the anti-growth, anti-density mood has taken a stronghold,” Norton said. “Larger lots do not mean larger homes. They do mean less density.” He added: “Density is not an evil Darth Vader and lot sizes in all communities should be varied toward development in multiple price points and housing profiles.” Homes built for rentals Norton research shows that 15-25% of North Georgia’s fore closure inventory in 2009-11 was purchased by investors converting them to rental homes. Meanwhile, apartment vacancy in recent years has dropped, “with a growing relocating labor base and organic population expansion.” “Single-family rental homes ... has become a separate investment product much like multi-family, retail offices and industrial... are becoming part of astute investors’ investment portfolio.” Cooperation between governments “Counties historically have acted like disconnected postage stamps when planning for growth or when recruiting retail or indus try,” Norton said. “Most of the time they can’t fathom what is happen ing across the imaginary line on the map in another county.” That seems to be changing. He cited as an example an indus trial development covering land in Hart and Franklin counties. Emory Orthopaedics & Spine Center Another health system player announced plans to enter the Hall County market — Emory Healthcare. The Atlanta-based hospital sys tem has said it is building a $15 million musculoskeletal and sports medicine clinic at the Atlanta Fal cons complex in Flowery Branch. The 29,000-square-foot center is set to open to the public and players in the fall of 2020. “We believe Emory’s toe in the water is a further indication of Hall’s regional importance and more Emory Healthcare divisions will come,” Norton said. Senior living’s rise in prominence “Whether active adult communi ties, personal care homes, assisted living or age-restricted, senior Housing has emerged as the golden child of acceptable development,” Norton said. “With our powerful regional health care system, Norton Georgia is ground zero for age- restricted developments.” He added: “It’s the rage for baby-boomers to downsize square footage, purchase mostly parallel home values and link themselves to future nursing, extended care and personal care homes.” ‘Mega’ is in Supersized developments are occurring. He cited Kolter Homes Group’s development of 1,422 acres in Barrow County for 2,600 homes and Reveille, a 509-acre mixed- use development featuring 1,570 homes off Old Winder Highway/ Ga. 211 in South Hall. Norton “sees the trend for big, bigger and still bigger to continue at least another five years, taper ing off as the larger sites move into stronger, longer-term hands.” State seaports set new record cargo volumes in 2019 STEPHEN B. MORTON I Associated Press In this Jan. 30, 2018 photo, an APL shipping container is lifted on to a vessel by a ship to shore crane at the Georgia Ports Authority’s Port of Savannah in Savannah. Georgia’s seaports are reporting record cargo volumes that moved across their docks in the 2019 calendar year. BY RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH - The amount of cargo mov ing through Georgia’s seaports reached record levels in the past year, in part because of con tinued growth fueled by larger ships traversing the expanded Panama Canal, the Georgia Ports Author ity’s top executive said Tuesday. The state-operated ports in Savannah and Bruns wick handled a total of 38.5 million tons of imports and exports in calendar 2019, the agency reported. That’s an increase of 4.3% com pared to last year. The number of cargo containers, large metal boxes used to ship goods from consumer electronics to frozen chickens, moving across the docks at the Port of Savannah also reached record highs last year. The port handled 4.6 million container units through December, up 5.6% from 2018. Griff Lynch, the port authority’s executive direc tor, attributed much of the 2019 growth to the expan sion of the Panama Canal that opened nearly four years ago. He said ship pers are still increasing the size of the vessels using the route, funneling more cargo to the East Coast. “On the container side, I think it still comes down to the expansion of the canal,” Lynch said. “We’re still enjoying the fruits of that.” Savannah is the fourth- busiest U.S. port for ship ping containerized cargo, behind only the Port of New York and New Jer sey, and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. The Army Corps of Engineers is overseeing a $973 million deepening of the shipping channel that connects Savannah’s port to the Atlantic Ocean to make room for the larger ships. Work on the projects second half began in Sep tember and is expected to be complete by the end of 2021. A boost in automobile exports also helped to grow Georgia’s cargo volumes last year. GM and Volvo began exporting vehicles through Savannah last year, with Volvo also ship ping cars through Bruns wick. Overall, the ports moved more than 657,000 cars, trucks and tractors, up 2 percent from 2018. Lynch said tariff increases last year during the U.S. trade war with China likely slowed the Georgia ports’ 2019 growth. Now he expects Georgia to benefit after President Donald Trump signed the first part of a new U.S.- China trade agreement in which China has pledged to buy more U.S. agricultural products. “We think that’s going to be a big deal for us,” Lynch said. “We’re already see ing it. Poultry is starting to move again, and that has been flat for several years.” The Market in Review Stock Exchange Highlights A NYSE 13.877.61 +108.00 1 Nasdaq 9,269.68 +130.37 Gainers ($2 OR MORE) Name Last Chg %Chg Gainers ($2 OR MORE) Name Last Chg %Chg DelphiTc 15.66 +5.86 +59.8 LeafGrp 3.74 +.64 +20.6 Despg.cm 14.75 +2.31 +18.6 Hc2 Hldgs 2.79 +.32 +13.0 Cellcom 3.59 +.38 +11.8 CanopyGr 23.92 +2.36 +10.9 AmrRIty 15.64 +1.30 +9.1 Azul 44.30 +3.55 +8.7 Innovlnd 92.40 +7.43 +8.7 USXprE 5.90 +.44 +8.1 Losers ($2 or more) NantHIth h 2.05 +.74 +56.5 Acceleron 79.39 +26.52 +50.2 PierisPhm 4.00 +.97 +32.0 SatsumaP n25.47 +5.87 +29.9 PainThr 8.66 +1.51 +21.1 Vaccinex 8.37 +1.34 +19.1 IntrpDia rs 8.19 +1.12+15.8 LaureatE 20.48 +2.78 +15.7 AvroBio 22.69 +3.00 +15.2 SchoIRck 11.12 +1.47 +15.2 Losers ($2 or more) Name Last Chg %Chg Name Last Chg %Chg K12 16.62 -2.96 -15.1 AspenAero 8.71 -1.16 -11.8 Tuppwre 6.84 -.82 -10.7 HeclaM 2.88 -.30 -9.4 HarmonyG 3.27 -.29 -8.1 Intelsat 5.43 -.46 -7.8 BorgWarn 35.43 -2.93 -7.6 Silvrbow 6.26 -.48 -7.1 Coeur 5.59 -.41 -6.8 PeabodyE 6.95 -.51 -6.8 Most Active ($1 0R more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg AldHIPrd 2.96 -1.39 -32.0 CleBioh 2.79 -1.31 -32.0 TESSCO 8.86 -3.23 -26.7 AethMdhrs 2.99 -.98 -24.7 CoDiagn 2.59 -.84 -24.5 InovioPhm 4.36 -.96 -18.0 Novavxrs 7.17 -1.33 -15.6 VirBiotch n 21.31 -3.46 -14.0 Lakelnd 14.00 -2.10 -13.0 Enochian 4.65 -.63 -11.9 Most Active ($1 0R more) Name Vol (00) Last Chg FordM 847982 8.97 +.08 Pfizer 665881 38.14 -2.02 GenElec 624844 11.73 +.29 FrptMcM 469993 11.30 +.40 BkofAm 387840 33.24 +.39 SwstnEngy 322112 1.66 -.05 AT&T Inc 308311 38.58 +.33 UberTch n 289498 37.01 +.71 DelphiTc 279084 15.66 +5.86 Vale SA 250038 12.18 +.18 AMD 603078 50.53 +1.27 Apple Inc 397309 317.69 +8.74 Intel 308732 67.31 +1.62 Zynga 274884 6.07 +.14 FuelCell rs 254269 1.81 +.27 Microsoft 247436 165.46 +3.18 InovioPhm 237374 4.36 -.96 NantHIth h 211655 2.05 +.74 LuckinCfn 198957 39.61 +2.49 SiriusXM 194828 7.13 +.01 Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume Diary 1,845 793 81 2,719 126 52 3,397,017,399 Advanced Declined Unchanged Total issues New Highs New Lows Volume Diary 2,007 911 166 3,084 78 37 2,085,481,260 Stocks of Local Interest YTD Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg AFLAC 1.08 2.1 16 52.37 +.54 -1.0 AT&T Inc 2.08 5.4 17 38.58 +.33 -1.3 AbbottLab 1.44 1.6 47 89.54 -.05 +3.1 AMD 50.53 +1.27 +10.2 Altria 3.36 6.7 16 50.17 +.40 +.5 Apple Inc 3.08 1.0 29 317.69 +8.74 +8.2 ATMOS 2.30 2.0 22 116.31 -.08 +4.0 AuroraC 1.97 +.08 -8.8 AutoZone 201107.58 -6.91 -7.0 AveryD 2.32 1.8 37 129.21 +1.37 -1.2 BPPLC 2.46 6.6 11 37.41 -.03 -.9 BkofAm .72 2.2 12 33.24 +.39 -5.6 Boeing 8.22 2.6 29 316.56 -.04 -2.8 BrMySq 1.80 2.8 21 64.81 +1.11 +1.0 CSX .96 1.3 18 76.22 +1.05 +5.3 CampSp 1.40 2.9 18 48.88 +.11 -1.1 Caterpillar 4.12 3.0 12 136.74 +1.01 -7.4 ChesEng 1 .52 -.01 -37.3 Chevron 4.76 4.3 15 111.12 +.73 -7.8 Cisco 1.40 2.9 21 47.77 +.30 +.3 Citigroup 2.04 2.6 11 77.24 +.53 -3.3 CocaCola 1.60 2.8 35 57.01 -.47 +3.0 ConAgra .85 2.6 22 33.32 +.79 -2.7 Cummins 5.24 3.2 46 166.08 +1.31 -7.2 DelphiTc .68 4.3 5 15.66 +5.86 +22.1 Disney 1.76 1.3 19 138.37 +2.47 -4.3 Dupont rs 1.20 2.1 6 57.94 +.55 -9.8 Equifax 1.56 1.0 27 154.65 +1.62 +10.4 ExxonMbl 3.48 5.4 15 64.65 -.09 -7.4 FordM .60 6.7 7 8.97 +.08 -3.5 FrptMcM .20 1.8 7 11.30 +.40 -13.9 FuelCell rs 1.81 +.27 -27.9 GenElec .04 .3 11.73 +.29 +5.1 GenuPrt 3.05 3.2 18 96.58 +.42 -9.1 GlbeLife .69 .7 8 104.99 +1.75 -.1 HP Inc .70 3.3 7 21.64 +.06 +5.3 Haverty .80 4.0 21 20.14 -.09 -.1 Hershey 3.09 2.0 33 152.19 -.66 +3.5 HomeDp 5.44 2.3 24 233.86 +2.67 +7.1 InovioPhm 4.36 -.96 +32.1 Intel 1.32 2.0 23 67.31 +1.62 +12.5 YTD Name Ex Div Yld PE Last Chg %Chg Intelsat 5.43 -.46 -22.8 IBM 6.48 4.6 14 139.55 +.93 +4.1 JohnJn 3.80 2.5 25 149.50 +.75 +2.5 Lowes 2.20 1.8 27 121.15 +1.39 +1.2 LuckinCf n 39.61 +2.49 +.6 McDnlds 5.00 2.4 32 210.39 +1.05 +6.5 Merck 2.44 2.8 32 86.25 +.15 -5.2 MicronT 7 56.47 +1.06 +5.0 Microsoft 2.04 1.2 33 165.46 +3.18 +4.9 NantHIth h 2.05 +.74 +99.0 NorflkSo 3.76 1.8 22 204.76 +2.10 +5.5 OfficeDpt .10 4.1 7 2.44 +.06 -10.9 Penney .80 +.02 -28.2 PepsiCo 3.82 2.7 16 142.44 +.30 +4.2 Pfizer 1.52 4.0 15 38.14 -2.02 -2.7 PhilipMor 4.68 5.5 17 84.68 -.03 -.5 Primerica 1.36 1.1 15 120.64 +1.56 -7.6 ProctGam 2.98 2.4 29 126.03 +.34 +.9 RegionsFn .62 4.0 11 15.53 +.08 -9.5 SiriusXM .05 .7 32 7.13 +.01 -.3 Snaplnc A 18.99 +.37 +16.3 SouthnCo 2.48 3.5 33 70.05 +.31 +10.0 SwstnEngy 2 1.66 -.05 -31.4 SynovusFn 1.20 3.3 10 36.02 +.26 -8.1 3M Co 5.76 3.5 23 165.58 ■ ■10.05 -6.1 Transocn 4.77 +.15 -30.7 TruistFn 1.80 3.3 14 54.96 +.28 -2.4 Tyson 1.50 1.8 15 84.57 +.42 -7.1 Uber Tch n 37.01 +.71 +24.4 UtdCmBks .72 2.5 16 28.53 +.08 -7.6 UPS B 3.84 3.3 19 115.37 +.45 -1.4 Vaxart .88 +.24+150.7 VerizonCm 2.46 4.1 16 60.70 +.79 -1.1 VisInkT hrs .37 +.07 +44.7 Vodafone .96 4.7 20.33 +.26 +5.2 WalMart 2.12 1.8 67 116.60 +.74 -1.9 WeisMk 1.24 3.2 9 38.96 +.17 -3.8 WellsFargo 2.04 4.3 10 47.37 +.27 -12.0 Yamana g .02 .5 3.89 -.19 -1.5 YumBrnds 1.68 1.6 37 104.82 +.43 +4.1 Zynga 6.07 +.14 -.8 Stock Footnotes: g = Dividends and earnings in Canadian dollars, h = Does not meet continued-listing standards. If = Late filing with SEC. n = New in past 52 weeks, pf = Preferred, rs = Stock has undergone a reverse stock split of at least 50 percent within the past year, rt = Right to buy security at a specified price, s = Stock has split by at least 20 percent within the last year, un = Units, vj = In bankruptcy or receivership, wd = When distributed, wi = When issued, wt = Warrants. Fund Footnotes: m - Multiple fees are charged, usually a marketing fee and either a sales or redemption fee. Source: The Associated Press. Sales figures are unofficial. Stock Market Indexes Dow Jones industrials Close: 28,722.85 Change: 187.05 (0.7%) 30,000 29,000 28,000 27,000 26,000 A S 0 N D J 52-Week Net YTD 12-mo High Low Name Last Chg %Chg %Chg %Chg 29,373.62 24,323.94 Dow Industrials 28,722.85 +187.05 +.66 +.65 +16.85 11,359.49 9,676.06 Dow Transportation 10,861.34 +64.51 +.60 -.37 +8.97 937.67 701.52 Dow Utilities 933.09 +3.44 +.37 +6.13 +31.95 14,183.26 11,984.86 NYSE Composite 13,877.61 +108.00 +.78 -.25 +14.78 9,451.43 7,011.47 Nasdaq Composite 9,269.68 +130.37 +1.43 +3.31 +31.89 1,493.11 1,155.43 S&P 100 1,465.56 +14.36 +.99 +1.62 +26.27 3,337.77 2,624.06 S&P 500 3,276.24 +32.61 +1.01 +1.41 +24.10 2,106.30 1,801.88 S&P MidCap 2,056.38 +20.41 +1.00 -.32 +13.24 34,000.41 27,190.36 Wilshire 5000 33,357.52 +328.76 +1.00 +1.43 +22.02 1,715.08 1,450.32 Russell 2000 1,658.31 +14.17 +.86 -.61 +12.70 29,400 28,920* 28,440 10 DAYS Mutual Funds Total Assets Total Return/Rank Pet Min Init Name Obj ($Mlns) NAV 4-wk 12-mo 5-year Load Invt Vanguard 500ldxAdmrl LB 319,624 302.63 +0.6 +25.7/B +12.5/A NL 3,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxAdmrl LB 252,533 80.89 +1.3+25.0/C +12.1/B NL 3,000 Fidelity 500ldxlnsPrm LB 233,481 113.71 +1.2 +26.4/A +12.6/A NL 0 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInv FB 156,432 17.66 -1.4+13.6/D +5.4/B NL 0 Vanguard TtlSMIdxIns LB 152,714 80.91 +1.3+25.0/C +12.1/B NL 5,000,000 Vanguard TtlSMIdxInv LB 139,684 80.86 +1.3+24.9/C +12.0/B NL 3,000 Vanguard InsIdxInsPlus LB 125,358 294.62 +1.2 +26.4/A +12.6/A NL 100,000,000 Vanguard TtlnSIdxInsPlus FB 122,468 118.13 -1.4+13.6/D +5.5/B NL 100,000,000 Vanguard Insldxlns LB 116,814 294.60 +1.2 +26.4/A +12.6/A NL 5,000,000 Vanguard TtBMIdxAdmrl Cl 107,097 11.20 +1.4 +10.1/B +2.9/B NL 3,000 Fidelity Contrafund LG 97,238 14.17 +2.8+26.0/D +14.2/B NL 0 Vanguard WlngtnAdmrl MA 95,241 75.76 +0.9 +20.3/A +9.1/A NL 50,000 Cl -Intermediate-Term Bond, FB -Foreign Large Blend, IH -World Allocation, LB -Large Blend, LG -Large Growth, LV -Large Value, MA-Moderate Allocation, WS -World Stock, Total Return: Chng in NAV with dividends reinvest ed. Rank: How fund performed vs. others with same objective: A is in top 20%, E in bottom 20%. Min Init Invt: Minimum $ needed to invest in fund. Source: Momingstar.
