Gucci gang
Luxury losing out?
Good morning, my elegantly-attired gentlemen. This is your Stock Market Rundown for August 1st, 2023. Thanks for reading. Let’s begin now:
TODAY’S TOP STORY: LIVING THE LUXE LIFE👜
Look out, Prada salesgals: with the luxury buying boom potentially over, snooty shoppers are getting pickier.
That’s seen some stocks of luxury companies that sell life’s little indulgences looking more haggard than the Coach purse I bought on sale at the outlet mall.
And it’s not just the US consumer retrenching. China is a key market for luxury, but buyers from Beijing to Shenzhen are throwing on something sassy from their closets instead of picking out a new Burberry coat.
The past two years saw a record-breaking shopping frenzy in luxury, which boosted all the brands you hear about in rap songs—from Prada, to Hermes, to Cartier.
But he biggest beneficiary of this orgy of spending was French conglomerate LVMH (which stands for Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy). The company owns a caviar-tier menu of top brands, selling everything from frocks to fragrance: Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Hublot, Dior, and of course, Kanye’s favourite, Louis Vuitton.
LVMH is a public company, but it’s controlled by the Arnault family. CEO Bernard Arnault, dubbed “The Pope of Fashion” by the global press, took control through a Succession-like series of boss moves in 1990. Arnault vies for the “world’s richest man” title with Elon Musk. (Even if Bernard is #2, his navy suit and cufflinks make him the better dresser… Elon is more the hoodie type.)
LVMH even owns Sephora. So, the next time you’re purchasing a $95 wrinkle cream that has “peptides” (whatever those are), just remember you’re padding the profits of a bunch of French billionaires. Zut alors.
SO WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON?
A rare original vintage first-generation iPhone just sold for $190K at auction. Anybody want to buy my Blackberry from 2007? It has Nelly ringtones preinstalled.
Despite being as stretched-to-the-limit as a size-two bikini on your menopausal Aunt Irma, the US power grid is holding up so far this summer.
Tesla owners review their vehicles: “Worst car I've ever owned. Appears to have been assembled by a 6 year old. Drunk. With a hand tied behind his back.” Yikes. Hope he at least enjoys fart mode.
Crypto is definitely back with headlines like these: the most powerful securities regulation officer in the US is warning that crypto is rife with “fraud” and “hucksters”. Caveat emptor.
The pharma industry just can’t quit bribing doctors: weight-loss drugmaker Novo Nordisk spent millions in the past year wooing prescribing physicians by buying them meals. Hopefully they were kale salads with soy croutons.
That’s it for today folks, see you bright and early tomorrow. Yours in capitalism, The Axe