DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Buy these 14 'boring' stocks that are set up for strong long-term growth, according to a pair of fund managers in the top 1% this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Leading fund managers Brian Yacktman and Elliott Savage broke through by sticking to their strategies. The pair looks for growth stocks that have pricing power and aren't too expensive. 14 top stocks to buy nowInvestors in search of those so-called boring stocks with steady growth, pricing power, and reasonable valuations are in luck. The fund managers like Mastercard (MA) and Visa (V), which function very much like toll collectors in the global payments space. Both enjoy the tremendous advantage of scale that wards off would-be competitors and positions them for future growth, in the fund managers' view.

☆ Mon Dieu! Chanel Challenges Hermès in Bag War
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Carol Ryan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/mon-dieu-chanel-challenges-hermes-in-bag-war-58406958

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) will likely face one of its most acrimonious annual meetings next week as it struggles to balance investor pressure to capture profits from oil and gas and a vocal minority saying it must move faster to tackle climate change. Big Oil firms posted record profits last year amid soaring energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. That resolution echoes a ruling by a Dutch court telling Shell to adjust its climate targets, which Shell has appealed. It also said it was pleased that proxy advisers ISS and Glass Lewis had recommended votes against the Follow This resolution. The measures, however, did not prevent climate activist participants from heckling and disrupting proceedings before being escorted out, some carried by security staff.

☆ Burberry fourth quarter sales jump 16% as China rebounds
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - British luxury fashion brand Burberry (BRBY.L) reported stronger-than-expected fourth quarter sales on Thursday, boosted by a rebound in its largest market China following three years of COVID-19 restrictions. In the quarter to April 1, comparable store sales rose 16%, accelerating from 1% in the third quarter and above a company compiled consensus of 14%. Sales in Mainland China rose 13%. "We have delivered a strong financial performance, supported by good progress in our core leather goods and outerwear categories, with revenue accelerating in the fourth quarter as growth rebounded in Mainland China," chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd said in a statement on Thursday. The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) group's luxury rivals LVMH (LVMH.PA) and Hermes (HRMS.PA) have also reported a bounce in first quarter sales due to a recovery in China and wider Asian markets.

☆ Bentley CEO says customization craze among the wealthy is boosting profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Robert Frank | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

After a record-breaking year in 2022, Bentley Motors reported surging profits in the first quarter due in large part to car customization, CEO Adrian Hallmark said. Bentley reported its best-ever first quarter, with operating profits up 27% to 216 million euros, or about $232 million. The reason: Wealthy buyers are spending more to personalize their cars with special paint colors, leather, stitching and details. "Customers are choosing one of our 62 paint colors, the 43 leathers we offer and lots of options," Hallmark told CNBC. Bentley's Mulliner Edition department at the company's Crewe factory is turning out record numbers of one-of-a-kind Bentleys with special paint colors, metal finishes and embroidery.

☆ Martha Stewart on Becoming Sports Illustrated’s Oldest Swimsuit Cover Model
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Rory Satran | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Martha Stewart’s sex-symbol era began anew in her late 70s, when she posted a photo of herself on Instagram emerging from her East Hampton pool and called it a “thirst trap.” Since then, the CEO and mogul has reinvented herself from bumpkin to bombshell, more likely to attend gala events in luxe Hermès outfits and full makeup than to plant bulbs in khakis as she did in the 1980s. Today, she’s come full circle in her late-in-life glow-up by becoming the oldest woman to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. “Is it a sex symbol, or is it a symbol of healthy living?” asked Ms. Stewart, 81, today. “We can hardly say sex symbol nowadays, right? Overt sex is kind of frowned upon.”

HONG KONG, May 16 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Investing in China need not be too stressful, provided you avoid investing in Chinese companies. A spending pop in the transport, food and beverage and hospitality sectors helped lift first-quarter GDP to 4.5%. But that data was flattered by comparison to a grim 2022, and April data on imports, inflation and bank loans all disappointed. While Beijing’s crackdowns on domestic technology companies and property developers have eased, other risks are rising. Separately, quarterly revenue at Alibaba is expected to rise 3% year-on-year to 211 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) in the three months to March, according to the average analyst forecast on Refinitiv.

"We are looking into ways to express this (China recovery) theme in our portfolio rather than just say 'let's go long China equity'. "Given the higher risk premium of China stocks, the demand for 'shadowing' China will continue to be strong," Jefferies said. The relative cheapness of European stocks, at least at the start of this year, has also been important. Luxury stocks - less vulnerable to sanctions - have performed well, but geopolitical worries have bruised tech firms, and manufacturing difficulties have hurt commodity stocks. "What is doing extremely well this year is luxury; if you'd bought European miners hoping that China would stimulate, you'd have got it wrong."

☆ Here are 10 global stocks analyst love coming out of the earnings week, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

However, according to strategists at Bank of America, there were more downward than upward revisions of company earnings estimates by analysts. The investment bank said European companies saw a decrease in their earnings per share (EPS) revision ratio to 0.85 in April, down from 1.12 in March. Analysts tend to downgrade stocks despite companies reporting bumper profits if those earnings are unlikely to grow in the future. The below table highlights 10 European large-cap stocks with high EPS revision ratio, according to Bank of America. The EPS revision ratio for Novo Nordisk was also in positive territory, thanks to its blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy and others in the pipeline.

☆ Wall St Week Ahead US. consumer price data to test feared stagflation scenario
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( David Randall | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Some also believe the recent banking sector tumult will hurt lending and further constrain growth, forcing the Fed to cut rates before inflation is tamed. April’s survey of global fund managers from BoFA Global Research showed stagflation expectations near historical highs, with 86% saying it will be part of the macroeconomic backdrop in 2024. Next week’s consumer price data for April, due on Wednesday, May 10, could offer a clearer picture of whether the Fed’s interest rate increases are cooling inflation. Charlie McElligott, managing director of cross-asset macro strategy at Nomura Securities, pointed to the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow estimate, which is projecting a 2.7% growth rate in the second quarter, up from 1.8% on May 1. At the same time, expectations that the Fed is unlikely to raise rates much higher has created a better backdrop for investors, he said.

But with flights remaining limited after China's border reopening in January, European luxury stores will need to wait longer for the return of masses of tourists they once depended on for growth. The average transaction value by Chinese travellers in Europe in March was 28% above 2019 levels, UBS said, citing data from VAT refund provider Planet. Cartier-owner Richemont (CFR.S), Hermes (HRMS.PA) and LVMH were best placed to benefit from wealthy Chinese shoppers, UBS added. As wealthy Chinese return to Europe and other foreign destinations, the appeal of China's Hainan Island, a duty free shopping hotspot, appears to be waning among top luxury spenders. China's "higher income, top luxury spenders (are) already travelling abroad again," she said, leading to an observable lower per-capita spend in Hainan.

☆ Alpha Bank to sell bad loan portfolio to Fortress and Davidson Kempner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ATHENS, May 5 (Reuters) - Alpha Bank ACBr.AT, one of Greece's four largest lenders, said on Friday it signed a binding agreement to sell a 650 million euro ($717.34 million) portfolio of corporate bad loans to Fortress and Davidson Kempner. The transaction, named project Hermes, is expected to reduce Alpha Bank's non-performing exposures (NPE) ratio by 10 basis points, it said. The deal is expected to be completed within May. ($1 = 0.9061 euros)Reporting by Lefteris PapadimasOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European shares rise on smaller ECB rate hike, upbeat earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Shubham Batra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies STOXX 600 index up 0.1%Adidas jumps on upbeat earningsEvotec drops on leaving MDAXMay 5 (Reuters) - European shares rose on Friday, as the European Central Bank's smaller rate hike, and market-beating results from Adidas and Apple boosted sentiment. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) edged up 0.1%, but is on track for its second consecutive weekly loss. Energy (.SXEP) and utilities shares (.SXPP) led the gains on the index, rising 1.4% and 1.0% respectively, while food and beverage shares (.SX3P) slid 0.4%. "Inflation pressures worldwide help in driving equity markets although we don't like to pay higher prices, as consumers it eats into our pockets. The higher prices go to some company reaping the rewards of those higher prices," said Chi Chan, Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst, Federated Hermes.

☆ Inside the Delirious Rise of ‘Superfake’ Handbags
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Amy X. Wang | Grant Cornett | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Once upon a time, the legend goes, Theseus slew the Minotaur and sailed triumphantly home to Athens on a wooden ship. What if, Thomas Hobbes wondered, someone rustled up a second boat out of the discarded planks; would you now have two original vessels? Not long ago, I found myself wandering through Paris with a fake Celine handbag slung over my shoulder. In France, a country that prides itself on originating so much of the world’s fashion, punishments for counterfeiting are severe, to the point that I technically risked three years in prison just by carrying my little knockoff around. My plunge into the world of fantastically realistic counterfeit purses — known as “superfakes” to vexed fashion houses and I.P.

☆ Ending the retailers’ crisis has a high price tag
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BARCELONA, May 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - High-street retailers are facing a heavy bill to weather the cost-of-living crisis. The cost of heating stores and staff requests for pay rises are squeezing operating margins at top players like H&M (HMb.ST) and Next (NXT.L). Shrinking disposable income is making it hard for these retailers to boost sales to protect margins. Most bricks-and-mortar retailers trade on higher multiples than they did before the war in Ukraine sparked soaring inflation. But that leaves a squeezed middle of retailers like H&M exposed to the brunt of the retail crisis.

☆ Is It Time to Give Up on My White Sneakers?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As I enter the job market, I am reconsidering the staple of the white sneaker. If I wear sneakers, will people take me seriously? Or that the filmmaker Chloé Zhao wore Hermès white sneakers with her gown when she won an Oscar back in 2021. Once you start thinking about white sneakers, you start seeing them everywhere. British Esquire called the white sneaker “the blank canvas upon which any modern look can be built.” Harper’s Bazaar crowed, “The best white sneakers can do it all.”The fact is, more than 100 years after Keds introduced its white sneaker, almost 90 years since Chuck Taylor popularized the style with Converse and more than half a century since Stan Smith changed the game — and amid all the color-crazed mayhem of endlessly mutating sneaker culture — white sneakers remain the Platonic ideal of a shoe: eternal, versatile, comfortable.

☆ She Wrote Frankly About Divorce, and Suffered the Consequences
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Alexandra Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The “young single woman in the city” genre feels almost as old as cities. Probably someone was wandering around ancient Athens in a fetching tunic with a papyrus scroll detailing how Hermes got handsy. But modern New York is where the genre has reached its apotheosis, from Edith Wharton to Beyoncé and beyond. In this mostly upward and exuberant history, the writer Ursula Parrott has been largely (and sadly) omitted. Their divorce would inspire “Ex-Wife,” the most successful of her 20 books.

☆ Bernard Arnault, the world's richest person, was nicknamed the 'wolf in cashmere' by rivals because of his predatory takeover moves. His company just hit a $500 billion valuation.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bernard Arnault is head of luxury giant LVMH and the world's richest person worth $206 billion. He earned the nickname the "wolf in cashmere" because of his ruthless moves to acquire rivals. It's enabled him to create the world's largest luxury conglomerate, which was valued at $500 billion this week. "Arnault is a man of great vision," Pierre Mallevays, former head of acquisitions at LVMH, previously told The Guardian. It was during his pursuit of Hermès International that he earned the nickname of the "wolf in cashmere."

☆ The best of Milan Design Week 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Marianna Cerini | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Milan CNN —The design world’s largest annual fair enjoyed a return to full pre-pandemic form with its 2023 showcase, transforming the city of Milan with hundreds of exhibitions, site-specific installations, pop-ups and public projects. Almost everywhere, the focus was on sustainable design, circular economy, material innovation and artistry combining craft with innovation. Some of the most interesting ideas were those that looked at waste – literally – to rethink what design can do when it uses what is already there. Shown in various stages of decomposition, the chair challenged viewers to approach products with the end of their lifecycle in mind. Top image: One of two bags design legend Gaetano Pesce created for Bottega Veneta’s Milan Design Week installation.

☆ Bolivia takes control of Banco Fassil, executives arrested
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LA PAZ, April 26 (Reuters) - Bolivia's government took control of one of the country's largest banks, Banco Fassil, a senior government financial official said on Wednesday, and police arrested several executives for alleged mismanagement. "Mismanagement, unhealthy practices have caused a crisis," the executive director of Bolivia's Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI), Reynaldo Yujra, told reporters in the city of Santa Cruz. Dozens of police were stationed at Banco Fassil's 185 branches across Bolivia on Wednesday, authorities said. Banco Fassil President Ricardo Mertens, General Manager Jorge Arturo Chávez and another executive, Hernan Suarez, were arrested late Tuesday, while a fourth, Hermes Saucedo, turned himself in early Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Cruz attorney general's office. "The financial system in general is in good health.

CompaniesCompanies Related documents Hermes International SCA FollowSkechers USA Inc FollowApril 26 (Reuters) - French luxury fashion house Hermès International SCA (HRMS.PA) has settled a lawsuit brought by Skechers USA Inc (SKX.N) that claimed Hermès sneakers infringed Skechers' patent rights, according to a Wednesday filing in Manhattan federal court. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment and additional details. Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers sued Hermès last year, alleging its Eclair and Envol sneakers infringe two Skechers design patents covering the undulating "Massage Fit" soles in its "Go Walk" walking shoes. Skechers said the soles of Hermès' shoes were "substantially the same" as its soles and requested an unspecified amount of money damages. Skechers has also sued Fila, Reebok, Steve Madden and other shoemakers in the past for infringing "Go Walk" design patents, in cases that later settled.

☆ Analysis: Debt ceiling worries bubble up in US stock options market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, April 26 (Reuters) - Worries over a debt ceiling showdown are creeping into U.S. options markets, as investors grow increasingly concerned that lawmakers will be unable to hammer out a deal in coming weeks, potentially sparking stock volatility as a key deadline nears. In the options market, however, worries are bubbling as some analysts warn the so-called X-date, after which the government is no longer able to pay all its bills, could come in the first half of June. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday warned that failure by Congress to raise the government's debt ceiling - and the resulting default - would trigger an "economic catastrophe" that would send interest rates higher for years to come. AWKWARD TIMINGLegislative standoffs over debt limits this last decade have largely been resolved before they could ripple out into markets. "You are going to have all these fundamental pressures -- and then our friends in Washington aren't going to be able to agree on what to do with the debt ceiling," he said.

☆ Debt ceiling worries bubble up in US stock options market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Saqib Iqbal Ahmed | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

☆ The fundamental factors fueling the European rally this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Kevin Schmidt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Favorable climate conditions and a decrease in the cost of natural gas are fueling a European market rally, a stark contrast to energy crisis fears of last year. "Which could arguably be a tail wind for the European consumer to help spend on those luxury goods." European luxury stocks are among the breakout stars in 2023, with Rolls Royce up 58% and Hermes and LVMH jumping 34% and 33%, respectively. Bartolini said that the energy crisis concerns that were once weighing down on sentiment have come and gone, reinvigorating optimism into the European market. "Because there are more things pointing up than there are more things pointing down for the European markets."

☆ Europe is the place to invest so far in 2023. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. stocks are off to a good start in 2023, with the S & P 500 up 7%, but Europe is just killing it. All the major European ETFs are up 15%-20% for the year and were at new highs last week. From makeup to sneakers to steel to pharmaceuticals and software to cars for the masses, Europe is outperforming. European stocks this year L'Oreal up 38% Adidas up 33% Thyssenkrup up 32% Bayer up 30% SAP up 29% Stellantis up 25% There's are several other reasons Europe is outperforming. That is historically a very low P/E ratio for Europe, in the 4th percentile (low) relative to the STOXX Europe 600 over the last 15 years.

Search resuls for: "Hérmes"

25 mentions found