DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Madrid joins race for high-spending tourists with bet on five-star hotels
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Corina Pons | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] A swimming pool is seen at the top of Hyatt's Thompson Madrid Hotel, overlooking central Madrid, Spain, June 13, 2023. RISING ROOM RATESThe arrival of luxury hotels has marked a new peak in room rates. "We're seeking to capture the highest-spending international tourists," said Madrid's tourism director, Luis Martin. Employment in Madrid's tourism sector has grown by 15% since 2019, compared with 5.4% nationally. "The Spanish tourism sector has always tried to compete with other destinations on low prices," he said.

Persons: Hyatt's, Violeta Santos Moura, Santo Mauro, Richard Brekelmans, ”, Carlos Erburu, Thompson, Antonio Catalan, Alejandro Pitashny, Luis Martin, Jose Maria Martinez, Corina Pons, Belen Carreño, Charlie Devereux, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Madrid Hotel, REUTERS, Violeta Santos Moura MADRID, Hotels, Puerta del Sol, Dior, Marriott, Santo, Santo Mauro Palace, Westin, Ritz, Universal Music, Southern, Madrid, Colliers, Hyatt Hotels Corp, Reuters, Robuchon, Michelin, Airlines, Air, Thomson Locations: Madrid, Spain, Europe, Paris, London, Milan, Puerta del, Southern Europe, Barcelona, United States, Rome, Argentine, Iberia, America, Air China, China, Spanish

Representatives for Hermes and Rothschild did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. Hermes said in a filing in March that Rothschild continued to market his NFTs after the jury's verdict. Rothschild told the court that Hermes' request went "far beyond what is appropriate in a case, like this one, that involves artistic expression." Rakoff largely granted Hermes' request, but decided not to order Rothschild to transfer the tokens out of an "abundance of caution" for 1st Amendment concerns. The case is Hermes International v. Rothschild, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No.

Persons: Hermes, Mason Rothschild's, Birkin, Jed Rakoff, Rothschild's, Rakoff, Rothschild, Sonny Estival, Gerald Ferguson, Deborah Wilcox, Oren Warshavsky, Rhett Millsaps, Christopher Sprigman, Mark McKenna, Rebecca Tushnet, Lex Lumina, Jonathan Harris, Adam Oppenheim, Harris St, Laurent, Wechsler Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Hermes, Constitution, . Rothschild, Southern, of, Baker, Hostetler, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, U.S, . Rothschild , U.S, of New York, Washington

☆ Officine Generale loosens classic styles at Paris Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Designer Pierre Maheo gestures next to models who present his creations for the fashion brand Officine Generale as part of its Menswear ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2024 collection show during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, June 23, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, June 23 (Reuters) - French fashion label Officine Generale showed a breezy lineup of relaxed tailoring on the runway on Friday as part of Paris Fashion Week. "The goal was to really manage to work on looser, more supple shapes for suit jackets," the label's founder and designer, Pierre Maheo, said. The collection, which included looks for men and women, featured slouchy trousers and dressy jackets, lightweight overcoats and cotton trousers with elastic waists. Paris Fashion week's menswear shows, which wind up on June 25, feature dozens of labels ranging from some of the biggest fashion names like LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton and Dior, as well as Hermes, to smaller, emerging brands.

Persons: Pierre Maheo, Gonzalo Fuentes PARIS, Louis, Mimosa Spencer, Sandra Maler Organizations: Generale, REUTERS, Monnaie, Left Bank, Paris, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, United States, New York

☆ Givenchy shows dressy tailoring for men at Paris Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A model presents a creation by designer Matthew M. Williams as part of his Menswear ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Givenchy during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, June 22, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie LecocqPARIS, June 22 (Reuters) - Givenchy creative director Matthew M. Williams took to the catwalk on Thursday with an elegant spring and summer lineup for men, paring down the layers and zeroing in on suits. Models strode through a column-lined hallway of the Musee de l’Armee in central Paris, overlooking the monument’s gilded dome. The show took place on the third day of Paris Fashion Week’s menswear shows, which kicked off with the celebrity-packed blockbuster debut from Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton, complete with a music performance from Jay-Z and Williams. Front row celebrities included Jared Leto, who turned up in a furry overcoat worn over a black suit--worn shirtless underneath.

Persons: Matthew M, Williams, Stephanie Lecocq PARIS, paring, strode, Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermes, Jared Leto, Mimosa Spencer, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Givenchy, REUTERS, l’Armee, Jay, Thomson Locations: Paris, France

[1/2] Shoppers walk with Steve Madden bags as pre-Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday shopping accelerates at the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S. November 22, 2019. The Steve Madden sneakers feature an "S" design that is likely to mislead consumers into thinking Skechers made or endorsed them, the lawsuit said. Representatives for Steve Madden did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers asked the court to order Steve Madden to stop the alleged misuse of its trademarks and requested an unspecified amount of money damages. Skechers also sued Long Island City, New York-based Steve Madden in 2015 for allegedly infringing several design patents covering aspects of its sneakers.

Persons: Steve Madden, King, King of Prussia, Mark Makela, Skechers, Steve Madden's, Berkshire, Hermes, Steven Madden, Daniel Petrocelli, Jeffrey Barker, O'Melveny, Myers, Brooks, Hermès, Blake Brittain Organizations: REUTERS, Manhattan, Nike, Adidas, Berkshire Hathaway, Brooks Sports, Inc, Steven Madden Ltd, Central, Central District of, Thomson Locations: Prussia, King, King of Prussia , Pennsylvania, U.S, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach , California, Long Island City , New York, Central District, Central District of California, NY, Washington

☆ Wealthy shoppers keep flocking to Aldi and dollar stores and say there's no longer any stigma, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Wealthy shoppers are increasingly turning to discount stores like Aldi, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General. This is because of inflation, improved product quality, and changing attitudes to discount stores. Morgan Pierce, who The Journal reported earns about $200,000 a year working at McDonald's corporate office in Chicago, visits Aldi and dollar stores for staples. People who The Journal spoke to said that the idea of shopping at discount stores was no longer as stigmatized. Soaring inflation during 2021 and 2022 combined with better-quality budget products and a rising number of brand-agnostic shoppers have all helped to push wealthier shoppers to discount stores.

Persons: —, Morgan Pierce, I'm, Pierce, Rick Dreiling, Kelly Dilts, Bob Gillman, Bethenny Frankel, It's, Dreiling Organizations: Service, Wall Street, Aldi, Dollar, YouTube, Housewives, New Locations: Aldi, Chicago, New York City

The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) closed 0.2% higher, with the DAX (.GDAXI) up 0.9%. Luxury majors LVMH (LVMH.PA) and Hermes (HRMS.PA) climbed 1.8% and 3%, respectively, further supporting the STOXX 600. Meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are lined up for the week. The STOXX 600 started the year on a stronger footing compared to the S&P 500 index (.SPX) but lost steam during the second quarter due to a rise in preference for growth-oriented stocks as opposed to value stocks. Shares in SES tumbled 14.6% to the bottom of the STOXX 600 after the satellite company announced its chief executive Steve Collar would step down.

Persons: BOJ, Bernstein, DAX, Lionel Messi's, Hermes, Daniela Hathorn, Sergio Ermotti, he’s, Michael Hewson, Silvio Berlusconi, Steve Collar, Shreyashi Sanyal, Bansari, Eileen Soreng Organizations: Fed, ECB, Adidas, UBS, CS, Inter Miami, U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Japan, Credit Suisse, CMC Markets, MEDIAFOREUROPE, Italian, Novartis, Seattle, Chinook Therapeutics, SES, BNP, Exane, Thomson Locations: Europe, Bengaluru

☆ Dollar eases after jump in U.S. jobless claims; Fed in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An employee deals with U.S. one-hundred dollar banknotes at a bank on June 16, 2022 in Hai an, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province of China. The dollar retreated on Friday, dragged down by lower U.S. Treasury yields after a spike in weekly jobless claims raised hopes that a peak in U.S. interest rates was near, as the focus turned to the upcoming week packed with central bank meetings. Against the Japanese yen , the greenback dipped to a one-week low of 138.765, tracking a slide in U.S. Treasury yields. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield last stood at 3.7317%, after falling 7 basis points on Thursday. So that'll show up in payrolls numbers and jobless claims and these sorts of numbers," said Jarrod Kerr, chief economist at Kiwibank.

Persons: Jarrod Kerr, Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Mohammed Elmi Organizations: U.S, Treasury, Federated Hermes Locations: Hai, Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China, Asia, U.S, Kiwibank, United States

☆ How a quest for identity made China the luxury powerhouse that it is today
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

"Traditions provide identity. As CCP has destroyed Chinese traditions, luxury brands step in to provide that," he tweeted. Consider this: The country's luxury market is set to hit 816 billion yuan, or $115 billion, by 2025. "Traditions provide identity. Rapid urbanization and consumerism did more to fuel China's luxury boom than a lack of religion, he said.

Persons: Desmond Shum, —, That's, PwC, Bernard Arnault —, Shum —, Shum, Simon & Schuster, Pierre Xiao Lu, Lu, Karl Gerth, Gerth, Yuwan Hu, Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton Organizations: CCP, Service, Privacy, Shanghai's Fudan University, Wharton, University of California, Daxue Consulting Locations: China, Europe, Today's China, San Diego, Beijing

☆ The Man Who Turned the World on to the Genius of Fungi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Jennifer Kahn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Plants managed to leave water and grow on land only because of their collaboration with fungi, which acted as their root systems for millions of years. Even today, roughly 90 percent of plants and nearly all the world’s trees depend on fungi, which supply crucial minerals by breaking down rock and other substances. They can also be a scourge, eradicating forests — Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight are fungi — and killing humans. Without fungi, matter wouldn’t decay; the planet would be buried under layers of dead and unrotted trees and vegetation. But where “Fantastic Fungi” fell decidedly into the old-school, ’shroom-head camp, Sheldrake’s book is more embracing and more optimistic.

Persons: it’s, Sheldrake, twining, Suzanne Simard, ’ shroom, Iris Van Herpen, bodices Organizations: Adidas, HBO Locations: Ikea

☆ Turkish lira slips despite appointment of well-regarded finance minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 5 (Reuters) - Turkey's lira slid almost 1% on Monday in thin trading during the Asian day to weaken past 21 per dollar, in a shaky initial reaction to the appointment of highly-regarded Mehmet Simsek as finance minister. The lira hit 21.1 to the dollar, not far above a record low of 21.8 made last week. Simsek, 56, won markets' confidence during terms as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018. Turkey's annual consumer price inflation hit a 24-year peak beyond 85% last year, and stood at 44% in April in a sign that further monetary tightening was required, according to Elmi. "A simple return to credible economic policy could see a marked change in Turkey's investment appeal," he said.

Persons: Mehmet Simsek, Tayyip Erdogan's, Mohammed Elmi, Tom Westbrook, Shri Navaratnam, Jamie Freed Organizations: Federated Hermes, Thomson Locations: Turkey

"While it appears to be a hot number on the actual number of people employed, the wage rate is not increasing as fast," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in Pittsburgh. The data brought relief to investors who mostly expect the Fed to pause hiking rates at its policy meeting on June 13-14. But some pointed to the much hotter-than-expected jobs data as a sign the Fed still has not yet tamed inflation. All 11 S&P 500 sectors advanced, with the materials index (.SPLRCM) leading, up 3.4%, and the consumer discretionary sector (.SPLRCD), housing Amazon, close behind, rising 2.2%. The S&P 500 posted 15 new 52-week highs and two new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 74 new highs and 40 new lows.

Persons: Kim Forrest, Phil Orlando, Nobody’s, Michael Landsberg, Herbert Lash, Shreyashi Sanyal, Shristi, Shashwat Chauhan, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Maju Samuel Organizations: Amazon, Nvidia, Reserve, Labor Department, Bokeh Capital Partners, Fed, Federal Reserve, Federated Hermes, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Dow, Verizon Communications Inc, T Inc, Mobile US Inc, Inc, U.S, Verizon, Mobile, Nvidia Corp, Landsberg Bennett, Wealth Management, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Washington, Pittsburgh, New York, Punta Gorda , Florida, Bengaluru

☆ Premarket stocks: The uber-wealthy are doing just fine and Wall Street is cashing in
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

But that’s not the case for everyone: The ultra-wealthy are doing just fine, and Wall Street firms are taking advantage of that. Germany, the largest economy in Europe, has slipped into recession as energy price shocks took their toll on consumer spending. In the past 10 weeks, JPMorgan Global Wealth Management opened 40,000 new accounts. Last year, it added around one new client with assets of $100 million or more per day, Mary Erdoes, head of asset and wealth management at the bank, told investors last week. Dollar General customers turn to food banksDollar General (DG) stock had one of its worst days ever on Thursday.

Persons: New York CNN —, that’s, JPMorgan Chase, Andy Cohen, Mary Erdoes, It’s, Goldman Sachs, Louis Vuitton, Dom Pérignon, Dior, Huw Roberts, Hermes —, Roberts, ”, Erwan, “, Gregory Daco, Allison Morrow, Jeff Owen, Owen, Cash, They’re, Elisabeth Buchwald, Treasury hasn’t, Biden Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Wall, JPMorgan, Bloomberg, JPMorgan Global Wealth Management, Citigroup, International Monetary Fund, Lamborghini, HSBC, EY, Dollar, Treasury, US Treasury Locations: New York, China, United States, Germany, Europe, BlackRock

Banks typically sold these perpetual bonds - known as AT1 bonds - with five years before an option to repay was triggered. In the past, investors got their money back, and banks replaced the bonds with new ones, but some are changing tack. The banks' actions show how the wipeout of billions of dollars of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds still reverberates around this market, which is estimated at roughly $275 billion. "The AT1 market is splitting," said Alessandro Cameroni, a portfolio manager at asset manager Lemanik. SHOCK ABSORBERThe AT1 bonds were designed to help banks absorb losses, and they count towards their capital buffers.

Persons: Kai Pfaffenbach, Banks, Alessandro Cameroni, Lemanik, Peter Harvey, Federated Hermes, Italy's, Morgan Stanley, Karsten Junius, J . Safra Sarasin, Chiara Elisei, Carlo Giovanni Boffa, Jane Merriman Organizations: REUTERS, Suisse, Raiffeisen Bank, Reuters, Deutsche, Aareal Bank, Credit Suisse, Investors, Federated, Lloyds, Societe Generale, UBS, Santander, J ., Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, Ukraine, Swiss, Schroders, Russia

☆ Elon Musk has displaced Bernard Arnault as the world's richest person, as Tesla stock surges and LVMH slumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has reclaimed the title of world's richest person, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The electric-vehicle pioneer's wealth rose in May thanks to Tesla's stock price surging. Musk surpassed Bernard Arnault on Wednesday after Paris-listed LVMH shares fell nearly 3%. Musk's wealth passed Arnault's on Wednesday after LVMH slipped nearly 3% in Paris trading, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's still comfortably the world's second-richest person, ahead of Bezos, who's worth $144 billion.

Persons: Elon, Bernard Arnault, —, Elon Musk, LVMH, Tesla, –, Jeff Bezos –, he's, Linda Yaccarino, Arnault's LVMH, He's, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Read, Hermes Organizations: Bloomberg, Service, Privacy, Amazon, Google Locations: Paris, Bezos

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/iris-law-celine-balenciaga-gucci-chanel-hermes-prada-91042b06

Persons: Dow Jones

☆ The collapse of the 'unremarkable middle' might be the best way to describe what's going wrong for retailers right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Alex Bitter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Stores like Bed Bath & Beyond are an "unremarkable middle," Dennis said on the Remarkable Retail podcast. Fewer middle-income consumers mean a shrinking shopper base for retailers that historically catered to the middle class, Retail Dive reported in 2019. "The apocalyptic part is really about the collapse of the unremarkable middle," Dennis said on the podcast. That's putting new pressure on the "unremarkable middle," Dennis said. "Economic pressure is going to reveal more fragility on the part of many retailers," Dennis added.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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.

☆ 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."

Search resuls for: "Hermes"

25 mentions found