Combining opposites produces a clear plan for investing

October 20, 2013 6:46 pm

Combining opposites produces a clear plan for investing

By John Authers

Nudging investment industry in right direction deserves a prize

It is now a week since the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced that it would ask Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller to share this year’s prize for economics in memory of Alfred Nobel. At first, many wondered if the Swedish dignitaries had a sick sense of humour. The two are famous for taking opposite sides on whether markets are efficient. A more practical question might be: “What does it mean to say that markets are efficient or inefficient, and in any case what can we do about it?” Read more of this post

Nordic Hotel Billionaire Petter Stordalen Returns to Scene of Biggest Failure in Denmark; For the former triathlete, the trick is to make every hotel opening a lavish event that dazzles guests and steals newspaper headlines

Nordic Hotel Billionaire Returns to Scene of Biggest Failure

Billionaire Petter A. Stordalen, Scandinavia’s biggest hotel owner, says the one time in his career that he did everything wrong ended up being a lesson in how to protect his fortune. The Norwegian national, who won a reputation for building his hotel empire at breakneck speed last decade, learned his lesson after rushing into the Danish market. He lost 800 million kroner ($133 million) from 2000 to 2011 following a property bust that forced him to sell all 12 hotels there. He has now returned to the scene, cherry picking two hotels in Copenhagen. “Last time we did business in Denmark we did everything wrong,” Stordalen, 50, said in interview over breakfast at The Thief, his newest six-star hotel in Oslo. “I expanded too fast. This time we do it differently with brands that are better defined, stronger management and a plan to stay only in Copenhagen.” The lessons are helping Stordalen build his empire, and his personal fortune, even as much bigger competitors including Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. and InterContinental Hotels Group Plc (IHG) sell properties. For the former triathlete, the trick is to make every hotel opening a lavish event that dazzles guests and steals newspaper headlines. In the past, that’s included arriving on a hotel roof by a bright blue helicopter. He’s even descended from a ceiling with a disco ball while playing drums for an opening in Gothenburg, Sweden. At a hotel opening outside Oslo, he set fire to a guitar for dramatic effect. Read more of this post

Aussie Wine Wizard Breaks Rules With $110 Pinot Noir

Aussie Wine Wizard Breaks Rules With $110 Pinot Noir

Start with a mysterious, mega-rich, wine-loving Indonesian entrepreneur living in Singapore. Then tap a talented young Australian winemaker known for his silky, savory pinot noirs. Add in a property in the Yarra Valley north of Melbourne that once belonged to the father of flamboyant 19th-century opera diva Nellie Melba. The result is one of Australia’s most ambitious if polarizing new wine projects, Thousand Candles, whose first two vintages debut in the U.K. this month and in the U.S. in January. They’re already on shelves in Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Norway. The price for each, A$100 ($110), has been widely criticized in the U.K. and Australian press. “We have been accused of hubris,” admits winemaker William Downie. Read more of this post

Resilient cities are the next big thing

Resilient cities are the next big thing

Monday, October 21, 2013 – 06:30

Cheong Suk-wai

The Straits Times

SINGAPORE – The true test of how ready a city is to tackle all threats is how well it operates in storms as well as in sunny conditions. Urban resilience has long been the desired goal for urban planners and city dwellers alike. Now, such resilience is a must-have because deep-pocket corporations and investors are saying they want to move their assets only to cities that will not be shaken easily by sudden or prolonged shocks, whether they are flash floods, smog or a dearth of younger skilled workers. That’s according to global government and education chief Jeffrey Rhoda of technology giant IBM, the company that has long been a champion of the idea of smart cities. Read more of this post

Storm in a doughnut over pricing; many consumers want to know why they are paying twice as much for a bite as their American counterparts. Doughnuts sold here cost more than the ones “in expensive places like London”

Storm in a doughnut over pricing

Customers of Krispy Kreme here are paying more than some of their foreign counterparts. For example, an original glazed doughnut here is priced at S$2.60, while it costs US$0.99 (S$1.20) in the United States and RM2.50 (98 cents) in Malaysia.

Adrian Lim and Samantha Boh

My Paper

Monday, Oct 21, 2013

A top doughnut brand’s entry into the Singapore market has created a buzz. But, for now, the discussion is not focused on the taste and texture of the famous doughnuts. Instead, many consumers want to know why they are paying twice as much for a bite as their American counterparts. Krispy Kreme made its local debut here on Oct 12, with an original glazed doughnut priced at S$2.60. The same doughnut retails at US$0.99 (S$1.20) in the United States and RM2.50 (98 cents) in Malaysia. A dozen of the glazed doughnuts here cost S$23.40, but they go for A$15.95 (S$19.10) in Australia. Krispy Kreme is in good company. Hong Kong dimsum eatery Tim Ho Wan and Sichuan hotpot chain Hai Di Lao Hotpot also charge more in Singapore than in other places. Read more of this post

As body ages, Jackie Chan longs for Hollywood’s full embrace

As body ages, Jackie Chan longs for Hollywood’s full embrace

3:35pm EDT

By Eric Kelsey

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Jackie Chan wasn’t in the mood for proclamations. The Hong Kong martial arts film star, who declared last year at France’s Cannes film festival that he was retiring from action films, now says that after more than a decade of contemplating quitting, he is going to let his body decide. “When I was 40-something the media would ask me and then I said another five years, and then five years and five years until now,” the Kung Fu actor said in an interview promoting his 2012 Chinese action film “Chinese Zodiac,” which will be released in U.S. cinemas on Friday. “Six more months and I’m going to be 60,” Chan said. “And I (will) see how far I can go until my body tells me, ‘Stop.'” Read more of this post

Buy it or hate it, New Yorkers flock to Banksy’s art

Buy it or hate it, New Yorkers flock to Banksy’s art

Sat, Oct 19 2013

By Elizabeth Dilts

(Reuters) – Famously jaded New Yorkers are getting swept up in the hype over Banksy, the renegade graffiti artist who is leaving his mark across the city this month. Known for his anti-authoritarian black-and-white stenciled images, which have sold at auction for upwards of $2 million, the British street artist is treating New Yorkers to a daily dose of spray-painted art – while eluding the police and incurring the wrath of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Graffiti does ruin people’s property,” Bloomberg said in a press conference Wednesday. Read more of this post

How the Billionaires’ Shadow Government Works

How the Billionaires’ Shadow Government Works

There is no shortage of billionaires — the Koch brothers, Carl Icahn, Dan Loeb and, yes, Mike Bloomberg, to name a handful — who are willing to use their vast wealth to push a particular political agenda or to advocate for a specific social reform. That’s hardly a revelation. Then there’s Tom Steyer, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. arbitrager who was mentored by Robert Rubin and eventually formed the San Francisco hedge fund Farallon Capital Management. Since then, Steyer has made a bloody fortune. He has never spoken publicly about how he raked it in at Farallon. Nor has he talked on the record about his years at Goldman. (He didn’t respond to my interview requests when I was writing a book about Goldman in 2011.) Read more of this post

Lane Crawford president Andrew Keith talks about why selecting the right mix of goods for Chinese consumers is like conducting an orchestra. Unlike most department stores in the region, which lease store space to individual brands, Lane Crawford buys its own inventory and attracts customers who trust its fashion choices

Lane Crawford Taps Into Chinese Lifestyle

Company president Andrew Keith talks about why selecting the right mix of goods for Chinese consumers is like conducting an orchestra.

JASON CHOW and

WEI GU

Oct. 20, 2013 11:43 a.m. ET

Few luxury brands have been in Asia as long as Lane Crawford, the department store founded in 1850 by Scottish merchants in Hong Kong. But until now, its expansion into mainland China, an important luxury market, has been slow, and has yielded mixed results. Last month, Lane Crawford returned to Shanghai with a new 150,000-square-foot store, after closing one in 2006. In the first half of 2014, the company is planning to open a new store in the western city of Chengdu, its fourth store in mainland China. The company is picking up speed at a time when affluent Chinese consumers start to look for good quality products beyond big brand names. Lane Crawford specializes in bringing lesser-known brands to Asia. Unlike most department stores in the region, which lease store space to individual brands, Lane Crawford buys its own inventory and attracts customers who trust its fashion choices. That means the company’s merchandising is key to the company’s success. Andrew Keith, the president of Lane Crawford and former head of its men’s department, spoke to The Wall Street Journal about why Chinese men are fashion trendsetters and why selecting the right mix of goods for Chinese consumers is like conducting an orchestra. Edited excerpts: Read more of this post