China Shifts, and Detroit’s Big Bet Goes Sour

Chrysler, Ford and General Motors saw a booming Chinese driving culture and cheap labor. Now the market is slowing, competition is rising and the Trump administration wants limits.

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Mind: When the Bully Is the Boss

Managers who aggressively “demand” excellence from their employees won’t necessarily produce it, researchers say.

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U.A.E. to Use Equipment From Huawei Despite American Pressure

The country, an ally of the United States, will work with the Chinese company on a high-speed wireless network in latest setback to American campaign.

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Wynn Resorts Fined $20 Million Over Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn, who is facing rape accusations, was not part of the settlement.

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Close To 2,000 Manufacturing Workers Just Went On Strike In Pennsylvania

After a merger with GE Transportation, the new employer "wants to turn this into an Amazon warehouse," the union says.

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SEC Says Elon Musk Violated Fraud Settlement With Tweet

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a motion asking for the Tesla CEO to show why he shouldn't be held in contempt.

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From Goop to Bandier: How to Build a Wellness Mecca

The days when offering a yoga class made a store stand out are long gone. Retailers such as Goop and Bandier are mixing apparel, beauty, food and experiences to pitch themselves to the wellness crowd.

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Andrew Wu, Shangguan Zhe, Lauren Santo Domingo and Edison Chen to Headline the Bof China Summit 2019

At next month’s gathering of Chinese and global industry leaders, founders, rule-breakers and pioneers will take centre stage.

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Finalists Revealed for $100,000 BoF China Prize

Six designer finalists will compete next month during Shanghai Fashion Week, with the winner gaining a cash prize of $100,000, BoF community mentorship and a show at London Fashion Week in September.

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Celebrating Contrasts at Dries Van Noten

Fading summer flowers struck the designer as the germ of a collection. How do you make such a cliché strange but still desirable? He got the emotional response he was after.

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Promise and Threat at Margiela

There was something restrained about this show, all the way to the last look, which felt like John Galliano was holding fire, poised, plotting his next assault on orthodoxy.

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The End of Excess at Paris Fashion Week

After a few years of overt decoration, sculpted, monochromatic lines look utterly fresh again. Lemaire, Rochas and Courrèges each proved the point in their own way.

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Allbirds Is Taking its Viral Fabric Tennis Shoes to China

The sneaker startup plans to announce this week that it will open a brick-and-mortar store in Shanghai in the coming months. By the end of the year, it plans to have stores in Beijing and Chengdu.

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J.C. Penney Pulls Plug on Clothing Subscription Service

The subscription service, introduced in December 2017 in partnership with Bombfell, works in a similar way to Stitch Fix.

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Chanel to Lean on Brand Veterans Following Lagerfeld's Death

The luxury house had said Viard would continue to manage the brand’s collections when Lagerfeld died last week at the age of 85, without clarifying her title or the breadth of her role.

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Lanvin’s New Codes

Bruno Sialelli's light and airy debut had potential, but was too heavily marked with the stamp of his former employer.

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5G Will Give Some Retailers an Edge. Others Will Fall Behind.

Retailers using the latest 5G technology in markets like China will be poised to benefit from new efficiencies and pioneer new experiences. Read China Decoded to make sense of the market.

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Nivea Maker Warns of Margin Threat as Niche Brands Disrupt Industry

Beiersdorf was the latest consumer goods company to reset profit expectations for 2019, citing need to reform the troubled consumer goods industry.

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Why Margiela's Tabi Boot Is Minting Money

As the enigmatic designer's split-toe shoe gains a celebrity following years after its initial release, retailers are cashing in.

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Op-Ed | Can Artificial Intelligence Ever Understand Fashion?

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and the blockchain are infiltrating every aspect of fashion, from managing supply chains to analysing customer data. But humans still have one essential quality these technologies lack: intuition.

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The Future Has Begun at Marine Serre

The apocalypso was Marine Serre’s window-dressing for a collection that featured her signature repurposing of familiarity. It could have been a lot more energized by dystopia. But in the end, she insisted on optimism.

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Defiant Manipulation at Saint Laurent

The exaggeration that underpins Anthony Vaccarello's work loaned the collection an uncompromising extravagance. And the whole finale – fluoro and black light – was a delirious distillation of pure form.

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Dior's Rebel Spirit

Maria Grazia Chiuri showed clothes that managed to bridge the gap between the house codes and one of the more arcane expressions of British street style, 1960s English teddy girls, drawing together strands of Dior's past, present and future.

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Former Ulta Employee Tweet Leads to 18-State Lawsuit

The case grew out of a viral tweet claiming that returned merchandise was repackaged or resealed and put it back on the shelf for sale.

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Selfridges Will Ban Exotic Skins in 2020

Starting next year, the UK luxury department store chain will only sell leather derived from agricultural livestock, joining a growing number of retailers and brands that have banned crocodile, python and other exotic skins.

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J.Crew Taps Chris Benz as Head of Women's Design

Benz started his career at the specialty retailer in 2005.

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Farfetch Soars After Pact to Help Harrods Woo Online Shoppers

The online retailer announced a strategic partnership with Harrods to provide the department store with a global e-commerce platform.

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Etsy Surges to Record High as Analysts Cheer Growth Outlook

The online seller of handcrafted and vintage items surpassed fourth-quarter sales expectations, sending shares to their highest level since the company’s 2015 IPO.

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Why Beauty Needs to Jump on the Wellness Boom

Wellness retailers like Alo Yoga and Bandier offer a mix of clothing, food, experiences and, increasingly, beauty, while even haircare brands are dabbling in nutritional supplements. This week's Business of Beauty newsletter takes a look at how wellness is packaged and sold — and why beauty brands can't ignore the latest fitness trend.

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Macy's Shares Rise as Investors Applaud Plan to Streamline Business

While the company said it can achieve growth in comparable-store sales, it won’t come immediately.

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Fashion Group Esprit Says First-Half Loss Widens on Brand Weakness

The Europe-focused clothing retailer reported a net loss of $2.25 million and revenue slid $1.62 million amid changes in consumer behaviour, price competition and reduced customer traffic.

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Case-Shiller: National House Price Index increased 4.7% year-over-year in December

S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for December ("December" is a 3 month average of October, November and December prices).

This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.

Note: Case-Shiller reports Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), I use the SA data for the graphs.

From S&P: Annual Gains Fall to 4.7% to End 2018 According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 4.7% annual gain in December, down from 5.1% in the previous month. The 10City Composite annual increase came in at 3.8%, down from 4.2% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 4.2% year-over-year gain, down from 4.6% in the previous month.

Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In December, Las Vegas led the way with an 11.4% year-over-year price increase, followed by Phoenix with an 8.0% increase and Atlanta with a 5.9% increase. Three of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending December 2018 versus the year ending November 2018.
...
Before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a month-over-month decrease of 0.1% in December. The 10-City and 20-City Composites both reported 0.2% decreases for the month. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index recorded a 0.3% month-over-month increase in December. The 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite both posted 0.2% month-over-month increases. In December, five of 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustment, while 14 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.

“The annual rate of price increases continues to fall,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Even at the reduced pace of 4.7% per year, home prices continue to outpace wage gains of 3.5% to 4% and inflation of about 2%. A decline in interest rates in the fourth quarter was not enough to offset the impact of rising prices on home sales. The monthly number of existing single family homes sold dropped throughout 2018, reaching an annual rate of 4.45 million in December. The 2018 full year sales pace was 4.74 million.

“Regional patterns continue to shift. Seattle and Portland, OR experienced the fastest price increases of any city from late 2016 to the spring of 2018; in December, they ranked 11th and 16th. Currently, the cities with the fastest price increases are Las Vegas and Phoenix. These are a reminder of how prices rose and collapsed in the financial crisis 12 years ago. Despite their recent gains, Las Vegas and Phoenix are the furthest below their 2006 peaks of any city followed in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).

The Composite 10 index is up slightly from the bubble peak, and up 0.2% in December (SA).

The Composite 20 index is 3.8% above the bubble peak, and up 0.2% (SA) in December.

The National index is 11.9% above the bubble peak (SA), and up 0.3% (SA) in December.  The National index is up 51.3% from the post-bubble low set in December 2011 (SA).

The second graph shows the Year over year change in all three indices.

The Composite 10 SA is up 3.7% compared to December 2017.  The Composite 20 SA is up 4.2% year-over-year.

The National index SA is up 4.7% year-over-year.

Note: According to the data, prices increased in 17 of 20 cities month-over-month seasonally adjusted.

I'll have more later.

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The Future Value of Your Data

The monetary value of information about a single person's online and offline activity may reach $10 a month by 2025 in the U.S. For further insights, read "Tomorrow's Data Heroes."

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Fed's Powell Says Officials Close to Finalizing Portfolio-Runoff Plan

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank is close to announcing plans for ending the runoff of its $4 trillion portfolio of bonds and other assets this year.

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U.S. Pending Home Sales Rose 4.6% in January

The number of existing homes that went under contract in the U.S. rose strongly in January, a sign of improvement for the housing market at the start of the year.

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AT&T Weighs Combining HBO, Turner Units

Television veteran Robert Greenblatt is in advanced talks with AT&T to take a senior role at WarnerMedia that could include oversight of the HBO and Turner entertainment networks.

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Big Bristol-Myers Shareholder Opposes Celgene Deal

One of Bristol-Myers’s largest shareholders is opposing the company’s $74 billion deal to buy rival Celgene, becoming the latest investor to express its unhappiness with the transaction.

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'I'm Still Under Construction'; Six Tales of Lifelong Learning

Lifelong learning has become a mantra in American corporations as employees face pressure to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving workplace. Here are six such stories.

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Liberty Global to Sell Swiss Operation

John Malone’s Liberty Global, a holding company for European cable assets, will sell its Swiss unit, UPC Switzerland, to Sunrise Communications Group in a deal with an enterprise value of about $6.3 billion.

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Arbitrator Finds 21st Century Fox Defrauded Producers of 'Bones'

An arbitrator found 21st Century Fox defrauded producers and actors of the television series “Bones” and awarded close to $180 million in damages, in connection with distribution deals with Fox and Hulu.

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FCC Chairman Says U.S. Has Early 5G Lead

Telecom regulator says spectrum policy helps U.S., but Chinese equipment makers pose threat.

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Bank customers hit by dozens of IT shutdowns

Customers suffer regular operational and security incidents, BBC analysis of new data reveals.

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UK car output driven down by plunging demand in China

The motor industry has been hit by "myriad challenges" including declining demand in key markets.

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Online gambling: Labour promises tougher limits

Limits on how much gamblers can stake online would be introduced under Labour, Tom Watson says.

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Post-Brexit migration rules disastrous, say manufacturers

The UK's main manufacturing body lambasts plans for a minimum salary threshold for skilled migrants.

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Airlines reroute to avoid Pakistan

The closure of Pakistan's airspace has prompted several airlines to reroute or suspend services.

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Booker Prize finds new funder in billionaire Sir Michael Moritz

Venture capitalist Sir Michael Moritz steps in after the literary award's previous sponsor withdrew.

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'Everything awesome' at Lego as it grows again

The Danish toymaker set out plans to open 80 stores in China as growth rebounded from last year.

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Trump urged to stay tough over China trade deal

Congress said the Trump administration should hold out for a substantive deal with China.

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M&S and Ocado to start home delivery service next year

The deal with Ocado will give M&S a home delivery food service for the first time.

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BBC and ITV set to launch Netflix rival

The broadcasters aim to launch their "BritBox" service in the UK later this year.

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Metro bank shares slump on cash call

The challenger bank's shares see another double-digit fall after it unveils a fundraising plan.

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Ted Baker shares tumble after profit warning

Shares in the fashion chain fall over 11% after the fashion chain says profits will be lower-than-expected.

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Selfridges bans sale of exotic skins

Animal welfare activists say 'hats off to Selfridges' for removing the products from its shelves.

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Can Georgian wine win over global drinkers?

As Georgia aims to boost wine exports, can its unique but sometimes challenging bottles find more fans?

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Why are more and more car companies teaming up?

Daimler and BMW are the latest to join forces as new technologies threaten to upend the car industry.

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Will the BBC and ITV's BritBox be a hit or a flop?

The BBC and ITV-run service has been more than a decade in the making. Is it too little, too late?

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UK global university ranking Brexit warning

UK universities perform well in subject league tables but there are warnings that depends on EU partnerships.

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Is the Race to Zero Over?

Wall Street Learns That Giving Stuff Away Is Boring Financial firms introduced a slew of products that didn’t charge fees last year. Investors yawned. Bloomberg, February 21, 2019       I am unimpressed with “free.” So too, it seems, is much of Wall Street. It was less than a year ago when large financial firms started…

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10 Wednesday AM Reads

My mid-week morning train reads: • Foot Locker’s Game Plan to Win Over Sneakerheads (Wall Street Journal) • Zillow Is Now The Netflix Of Homes (The Basis Point) see also Is Zillow’s move into buying, selling and financing homes a betrayal? (Housing Wire) • Why This Former NBA Champion Wants to Pay College Basketball Players: David West is trying to launch the…

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No Detente in Fee Wars

Fees are coming down on 10 Vanguard ETFs $(175 billion aum) Source: Wall Street Journal   My friend Asjylyn notes the fee wars continue: “Vanguard Group is cutting management fees on 10 exchange-traded funds, the latest money manager to trim fees on a host of investment products. The ETFs, with combined assets of $176 billion, include funds that…

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MIB: The American Dream is Alive and Well in China

The concept of the “American Dream” – upward social mobility achieved through hard work in a society with few economic barriers – still exists. The surprise is that it has migrated to China. That is the view of Neil Dwane, a portfolio manager and global strategist with Allianz Global Investors, which manages about $591 billion.…

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Masters in Business Live, with Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital

As always, Howard Marks was insightful, intelligent and articulate. He speaks with great clarity about compelx subjects, a rare quality among asset managers.   Note: Video starts at the 2:49 mark … 🎙️ WATCH LIVE: Bloomberg Opinion's @ritholtz is joined by @Oaktree Capital's @HowardMarksBook for a special taping of the "Masters in Business" podcast https://t.co/dQajFsdMJz —…

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