Saturday, March 25, 2006

GM vs. Ferrari - Surprised?



So I was reading an article about the best known luxury brands in China, and here's what I found.

Christie's was voted the best auctioneer,

Very low P/E @ 6.55, so-so div @ 2.28, low margin @ 7.45

Vacheron Constantin the best watch, (private, and the world's oldest Manufacture - a watch ETF would be interesting, it could convert watches into a currency)

Davidoff the best cigar, (Imperial Tobacco)

Giorgio Armani the best designer, (private?)
Hennessy, Chivas Regal, and Dom Perignon the best liquors, (private?)
Princess the best yacht, and (SCAS group - China distributor, private?)
Ferrari the best sports car.

I was in China last year and visited the markets in Beijing. The only things I didn't see counterfeit were Ferraris and Princess yachts, and that was probably because the tourists couldn't fit them in their luggage. Mont Blanc, Columbia, North Face, Gap, and fake Gucci and Samsonite luggage to haul it all away. It was a never-ending onslaught of fake goods. Apparently over 95% of the antiques in China are fake too, even though they would still have the largest collection of antiquities in the world.

But back to the stock - Ferrari looks like an interesting play, though it probably won't get as much attention in a bear market. Come to think of it, unless China's boom keeps on booming, most of these product sales should stay relatively flat, I would think.

GM seems to be coming back? What about all those big pension and health care costs?

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