Signs of the times: Shrinking returns
Nobel Foundation, wine funds, $3 dollar stores and Manchester United IPO plans
- The global slowdown and euro crisis have claimed another victim: eggheads. The Nobel Foundation, based in Stockholm, said it is cutting the value of its awards by 20 per cent in order to safeguard its long-term capital. Nobel Prize winners will now take home about $1.1 million rather than $1.4 million.
- Europe’s troubles are driving more and more investors to the bottle. A French asset management firm recently launched a wine fund that will buy, store and sell cases of high-end wines. The minimum investment, which is locked in for one year, is just under $40,000. It is not risk-free. Wine prices can always collapse along with the economy. But at least investors won’t go thirsty if things go sour.
- A dollar just doesn’t go as far as it used to. The Canadian retailer Dollarama said it will start selling items this summer for as much as, gasp, $3 in addition to its $1 and $2 offerings. And why not: business at the dollar store is booming, with profit up 40 per cent in the first quarter to $42.6 million, and most sales in the past year coming from items that cost more than $1.
- Soccer doesn’t rank highly in the minds of U.S. sports fans, but investors? The storied but deeply indebted English club Manchester United is considering a $1-billion initial public offering in the U.S. after abandoning IPO plans in both Hong Kong and Singapore. But in the wake of Facebook’s debut, which kneecapped the IPO market, there are many who doubt Man U will score big in America.
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