Newspaper Articles - 161125

 Based on the source excerpts, the article discusses an unconventional financial product dedicated entirely to luxury handbags.

The article is titled:

The Birkin Bag Hedge Fund

Content Reproduction:

A hedge fund… for handbags? You read that right. A US-based alternative-asset firm has created a hedge fund that trades not in stocks or gold but in Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags. Instead of investing in companies, investors put money into the fund, which buys, stores, and resells authentic Hermès bags at a profit.

Legitimacy and Performance When questioned about whether it sounds like a meme scheme, the answer is: Apparently, very real. The first fund raised $1 million in May, earned a 34% net return with an average resale timeline of just 43 days, and quietly expanded into a second $2 million fund. The fund operates mostly through word-of-mouth. The rationale is that Hermès bags hold and often grow their value much like gold.

Why Birkins are Valued Like Bullion The value stems from scarcity and status. Hermès maintains tight supply by selling only to carefully vetted clients. Consequently, the resale market thrives, and even used Birkins often sell for more than their retail price. According to Christie’s, prices have appreciated around 5 per cent annually over the past decade.

How the Fund Operates and Investor Profile The firm, named Luxus, generates money by buying sought-after models, such as black or beige Birkins and rare exotics. Luxus maintains these bags in pristine condition and sells them through auctions or luxury resellers. The profits from these sales are then distributed to investors, similar to returns from traditional hedge funds. Investors also receive a bonus: they get first dibs on the bags that the firm acquires for the fund at a lower price.

Surprisingly, regarding who is investing (fashionistas or financiers), the source states that it is mostly men. While women purchase the bags, men dominate the investor list. Luxus’s founder quipped that men "don’t mind the risk. They just care about the returns".

The sources contain an article detailing the US administration's decision to cut certain duties in response to high domestic consumer prices.

The article is titled:

Inflation Forces US Duty Cut on Key Food Staples

Washington: President Donald Trump announced Friday that he was scrapping US tariffs on beef, coffee, tropical fruits and a broad swath of other commodities. This dramatic move came amid mounting pressure on his administration to better combat high consumer prices.

Trump has built his second term around imposing steep levies on goods imported into the United States in hopes of encouraging domestic production and lifting the economy. His abrupt retreat from his signature tariff policy on staples key to the American diet is significant. This policy reversal comes after voters in off-year elections cited economic concerns as their top issue, resulting in big wins for Democrats.

Inflation remains elevated, despite Trump’s earlier pronouncements that it has vanished since he took office in January, further increasing pressure on US consumers.

The sources detail the political reaction:

• Democrats quickly characterized the move as an acknowledgment that Trump’s policies were hurting American pocketbooks.
• Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer stated that President Trump is "finally admitting what we always knew: his tariffs are raising prices for the American people".
• Beyer suggested the White House was trying to frame the tariff retreat as a ‘pivot to affordability’ after facing voter backlash due to broken promises to fix inflation.
• Trump, when questioned about tariffs contributing to high consumer prices, conceded, "I say they may, in some cases" have that effect, but claimed they had "to a large extent been borne by other countries".

The executive order scraps tariffs on items including beef, coffee, tropical fruits, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and certain fertilizers. Record-high beef prices had been a particular concern, partly due to Trump’s tariffs on Brazil, a major beef exporter. Some products covered by the cut are not produced in the United States, meaning tariffs meant to spur domestic production had little effect. Reducing these tariffs is expected to lead to lower prices for US consumers.

The Food Industry Association applauded Trump’s move to provide “swift tariff relief,” noting that import US taxes are an "important factor" in a complex mix of supply chain issues.

The sources contain an article detailing the activity of Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) in the Indian markets, providing weekly and year-to-date context regarding their flows.

The relevant article sections and data points are reproduced below:

FPIs return to buying mode, invest ₹2,298 crore on Friday

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) turned net buyers in Indian markets on Friday, investing ₹2,298.08 crore, according to NSDL data. This investment translates to $259.02 million, based on the rupee closing at ₹88.7160 against the dollar. This positive flow marks a return to positive territory following a volatile week.

Flow Dynamics

• Weekly Outflows: Despite turning net buyers on Friday, the cumulative net outflows for the week ended November 14 stood at ₹13,925 crore.
• Volatile Week: The week saw sharp swings in FPI flows. Monday recorded the highest single-day net inflow of ₹6,406.12 crore, which was led by equity investments of ₹7,738.80 crore. This robust inflow was subsequently followed by a reversal, seeing outflows on Tuesday.
• Equity Segment: Equity remained the key driver on Friday, witnessing net inflows of ₹2,053.04 crore. Of this, ₹735.23 crore came via stock exchanges, and ₹1,317.81 crore came through the primary market. Overall, FPIs turned net buyers of Indian equities after "selling heavily in the previous week," resulting in a net inflow of about $305 million in the equity segment last week.
• Debt and Hybrid Flows (Friday): Debt flows were mixed. Debt-FAR attracted ₹970.19 crore, while outflows were recorded in Debt-General Limit (₹577.34 crore), Debt-VRR (net selling of ₹105.04 crore), and hybrid instruments (outflows of ₹44.14 crore).

Long-Term Context and Drivers

• Year-to-Date (YTD) Trends: Year-to-date, FPIs have sold ₹208,126 crore through exchanges but have bought ₹62,125 crore via the primary market. The long-term trend of primary market investments continues, registering ₹7,833 crore so far in November.
• Driving Factors: The key drivers influencing this performance were cited as festival season sales, strong corporate earnings, and India-US trade talks.
• Market Outlook: FPIs are cautioned that they "have to accelerate their purchase in order to boost the rally in the Indian market".

Based on the sources, the article discussing the failure of films in North American theaters is titled:

Hollywood Fails Big Screen Test: 25 Films, Many Stars, 0 Hits

Near-empty theatres greet movies released in last three months adding to industry’s summer of discontent...is the trend here to stay?

Los Angeles: Some were heavily marketed. Many were championed by critics. Most had star power. But not one of the 25 dramas and comedies that movie companies released in North American theaters over the past three months has become a hit, "certainly not in the way that Hollywood has historically kept score".

Context and Metrics of Failure

• Historical Benchmark: Hollywood has historically used $50 million in ticket sales as a measure of success.
• Catastrophes: By that metric, a film like After the Hunt, starring Julia Roberts (who plays a college professor combating cancel culture), is considered a "catastrophe". That film cost an unspecified amount.
• Attendance Slump: The summer season, typically filled with fantasies and science-fiction sequels, was the least attended since 1981, after adjusting for inflation and excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years.
• October Record Low: The box office is hurting overall. Theaters in the US and Canada collected $445 million across all titles in October, which is the lowest total on record after adjusting for inflation and excluding 2020. For context, October ticket sales in 2019 totaled an adjusted $1 billion.
• Sheer Volume of Misfires: What is different now is the sheer volume of misfires and the number of major stars involved.

Impact on Stars and Genres

Over the past three months, major stars who have failed to fill seats (to varying degrees) include Margot Robbie, Colin Farrell, Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, Austin Butler, Keanu Reeves, Emma Stone, Sweeney, and Russell Crowe.

• Genre Performance: Dramas and comedies have been struggling for a while. To succeed in theaters today, "dramas and comedies must have event" appeal.
• Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna, cost roughly $30 million but managed only $1.6 million in ticket sales over a month.
• Franchise and Horror Strength: In contrast, franchise films (like Predator: Badlands, which collected $40 million last weekend, 30% better than analysts predicted), horror flicks (Weapons), and anime offerings (Infinity Castle) have attracted sizable audiences.

Underlying Cause: The Shrinking Theatrical Window

The shift in Hollywood's distribution strategy is pointed to as a major factor.

• Pandemic Shift: During the pandemic, Hollywood largely ended the long-held practice of giving theaters an exclusive window of about 90 days to show new movies.
• Digital Availability: Instead, movies began becoming available for digital rental or purchase after as little as 17 days.
• Diminished Incentive: This change diminished the incentive to see movies in theaters, especially dramas and comedies, which "play just fine on living room TVs".

Owen Gleiberman, chief film critic for Variety, noted that the situation "has seriously begun to look like the bottom is falling out".

The source excerpts contain a dedicated article and related sections discussing the emerging travel trends for Indians globally.

The article is primarily identified as:

Nations Warming up to India Turn Travel Hotspots

VISA RELAXATION BOOSTS OVERSEAS TOURISM

Details on New Spots and Growth

Overseas destinations such as Moscow, Vietnam, South Korea, Georgia, Thailand, and Japan are reporting an uptick in Indian arrivals this year. Some of these markets have reported over 40% growth. This resurgence in travel is boosted by relaxed visa requirements in some instances.

Specific visitor data and destination details (for 2025):

Destination	Visitors from India (Time Period)	Year-on-Year (YoY) Growth	Additional Context
Vietnam	443,000 visitors (First 8 months of 2025)	Up 42.2%	Compares to 392,000 Indian visitors in 2023 and 507,000 in 2024. MakeMyTrip launched holiday packages to Phu Quoc, Vietnam, with exclusive direct flights via Air India Express, as the island currently has no direct connectivity from India.
Japan	233,400 visitor arrivals (Jan-Sept)	Up 36.6%
Moscow	40,800 tourists (H1 of 2025)	Up 40%	Moscow expects to host up to six million international tourists annually by 2030, driven largely by travellers from India, China, the Asia-Pacific region, and West Asia.
South Korea	153,619 Indian visitors (Jan-Sept)	Up 13%
Georgia	103,968 Indian visitors (Jan-Sept)	Up around 19%

Destinations Falling Out of Favour

In contrast to these emerging hotspots, some countries have seen a drop in Indian interest:

• Azerbaijan and Turkey have fallen out of favour with Indian travelers following their support for Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.

Based on the sources, the article discussing the challenges and deepening crisis within the traditional advertising agency model is titled:

Wake Up & Smell the Copy

As the crisis in the traditional ad agency model deepens, the big networks are fighting to survive.

Deepening Crisis in Traditional Agencies

The sources frame the recent passing of Piyush Pandey as marking the end of an era in advertising, characterizing him as "peak advertising" who defined brand-building and storytelling for a generation in a liberalized world. His passing signals the death knell of the advertising agency world as they knew it—an era when big ideas created by big network agencies reigned over big data.

The big networks are currently fighting to survive as the crisis in the traditional ad agency model deepens.

Shift in Focus and Competition

The advertising landscape has fundamentally shifted toward measurable outcomes:

• Performance Over Brand Equity: One key word in advertising today is "performance," emphasizing a results-driven approach that relies on the measurement of outcomes.
• Dwindling Big Brand Work: Work focused on brand equity (telling the story of the big brand) is a dwindling part of this advertising pie.

Rise of Nimbler Shops

New-age brands and campaigns that have stood out are increasingly finding articulation in smaller, nimbler shops rather than relying on big networks. These smaller shops are excelling because they:

• Have been trained differently.
• Work mostly on YouTube and understand how attention works today.
• Write content that is more coded to the style of content people are consuming now.

Hard Choices and External Threats

The pressure on traditional network agencies is manifesting in tangible, painful consequences:

• A senior creative director mentioned multiple rounds of layoffs this year alone.
• All of this turbulence precedes the all-consuming elephant in the room waiting to scale up—AI.

The article discussing the cautious approach to the Fujiyama Power Systems Initial Public Offering (IPO) is titled:

Wait before powering on

IPO WATCH. Despite growth, fluctuating cash flows, subsidy reliant-business demand and concentrated markets support a cautious approach to Fujiyama Power Systems

Core Recommendation and Rationale

The IPO of Fujiyama Power Systems is characterized as an offering that is "better approached with caution". The primary recommendation to investors is to "wait-and-watch for now". The worth of the company will ultimately hinge on its ability to convert brand recall into recurring domestic demand. For investors, the key variable is earnings sustainability of this small-cap company.

Company and IPO Context

• Company Profile: Fujiyama Power Systems is described as less of a solar manufacturer and more of an emerging consumer energy brand. Its ecosystem spans consumer electronics, batteries and rooftop solar. The company sells a mix of solar panels, inverters, batteries, UPS systems, e-rickshaw chargers and lithium-ion batteries under the UTL Solar and Fujiyama Solar brands.
• Revenue Mix: Panels and batteries constitute about two-thirds of total revenue, with the solar UPS/inverter segment adding another quarter. As of Q1 FY26, about 94 per cent of Fujiyama’s revenue came from the B2C channel.
• Offering Details: The public issue aggregates ₹828-crore. The proceeds are planned to be used with ₹275 crore allocated to repay debt and ₹180 crore for the Ratlam facility.
• Valuation: The IPO prices Fujiyama at 45 times its FY25 earnings. This valuation is cheaper than some consumer energy names such as Havells (63x) and Servotech Renewable (69x), but more expensive than others like Amara Raja Energy & Mobility (23x) and Oswal Pumps (26x).

Key Risks and Concerns Warranting Caution

The article highlights several factors justifying the cautious approach:

1. Unproven Performance Improvement: The company’s recent numbers "don’t yet confirm a durable improvement".
2. Subsidy Reliance and Margin Risk: Investors need to monitor whether margins can hold once the subsidy-fuelled rooftop cycle tapers. This highlights that rooftop demand itself is policy-linked and could weaken if subsidies or net-metering rules shift.
3. Concentration Risk: The small-cap carries significant concentration risk, as over 40 per cent of retail sales come from Uttar Pradesh.
4. Supply Chain Dependency: The company is exposed to supply-chain swings because it still depends on imported cells, semi-conductors and lithium-ion parts. Fujiyama remains reliant on imported components, especially from China, though a planned solar cell plant at the Dadri facility may reduce this dependency over time.
5. Brand Uncertainty: The company’s success relies heavily on brand pull and consumer financing. However, the article notes that brand strength is yet unproven.