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To all of you who are mothers or have mothers, we wish you Happy Mother’s Day! This weekend, how will you honour the woman who gave you life? Here are a few thoughts on gift ideas (feel free to pass these on…hint, hint).
Nothing says Mom like… a Coach (NYSE:COH) handbag? Affordable, stylish and not offensive. No? Not your mother? How about a Tiffany (NYSE:TIF) bracelet? A Ralph Lauren (NYSE:RL) cashmere sweater? How about the shares instead? American retailers had a tough week thanks once again to save-it-for-your-mama-European-drama. The election of a new president in France (François Hollande) and the election of no government yet in Greece made for a raucous week on the world stock markets. Tiffany & Co. lost 1.5% to $64.75 per share; Coach dropped almost 2% to $70.80 and Ralph Lauren lost over 3% to $163.38. Did somebody say ‘buying opportunity’?
Perhaps she would fancy a family brunch at a posh hotel? Tourism seems to be turning around as shares in hotel companies outperform their estimates and are turning out to be some of the street favourites of 2012. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT), Marriott International (NYSE:MAR), Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) and Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) are all on the analyst hot lists these days. But who serves up the best eggs benedict? That’s what we need to know…
What mom wouldn’t love a spa day or a truckload of her favourite beauty products? The share price of Avon (NYSE:AVP) shot up nearly 10% to $21.60 this week on rumours that its persistent suitor Coty Inc. was preparing to sweeten its $10 billion takeover offer ($23.25 per share) - which it did. Deep-pocketed Warren Buffett jumped on board and together Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) and Coty upped the offer to $10.65 billion (or $24.75 per share) with a May 14th deadline. Avon responded with a cool, “let me think about it,” causing shares to slide to $21.20. Some analysts believe Avon should hold out for as much as $28 per share, but that doesn’t look like it’s in the cards. Will it be third time lucky for Coty? Will this finally be an offer Avon can’t refuse? We shall see…
If you’re in London, you may need to go online to send mom a card… British greeting card retailer Clinton Cards (LSE:CC) went into administration this week (the first step of bankruptcy), threatening the closure of 750 shops and the loss of more than 8,000 jobs. Fortunately for UK moms, ‘Mothering Sunday’ was celebrated back in March!
Mom always liked your homemade cards best anyway… The world’s biggest publicly traded greeting card company is American Greetings (NYSE:AM), who just so happens to be Clinton Card’s biggest supplier and owner of its debt. It may have looked like American Greetings was doing Clinton a favour when it acquired Clinton’s bank loans, but after a few missed payments, they called the loans in. This “loan to own” strategy is being seen as rawther aggressive among the mild-mannered British business community. Rumour has it that bookseller WH Smith (LSE:SMWH) may be interested in buying up Clinton’s business, but they’ll have to arm-wrestle with the Americans for it. Would it be appropriate to send a sympathy card? Probably not…
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