Looking for luxury at a discount? Try stocks, not handbags

This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion publishes each week based on [Bloomberg]( This is the Weekend Edition of Bloomberg Opinion Today, a roundup of the most popular stories Bloomberg Opinion publishes each week based on web readership. [Luxury Stocks Are Heading to the Clearance Bin]( — Andrea Felsted The best luxury brands rarely go on sale. Not so their share prices. Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg Valuations across the sector have tumbled on a deteriorating Chinese economy and sluggish US demand. But investors with a long-term view may be able to salvage something from the bursting of the bling bubble. The hoped-for rebound in top-end goods this year has yet to materialize. The next few months, and into 2025, look tricky. The main culprit is China, whose shoppers accounted for 23% of the global personal luxury-goods market last year, according to Bain & Co., and where appetite for Louis Vuitton handbags and Burberry scarves has stalled. Indeed, concerns are rising that the market has declined further amid a prolonged economic downturn and housing slump. Weak Swiss watch exports to China and Hong Kong, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE’s Sephora [laying off 10% of its 4,000-strong workforce in China]( and sluggish tourism to Europe are all adding to the sense of gloom. Read the [whole thing](. [How Sonos Botched an App and Infuriated Its Customers]( — Dave Lee [Good Luck to Qualcomm in Getting Intel Inside]( — Chris Hughes [The Game Isn’t Over for China But It Is ‘Garbage Time’]( — Minxin Pei [Your Olive Oil Might Be Unfit for Human Consumption]( — Lara Williams [Berlin’s Famous Club Scene Faces the End of the Party]( — Chris Bryant [Brian Kemp Has Failed Georgia Voters]( — Mary Ellen Klas [Nike Fell for a Plug-and-Play CEO. He Flopped.]( — Beth Kowitt [Microsoft’s Three Mile Island Deal Is Great News]( — Bloomberg’s editorial board [Trump’s Promise to ‘Protect’ Women Is an Appeal to Fragile Men]( — Nia-Malika Henderson More From Bloomberg Opinion Here’s what we’ve been listening to and watching this week. - Kamala Harris is struggling to [win over a key demographic]( that Donald Trump is centering his campaign around: younger working-class men. Timothy L. O’Brien joined Nia-Malika Henderson and Francis Wilkinson to discuss how “masculinity” is playing into this presidential election. - There was something particularly insidious about the [pagers and walkie-talkies that exploded in Lebanon]( last week. Andreas Kluth says future historians will look back on these attacks as our entry into the age of “intimate warfare.” - Remember when [OpenAI promised to build AI]( for the “benefit of humanity”? Parmy Olson explains why those promises are being broken. - [Elon Musk’s free-speech absolutism]( may be more flawed than he thinks, says Adrian Wooldridge. Follow Us Stay updated by saving our new email address Our email address is changing, which means you’ll be receiving this newsletter from noreply@news.bloomberg.com. Here’s how to update your contacts to ensure you continue receiving it: - Gmail: Open an email from Bloomberg, click the three dots in the top right corner, select “Mark as important.” - Outlook: Right-click on Bloomberg’s email address and select “Add to Outlook Contacts.” - Apple Mail: Open the email, click on Bloomberg’s email address, and select “Add to Contacts” or “Add to VIPs.” - Yahoo Mail: Open an email from Bloomberg, hover over the email address, click “Add to Contacts.” Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. Want to sponsor this newsletter? [Get in touch here](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](