Here's an interesting story from the WSJ.

While most Lower Richistani’s ($1 million to $10 million in net worth) were voting Republican, most Middle-and Upper Richistanis (those worth $10 million plus and $100 million plus) were voting Democrat.

Cirrus will release a new personal jet in 2001, according to this story from the UK Independent:

Burlesque babe Dita von Teese is now the face of Cointreau, and she has her own signature drink:

"Cointreau Teese

1 ½ oz. Cointreau
¾ oz. apple juice
½ oz. Monin violet syrup
½ oz. fresh lemon juice

Shake and strain into a martini glass with a ginger-frosted rim; garnish with a violet. Bottoms up. "

For those unfamiliar with it, yes, there apparently IS violet syrup, such as this one from Monin:

Not satisfied with just any old gin decanter? Check out a collection of five crystal-and-sapphire decanters designed by artist Karim Rachid, each coming in at a hefty $200,000:

Each of the five Revelation decanters is handcrafted in France by Baccarat, the creator of the world’s finest luxury crystal. The bottle is cut into the shape of a gemstone with 10 facets, representing the 10 botanicals used to create the taste of Bombay Sapphire. Each Revelation bottle is completed with its own individually designed stopper decorated with sapphires and diamonds and set by the oldest jewelry house in the world, Garrard.

Before going to their new owners, the bottles are being individually exhibited. One can now be seen at London Heathrow airport's new Terminal Five, and will soon be on display at airports in New York, Dubai, Singapore and Sydney.

A gem from Details, pointed out by my friend Isis:

1.
We’re not living in a very creative era. That’s not good or bad; it’s just the way it is. I think it’s in very bad taste to buy art right now. People should leave it to the hedge-fund owners who want to satisfy their wives. “Hey, I bought a Chinese avant-garde thing.” Good for you.

2.
I think it’s very important to look sexy at home. I hate it when people say, “I will take this to the countryside because it’s not fashionable anymore.” I love being well-dressed when nobody’s looking at me.

3.
At hotels, they always mess up the cleaning. They will do a crease when it’s not necessary. You give them a cotton shirt and they dry-clean it. It smells funny, so you have to rinse it again. So I travel light.

4.
If you can tell a man’s sexuality by the way he dresses—like a “gay” uniform or a “macho” uniform—that’s disgusting.

5.
Nowadays, people work out way too much, and they look like invaders from another planet. A guy who works out two hours a day—focusing on his chest because he thinks it’s sexy—you can’t dress him, even if you send him to the best designer or stylist in the world.

6.
Finance men have money but no taste. They’ll say, “My wife thinks this tie looks good on me.” They don’t focus on what’s beautiful and what’s not beautiful—they leave it to women.

7.
The rock star who uses a personal stylist to dress him should go to jail. If you’re doing rock and roll, you should know how to dress. You shouldn’t need to hire anybody.

8.
Anybody can be a good guest for dinner. When it gets delicate is after one day. The worst guests are the people who come to your place and in the morning they say, “Okay, what do we do today?”

9.
I once wore a pink, ruffled shirt for dinner, and I wish I had never done it. I thought it was funny, but I felt so bad in it I realized I don’t have the humor to deal with ugliness.

10.
After you’re 35, it’s difficult to drink unless you’re running 10 miles a day. I’m not talking one dry martini every Saturday or something. I’m talking three dry martinis a night. And I don’t think that’s possible—it’s too much poisoning. It’s not a very sexy way to talk about drinking, but that’s the truth.

A few of us at YupJay are ad-men (err, ad-women, to be more precise) at heart, and thought you might appreciate this:

source: USA Today

Economy compels some to move home with parents

After being laid off from her job as an events planner at an upscale resort, Jo Ann Bauer struggled financially. She worked at several lower-paying jobs, relocated to a new city and even declared bankruptcy. Then in December, she finally accepted her parents' invitation to move into their home — at age 52. "I'm back living in the bedroom that I grew up in," she said.

Taking shelter with parents isn't uncommon for young people in their 20s, especially when the job market is poor. But now the slumping economy and the credit crunch are forcing some children to do so later in life — even in middle age. Financial planners report receiving many calls from parents seeking advice about taking in their grown children following divorces and layoffs.

Some of Erickson's clients are giving as much as $50,000 at a time to their kids, many of whom have overextended themselves with big houses or lavish lifestyles. And the sliding economy might threaten their jobs.

Anna Maggiore, 27, lost her job as a publicist in Los Angeles about three years ago and moved into her parents' house in Los Alamos, N.M. She tried to find jobs, but nothing stuck, so she enrolled full-time at the College of Santa Fe to finish her bachelor's degree in business. She figures her parents spend about $1,000 a month on her, including a car payment, car and health insurance, school and other costs. Her father is a retired nuclear physicist and her mother, a guidance counselor, will retire this spring. Now Maggiore is looking for work so she can supplement their income.

"as you go out into the world my advice to you is... don't go! It's rough out there. Move back with your parents. Let them worry about it!" - Rodney Dangerfield, Back to School

Found on a fashion board I frequent, and interesting:

28th January 2008 19:30

Slowing US retail sales at two luxury goods makers are seen as further evidence that high-end consumers – once thought to be buffered from economic uncertainty – are also starting to tighten their belts as a weak housing market, credit problems and high food and gas prices start to take their toll.

Luxury handbag and accessory maker Coach last week said that second-quarter profit rose 11%, as sales at its factory stores offset weakness at retail locations, but cautioned it is facing a difficult consumer environment. Same-store sales at full-price stores fell 1%, but rose 18% at factory outlets the company said.

The results show consumers are trading down to lower-price items, and New York based Coach now plans to introduce a lower-priced $200 handbag to its line in the future to entice even the budget-conscious.

Meanwhile, PPR SA, the French owner of the Gucci luxury-goods brand, said revenue growth slowed in its fourth quarter as US and European consumers trimmed spending on designer handbags. Sales rose 15% in the quarter, but this fell behind the 22% increase reported in the third quarter.

However, both companies believe they will be able to weather the economic storm, with Coach backing its profit outlook for the year and PPR promising higher results for its full year.

Their results, though, are in line with Unity Marketing's Luxury Consumption Index, which shows luxury consumer confidence at the beginning of 2008 has never been lower, and that spending on luxury goods and services is down more than 20% from the first half of 2007 to the second.

“Affluent consumers, just like everybody else, feel the pain this time around,” says Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, and author of a white paper on predictions for the luxury market in 2008.

Ominously, she also adds that “luxury consumers have never expressed such a dismal view of their financial status, their feelings about the direction of the country as a whole and their plans for future spending.”

The light, if any, at the end of the tunnel, could be the recent moves by the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Should inflation occur due to the relaxing of the money supply, consumers may look at certain luxury items, like jewellery, as 'investments,' or hedges against inflation.

This is great. Watch Maria Bartiromo freak out at his "house of cards" comment.

I gotta say something. CNBC's evening shows during the week are what I call "jerkoff shows".

Fast Money, Mad Money, Kudlow & Company... all these shows are designed to jerk you off while the market burns down. It's becoming more and more obvious every day.

A few news articles:

Many rich 80s Yuppies 'struggling'

According to a report by the Liverpool Victoria friendly society, 45% of former 1980s Yuppies claim they are struggling financially or failing to live within their means, At the same time, seven out of 10 former Yuppies, now aged between 45 and 55, say they should have saved more money earlier in their career and 32% worry about how they would cope if their regular income stopped.

The number of people splashing out on expensive dining has halved, from 20% of Yuppies in the 1980s to just 9% now, while only 13% still buy the latest gadgets, compared with 18% 20 years ago. Instead the number of former Yuppies donating money to charity has doubled to 21%, up from 9% in the 1980s, while they are also five times more likely to be concerned about the environment and eating organically. More than half of former Yuppies say saving for retirement is now one of their top financial concerns, followed by paying off the mortgage, at 40%, and repaying debts at 34%.

Nigel Snell, communications director at Liverpool Victoria, said: "Our research on Yuppies has found that yesterday's privileged minority appears to have become part of today's anxious majority. YouGov questioned 2,409 people during September.

Yes, it's getting tough out there.