Probably not. First off, new Asian buyers and a “whole pile of Johnny-come-lately types” are fuelling current demand. A six-litre bottle of Château Pétrus 1982 recently sold for a record £60,000 at auction in Hong Kong, a city where wine imports rose by more than 40% in the first eight months of the year.

Meanwhile, in Christie’s spring 2009 global sales, Asian and Chinese buyers accounted for 61% of the total sale value, compared to 7% in 2005. “With demand coming almost entirely from Asian buyers, and with that demand so heavily biased towards one particular producer, it would be wrong to start heralding the return of a bull market”, say the people over at the Vintage wine fund.

Asia is beginning to resemble Japan in the late 1980s, when cash-flush companies and property developers splurged on trophy works by artists such as Van Gogh.

But there’s another reason why wine just isn’t such a great investment.

Read the rest of the story on MoneyWeek.com.

He also shares a British health care conglomerate that provides aid for troubled times and “sells even better when folks are broke.”

This from Adam:

Buy into Eastern Europe’s depression or just make 114% on ours: It’s your shot to call.

In case you hadn’t noticed, retail is in a bit of a pickle these days. The Conference Board’s latest consumer poll puts their Confidence Index down another 12.4 points, to yet another all-time low at 25.

Keeping in mind that anything below 50 is considered bad, I’d have to say that a score of half that ought to be considered really bad.

No shock there, I suppose, since we are looking at massive unemployment right about now. As of late last week, the official figure had us at 8.1%, a 25-year high water mark for folks who are slowly sinking under water.

And that’s only looking at it percentage-wise. Our population has grown roughly 45% since 1985, and 140% since 1930, so it’s safe to say that there are probably more folks hanging around the corner wasting time then ever before in the history of the country, including the dark days of the Great Depression.

Depressing indeed, but before you start thinking this is another one of Lass’ loads of unalloyed dreck, I actually have found another one of those oddball companies looking to expand during this dismal episode.

But First… More Dreck!

There is an odd thing about the current wreckage. Back in 2000, the majority of American households were involved in the stock market in one way or another. This was the dawn of online investing, when most any shmoe who could type their name with two fingers could get a trading account. Inside the biz, many still refer to the tech boom and ensuing crash as the “March of the Morons.”

Not very nice, but there it is. But don’t fret too much, because this most recent crash was in many ways the exact opposite. This time around, it was the wise guys themselves who sank trillions into unfathomable, unvaluable, and in the end, valueless debt arbitrage. The very folks who should have known better fell deepest into the briar patch.

As a result, mega-discounters like Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE) are actually reporting modest but significant increases in sales, while high-end outfits Saks (SKS:NYSE), Nordstrom (JWN:NYSE), and Ann Taylor (ANN:NYSE) are reporting withering sales declines.

The folks in the Ann Taylor corner suite at 7 Times Square (one wonders how long they will be able to afford THAT address eh?) are specifically blaming the 20% plunge in Q4 on the fact that a remarkable number of women no longer require the “business attire” that is ANN’s stock in trade. The future is so “volatile” right now (that’s biz slang for “god-awful”) the team at ANN won’t even put out a forecast for next quarter.

If you didn’t turn every $1000 you invested last year into 113 GRAND, you really need to give me the next five minutes of your time…

As the Dow lost 40% of its value in 2008, one unorthodox analyst steered his readers to optimized one-year gains of 6,635%, 10,838%, and 11,359%.

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The Two Fashion Items That Sell Even Better When Folks Are Broke

But there is one “wearable” shop that is not pulling in its horns. In fact, it is looking to expand its offerings into Eastern Europe. And yes, they know that the once-and-future Eastern Bloc is melting down as fast as (if not faster than) we are here in the States. In fact, they are counting on it.

I am referring to SSL International PLC (SSL:LN). This Brit healthcare conglomerate has the rights to distribute Dr. Scholl’s foot aids overseas. Just imagine all those sore, tired guys pounding the pavement looking for jobs! But SSL’s real winner in these troubled times is their Durex condoms line.

As per Chief Executive Officer Garry Watts, SSL intends on using the downturn to bump its stake 50% in a unit that distributes contraceptives to Russia and nine other eastern European countries. And that’s just the first kiss, as it were: By 2010 they hope to buy up the entire operation.

Blunt and to the Point

In a recent interview with Bloomberg’s Kari Lundgren and Howard Mustoe, Watts put it rather succinctly: “Russian people aren’t going to stop having sex any more than British people are. We’re not immune from the downturn, but it’s a bit like Pizza Hut: If you’re not going out, then you might be willing to drop a five-pound vibrator ring into your trolley.”

Hey, he said it, not me, folks. Okay, stinky feet and Russian condoms are slightly unsettling thoughts (especially around lunchtime). But Watt’s got a point and he’s grinning when he makes it, which makes him different than 95% of the CEOs I speak with these days, who can barely manage a forced rictus smile.

If this is just too much for you to wrap your mind around, and you still want to grab a piece of the action in the “Retail Space,” you can always pick up some of the puts we are recommending in my own WaveStrength Options Weekly column.

Like I mentioned earlier, no one is buying luxury goods. Thus, our Best Buy (BBY:NYSE) play is up some 40% as I sit to write, while our Disney (DIS:NYSE) play is up 114%.

Source: Pick Me Up a Three-Pack When You Go Out, Dear

If we go into a recession, who’s going to be buying the Porches, Cristal and caviar? Why isn’t anyone worried about the rich people? They live in the same economy we do and face all the same problems. I guess people just don’t seem to care about the $100,000 birthday party for a two-year-old that gets downgraded to a humdrum $90,000 party.

So how will the rich get by? During tough times, many people are hit hard. We often hear about industries and sectors that are “recession proof.” These are areas of the economy that cannot be negatively affected by a recession for a variety of reasons. Either they exist in an area where demand is constant, or their business model is such that a slower economy can do little to derail them.

But have you heard about recession proof people yet? These are the people that no matter how bad things get, they are able to maintain their current lifestyle for one simple reason: They can still afford it.

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If you’ve got enough money, a small percentage rise in inflation isn’t going to break your bank. And I’m not just talking about the upper-middle class family in the big house down the street. Even those people are thinking about home equity and capital gains taxes. I’m talking about the guys cruising around on 60-foot yachts, on their way to an island not found on maps, eating some rare and exquisite delicacy we haven’t heard of yet.

In short, I’m talking about real wealth. The kind of luxury and decadence once reserved for a king and his heirs.

Ultra-High-Wealth Individuals

During a recent Agora Financial editorial meeting in Baltimore, one editor talked about the buying habits of people called “ultra-high-wealth individuals” (UHWIs). These people are not just rich, but really rich. They embody the old maxim that “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.”

UHWIs are a fast-growing cadre, and not just in the U.S. and Europe. There are rapidly increasing numbers of UHWIs in Russia, Asia, South America, Africa and, of course, the Middle East. And there are discernable investment ideas in this. UHWIs buy planes, trains, automobiles, fancy houses and all other sorts of bejeweled bling. UHWIs have enough money to not worry about energy prices. They do not know scarcity.

Because how can anything be scarce when you have seemingly unlimited means? Some people worry about gold prices as a hedge against a falling dollar. Others worry about gold prices because they are installing a new solid-gold bathtub in one of their several master bathrooms. And others aren’t worrying about the price at all.

If food prices go up 20% or 30%, it means nothing to people with money. But it means everything to those billion or so who earn about $1 per day. So UHWIs do not know scarcity.

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Still, do you remember this scene in Titanic? The rich guy offered a wad of cash to one of the ship’s crew for a seat in the lifeboat. The crewman smacked the wad away and said, “Your money’s no good anymore.” But our civilization could never get to that point, right?

“Different from You and Me”

In 1926, the great writer F. Scott Fitzgerald published one of his most famous stories, The Rich Boy. The narrator begins with words that have become very famous. “Let me tell you about the very rich,” says the narrator. “They are different from you and me.” Later on, Ernest Hemingway added his own spin to that comment by noting, “Yes, they have more money.”

The rich may or may not be all that different from you and me in some fundamental ways. But one thing is for sure. Many of these UHWIs are making their money via the recent increases in the prices of energy and natural resources. So rising costs for energy, and the increasing scarcity of resources, have consequences for some fortunate few.

Now that may be the main difference, and something for many investors to think about. While scarcity can certainly hurt your investment portfolio, and even alter your lifestyle, there is always opportunity lying within scarcity. Of course, nothing is free, and you need to know where to look, but as goods become scarce, opportunities and windows will begin to present themselves.

And while I can’t promise you a new life of helicopter rides and exotic vacation spots, I certainly can offer you some helpful insight and observations. You just need to keep your eyes open…

Until we meet again,
Byron W. King

P.S.: In case you’re wondering what kind of energy and resource plays these rich guys are seizing, I’ve got a few gems for you to consider. The readers of my resource letter, Energy and Scarcity Investor, have just gotten their first crack at these picks and have already seen dividends from their investment. Click here to see the upcoming plays I’m working on…