Champagne rises above the markets
If you had your money invested in vintage champagne, you'd be tempted to pop open a few bottles. Why is the bubbly stuff outperforming major financial indexes? Stephen Beard reports.
Tray of champagne glasses (iStockPhoto)
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Bob Moon: In our quest for more good news this morning, may we point out another kind of asset that's still fizzing?
Vintage champagne has easily outperformed most investments over the past year, as our Stephen Beard reports from London.
Stephen Beard: The S&P 500 is down almost 15 percent, but one index is soaring... and singing and dancing.
The Liv-ex Champagne Index is up by 27 percent. The index tracks the price of the world's top vintages. The Krug 96, for example, is up 56 percent. A case of that now costs almost $5,000.
Champagne's staggering performance is mostly due to the fact that more newly rich people are quaffing it -- Russian oligarchs and Chinese entrepreneurs -- but, says Justin Gibbs of Liv-ex, sales are holding up well even in doomladen western markets.
Justin Gibbs: Champagne is one of those wines associated with celebration and people look for reasons to celebrate when things aren't looking so good perhaps.
More and more investors have been drawn to vintage champagne, pushing prices even higher. And, says one commentator, even if the market collapses, they can always uncork their investment and drink it.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.
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