WWD : The Virality of Gut Health

The Virality of Gut Health
A look into the category’s key trends including artificial intelligence-driven nutrition programs, functional foods, buzzy new ingredients and witty marketing.

With the hashtag #GutTok clocking in more than 900 million views on TikTok as the beverage girlies incorporate prebiotic sodas into their sleepy girl mocktails and other users chomp on digestive-friendly snacks in between taking their supplements, interest in gut health has never been higher.

The reason? Post-pandemic, consumers are increasingly more health-conscious, at the same time as digestive diseases are on the rise across the U.S., with the National Institutes of Health estimating that between 60 and 70 million Americans are affected.

“You unfortunately cannot ignore gastrointestinal symptoms and they happen every day, multiple times a day,” said Sam Jactel, founder and chief executive officer of Ayble, a virtual platform that provides customized nutrition guidance for those with gut health issues. “From the patient’s perspective, that is a major, major need that is consistent, that is painful.”

This has led to a rise in digestive supplements, foods and treatments which differ from typical vitamins, as they address a serious issue for consumers, from those looking to promote a healthy microbiome to those looking to treat more severe diseases, like ulcerative colitis.

And while consumers may look to this category for a range of reasons, the gut plays a key role in overall wellness. According to several studies, at least 90 percent of serotonin (the neurotransmitter associated with happiness) is created in the gut.
Therefore, a healthy gut not only impacts physical health but mental health.
It’s also proving to be a big business, with a report from Mintel showing that the United States digestive health market was expected to reach $5.7 billion in 2022 and nearly $6.5 billion by 2027. Furthermore, 45 percent of consumers have added probiotics to their daily routine, according to the firm.

As for what’s on offer, while probiotics are synonymous with the category — and remain one of the most popular products on the market — several key trends have arisen that are driving the digestive health category, including the introduction of postbiotics, the rise of functional foods, the use of artificial intelligence for a personalized nutrition approach and fun, irreverent messaging to connect with consumers.

Ingredients-wise, postbiotics, which Harvard Health Publishing defines as what’s left after the gut digests pre- and probiotics, are causing the most buzz within the overall digestive conversation, with more than 3 million views on the hashtag on TikTok.

“The next thing that’s coming is postbiotics,” said Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, gastroenterologist, gut health content creator and chief scientific officer at nutrition brand Methodology. “Prebiotics + probiotics = postbiotics. Ultimately, it’s the postbiotics that are having the effect in your body, so the natural way to approach this is to just feed your gut… In terms of the supplements space, they’re now starting to figure out how to actually create those postbiotics. It could boost beyond what you’re doing with your diet or what you’re doing with a probiotic or prebiotic supplement.”

Whie Dr. Bulsiewicz noted that postbiotics are newer to the category and require more testing to ensure their efficacy, consumers are increasingly interested in the ingredient, as data from Spate shows that searches for the term have grown more than 47 percent year-over-year.

Beekeeper’s Naturals, known for its propolis-infused immunity products, has employed postbiotics through tributyrin in its newest product 3-in-1 Complete Gut Health supplement, $45. According to the brand, this postbiotic is meant to “fuel the cells that line your gut barrier to decrease intestinal permeability.”

“Postbiotics are really important in understanding a complete picture of the microbiome. You need to address all three layers. You need a prebiotic, probiotic and postbiotic,” said Beekeeper’s Naturals founder Carly Stein.

With its 3-in-1 product, Beekeeper’s Naturals, which recently closed a $14 million funding round, is also opting for a multibenefit approach, as its messaging focuses on the gut microbiome’s impact on skin, brain and immune health. The product also employs the brand’s hero ingredient propolis, which is known for its immune health benefits. Reports from Mintel show that consumers are seeking digestive health products that also provide other benefits, most notably energy, immunity and relaxation.

Ritual, a supplement company, also launched its supplement Synbiotic+, $54, which amassed several million dollars in revenue in a few months, according to the brand.

And while brands like Seed, a microbiome supplement company, have entered the market focused solely on gut health, experts say digestive solutions will be key for wellness brands across the board.

“A lot of companies that not necessarily were focused on gut health have made it a staple within their product portfolio,” said Mark Lacy, an investment banking director at Raymond James, pointing to Ritual as a key example. “When you think about moving forward and the next five years of trends, even the companies that aren’t initially focused on it will have some sort of core stock keeping unit.”

But as consumers are seeking ease through multibenefit products, they are increasingly looking for the ease of functional foods and snackable supplements, as pill fatigue continues to be a top concern. Although capsules are still the largest format within the vitamin, mineral and supplement space, other formats are growing quickly.

BelliWelli, which recently raised $15.4 million, has built its brand on functional foods that don’t hurt the stomach and are safe for those diagnosed with GI conditions.
Furthermore, as several studies published in the Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility show that women are often twice as likely to experience digestive issues and disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the brand has doubled down on reaching this consumer specifically.

“What would be a really great on-the-go snack that a lot of women would like?” said BelliWelli cofounder and chief operating officer Tyson Woeste on the impetus of the brand. “It’s going to have these aspects of not hurting your stomach, but there’s also this other opportunity of making a fun, irreverent brand that pops, that doesn’t take itself so seriously in the aisle.”

Furthermore, the brand has doubled down on its irreverent, humorous messaging. For example, it often uses the tagline ‘Hot girls have IBS,’ which was used throughout its marketing when it launched at Sprouts last year. As this phrase has gained traction, it now has more than 26 million views on the hashtag on TikTok showing how the taboo around the subject is being broken down.

In the way of functional foods, a crop of “better-for-you” prebiotic sodas are also developing a niche within the gut health market, including Poppi, Olipop, Culture Pop and Wildwonder.

Poppi, which is aiming to take on “big soda” while also creating a gut-friendly beverage, employs apple cider vinegar for its digestive health benefits. For functional foods, the goal is twofold: creating a product that addresses an issue and competing with traditional options on the market.
For Poppi, the key driver has been taste.

“They [consumers] want something that’s easy to understand, it tastes good and gives them the health benefits. It’s that, ‘I want to have my cake and eat it too,” said Poppi cofounder and chief brand officer Allison Ellsworth.

Similar to BelliWelli, Poppi’s fun and taboo-breaking approach to the category has garnered brand success — the brand’s vibrant packaging, viral TikToks and influencer support have been key.

“Our branding, in-store, everything that we do, we lead with taste, flavor and fun. That is because people love gut health. They want to be healthy, but at the end of the day, they’re not going to sacrifice on taste,” said Ellsworth.

For the brand, which raised $25 million last December, retail has been key.
Most notably, the brand is currently available at Target, Walmart and Whole Foods among others, and is expected to reach 30,000 stores this year.

While product innovation is key for many brands, technology is also driving the category in terms of personalization. A slew of brands have launched blood and saliva-based tests to determine food sensitivities, though experts are unsure of their efficacy.

Ayble, a personalized gut health app that launched in April, has employed machine learning, along with its gastrointestinal database and demographic and clinical information, to provide users with customized diet pathways, removing trigger foods. Through machine learning and artificial intelligence, Ayble can ensure its algorithm is becoming stronger over time.

“We’re taking a data science approach to it. We anonymize and we aggregate,” said Jactel. “We use this data that we gather from you as you go through our program. We use that to inform our recommendations for the next user.”

Ayble is now reimbursed by several insurers and has partnered with brands like Parsley Health to expand its reach.

With an array of products and solutions on the market, experts expect consumers to experiment within the category and take a holistic approach when creating a gut health routine.

“It’s creating this wellness ecosystem with a basis on prebiotics and the microbiome,” said Lacy, predicting continued innovation in the vitamin, mineral and supplement space, along with additional functional foods and services.

Furthermore, as this market addresses an ever-increasing medical issue and the stigma around GI issues continues to dissipate, it’s not expected to slow down, according to experts.

“There’s still a lot of stigma. There’s still a lot of taboo in the GI space and the fact that we’re doing research in this space, companies are coming out and solving the problem,” said Jactel. “That will continue…. People are going to try a lot of different things altogether.”

Key Takeaways:

  1. Functional foods and multibenefit products will win.
  2. Expect more products featuring postbiotics.
  3. Artificial intelligence will drive personalization within the category.
  4. To break the taboo, gut health brands are opting for witty or irreverent messaging.

FT : Turkey unwinds measures designed to increase lira holdings

Turkey unwinds measures designed to increase lira holdings
Central bank calls move ‘first step’ towards a more conventional monetary policy

Turkey has loosened bank regulations designed to push consumers and businesses to reduce dollar holdings, in the latest sign of how President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s new economic team is unwinding some of his unorthodox policies.

The central bank’s announcement that it will cut requirements for banks to hold lira-denominated assets against foreign currency deposits came just days after policymakers nearly doubled the benchmark interest rate to 15 per cent as part of a plan to return to “rational” economic policies.

Erdoğan’s unconventional economic measures in his previous term warped Turkey’s economy, creating fast growth but very high inflation, a huge trade deficit and a lira that many exporters complain is overvalued despite a sharp fall. The government’s push for consumers and businesses to hold fewer dollars has been likened to capital controls because it makes foreign currency transactions more expensive.

The central bank, which is helmed by former Goldman Sachs executive Hafize Gaye Erkan, said Sunday’s decision was the “first step” in moving towards a more “simplified” approach to policymaking.

Under Erdoğan’s direction a series of unorthodox policies, such as keeping borrowing costs low despite inflation peaking above 85 per cent last year and special savings accounts that reimburse depositors when the lira falls at the government’s expense, have made Turkey’s economy increasingly vulnerable. The country is saddled with a record current account deficit and foreign investment in local assets has plummeted. Inflation is still close to 40 per cent.

Finance minister Mehmet Şimşek, a former senior Merrill Lynch bond strategist who like Erkan was appointed by Erdoğan this month after the leader’s re-election in May, pledged this week that Turkey would shift to “rules-based” fiscal and monetary policies, with a focus on achieving price stability and “sustainable growth”.


Under the government’s previous “lira-isation” strategy, banking regulations were changed frequently in an attempt to keep local businesses and consumers, who have seen the lira tumble 65 per cent against the dollar in the past two years, from converting their income and savings into foreign currency.

Foreign investors have said one of the key elements in restoring confidence, in addition to tightening monetary policy, will be reducing the use of measures that have caused big imbalances in Turkey’s $900bn economy.

Turkish banks’ holdings of lira-denominated securities as collateral have boomed to TL1tn from TL360bn in June 2022 when the rules came into effect, according to data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency. The “security maintenance requirements”, which force banks to hold lira-denominated bonds on top of required reserves for foreign currency deposits, have helped drive the rise, said Haluk Bürümcekçi, an Istanbul-based economist.

The rules also encouraged banks to offer high interest rates on lira deposits to boost the overall share of their total deposits denominated in lira, according to Enver Erkan, chief economist at Istanbul-based brokerage Dinamik Yatırım Menkul Değerler.

The central bank on Sunday stopped short of cutting out the requirements altogether. It reduced the security maintenance ratio to 5 per cent from 10 per cent. Monetary policymakers also tweaked a rule that required banks to pay a higher maintenance requirement if less than 60 per cent of their total deposits are lira, reducing the threshold to 57 per cent.

Dinamik’s Erkan, who said “many” other related regulations were also eased in Sunday’s announcement, suggested another reason for the move to loosen requirements might have been because the lira’s recent large fall had increased demand for dollar deposits, something that would have put pressure on banks’ security maintenance ratios.

WSJ : Tech Startup Targets Missile Motors as Silicon Valley Moves Into Weapons

Tech Startup Targets Missile Motors as Silicon Valley Moves Into Weapons
Anduril’s purchase of a solid rocket engine maker marks a further pivot from software to military hardware

Anduril Industries, one of the first California-based tech startups to seek weapons contracts from the Pentagon, is purchasing a rocket-engine business to supply motors used in missiles.

The company is acquiring Adranos, an Indiana-based company developing a new solid rocket motor for conventional and hypersonic missiles. The companies didn’t disclose the terms of the deal.

The move shows how Anduril, which already has drones deployed in Ukraine, is taking a bigger swing at the military market as Pentagon contractors attempt to expand production to meet demand following Russia’s invasion last year.

The backlog in rocket motor production has been one of the key chokepoints in delivering weapons like the Stinger missile, which Ukraine is relying on in its counteroffensive to push back Russian forces.

Consolidation in the solid rocket motor business has left just two large providers, Aerojet Rocketdyne AJRD 0.05%increase; green up pointing triangle and Northrop Grumman NOC -0.88%decrease; red down pointing triangle. Aerojet Rocketdyne has struggled to keep up with demand and is the subject of an agreed $4.7 billion takeover bid from L3Harris Technologies after antitrust regulators last year blocked an attempted combination with Lockheed Martin.

Anduril executives say the war in Ukraine only highlights the need for greater competition among solid rocket motor makers. As the U.S. pivots toward preparing for a potential conflict with China, defense and industry officials have expressed increasing concern that the U.S. manufacturing base isn’t sufficient to produce weapons, including missiles, for a major military engagement.

“At a time when we already weren’t producing enough weapons fast enough, we’ve now depleted a significant amount of those stockpiles in the war in Ukraine,” said Chris Brose, the chief strategy officer for Anduril. “All of this is made worse by the challenge of China.”

Anduril is one of a handful of defense technology startups that have attracted large-scale Pentagon contracts, despite a concerted push by the Defense Department to lure more firms and innovators from Silicon Valley and other tech hubs. While Anduril does build hardware, such as sensors and drones, its purchase of a rocket motor maker moves the company further into the realm of lethal weapons.

The business was founded in 2017, at a time when many tech companies in and around Silicon Valley were hesitant to work with the military. Anduril, by contrast, targeted the defense and security market, pitching the U.S. government on technology to protect the U.S.-Mexico border.

Heidi Shyu, the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering, said tech companies, such as Anduril, bring needed agility to the weapons market. “They are not the traditional hardware company who’s been working with defense forever,” she said of Anduril. “As a software campaign, they’re used to agility. They pivot fast.”

Adranos, the company Anduril is acquiring, was launched in 2015 as a spinoff from a Purdue University program. It has developed a new rocket motor for missiles and space launch using a different fuel from conventional motors that it said offers greater range.

Anduril said the Adranos factory in Mississippi was scaled to expand annual rocket engine output from hundreds to several thousand for missiles such as the Javelin being used in Ukraine.

“The demand signals are really strong and the providers are few,” said Chris Stoker, co-founder of Adranos.

Raytheon Technologies, which makes the Javelin in partnership with Lockheed Martin, has said the current rocket motor shortage could extend well into next year. Northrop Grumman has boosted production of its own engines, and Lockheed Martin is looking in the U.S. and overseas to expand output.

“We are actively pursuing alternate sources of supply,” said Lockheed Martin Chief Operating Officer Frank St. John.

For Anduril, the Adranos purchase is the latest in a series that have taken the closely held company into new areas including uncrewed underwater vehicles, adding to a portfolio focused on drones and surveillance equipment, all underpinned by its proprietary software.

>>> Barron’s Weekend Summary

Barron’s Weekend Summary: Barron’s presents its list of the 25 top CEO’s for 2023

Cover Story:
-In this issue, Barron’s presents its list of the 25 top CEO’s for 2023. This is decidedly not a stock-picking exercise—top CEOs often come attached to ambitious stock valuations. The thread that links them all is their ability to have thrived through the mayhem. The list was chosen by a panel of editors and reporters through a process of screening, nomination, discussion, and debate. “Picture the 1957 jury drama 12 Angry Men, only collegial and half female, with no murder charges.” Barron’s emphasizes recent management actions that have positioned companies for success. Many of the CEOs on the list, but not quite all, have had stellar stock returns. Warren Buffett made the list, as did Jamie Dimon, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook.

Interview:
-This week, Barron’s has published its recent interview with Mark Costa, director of the investments group at Brandes Investment Partners in San Diego and portfolio co-manager of the $300M Brandes International Small Cap Equity fund. who discovered value investing as a college student, when the style was decidedly out of favor. It was 1998—two years before the dot-com bubble burst and small value began to outshine megacap growth. “I started reading books on value and it made sense that you can actually price businesses. These aren’t just stocks you’re speculating on based on what other people think they’re worth,” says Costa. Overall, the team manages $725M in its international small-cap strategy. Barron’s spoke with Costa on June 7 about the outlook for international small-cap stocks and some of his top picks, including aerospace firm Rolls-Royce Holdings, which makes and maintains high-powered engines. The Stock Is Revving Up amid optimism about new CEO Tufan Erginbilgic’s ability to boost the aerospace company’s shares.

Tech Trader:
-This has been a fantastic year to invest in technology stocks. The Nasdaq Composite is up 30% as we near the midyear mark. After the Nasdaq tumbled 33% last year, investors flocked back to tech stocks, for multiple reasons. Throughout 2022, the Federal Reserve steadily ratcheted up interest rates, effectively reducing the value of future earnings, damaging tech highfliers, both public and private. But the Fed appears nearly done. The AI frenzy could reach a crescendo. Meanwhile, the introduction last year of ChatGPT by OpenAI—just over 200 days ago—has triggered a frenzy of investor interest in generative artificial-intelligence plays, driving huge gains across the market’s largest technology stocks. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon.com, Nvidia, Tesla, Meta Platforms, Taiwan Semiconductor, Broadcom, and Oracle —the 10 largest US-listed tech companies by market value—have an average gain of 76%.

The Trader:
-The US is on the cusp of an industrial supercycle, partly fueled by $2T in spending coming from new federal plans for infrastructure and electric-vehicle development. You wouldn’t know a boom is coming from looking at how the industrial sector performed this past week. The Industrial Select Sector exchange-traded fund dropped 2.1%. That’s not the worst-performance in the S&P 500—that honor goes to the Real Estate Select Sector ETF, which dropped 4.9%. But it’s also far from the best. Still, this looks like a good time to buy the industrial dip. Besides all that new spending and reporter biases, there are other reasons for increasing exposure to manufacturing stocks now. The best is that the industrial economy looks to be finally bottoming out.
-Tesla’s shares have soared this year, but they’re also exceptionally volatile. The stock has ranged from about $102 to $315 over the past year. The $213 gap is more than 100% of the average closing price over that span. The same calculation for Apple yields about 40% of the average price. With Tesla, it’s often easy, or easier, to see why the stock is moving up or down. It’s not always simple, though, to understand why it moves so much for the given reason. Consider the recent run. Coming into Thursday trading, Tesla shares are up about 42% since May 25. Two things happened that day. First, Nvidia stock soared 24% after reporting its AI-related business was doing much better than anyone expected. Then, Tesla and Ford Motor announced a deal allowing Ford drivers to use Tesla’s charging stations.

Features:
-Oil markets have been buzzing over a potential return of Iranian oil to the market amid press reports of renewed US-Iranian talks. Moreover, Iranian production had already started recovering. The US withdrew from the nuclear-weapons deal in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions that had been relaxed under the agreement. Iranian production fell by roughly two million barrels a day and hit bottom in mid-2020. Since then, output has increased by about one million barrels a day, with Iran claiming to have produced just over three million barrels a day of crude oil in May. Even with US sanctions in place, Iran has worked with countries including China to evade US sanctions.
-On Friday, Yevgeny Prigohizn, the head of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group, released a series of audio messages blaming the Russian military for an apparent attack on Wagner’s forces. He then proceeded to launch an operation to take over the city of Rostov on Don, Saturday morning. Is it a coup attempt? Coup or not, the Russian state appears to be taking the situation seriously. At midnight, Moscow time, Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed, and “necessary measures [were] being taken,” Putin’s spokesman said, according to state media. The Wagner Group has played a critical role on behalf of Russia in its war with Ukraine. It isn’t clear what the Kremlin might do or how that might affect its thinking.

Europe:
-Germany’s recent economic plight might offer some clues to what may lie ahead for the US. Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, went into recession after its gross domestic product fell over the past two quarters. Much of the blame for the recession has been laid on weakness in Germany’s key manufacturing sector, which has been crippled by energy costs from the Ukraine war and the withdrawal of government spending after the Covid pandemic. Germany’s downturn has dragged down the entire 20-nation euro area, pulling it into recession as well. It’s an atypical recession. The reason: German unemployment has remained near historically low levels. In April, Germany’s jobless rate was running just below 3%, even lower than the U.S. level of 3.4%. The anomaly of a recession with low unemployment has implications for everyone from investors to workers to central bankers. On the one hand, it may mean that interest rates have to go higher than previously thought to bring down inflation. On the other hand, the downturn caused by higher rates could turn out to be less painful than past experience would imply—that is, the rebound can start off on a strong foot.

Emerging Markets:
An interest rate hike from 8.5% to 15% would rank as shock and awe in most places. In Turkey, with inflation galloping at 40% annually, it made an almost flat landing. The lira, whose value has cratered by 80% against the dollar over the past five years, lost another 6% following the central bank’s decision on June 22. “This was definitely at the very low range of expectations,” says Blaise Antin, head of sovereign research at TCW. Still,
Turkey’s Eurobonds still look attractive at yields around 9%. The rates move was the de facto public debut of the hoped-for economic dream team that president Recep Erdogan unexpectedly appointed after winning re-election in May. Mehmet Simsek, a respected economist with long experience at Bank of America, returned as finance minister. Hafize Erkan, who worked at Goldman Sachs for a decade, took over the central bank.

Commodities:
-New clean fuel standards from the Environmental Protection Agency are good news for renewable natural gas companies like Opal Fuels and Clean Energy Fuels, but appear to be less favorable for companies more focused on renewable diesel, like Neste. The EPA sets standards that force oil refiners to mix a certain amount of renewable fuels—made from things like plants and animal waste—into the fuel supply, or otherwise pay for credits from renewable fuel companies like Opal. In a release Wednesday, the EPA said the new standards would reduce the amount of foreign oil that the US has to import by 130,000 to 140,000 barrels per day between 2023 and 2025.

Streetwise:
-This week, Jack Hough looks at 60/40 investing. The basic premise of 60/40 investing is that stocks, the 60%, are lucrative but manic, while bonds, the 40%, are boring but dependable. Put the two together, and each will make up for the faults of the other, leaving an investor with respectable long-term returns and bearable short-term swings. Thus, Hough is not especially keen, noting that stocks are precariously priced, and bonds might not offer the protection they promise according to a recent report from Jared Woodard, head of the Research Investment Committee at BofA Securities. Investors in the most popular index funds, he argues, are likely to be disappointed from here. “Diversifying away from these broad benchmarks today is actually your only path to getting the kinds of returns that maybe you’re used to,” says Woodard. “That kind of has that feeling of like the guy in the adventure movie who says, you know, ‘Come with us if you wanna live.’ ”

FT : Putin vows to crush Prigozhin uprising advancing on Moscow

Putin vows to crush Prigozhin uprising advancing on Moscow
Wagner paramilitary founder says rebel convoy is heading for capital to oust army leadership

Vladimir Putin has vowed to crush an armed insurrection led by the warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin, describing the rebel militia making their way towards Moscow as a treasonous “stab in the back”.

The Russian president labelled the first coup attempt in three decades as a “deadly threat to our statehood” and compared it with the 1917 revolution that led to the collapse of imperial Russia.

He said he had given “necessary orders” to tackle the Wagner paramilitary group and for “decisive measures” to recapture the southern Russian city of Rostov from the militia.

Russian military helicopters fired on a convoy of Wagner troops and armoured vehicles, including tanks, rumbling north along a highway towards the capital, according to unverified videos published on social media.

The convoy, which also appears to contain mobile air defence systems, advanced steadily from Rostov towards Moscow despite “combat operations” by regular armed forces, and in the early evening of Saturday was about 350km from the capital’s outer ring road, where Russian troops have set up checkpoints.

If the convoy is able to advance without hindrance, it could reach Moscow before midnight local time.

Local residents of cities along the route reported that some roads and bridges had been closed. Diggers were spotted excavating holes in the middle of several motorways in a bid to slow the convoy’s advance, according to footage on social media.

The insurgency is the most serious threat to Putin’s decades-long rule, and comes after months of public infighting between Prigozhin and the country’s armed forces.

“Prigozhin’s mutiny is the greatest challenge to date of the rule of Vladimir Putin,” said Andrius Tursa, eastern Europe analyst at Teneo. “Even if the mutiny fails, the crisis events will only exacerbate perceptions of the regime’s weakness.”

Wagner’s rapid advance sparked an emergency call between G7 nations who agreed “to co-ordinate closely”, and enhanced security measures in Nato countries bordering Russia, which possesses one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.


Russia’s foreign ministry warned western countries against seeking to exploit the mutiny “to achieve their Russophobic goals”.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president of Nato member Turkey, spoke with Putin on Saturday afternoon. He stressed the importance of acting “rationally and sensibly”, and said “nobody should take advantage of the events in Russia”, according to the Turkish government.

In Kyiv, the crisis was a “window of opportunity” for its forces to push ahead with a counteroffensive to liberate territory occupied by Russian troops, said Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister. She added that the decision to invade Ukraine had triggered “the inevitable degradation of the Russian state”.

Putin’s pledge on Saturday to crush the attempted coup came hours after Prigozhin announced he had “blockaded” Rostov and the headquarters of Russia’s military command centre, responsible for Ukraine operations, as armed, masked men with tanks and armoured vehicles surrounded government buildings.

Putin’s grave address, which did not mention Prigozhin by name but accused his organisation of “blackmail and terrorist methods”, suggests the president has left no room for compromise with his former acolyte. “What we are dealing with is treason. Unchecked ambitions and personal interests have brought about betrayal of our country and our people,” Putin said.

Prigozhin issued a defiant response, saying his Wagner force no longer wanted to live “under corruption, lies, and bureaucracy”.

Sixteen months of war against Ukraine has hamstrung Russia’s economy because of a barrage of western sanctions and an exodus of foreign capital. The conflict has cost tens of thousands of lives and created a dangerous patchwork of competing militias and security forces.

In an audio message released by his press service, Prigozhin added: “On the subject of betraying the motherland, the president is deeply mistaken. We are patriots of our motherland. We . . . will fight on.”

Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said Prigozhin’s uprising was “the most horrible crime” and urged citizens to rally around the president.

Earlier on Saturday, Prigozhin was filmed walking into the Rostov military headquarters before ranting at a deputy defence minister and a senior general about his attempt to oust the army’s leadership.

The extraordinary decision to launch a motorised assault on Moscow was part of what Prigozhin said was a “march of justice” against defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, commander of Russia’s invasion forces, whom he has accused of mishandling the Ukraine invasion.

“We want [Gerasimov] and Shoigu. Until they’re here, we’ll stay, blockade Rostov and head to Moscow,” Prigozhin told deputy defence minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov and Vladimir Alekseyev, deputy head of Russian military intelligence. “We are saving Russia.” Prigozhin claimed Wagner had opened fire on Russian forces and shot down three army helicopters.

Putin acknowledged the situation in Rostov was “complicated” with “the work of civil and military command is essentially blockaded”. But he said security forces had been ordered to “stabilise” the city.

The president also said he had ordered “additional measures of an anti-terrorist nature” in Moscow and “several other regions”. The step essentially puts the FSB, Russia’s main security service, in charge of the areas and gives them the right to detain, raid and use force.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the events had laid bare “Russia’s weakness”.

“The longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain and problems it will have for itself later,” he tweeted. “Everyone who chooses the path of evil destroys himself.”

(ZeroHedge) Putin Reassures Allies In Phone Calls, Erdogan Expresses 'Full Suppo

Putin Reassures Allies In Phone Calls, Erdogan Expresses 'Full Support' Against Coup
Tyler Durden's Photo
BY TYLER DURDEN
SATURDAY, JUN 24, 2023 - 06:00 PM
Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to reassure regional allies that he will crush the Wagner uprising now threatening the military and government, and will maintain a stable Russia.

In what's being described as his first international phone call since the Wagner mutiny began, which is grabbing the attention of Western governments, Putin spoke to his Belarus ally, President Alexander Lukashenko. "The president of Russia called the president of Belarus this morning, there was a phone conversation," Belarusian state media confirmed. "Vladimir Putin informed his Belarusian colleague about the situation in Russia."


Wagner fighter standing guard at seized installation in Rostov-on-Don
Putin also spoke to the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, as well as the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. "The president informed them about the situation [in Russia]," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Kazakh media related that President Tokayev agreed with Putin that events in Russia are a "domestic affair." Putin reportedly thanked him for his "understanding" of the crisis.

According to the Kremlin, Putin also held a phone call with Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. A Kremlin readout said Erdogan expressed "full support" for Putin in the call.

According to Turkish media:

Erdoğan said he backed the Russian government's handling of a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary army, the Kremlin said in a statement.

President Erdoğan urged his counterpart to act with common sense and stated that Türkiye was ready to do its part to solve the situation in Russia peacefully as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Wagner convoys are said to be headed toward the Russian capital, also amid unconfirmed reports that the Russian presidential plane has flown to St. Petersburg. Erdogan has offered assistance in finding a political solution:

ERDOGAN TELLS PUTIN TURKEY READY TO HELP FIND SWIFT SOLUTION:AA
PRIGOZHIN FORCES ADVANCE INTO LIPETSK REGION: GOVERNOR
But the Kremlin has sought to affirm that Putin is still working from the Kremlin.

The Washington Examiner wrote early Saturday based on unconfirmed reports, "The plane belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin departed from Moscow to St. Petersburg early Saturday as the Kremlin attempts to quiet an “armed rebellion” from Wagner mercenaries threatening to weaken the country’s offensive in the Ukrainian war."

Currently, roadblocks are being erected around Moscow, also as roadblocks have been spotted further south, often utilizing large construction vehicles and 18-wheelers.

Business Of Fashion : Bain: Luxury Set for 5% to 12% Growth Amid Increased Perfo

Bain: Luxury Set for 5% to 12% Growth Amid Increased Performance Polarisation
Growth will largely come from a rebound in China, a strong Japan market and tourism to Europe. However, brands won’t feel the impact equally, said Bain partner Claudia D’Arpizio.

Despite macroeconomic headwinds, the luxury sector is on track for another record-breaking year.

The personal luxury goods market is set to grow between 5 and 12 percent in 2023 to between €360 billion and €380 billion, according to a new joint report from consultancy Bain & Co. and Italian trade group Altagamma, an increase on their previous 3 to 8 percent growth forecast.

Amid a major slowdown in the US and South Korea — two countries where sales of luxury goods surged in the aftermath of the pandemic — growth this year will be primarily driven by a rebound in spending by Chinese consumers, a strong Japan market and continued resilience in Europe, buoyed by an increase in tourist flows.

Brands won’t feel the impact equally, however.

“We are seeing a market that is going in many different directions, with different acceleration and deceleration in different geographies, but also a very polarised performance among brands,” said Bain partner Claudia D’Arpizio. “After a year last year where everything grew…we are now in a year where we are seeing different speeds and a lot of dichotomies.”

Concern over how long the post-pandemic luxury boom can last has lingered as the sector faces global macroeconomic headwinds. In the US, aspirational consumers have already pulled back on luxury spending amid economic uncertainty and the end of Covid-era stimulus payments to consumers. Shoppers are also prioritising spending on holidays and eating out over handbags and shoes.

Globally, the ultra-wealthy are buoying the market, with industry growth coming from increased sales of higher-ticket items and price hikes rather than greater overall volumes, D’Arpizio said. Demand for product categories that sit at the top of the luxury pyramid is booming, she said.

Top-tier luxury names more heavily exposed to wealthier clients are set to outperform the rest. This is particularly true in China, where only top brands are expected to return to 2021 sales levels by the end of 2023.

Chanel, Hermès and LVMH are among those that have benefited from the shifting landscape, and are continuing to invest heavily in categories like high jewellery and exclusive services for top clients.

But if recent efforts to court top clients have paid off, they have also served to ratchet up expectations. Keeping top customers engaged is harder than ever and scale is a huge advantage.

“Consumers are just getting more sophisticated. The cost of doing business is keeping this customer engaged, always increasing the level of service and the level of communication,” D’Arpizio said.