Designer Knock-Offs Seized, Helping Luxury ETFs, And High-End Spenders

Counterfeiters can cut into earnings, and therefore exchange traded fund (ETF) returns.

So, perhaps the seizure of an array of fake luxury purses and other items might help.

During a recent raid in Lyon, France, customs agents seized around 5,000 fake Louis Vuitton, Armani, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana purses, belts and sunglasses, reports Heather Smith for Bloomberg. The total worth of the items seized is estimated at $1.9 million, according to the French customs agency. Packages sent from Italy to France were taken on July 22, en route to Spain.

Designers hate the fake bags and other knock-offs because it costs them money. The seizure of the knock-offs, could also help the Claymore/Robb Luxury (ROB). The ETF holds 4.65% toward LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, and 3% toward Nordstrom, which carry some of the higher end names such as Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Prada. The fund is down 22.7% year-to-date.

Coach, meanwhile, reported a 33% profit for its fourth quarter, say Chris Burritt and Cotten Timberlake for Bloomberg. But the nation’s largest maker of luxury leather handbags full-year profit estimates trail what analysts had been expecting. Coach (COH) is 4.7% of ROB.

Let’s go shopping. But not for fakes!