1. LuxuryLVMH added another jewel to its growing luxury portfolio on March 6 when it acquired the majority interest in famed Italian gem house Bulgari in a stock swap valued at more than $5 billion. The sale of the 127-year-old ­jeweler, which has branched out into hotels and fragrances, was portrayed by a member of its founding family as a sign of the times: “More and more, I think the big groups will be the protagonists of the luxury business,” Bulgari CEO Francesco Trapani told Bloomberg news. “Life will be progressively more difficult for the independents.” Trapani will assume man