Archive for the ‘business’ Category

Nicolas Sarkozy reassures Spain

June 18, 2010 - 5:56 am Comments Off

"No, no, no, no. By repeating his answer, Nicolas Sarkozy has made to assert emphatically that the fate of Spain was absolutely no concern for him and for all European leaders, meeting in Brussels on Thursday. "No, there is no concern. We fully trust the Spanish authorities. There is no problem, "he said. The French president and wanted to put an end to rumors suggesting that the country of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will soon get similar assistance to that granted to Greece.

The Spanish head of government has also dismissed the "unfounded rumors" about the fragility of the Spanish financial sector."There is nothing better than transparency to demonstrate creditworthiness, to give confidence," he said.

"This is an analysis that we have 27 to make, which is shared by the IMF, the European Central Bank and the European Commission, Nicolas Sarkozy repeated. "I prefer to make this short answer. Otherwise, I can already foresee the reaction of markets, "has entertained the head of state.

"Defining an Economic Strategy"

The president has focused instead on the organization and objectives of European economic government for which he pleads with Angela Merkel. "It is legitimate that the Heads of State to take decisions in that they have an interministerial allowing them to make decisions in matters of competitiveness," he says, while the Commission President José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission wants to have its say."The Commission has a prominent role but is not she who is in charge of such decisions," decided the President of the Republic.

"The idea of economic government does not only address budget. It will develop a strategy for competitiveness, covering topics such as research, law office, universities, a strong and sustainable growth, "said Nicolas Sarkozy. "We are only at the beginning of the concept. The words 'economic governance' were taboo still four months ago. But the idea is gaining ground, "he was glad.

The tax credit is gaining

In addition to this question, the president addressed a wide consensus about the tax credit. This will be applied in European countries, in order to "contribute towards a fund to ensure that taxpayers and investors that what happened will not happen again," said Nicolas Sarkozy.Regarding the tax on financial transactions or financial markets, "the issue is unresolved. We will make decisions based on the major players in the G20. The idea of a tax will indeed be defended by the European Union at the summit to be held late June in Toronto. "This is a major challenge, but the fee must be applied to the global scale for more efficient," said President of the Republic.

In the field of transparency, the Council also decided that the results of stress tests (stress test) will be issued, bank by bank, in all countries before the end of July. "And in order to avoid new psychodrama.

Strengthened sanctions in the euro area

Concerning the Stability Pact, the European Council decided that it should be strengthened for greater "financial stability"."There will be penalties for those who do not respect the commitments on debt. The fine is not the best solution. With Angela Merkel, we uphold the suspension of voting rights.

Not to mention consenus on this last point, the head of state has simply stated that "several countries have requested that the penalties are the same for all members." Nicolas Sarkozy also said that "sanctions and obligations must be more important for countries in the euro area. The European Council President Herman Van Rompuy should give more detail on this subject in October.

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SocGen strengthens its fund management

June 15, 2010 - 12:08 pm Comments Off

Societe Generale Securities Services (GSS), a subsidiary specializing in securities trades in Societe Generale, announced in a statement Monday night for a commercial partnership with U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp U.S. Bank. The objective of this association is to provide investors with a global service fund administration, global custody, lending, securities lending or distribution of funds.

The French bank, which is the number six world titles with the conservation of 3.246 trillion euros in assets under custody, has not been quantified business objectives but it does ensure that the alliance is not motivated by reducing costs. "The goal is not cost synergies but revenue synergies", explained Alain Closier, director of GSS, indicating that this type of alliance has never been tied up in securities trades.

No capital alliance

"This is not a partnership capital, held to clarify Alain Closier low fee payday advance. "There is not any exchange of shares between the two groups. We have no agenda or planned merger between the two institutions, "he added. "We always talk about critical mass, to pool plants to decrease costs," said the officer referring to reconcile and partnerships established by other banks in this business.

Also asked about a possible sale of securities of the SocGen activity or a possible strategic partnership, Alain Closier said that the rumors currently circulating were "unfounded"."There are always rumors fed by different sources, such as competitors, then taken over by consultants looking for business. It is difficult to comment on rumors, especially when they become increasingly accurate and increasingly unfounded ", he further said.

Wall Street closed sharply higher

June 11, 2010 - 5:24 am Comments Off

The U.S. stock markets resumed their minds on Thursday. The Dow Jones climbed 2.76% and the Nasdaq gained 2.79%, to clôtire the NYSE. Wednesday, after long hesitation which direction to take, Wall Street slipped into the red at the very end of the session. At the finish, the Dow Jones lost 0.41% and the Nasdaq 0.57%.

The chairman of the Fed, Ben Bernanke was upbeat about the economy of his country Wednesday, despite the difficulties of Europe and the latest figures, disappointing employment in the United States. Ben Bernanke said before the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives that the economy should grow at a rapid pace in 2010 and accelerate slightly in 2011.Published yesterday, the Fed's Beige Book confirmed an increase in economic activity in the United States without signs of inflation, reinforcing the idea that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro shows a renewed nete against the dollar, worth U.S. $ 1.2098 (0.92%), around 15h40, due to a lull in all markets, on the eve the monthly meeting of the European Central Bank. The European Central Bank (ECB) is today holding its monthly monetary policy meeting.

After the disappointment of last Friday on the employment figures, investors should pay particular attention to weekly figures for unemployment benefits that are to be published today.

Meanwhile operators should welcome the trade surplus of China.China recorded a trade surplus of 19.53 billion in May, against 1.68 billion in April, with exports up 48.5% year on year last month and imports rose 48.3 %, according to official statistics published today.

From the values listed, shares of BP, listed in New York should remain under pressure. The day before, they have continued to drift, plunging more than 15% to their lowest level in 14 years, in the wake of the London listing.

The Internet giant Google has criticized the new rules governing advertising on the multifunctional phone from Apple, the iPhone, saying they could prevent him from receiving income on this unit.

Deficits: Brussels will validate the national budgets

June 8, 2010 - 11:20 am Comments Off

This Monday has been the day of surprises. A few hours after completing the rescue funds to the euro, the European Union president Herman Van Rompuy announced Monday night that the EU finance ministers agreed that the Commission consider their national budgets. An agreement all the more unexpected given that some hours before the meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel to be held on Monday evening was canceled at the last moment. Every indication that this was yet another sign of the tension between France and Germany. And even if both sides because they advanced the calendar.Markets do not make mistakes: Shortly after the cancellation, the CAC 40 lost more than 1%, while it had managed to return to balance in mid-session.

Budgetary discipline

Anyway, this agreement will enable Europe to invent a new fiscal discipline. This is especially good news that Germany and France had openly opposed on this issue. We remember especially about the government spokesman, Luc Chatel, who said "this is not the European Commission to approve the budget of the French nation."

The EU finance ministers have also agreed Monday night to create new sanctions against countries too indebted to strengthen the Stability Pact.The agreement envisages the possibility of sanctions even when the current limit of 3% of GDP by the Covenant for public deficits has not yet expired, said President of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, at a press conference. The idea would be to trigger the excessive deficit procedures earlier for countries whose debt is not declining fast enough low fee pay day loans. It also put more emphasis on the future monitoring of the overall debt deemed not exceed 60% of GDP, and not just the annual deficits.

A modification of treaties is not excluded

The ministers have asked the European Commission to make proposals to define new sanctions.Brussels thinking, for example the suspension of payment of certain subsidies from the European Union for uncooperative countries. Germany also advocates for the suspension of voting rights at European ministerial meetings in Brussels. "We talked about but everyone is aware that financial sanctions not require a treaty amendment," said Herman Van Rompuy.He added: "We have not ruled out a treaty amendment, but has concentrated on what can be done at short notice and under the current treaty that does not have to go to the ahead and impose sanctions, non-financial, "he added, however, ensuring that there was" no taboos "for the future.

These sanctions, which remain to be defined, could be decided whether a country has ignored warnings from its partners on the drift of public accounts, or if the overall level of debt swells too fast.

In an environment where markets are concerned about the financial situation now in Hungary – which is not part of the Euro-zone, this agreement, which follows the completion of the rescue funds of the euro, should enable bring some stability to financial markets that really need it.

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Wall Street closed down sharply

June 2, 2010 - 5:20 pm Comments Off

After a long weekend of three days, U.S. stocks ended the session sharply downward after Abor open in bright red, then climbed into the green after two good U.S. indicators.

In the end, the Dow Jones folds of 113 points (-1.14%) to 10,023 points, the Nasdaq drops 1.54% and the S & P lost 18 points to 1070 points (-1.7%). Oil, too, ended down sharply on 72.7 dollars a barrel, weighed down by a series of disappointing economic indicators in Europe and China, bad news for energy demand.

On the energy side, the sector suffers greatly (-4.3% for the sector index) of the state of BP (-14.97% to 36.52 dollars), which fails to control the flow of oil 's escapes into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico since April 20.Titles BP have lost more than 13% at the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday and 40% since the explosion of the platform.

The United States has opened a criminal investigation and civil and criminal cases to shed light on the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of a platform operated by BP, said Tuesday the U.S. Department of Justice.

Two good stastitiques U.S.

The increased activity in the manufacturing sector in the United States has slowed slightly in May, the ISM index fell to 59.7 with measuring, according to figures released Tuesday by the association. But his pace, however, exceeded expectations and the industry and displays its tenth consecutive month of growth.

Moreover, construction spending in the U.S. jumped 2.7% in April, according to official figures released Tuesday in Washington, showing up much more than expected by analysts.Economists on average had forecast an unchanged rate of expenditure after the decline of 0.3% originally announced for March.

June catastrophic better after May

Yesterday, the NYSE was closed for Memorial Day. Friday, after falling heavily in meeting Wall Street had ended the week around the equilibrium. The Dow Jones had lost up to 3% in session after the announcement of the lowering of the Spanish debt rating by rating agency Fitch has finally yielded 0.23% at closing.

The month of June begins on a note strongly negative, while the month of May had already been disastrous for U.S. and European financial centers.

The euro hit a four-year low

On the foreign exchange market, the euro is down sharply.The euro fell Tuesday to 1.2115 dollars in morning, its lowest level in more than four years against the greenback.

The currency was dragged down by a report suggesting the ECB further write-downs for banks in the euro area. According to the ECB, the need for reserves of banks in the euro area to cover potential losses amounted to 90 billion extra in 2010 and 105 billion in 2011. After dropping Friday, the euro had rebounded Monday above $ 1.23.

Prudential pressure

On the side of values, the U.S. insurer AIG (-3.19% to 34.25 dollars) on Tuesday sent a procedural bar to his British rival Prudential, which claimed to be lowered from 14% the price of selling its Asian subsidiary AIA, which could derail the transaction record in the history of insurance.

Also note, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing Co. (-1.92% to 62.95 U.S. dollars) has won a tender to provide civilian aircraft to Russian conglomerate Rostekhnologuiï facing the European Airbus and United Aircraft Corporation Russian UAC.

Among the largest declines in the Dow, Alcoa is the red lantern, with a decline of 3.87% to 11.2 dollars, then comes JPMorgan Chase, which fell 2.63% to 28.54 dollars.

Only six values are listed in the green, including Kraft Foods (+1.05% to 28.9 dollars), more strongly, and Wal Mart (0.71% to 50.92 dollars).

General Motors has for its part announced its intention to invest $ 385 million in Brazil in the renovation of its existing production units. The U.S. company plans to renew the production line of a factory that manufactures Classic, Corsa and Vectra in Sao Paulo.

Shocks to the head of large French

May 3, 2010 - 8:48 am Comments Off

History! No fewer than three giants of French capitalism take their bow this spring. The vintage 2010 general meetings, which are in full swing in recent days, promises to be dominated by the departure of Presidents of Sanofi-Aventis, Total and Saint-Gobain. Jean-Francois Dehecq, Thierry Desmarest and Jean-Louis Beffa, former CEO during the course of their groups, have already sold one after the other the reins of the general direction of their dolphin. By one month, they also give up the presidency, he had kept time to pass the baton smoothly.

For a year, one quarter of the CAC 40 have experienced at their head movements, visible these days as AG. This is often an opportunity for groups to reconstruct the position of CEO, dear to the French tradition. Christophe de Margerie, and Pierre-Andre de Chalendar thus inherit full power Discount Total and Saint-Gobain.France Telecom, meanwhile, saw a rapid transition after the scandal of suicide. St?phane Richard, who took over on March 1, Didier Lombard Branch knows that it will not last: it is proposed as an administrator at the meeting of June 9, to get the Grail as CEO in spring 2011 .

Ultimately, if we exclude the Cr?dit Agricole – true to his rule called "four eyes" – and who will succeed Jean-Marie Sander Rene Carron as head of the group, the Germano-Canadian Christopher Viehbacher (Sanofi-Aventis ) is the only general managers to remain under supervision despite the departure of its president. Serge Weinberg takes effect in the torch left by Jean-Francois Dehecq, the founder of the pharmaceutical company.A matter of nationality? Last year, the board of Societe Generale had waived, under political pressure, to entrust the presidency to Britain's Tony Wyand after the resignation of Daniel Bouton. Rather than having a candidate imposed by the Elysee, the bank was then promoted its managing director Frederic Oud?a the rank of CEO and Tony Wyand placed at his side as vice president.

Vice President referent

If he returns to court, the model of the French boss is omnipotent and more often mitigated by the presence of a guardian "Jiminy Cricket" by his side. At Veolia, already, after the departure of Henri Proglio, his successor Anthony fawn followed closely since last fall by his vice-president, Louis Schweitzer. Axa similar pattern. Henri de Castries, chairman of the board so far, has certainly been converted CEO last week.But at the same time, Norbert Dentressangle, the owner of eponymous transport group, has been appointed as vice-chair, "referring independent director.

Jacques de Chateauvieux, who had succeeded to the presidency of the Executive to Claude Bebear, Axa's founder, had found himself as the structure to the Executive and Supervisory Board was not justified.

As at Societe Generale, had to adjust the statutes to give substance to this vice presidency, that does not exist in French law. Thursday, shareholders of Vinci will last for Yves-Thibault de Silguy at the podium as President. The great servant of the State, which had been called to the rescue in 2006 following the hectic departure of Antoine Zacharias, sits down on the vice-presidency. Xavier Huillard, the group general manager of concessions, makes him the scepter of CEO.A development designed to end the tensions that prevailed in Vinci.

Not easy, indeed, to live day to day relationship between a "chairman" and "CEO" in a foreign country that tradition. "France and the United States are the only countries where these functions remain separate," recalls Loic Dessaint, in Proxinvest, a consulting firm in corporate governance. In light of these latest twists, it appears increasingly that the wave of the separation of powers, meeting in the mid-2000s, showed more concern for some employers to ensure a smooth transition with a real cultural revolution. We had already seen, in 2009, Carlos Ghosn CEO of Renault erected at the term of office of Louis Schweitzer. The method remains valid.Essilor, Xavier Fontanet was withdrawn and the presidency since January 1, transmitting the general direction Hubert Sagnieres. Even the intended movement of 1 July for the specialist Veritas Geophysical GSC.

Finally, it may be tempting to take the highway in reverse, it can be expensive. Jean-Francois Roverato, CEO of Eiffage, who had time left for the operational reins back then paid dearly for this year. Its board of directors granted a renewal of his mandate for one year …

Stock Exchange: Lisbon unscrews, Athens rises

April 28, 2010 - 3:16 pm Comments Off

After the Athens Stock Exchange, the Portuguese market in turn undergoes the wrath of investors. On Wednesday, the Lisbon Stock Exchange appears in sharp decline. Around 11:00, Paris time, the flagship index of the Portuguese market, the PSI 20, plaice and 5.77% at 6740.38 points. This drop comes sanction decision by Standard & Poor's yesterday, degrade debt rating Portuguese, from A + to A-.

The rating agency also downgraded the debt rating Greek, she now sees as speculative ("junk bunds). As listed in the category BB + BBB + cons before, government debt is regarded as far more risky than that of Portugal, due to repayment capacity considered more tenuous. Yet the Greek market oscillates around equilibrium Wednesday morning.The main index of the Athens Stock Exchange, the FTSE / 20 Athex back slightly after gaining 0.76% to 828.63 points.According to a financial analyst in Paris, several factors explain this calm in Athens.

Psychological and mechanical effects

Investors see some first as the next allocation of aid to Greece, which should cover $ 45 billion or 55 billion, the International Monetary Fund considering to extend its contribution of 10 billion dollars, according The Financial Times.

Furthermore, "prohibiting short selling in the Greek market this morning can also cause a mechanical increase in the index, investors who are forced to buy back their positions," says financial analyst, who notes that " the Greek market has largely underperformed the European markets for several weeks. "

He also whispers in the trading rooms that some operators is positioning itself to try to take advantage of the situation.Thus, "banks can now arbitrage, borrowing from the European Central Bank (ECB) at very low rates, around 0.5%, and buying bonds Greek very profitable." The rate of Greek bonds to ten years continues to rise: it exceeded 11.076% on Wednesday morning. Until then, long yields a euro-zone countries had never exceeded the threshold of 10%.

All European markets tremble

Greece and Portugal are not the only country to see them off the gap between the rate of return on their bond and a risk free loan for the same period. Spreads of Iceland, Spain and also France's rise. In other words, investors' doubts about the creditworthiness of these borrowers are continuing to strengthen.

This lack of trust leads the major indices falling everywhere in Europe.Around 11:30 am Spanish IGBM fell by 3.41% to 1047.61 points. The German Dax drops 1.97% to 6038.22 points. In London, the FT100 was down 1.05% to 5544.91 points. In Paris, finally, the Cac 40 2.28% yield and password below 3800 points to 3757.10 points.

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PSA and Mitsubishi signed a new partnership

April 27, 2010 - 12:00 pm Comments Off

They had first announced, they did. On the occasion of the Auto Show that was held last March in Geneva, PSA and Mitsubishi have confirmed that they would continue their industrial cooperation, aun when they abandoned their capital project alliance. On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the results of Mitsubishi, the two automakers announced they would jointly develop a compact 4×4 model, which will be marketed in Europe in 2012.

This vehicle is available in four-wheel and two wheel drive, and will be based on an existing model from Mitsubishi, RVR known in Japan and ASX in Europe, which will be suitable for Peugeot and Citroen brands, say the two groups said in a statement. Finally, the vehicle will be equipped with a diesel 1.6 Di Peugeot Citroen.50,000 vehicles per year and brand should be built.

The statement said that it is the fourth cooperation between PSA and Mitsubishi, after the agreement on the manufacture of all-terrain vehicles and electric, and the inauguration of a joint plant in Russia.

Mitsubishi also presented its annual results this morning. The Japanese carmaker is ironed green during the 2009-2010 fiscal year completed in late March, registering a net profit of 4.7 billion yen, or 36 million euros. It provides an increase of 31.4% of its turnover for 2010-2011.

Green is expected at the Paris Bourse

April 12, 2010 - 9:21 am Comments Off

The green color should still be the day the Paris Bourse. Comforted by the end of the Japanese Nikkei up on Monday, the CAC 40 should continue its momentum on Friday. The key index in Paris had ended the week up almost 2%, surpassing the 4000 points to 4050 points.

Investors should be reassured by Parisian rescue plan with Greek details, as expected, were finally unveiled this weekend. The European system, operational since Sunday, includes up to 30 billion euros in loan agreements with joint assistance from the IMF. The new fact in any case already boosted the euro. In morning trading, the euro is worth 1.3675 dollars, up 0.12% against the greenback.

On the face of macroeconomic indicators, no news likely to react to the markets is expected.Important data such as current accounts or French industrial production in the euro area, will in the coming days.

However, the quarterly publications begin Monday in France and the U.S. cash till payday. Intel, Google, Bank of America, or General Electric are expected across the Atlantic this week. The France oversee Alcoa or Atos Origin.

Values follow

In an interview with the Journal du Dimanche, the chief executive of Publicis said this weekend that the advertising investment is not expected to regain its 2008 levels by 2012.The latter also expressed readiness to re-evaluate its offer for the advertising of France Televisions, if the advertising was finally upheld.

France Telecom is in difficulty in Egypt where a court on Saturday confirmed its decision to block the bid from France Telecom on the minority of ECMS, the first mobile operator in terms of number of subscribers.

According to sources close to the deal, EADS will unveil its position on a possible bid to tender for the supply of tanker aircraft to the U.S. Air Force.

Alcoa publishes figures for its first quarter after market close in New York.

The Paris markets are taking a break

April 8, 2010 - 4:32 am Comments Off

The Paris Bourse takes a deep breath. After recording, the day before, a new annual record over 4050 points, the CAC lost 0.67% to 4026.97 points. Everywhere in Europe, investors took advantage of the strong performance of recent days to garner a share of their profits. London and Frankfurt lost 0.22% and 0.48%.

Wall Street, which also navigates the unknown peaks over 18 months, was also a break. The Dow dropped 0.24% in session and the Nasdaq is 0.20%.

The minutes of the Fed meeting on 16 March confirmed that the U.S. central bank remained committed to maintaining its policy rates "unusually low", "for a period of time."But at the same time the debate on the need to adopt a real strategy for ending the crisis is more urgent and animated.

Concerns persist about Greece

Indeed, the United States but also in Europe, signs of economic recovery are daily becoming more numerous and tangible. Yesterday, activity in the private sector in the euro area recorded in March, its strongest growth in two and a half years.

Other good news, orders to German industry, the mainstay of the economy in Germany, continue to recover. However, the foreign exchange market, the euro retreated further against the greenback falling dollar sitting in 1.335 penalized by persistent concerns about the ability of Greece to refinance its debt and the fear of contagion from the crisis to other countries in the euro zone as Portugal, Spain or Italy.In Paris, profit-taking focused on areas that have risen more in exchange for a year and particularly on banking stocks, as well as automotive and technology.