Archive for the ‘news’ Category

The euro falls, a Greek default is "increasingly likely"

July 13, 2011 - 1:16 am Comments Off

Pierre-Antoine Dusoulier, the head of Saxo Bank

Solar Impulse will be a second product in Switzerland

June 26, 2011 - 6:00 pm Comments Off

Nearly 150 tail. Visitors to the Paris Air Show crowd to reach a huge tent, mounted at the end of the area dedicated to the 150 aircraft on static display. The tent is home to the Solar Impulse, the solar airplane pilot Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg. It is the guest of honor at Le Bourget. The aircraft, powered by the energy collected by solar cells that dress, fascinates the public. The bird-dragon has a funny look with its size equal to that of an Airbus A 340, light weight (1.6 tons), its four propeller engines of 10 horsepower each, the power of a scooter and its narrow cockpit. André Borschberg spent sixteen hours to bring the Solar Impulse from Brussels to Paris on June 14. Since the device did not fly, rain and especially wind thwarted the schedule of demonstrations.With the return of calm and sunny, the Solar Impulse could fly this weekend. "It was important to return at the Bourget six years after the first presentation of the project partners – Solvay, Deutsche Bank, Omega and Schindler," says the duo.

Total Call

We are far from the early 2000s, when Bertrand Piccard was looking for funding – 100 million Swiss francs – to launch the project after the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne was funded and entrusted to André Borschberg the first feasibility study. But the duo sticks to the motto of Jules Verne: "All that is impossible to follow."

In 2004, Dassault Aviation hear about the project. The aircraft manufacturer will not money but the brains of its best engineers to the project, becoming the "manufacturer's advice.""Dassault was the guardian of the real aircraft," says Bertrand Piccard.

Today, the project entered a new phase. The assembly of the second device begins next week in Duebendorf, near Zurich. "It looks like the first by its general shape and appearance. Its scale will be greater, between that of A 380 and B 747-8. It benefits from technological advances, a new engine, a different type of solar cells, "says André Borschberg.This engineer, former fighter pilot and businessman, pilot of Solar Impulse, alternating with Bertrand Piccard, a psychiatrist by training, aeronaut – he managed a tour of the world by balloon in 1999 – and a descendant of a pioneer family in the air and under the sea

Solar Impulse with the second, they hope to make long flights in stages over four to five days in a row, with the ultimate goal of a successful world tour "without fossil fuel or pollution." "The world is full of big problems that are costly and discourage," said tandem. "Aviation can provide innovative solutions by showing that renewable energy is possible. They are a source of diversification for the oil and future growth, "Bertrand Piccard is developing. The Solar Impulse is "the best vehicle for that message."The recent acquisition by Total of Sun Power, the California company that produces solar panels of the Solar Impulse, "is a good sign," said he calling Total to partner.

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Greece: the United States urged Europe to act

June 21, 2011 - 6:44 pm Comments Off

Greek in the storm, the galley of the euro features a 18th passenger. It is not a secret, he even want to take orders. The United States is also concerned about a shipwreck in Greece that the Old Continent. They have continued to print their tempo in recent days to force the European crew to recover.

In Luxembourg, held since Sunday in yet another ballet departmental emergency, the American effort has found a leader: John Lipsky, the IMF acting boss since the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Monday, early morning, we have even seen take the pen and help correct what would become the final declaration of the Euro, according to several witnesses. Gender confusion? Among the Europeans at least, there is no doubt about the role vested in this native of Iowa, former chief economist at Salomon Brothers and JPMorgan."Lipsky is the U.S. Treasury and defending U.S. interests in Luxembourg, 'says one diplomat. The CEO can afford. Age 62, he announced his retirement before the arrest of DSK.

Under his leadership temporary, the IMF has taken a much more demanding vis-à-vis the financially troubled countries of the European Union. The turning point came during a visit to three with Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble, on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Deauville, said a European official. Prior to the rescue of countries such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, the fund was content with a European political commitment. Since then, he stands still as his balls timelines, detailed austerity plans and supports encrypted.This partly explains the surprise decision of the Eurogroup, on Monday, to condition the release of the fifth tranche of the loan to Greece promised a vote by Parliament in Athens, new austerity measures and to a credible plan for privatization.

"Germany, a key country"

There is no mystery no longer on Washington's annoyance at the failure of the seventeen countries to overcome their susceptibilities to seriously address the problem payday loans guaranteed no fax. "Over the past year, the euro will fall into relapse and we see only bandages to stop the bleeding, said a U.S. official. The problem consumes time and energy of the Europeans. The world turns and do not wait. "It is also the best interests of the United States. A weak euro would threaten the sustained U.S. recovery, not to mention a rise in interest rates.More seriously, a European banking meltdown could spread to the other side of the Atlantic, reflecting the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. For the second time in less than a year, Barack Obama is telling the Chancellor that it needs to hand the wallet in favor of Athens. "Germany is the key country," stressed the president.

Christine Lagarde, a candidate for the succession of DSK, is more eager to place the main shareholder of the IMF. On the night of Sunday to Monday, the French minister took it upon herself to keep closely informed Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. It was not a "phone G7" as improperly submitted.But a conversation to explain that two vital partner why 17 had once again decided not to decide on Greece.

Appointment is made Sunday, July 3 for a new conclave of the Eurogroup dedicated to the Greek debt. With the cap of the IMF, but also speaking on behalf of Washington, John Lipsky has not concealed his impatience Monday. He commanded the Europeans to "immediately put an end" to their debate on the restructuring of debt and start a new fund to rescue the euro. And he clearly put in danger the balance, "This is to prevent the crisis spreading from the periphery of Europe to the center and from there to the rest of the world."

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Wall Street resumes

June 8, 2011 - 1:08 am Comments Off

U.S. stock markets open up on Tuesday. The Dow Jones advance of 0.32% at 12,126 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 and NASDAQ 100 respectively go up by 0.43% to 1292 points and 2713 points to 0.39%. On Monday, Wall Street has ended sharply lower. Markets are always hampered by bad macroeconomic indicators published U.S. these days who are fears of slowing growth overseas and the crisis of public finances in euro area continues to produce their effects.

Operators have very few indicators to follow this week to get a clearer picture of the economic situation. To 21 hours, however, U.S. investors will read the digits of consumer credit.U.S. carriers like their European counterparts, should be particularly attentive to developments in the crisis of public finances in Europe. Aurel BGC specialists also worry about the constraints of increasingly heavy burden on U.S. banks that ultimately risk, according to them to make them more restrictive in the distribution of credits. The real estate sector, already in bad shape for many years could suffer. The U.S. Treasury Secretary argues in favor of new rules to all U.S. financial world. It aims in particular the derivatives market.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro is rising against the greenback at 1.4666 dollar.The dollar is under increasing pressure since the announcement late last week to disappointing figures on the labor market in the U.S., where the economy has created three times fewer jobs than expected in May, and where unemployment rate went up against all odds. And the oil markets, a barrel of losing 25 cents in New York at 98.76 dollars while that of Brent North Sea fell by 41 cents to 114.07 dollars in the morning. Investors await a meeting of OPEC in Vienna tomorrow could decide to increase production.

The side of values, the paper group American International Paper (30.88% to 4.15 dollars) on Monday launched after the close of Wall Street, a hostile takeover bid for rival Temple-Inland for $ 3.3 billion in cash. International Paper has 30.6 dollars per share for 108.3 million shares floating.This represents a premium of 44% over the course of Monday afternoon, which was 21.21 dollars. Temple-Inland said that its board of directors rejected the offer of International Paper "after careful consideration" because it "grossly undervalues ​​Temple-Inland and is not in the interest of its shareholders" .

Apple Monday unveiled two new versions of its operating system Mac OS and IOS, and the novelty icloud should still be surrounded by very Bourse.

Sales of General Motors (+0.76% to 28.78 dollars) in China in May decreased by 2.7% over the same month last year, according to an AFP calculation based on Figures released Tuesday by the American manufacturer. The first global car market, GM has passed 190,674 vehicles. The group emphasizes that its sales in China for the first five months of 2011 reached a record of 1.079 million units.In 2010, General Motors was up 2.35 million vehicles in the Chinese market.

Also in the automotive industry, Ford Motor (1.87% to 14.17 dollars) is preparing to announce ambitious production targets, setting aims to sell 8 million vehicles a year by the middle the current decade, said on Tuesday the New York Times. The group, which currently produces 5.3 million vehicles per year, ranking it among the major automotive.In 2011, the global leader Toyota has sold 8.42 million vehicles.

The U.S. company RSA Security said Monday evening that information in connection with its products, recovered during a cyberattack, had served in another cyber attack against the defense group Lockheed Martin (-0.12% to 77.29 dollars), and proposed to replace its equipment.

The French group Mersen (ex-Carbone Lorraine), specializing in high performance components for industry, today announced a cooperation agreement "long term" with the U.S. manufacturer of glass and advanced ceramics Corning.

Walt Disney Studios (0.66% to 39.66 dollars) would consider dismissing 250 employees, or 5% of their staff around the world, especially at company headquarters in California (West), said Monday U.S. media specialist.

The British oil group BP (0.93% to 44.35 dollars), listed on Wall Street has informed the co-shareholders of its Russian joint venture TNK-BP that it might sell shares in it at Russian oil giant public Rosneft to boost its proposed alliance with the latter, says the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Portugal's new prime minister wants to calm markets

June 6, 2011 - 8:32 am Comments Off

The Portuguese prime minister resigned, the socialist Jose Socrates, was not reappointed after the parliamentary elections held Sunday. The President of the Social Democratic Party, Pedro Passos Coelho is now leading the country, winning 105 seats of the 230 elected members of Parliament against a backdrop of record abstention to 41.2%. Shortly after the results, the chairman of the Social Democratic Party, Pedro Passos Coelho wanted to reassure its creditors. He said Sunday night that his country would not be "a burden" for them, promising to "do everything" to "honor the commitments" of the Portuguese State. "We will do our best to honor the agreement between the Portuguese State, the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to regain market confidence," he added.And to avoid political instability, the leader said he would form "as soon as possible" a "majority government headed by the DSP (…) with the CDS-PP, the minority party the right.

Analysts estimate that the net result of the election will be welcomed by investors, who had deserted the Portuguese debt market in recent months. In addition, the government will now hands free to discuss with the EU and the IMF to implement the bailout of 78 billion negotiated by the government resigned in exchange for a program of fiscal discipline and reforms economic over three years.The future government, which could become operational in late June or early July, will help reduce the government deficit of 9.1% of GDP last year to 5.9% this year and drop to 3% by 2013 .

The election comes as Greece, she received a new support plan in exchange for increased rigor in Athens. This second program of aid could exceed 100 billion euros are to believe the German newspaper Der Spiegel on Monday, and would aim to keep the country who still could not borrow in the medium and long term contracts, on a drip until 'in 2014.

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Wall Street was down to rising unemployment

June 4, 2011 - 5:40 am Comments Off

After losing more than 2% over the last two sessions, the U.S. stock markets continue their descent. This Friday, the Dow Jones lost 0.79% to close at 12,151.34 points, the Nasdaq 1.46% to 2732.78 loose points and the S & P 500 was down 0.97% at 1300.16 points.These statistics had already weighed on the Dow Jones yesterday, which had thus ended down 0.34% to 12,248.55 points.

A trend that has also confirmed Friday with the publication of the monthly report on employment in the U.S. Department of Labor, rather disappointing, the United States that have created 54,000 jobs in May, three times less than expected and not enough to prevent a rise in unemployment to 9.1%, against 8.9% expected.

The increase in activity in services is accelerating

The increase in activity in services has accelerated in the United States in May, more than expected, according to ISM trade association, whose index of purchasing managers in the sector released Friday appeared to increase by from April, to 54.6.

The Fed does not intend to undertake new measures to boost the economy, according to Richard Fisher, one of its members.In an interview with the Wall Street Journal this morning, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve believes that "the Fed has done its job" and that if necessary additional stimulus measures, "they must come from elsewhere" .

The U.S. Treasury will sell the 6% that still holds in Chrysler to Fiat. The Italian will thus hold a majority stake in U.S. manufacturer. And the state will pocket U.S. $ 560 million.

Short-term domestic concerns will not prevent operators to remain vigilant regarding the conditions for aid to Greece as part of a new plan, unveiled in principle this afternoon Low fee payday loans.

Walgreen: -0.14% to 43.16 dollars

Walgreen announced today, before opening on Wall Street, the level of its sales in May: they rose 7% to 6.08 billion, up 5.6% on a comparable basis.Remember that the title had been boosted on Wednesday by a recommendation by UBS improved, which initiated coverage on the purchase of the title, with a price target of $ 51.

Chevron: -0.12% to $ 101

Chevron announced late yesterday that four people died in the explosion of one of its refineries in Pembroke. A fifth victim was hospitalized in serious condition.

New York Times: 6.34% to 8.05 dollars

For the first time in its history, the New York Times says the direction of writing to a woman. Jill Abramson, now editor in chief, will assume his new duties on September 6. She will replace Bill Keller, who wants to resume writing. The chief editor Dean Baquet will be provided by currently assistant Jill Abramson.

Relax on the raw

As for raw materials, the pressure falls.In this sector, investors await OPEC meeting next Wednesday, which could lead to a decision by the organization to increase its oil production. Despite the many demands and frequent recently, OPEC had refused to put the issue of increased production in its agenda, and has been for four years. The markets will also tend ear to New York, where the French agriculture minister, Bruno Le Maire, must speak about the speculation on raw materials, around 18 pm (Paris time).

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Public debt: France must convince in 2012 and beyond

June 1, 2011 - 8:32 am Comments Off

Good student, but must continue its efforts. It is, in short, the message delivered by the rating agency Fitch in France. She confirmed the debt rating "AAA", the best possible, with stable outlook. The French government has taken "a series of measures", says the agency, "which have improved the outlook for public finances." And mention the pension reform, or the draft law in fixing the principle of balance of public finances.

"However, these efforts must be extended to stabilize and then reduce the level of debt of France, which was the end of 2010 to 81.7% of gross domestic product (GDP)," warns Maria Malas-Mroueh, responsible scoring countries at Fitch. A number of risk still hovers in effect on the financial health of the state. Starting with 2012, a major election year.It should not, Fitch warns that the budget skids on the bottom of the presidential election. Especially since the forecast growth in the medium term Bercy (+2.5% per year) are considered "optimistic."

It should not, the agency said that the newly elected unleash the flange to the public finances in 2013. Instead, the agency left little choice to the government that emerges from the polls: "We expect the 2011 budget will meet its objectives (a deficit of 5.7%, Ed), but further efforts are needed to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP in 2013, as agreed. " Debt levels will then stabilize at a level higher than before the crisis, reducing the flexibility to cope with future crises.

Note "under pressure"

In the medium term, Fitch added that "the memo from France could be under pressure (read: be revised downward, Ed) if the competitiveness of France was deteriorating again and if the position of France was weakening." The agency plans and the current account balance, ie the difference between money coming in and who leaves the territory, will remain negative in 2011 and 2012, approximately 2% of GDP. Fitch impels France to further reduce its "structural rigidities".

Despite these black spots, the Hexagon rest for now, said the agency, a "healthy and diversified economy," equipped "social institutions, civil and effective policies." He added: "financial flexibility reflect its status as a major issuer of sovereign benchmark in the eurozone. Clearly, the markets like, so far, take on France.

Bertrand Puech: "Hermes is the subject of constant attacks"

May 30, 2011 - 2:20 pm Comments Off

Hermes is Monday night in Paris the first general meeting of shareholders since its entry in October 2010, the capital of LVMH (with 20% today). The heirs, who hold 72% stake, hoping to get the green light in September the Court of Appeal of Paris to their proposed freezing holding a majority of shares, to defend against a raid by Bernard Arnault. Bertrand Puech, president of Émile Hermès family (sole general partner of the listed company Hermes International), a member of the fifth generation of heirs, is against the proliferation of litigation against the project, including those of the Association for the Defence of Minority Shareholders chaired by Colette Neuville.

LE FIGARO. – What will you announce to the general meeting of Hermes on Monday night?

Bertrand Puech.- We will announce, as we know already that 2010 was one of the finest, if not the best year, Hermes has lived for 174 years. The results were extraordinary in an economic context that was not favorable. This allows us to pay a dividend of 1.50 euro increased significantly compared to normal.

LVMH will he represented and he can enjoy his voting rights? Are you afraid of possible obstructions of the meeting?

The shareholders are all invited. LVMH said it would. He always said, if his friendship, in any case his pacifism. I am not chairman of the meeting but things should happen normally, as usual.

What do you think of recent legal actions taken by minority shareholders against the proposed family holding Hermes?

I do not understand.It's very sad and painful for members of a family committed to an ethic of openness and honesty for generations to be scratched before the courts, then we're just defending the values ​​of quality. You should know that Ms. Neuville is a minority shareholder, who owns a single share, which represents only herself. She can not speak for the association which is not approved by the AMF. And it is wrong to fight. If she wanted to play a role in defense of minority, why does she not be interested in the fact that one shareholder said suddenly have 17% of our capital, purchased since 2008 without making it to the markets? I think she has given way to a big bad wolf.

Occupation: reduce immigration, a red herring for economists

May 27, 2011 - 5:24 am Comments Off

In recent weeks the government has repeatedly expressed its willingness to reduce migration flows. In April, the Interior Minister, Claude Gueant, promised "to bring down the volume of legal immigration." This week, the immigration of work he begins work. "Contrary to legend, France did not need the skills of immigrant, said the minister. It has the resources necessary "to fill its vacancies and" did not need bricklayers nor servers restaurants. "It is common sense," outbid Tuesday Budget Minister Baroin. A sense that still leaves many economists skeptical.

"On paper, it may be tempting to put face to face and unemployed immigrants," said Patrick Simon, a demographer at INED.If the French labor market was free of immigrants, it would make it not even more vacancies for indigenous peoples whose unemployment rate is one of the main concerns? "They forget that these two categories of people are not interchangeable," said Patrick Simon. Clearly, natives and immigrants do not occupy the same types of jobs, and make little competition. "They would rather complementary. And in this regard, there is a relative consensus, says Xavier Chojnicki, economist at CEPII and University of Lille 2. Most studies find indeed a very small impact of immigration on unemployment. "

"In France and Europe, the labor market is very segmented," he says. Immigrants often occupy low-skilled jobs, low wages, difficult working conditions.Areas of restoration, construction and personal services for example, still struggling to fill jobs that natives consider insufficiently attractive. According to the latest survey on the needs of labor performed by employment center, 61% of the offers of aid to home and pose difficulties for recruitment. "If the stream of immigration had to be reduced, this would create further difficulties in recruitment of these areas," said Xavier Chojnicki. With a probable consequence of a sharp rise in the black.

20,000 people per year

"In addition, try to reduce labor migration is surprising because it includes more migrants selected," Patrick says Simon.These 20,000 people a year who come to work in France at the request of business owners do in fact represent a small fraction of the 200,000 immigrants who settle there each year, including family reunification or humanitarian grounds. "Employers expect an easing of the rules because they need the foreign labor," he says.

Since 2006 and until recently, Nicolas Sarkozy also advocated for a "selective immigration", encouraging the arrival of candidates selected according to their professional profile. "Since then, labor migration has increased from 10,000 to 20,000 per year," said Patrick Simon. A marginal number compared to 500,000 job vacancies currently unfilled in France. "In total, this is not much either compared to the total migratory flow," J. demographer.Because France, like most European countries, is struggling to bring immigrants into its territory the most attractive. As such, Canada, Australia or the United States doing well ahead of the game their best

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Renault: the State for a change of management

May 23, 2011 - 10:16 pm Comments Off

The state wants to step into the breach created by the false espionage Renault. Governments that hold nearly 15% stake in the carmaker, would like to take advantage of the replacement of number two Patrick Pelata to overhaul the state headquarters of Renault, says Les Echos.

For several weeks, the CEO, Carlos Ghosn has promoted Carlos Tavares, current head of Nissan's operations in the Americas, to replace Patrick Pelata. However, beyond the choice of a particular person, the debate among officers, directors and major shareholders of Renault is on the group's organization and its relations with the state, according to business daily. The Elysee Palace would have more influence on the choice of industrial builder and limit the power of Carlos Ghosn in particular through the recruitment of new blood in the group.

Several tracks

Reform could take several paths.The functions currently occupied by Patrick Pelata could be divided into several posts. Another track, the future heir of Carlos Ghosn could sit on the board and receive a title of CEO. That title would have the double advantage of providing greater autonomy to the number two group in relation to number one, Carlos Ghosn, and also make a successor designated by Carlos Ghosn. But Carlos Ghosn would not consider replacing it before 2014. The question of bringing the future number two immediately to the board of directors does not seem to have the endorsement of the CEO.

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