Archive for the 'economy' Category
Wall Street still frozen in the red. At midday, the Dow Jones unscrewed from 3.34% to 10,865 points, the Nasdaq 2.73% to loose 2415 points and the S & P lost 2.97% to 1138 points. As in Europe, signs of nervousness are palpable the day after a session rebound. The volume of trade is still very well fleshed out and heightened volatility. "At this stage, investors dizzy," says Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services.
On Wednesday, Greece worried again. The country plans to expand its exchange program to include obligations of the securities in the longer term, which penalizes first private creditors. As the European markets, the banking sector is particularly attacked the image of Bank of America (-9.87%), Citigroup (-8.49%), Goldman Sachs (-7.76%), Morgan Stanley ( -7.52%), Wells Fargo (-6.17%) and JP Morgan Chase (-6.13%).
In addition, rumors of degradation of the note of the French debt by a rating agency revived fears about the health of the euro area. "These rumors are totally unfounded and the three agencies Standard and Poor's, Fitch and Moody's have confirmed that there was no risk of degradation," it was stated in the entourage of the Minister of Finance, Baroin.
Fear of a recession
In addition, operators are even very concerned about the state of the U.S. economy. Yesterday, the world stock markets have overreacted, and positive against all odds, to about the Fed. This has indeed ensured that it would maintain its rates at a historical low, and until mid-2013 to support the economy. Its leaders also promised various stimulus, but without specifying its content. It will probably wait until his final release in late August.On the merits, however, the Fed has painted a disturbing report from the world's largest economy. Growth, pointing in particular the U.S. central bank, is growing at an annual rate of less than 1% in the first half, where the institution expected, earlier this year, more than 3%.
The market was undergoing "fears about the economy, perhaps headed toward a new recession, and lingering concerns about the debt problems of the euro area," said Peter Cardillo, Rockwell Global Capital.
In contrast, oil prices were up sharply on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). A barrel of "light sweet crude" for September delivery finished at 82.89 dollars, up 3.59 dollars compared to the previous day. Oil stocks have fallen dramatically and unexpectedly last week in the U.S., according to figures released by the U.S. Department of Energy.Crude inventories fell 5.2 million barrels to 349.8 million barrels in the week ended August 5. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast the contrary, an increase of 1.1 million barrels.
Note that the budget deficit of the United States continued to fall in July for the fourth consecutive month according to figures released Wednesday by the Treasury Department.The deficit stood at 129.4 billion dollars for the tenth month of the fiscal year 2010-2011, which began October 1, or 22% less than in July 2010, the ministry said.
Disney abused despite good results
On the business side, Cisco (-1.68% to 13.82 dollars) will unveil its results later this evening the fourth quarter, along with News Corp (-5.36% to 13.77 dollars).
Disney (-12.72% to 30.29 dollars) falls after the media group has yet announced quarterly results better than expected thanks to strong advertising revenue on its cable networks.
The title of U.S. internet group AOL (-8.85% to 10.20 dollars) has lost over a quarter of its value on Tuesday at the New York Stock Exchange after the release of disappointing quarterly earnings and lower forecasts. The stock has dropped 25.75% against the current of a market up sharply.The action even reached 10.36 dollars during the session, the lowest price ever since the split with Time Warner in 2009.
Facebook on Tuesday launched a new application for mobile phones iPhone (Apple) and those equipped with the Android operating system (Google) to send messages to his "friends" on social networking, but also to other contacts. Called "Messenger", the application can send both text messages (SMS) and email.
Apple (-1.11% to 369.85 dollars) briefly delighted yesterday to ExxonMobil, its position as the first market capitalization.
The era of good times is over. China, which for years received lessons in economic policy by the United States, primarily relating to foreign exchange, takes revenge. While S & P has to sacrifice the triple A of the United States, Beijing, the largest holder of U.S. bonds in the world – by far, with 1,160 billion of U.S. Treasuries in the drawers according to figures from Washington published last May – now estimated to have "every right to require U.S. to address their structural problems of debt."
The Chinese government estimates that S & P has only confirmed a "horrible truth". One that was highlighted by the rating agency Dagong China, which has degraded the U.S. triple-A immediately after the agreement to raise the debt ceiling.She said "the days of Uncle Sam, crippled with debt, could easily squander endless amounts of borrowing from abroad seem numbered. (…) In order to treat his addiction to debt, the U.S. must restore the principle of common sense that we must live within its means. " For Dagong, the note of the United States increased from A + to A with, again, a negative outlook. According to the official Xinhua news agency, the adoption by Congress of a text to avoid a default of the United States failed to defuse "the bomb of debt." This failure to control U.S. borrowing could affect the "well-being of hundreds of millions of families in the United States and abroad," she lamented a few days ago.
In other countries, tempers
In France, Baroin, Minister of Economy, trying to reassure.First European official to respond to the thunder of the deterioration in the sovereign rating of the debt of the United States, he ensured that France "has full confidence in the strength of the U payday loans with no fax.S. economy and its fundamentals, and in the U.S. government's determination to implement the plan that was approved by Congress this week. "
Japan, the second creditor of the United States, said that its policy of buying U.S. bonds remained unchanged despite lowering their score. "Our confidence in U.S. Treasuries and their attractiveness as an investment will not change because of this action," said a Japanese government official told Dow Jones Newswires.Japan, which is trying by all means to curb a flight of its currency against the greenback, has no interest in selling its dollar assets for now since it would only strengthen the yen.
In South Korea, senior officials of the Ministry of Finance held an emergency meeting Saturday to analyze the consequences of the downgrade. But the government has warned against overreaction. "We need not be too worried about our economy and financial markets," said Deputy Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong. An Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has also called for calm markets. "At the same time, the other two major agencies, Moody's and Fitch continue to note the U.S. economy AAA. So I think people need to consider all the facts, "she said.In the Philippines, a spokesman for the Presidency said that the downgrade by S & P was "to some extent a wakeup call for the U.S. begin to seriously address their economic problems. We have confidence in their ability to do so. "
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"Debt: the United States have failed according to China
Raising the U.S. debt ceiling on Tuesday night after a Senate vote, did not end concerns. The harshest criticism emanating from the largest creditor of the United States, China. Washington failed to "defuse the debt bomb," has dealt the official news agency Xinhua on Wednesday morning.
To support this message, the governor of the central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, announced that "foreign exchange reserves of China will continue to follow the principles of investment diversification and risk management." Clearly, the portion of funds invested in dollar continue to fall. "Large fluctuations and uncertainty in the market for Treasuries have an impact on the stability of the international monetary and financial system, and could affect the global economic recovery," said the Chinese official.Beijing has to worry: he has financial reserves of the largest in the world, or about 3.197 trillion dollars at the end of June, of which 1.16 trillion invested in U.S. Treasury.
The rating agency Dagong China has also downgraded the U.S. of A + to A, away from the AAA provided by Western agencies. She said raising the debt ceiling will "worsen" the situation. The show divisions between Republicans and Democrats in recent months "reflects the government's inability to solve the problem" of American finance, said she.
"A first step"
More lenient, Moody's affirmed the AAA rating of the United States, while combining it with a negative outlook. "The agreement voted Tuesday night is the first step to recovery of public accounts," she observed in a statement.But the financial health of the world's largest economy, and therefore its rating could be threatened if new austerity measures are not adopted in 2013, even if growth slows, or in case of sudden rise in interest rates.
The rating agency Fitch for its part, said Wednesday morning in a statement that it believes "the risk of default of the United States is extremely low." However, "the United States, like most countries in Europe, must confront difficult choices about taxes and spending in a sluggish economic recovery," and sufficient to redress public finances. Fitch confirmed Tuesday night the American note.
Standard & Poor's, the most influential of the three Western rating agencies, has not yet officially expressed.The director of sovereign ratings Takahira Ogawa, however, tried on Wednesday morning to alleviate the issues of possible degradation, "the market has to some extent already recognized the potential risk of a downgrade American." S & P had warned during the negotiations on the ceiling of the debt: the United States should save 4 trillion dollars over the next ten years to maintain their AAA. The plan adopted only on table 2.4 trillion.
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»COMPUTER GRAPHICS – The world seen by the rating agencies
What are the consequences of a decline in the rating "AAA" American? The risk increases after a prolonged disagreement between Republicans and Democrats on the management of U.S. debt. The problem may seem far from the concerns of citizens, but U.S. President Barack Obama warned, "If we lose the AAA, everyone will pay more taxes. This will cause a rise in interest rates, which would have the same effect as raising taxes on all Americans. "And to raise the specter of rising rates of car loans on credit cards and in real estate.
Banks lend to their clients because at rates directly correlated to the performance of bonds. However, the higher the rating of a country, the lower the rates at which it must borrow increases.According to rating agency Standard & Poor's, the loss of "AAA" could cost between 0.25 and 0.5% growth rate in the United States. Analysis challenged by some economists, who point out that Japan, after seeing his note deteriorated in the early 2000s, had seen the contrary interest rates fall.
"Zero risk"
Still, never in the history of the United States has lost their prestigious note, despite a technical default part in 1979 (a few dates could not be met on time). It symbolized far "zero risk" to markets, which could buy U.S. debt with the confidence of being repaid.
A decline in the note, a real paradigm shift, "would affect the actions and change," warns Ciaran O'Hagan, strategist at Societe Generale. How much? Hard to say.The United States never lost their prestigious note, "the unprecedented nature of this reduction makes it difficult to determine all the ramifications of the financial markets and the economy," says agency Fitch.
Thus, it is not clear that the long-term investors seeking safe investments are fleeing the U.S. Treasury. For example, foreign central banks, which own 33% of U.S. debt, will not sell their shares, say analysts surveyed after UBS interested. According to Fitch, the Treasury will keep the short and medium term "their status as reference for interest rate markets."Clearly, there will be no widespread panic in the market for U.S. debt.
More than a threat to the United States themselves, "noted a deterioration in the U.S. crystallize the challenges for all developed countries, probably by opening the way for the degradation of other countries," says Jean- Baptiste Pethe, Exane BNP Paribas. If the U.S. lose their "AAA", France and the UK may well follow. The United States could then argue them, as Secretary of the Treasury Nixon had done about the dollar, "it is our rating, but your problem".
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A work of art? A scupture? A monument? Attraction? Orbit wants it all at once. Red steel tower rising slowly in the sky Olympic Park East London thanks to the play of the cranes that circumvent the laws of gravity and set pieces that weigh less than 2.5 tonnes each. The London Olympics, which begin July 27, 2012, wanted their icon. It is made of red steel. That's at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1889 as the Eiffel Tower was built …
Nestled between the Olympic Stadium and the swimming pool, the work designed by Anish Kapoor, a British artist of Indian origin, will be the symbol of the London Games. The artist, whose recent work Monumenta at the Grand Palais in Paris, has conquered the public, could build this new project with Lakshmi Mittal, the chairman of ArcelorMittal.The steel giant from an original way and in the circle of second-tier sponsors of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Cost of the adventure: 16 million pounds (about 18 million euros) for Arcelor Mittal, London, adding 3 million pounds.
A unique perspective
On site, a dozen people work to build, despite the often strong wind blowing from the Thames estuary, the giant Meccano imposes no engineer would have imagined. The sculpture, made of red tubular steel elements, already stands at over 80 meters high and it must reach 115 meters. It will weigh 1,400 tons. When everything is finished, an elevator will climb onto a platform boldly eccentric.The energetic can go down via a silver staircase winding around the tower.
The tower would house a restaurant and she will, when the Games are over, a unique perspective on the new district of east London that is emerging today. As the streets that Jack the Ripper haunted past are still among the poorest in London. The Olympics will enable a large-scale urban renewal. New life for London's East End which is the symbol of steel.
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Jul
16
The world champion loves yogurt tracks. Especially when it comes to change its scope of activity or distribution channels. In 2002, he landed in cosmetics. Eight years later, he experimented with home delivery and "customization" of its Evian bottled water. With Danone Activia Bar-based, it pushes even further the "brand stretching" (extension of its brands), which it is Champion with the various versions of its flagship product (to be paid to drink …).
Here, the yogurt came directly from the factory-Littry Danone Molay, Normandy. They are served in pots of 80, 150 or 250 g. You can buy classic or glazed, with a score of "toppings" (fruits, chocolate chips, cereal …). Two other outlets are also tested in Paris, a kiosk at the Galeries Lafayette and a "corner" in a pasta bar eighteenth arrondissement, Nooyi."These pilots are aimed at developing a new range of commercial catering, says Alain Gauthron, Director of Professional Danone, a subsidiary of Danone France Fresh Products. We give ourselves a year and a dozen stores to test the concept. "
A separate activity
In Rosny 2, one of the busiest shopping centers in France, where its competitors are called Haagen Dazs, Paul and Pomme de Pain, the Danone Bar displays relatively accessible price (from 2.20 euros the potty ). "If it works, we can replicate this type of situation in other shopping centers," predicts Alain Gauthron.
The facts are simple. If the yogurt has found its place in canteens or in hospitals, it has less popular at the restaurant where only one in eight integrates its meal. Yet the French are among the largest consumers of yogurt."When outside, the consumer wants a different experience than it may have at home," said Alain Gauthron, including frozen yogurt are less calories than ice cream.
The idea of yogurt bars comes from Spain, home of Daniel Carasso. On the occasion of 90 years the group in 2009, "Danone casa" was born in Barcelona, both museum and store. Eight shops have followed.
In France, the starting point is different. "This will not only be a vector image, but a new activity, says Alain Gauthron. The whole business model is to build. "Shops or corners, own stores or franchises, Danone is given time to develop his concept. He bets first on its brand. "When we say Danone, everyone thinks of the yogurt.It is a very important asset when starting from scratch, "says Alain Gauthron.
The idea was matured by the "innovation incubator" Danone's Fresh Produce, a team of researchers, engineers, marketing specialists working on projects with two, three or four years. Then, a "lab" (test) was set up size. This is the "method Danone" to deploy new concepts.
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 cheap business cards. "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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"The resistance against privatization is organized
Speed up the tempo and show the unity of France and Germany. Germany and France want a "quick fix" to the Greek debt crisis, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday. At a press conference after a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the two leaders spoke together on the resolution of the crisis in Greece.
"France and Germany defending the same position," said Nicolas Sarkozy on his side. More broadly, "France and Germany, together with all our might support the euro," he said. The French president added that the terms of the future agreement to support Greece needed to be "full agreement" with the European Central Bank.
Nicolas Sarkozy has declined four principles for the agreement: a voluntary basis for participation of private creditors, no default, the agreement with the ECB and a rapid conclusion.
The two leaders also stressed the need to speed up negotiations. "The sooner we have a solution, the better," said German Chancellor.
Equity markets leave the U.S. before Wednesday. The Dow Jones is 0.81% at 12,049.92 points, the Nasdaq climbed 1.03% to 2666.90 points and the S & P 500 rose 1.03% to 1284.90 points. On Monday, U.S. markets, which started in the green, finished on a stable tone, troubled by a further deterioration of three notches of the rating agency in Greece by S & P.
In contrast, Asian stock markets rose in unison this morning, buoyed by the announcement of the Bank of Japan keeping its policy rate close to zero to support the growth of the archipelago.
Following the sharp market declines in recent weeks, investors are looking for bargains on Wall Street. Moreover, mergers and acquisitions announced in the U.S. market in recent hours also seem to encourage investors.
On Monday, the textile group VF Corporation, which owns the brands Wrangler, Jeansport or The North Face has announced that he wanted to buy the specialist outdoor Timberland valued $ 2 billion. For its part the packaging producer Graham Packaging said it received a takeover offer, higher than that of Silgan Holdings, which was to acquire for $ 4.1 billion and the industry group will buy Honeywell for $ 491 million of its fellow EMS Technologies specializes in telecommunication tools for aeronautics.In reinsurance, Transatlantic Holdings will merge with its rival Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, to give birth to a giant valued around $ 5 billion while the group of fast food Wendy's will separate chain Arby's to a consortium formed by Roark Capital Group for 430 million dollars.
USA: first drop in retail sales since June 2010
The producer prices slowed their rise in May to 0.2% from the previous month according to figures released Tuesday by the Labor Department, but this increase was higher than expected.It is nevertheless the first drop in retail sales since June 2010.
Retail sales in the U.S. fell less than expected in May, 0.2%, driven by a sharp drop in auto sales, indicate figures released Tuesday in Washington by the Department of Commerce quick guaranteed personal loans.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro continues to rise against the greenback at 1.4448 dollars against 1.4413 dollars late Monday. For their part, oil prices were progressing on Tuesday at the opening in New York, a barrel of benchmark gained 32 cents to 97.62 dollars.
Apple pays royalties to Nokia
Avis Budget: 5.70% to 16.87 dollars
The side of values, announcements of mergers and acquisitions continue to grow.The American Society of Avis Budget Car Rental Avis Europe will buy for about 636 million pounds in cash (723 million), announced on Tuesday the company, which hopes to increase its presence in emerging markets with high growth like India and China.Avis Europe, currently owned 59.6% by the Belgian robertlipinski, operates the Avis and Budget brands, and operates in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia.
Apple: 1.17% to 330.42 dollars
World number one mobile phone, Finnish Nokia, said Tuesday that its U.S. rival Apple agreed to pay royalties to settle all their disputes over its use of several technologies patented by Nokia.
Citigroup: 0.46% to 39.35 dollars
For its part Citigroup announced Tuesday it had sold 1.5% stake in the Indian mortgage specialist Housing Development Finance Corp., lifting 160 million dollars before taxes. This sale brings to 9.9% from Citi in HDFC.It takes place before the adoption of new prudential regulations Basel III.
NYSE Euronext: 0.67% to 34.56 dollars
Representatives of the trading platforms NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse have defended on Monday its proposed merger with U.S. lawmakers.
Also note, Facebook could be valued at over $ 100 billion at its IPO, which could happen by early 2012 CNBC. The record IPO will be filed this fall. The valuation of the company was estimated at 50 billion dollars in January when she was lifted to $ 1.5 billion from Goldman Sachs.
Reportedly, 25 investigators raided two days during the siege of Servier in Neuilly, last Wednesday and Thursday. The search "lasted long," said a source familiar with the matter. More than ten companies in the first behind French pharmaceutical Sanofi-Aventis have been involved and this on several different sites in France. Private homes, including that of the group's boss, Jacques Servier, now 89 years old, also located in Neuilly, were also visited. The founder of the laboratory is married to Madeleine Trembaly past two years. At 84 years old today, this woman is the former president of America Servier. In addition, the office of Jean-Philippe Seta, Executive Chairman of the group, was also searched."Although the household had been done but there were still many things on the spot," said another source familiar with the matter.
These searches were involved in the judicial investigation conducted by the Paris prosecutor on the scandal of the Mediator, the drug reserved for diabetics and marketed in France from 1976 to 2009.
The investigators sent belong to the Central Office of the struggle against environmental damage and public health (OCLAESP) and the Division of Financial Investigations (Dnif). The Dnif trafficking investigations on violations of business law, including, for this case, the illegal taking of interest. "The goal is to understand things in their entirety to identify all of what has been committed," confided another source free business cards.Pascal Gand judges and Anne-Marie Bellot's public health division of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris and Franck Zientara who drive these two surveys were present during these searches.
Currently, two criminal investigations are opened in Paris, one for manslaughter and involuntary injury, the second for aggravated fraud and making illegal interests. As part of this investigation, it is "deception on essential qualities of the product," ie having sold a drug, in this instance an antidiabetic suspected actually an appetite suppressant . 'Deception about the risks "for having sold a product without informing consumers of its side effects.The Mediator is accused of being responsible for causing heart valve (valve disease) and lung diseases (pulmonary hypertension) that can sometimes require lung transplant. According to several studies, these diseases are responsible for the deaths of 500 to 2000 people in France. The lab always categorically deny these figures.
February 7, investigators had already moved the headquarters of the laboratory as part of a movement of justice.
Servier Laboratories, established in 1954 in Orleans, currently employing over 20,000 people worldwide including 5,000 in France.