Archive for the ‘finance’ Category

The CAC 40 ended below 3500 points

July 20, 2010 - 2:36 pm Comments Off

While the Asian stock markets declined sharply on Monday morning, the financial markets in Paris have also been very worried. The CAC 40 ended the session on a drop of 0.40% to 3486.33 points.

Even in Germany, where doubts Dax Frankfurt Stock Exchange ended down 0.52% len at 6009.11 points. The London Stock Exchange also closed the day on a drop of 0.21% to 5148.28 points.

The markets are cautious before the release of stress tests on European banks on Friday. The wait also dominated by the rise of publications of results in Europe and the United States.

The macroeconomic environment also remains uncertain especially overseas. Chinese Premier nonetheless sought to reassure investors on the country's economic growth."Everything goes as planned," he said Monday.

On the macroeconomic front, the deficit of the balance of current accounts in the euro area widened in May to 5.8 billion euros against 5.6 billion in April, according to figures from the European Central Bank.

On the currency markets, the euro resists and remains above the $ 1.29 mark Monday morning (0.09%).

Banking and auto bad posture

Four days before the release of stress tests, the values remain very bank surrounded. Societe Generale advance 0.56% after losing more than 5% last week, and Credit Agricole st wins 1.15%, BNP Paribas and Dexia 1.48% 1.43%.

The car values are under profit taking in the image of Peugeot -0.35%) and Renault (- 0.13%).

Despite a sharp rise in turnover (+22% to EUR 144.4 million), Eurotunnel reported a net loss of 44.8 million euros, up more than 36 million euros over the same period in 2009. Contracts awarded on the cons-performance: the action loses 2.86% to 5.8 euros and is on track to record its fourth consecutive decline. At this time, Eurotunnel has lost more than 7% in four days.

This afternoon it was the turn of Edenred, two weeks after its IPO, Guyenne et Gascogne, HF Audika Company and to disclose their turnover in the second quarter. Soitec publish its turnover in the first quarter.

GDF Suez is preparing a cash offer of 6.4 billion pounds (7.6 billion euros) on the British electricity group International Power, confirming a report in The Mail on Sunday.In previous discussions about a reconciliation between the two groups had lasted several months before a halt in January, the newspaper said. For its part, International Power shows a net increase of 9.38% to 346.50 pence in London Bours.

BMB Group, an investment company in Brunei, has denied information from the Sunday Times that she had planned to bid for Club Med 800 million euros. BMB Group, which manages funds for the family of the Sultan of Brunei, have the support of three of the four major shareholders of Club Med, according to British newspaper, citing unidentified sources close to the situation.

At the Salon of Farnborough (South London) that opens Monday until July 25, EADS should reassert its confidence in its chances of winning U.S. tanker contract for Boeing cons.The parent company of Airbus is ready to strengthen the United States for eight billion dollars.

The Partouche group will make a capital increase of approximately 100 million euros to reduce its debt and improve financial liquidity of the group of casinos. The subscription price is set at two euros per share while the subscription period will run from July 20 to August 2.

ADP announced that its passenger traffic rose 2.3% in June over one year. In the first six months of the year, traffic appears down 2.1%.

National Australia Bank (NAB) on Monday agreed with its Asian subsidiary Axa and Axa Asia Pacific (AAP) to extend until Aug. 31 offer of 11.5 billion dollars on NAB PAA.

Under cash advance loan facility borrowers are not required to fulfill tedious faxing process.

The Paris Bourse continued on the upward path

July 14, 2010 - 4:36 pm Comments Off

En route to a seventh consecutive session up to the Paris Bourse. On Wednesday, the CAC 40 starts the day with a gain of 0.40% to 3652.19 points. Investors in Paris after their Asian counterparts so that this morning pushed the indices of the region.

In the rest of Europe, the mood is the same. The DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange opened up 0.39% to 6215.23 points while in London, the FTSE index gained 0.31% to 5287.28 points.

The markets are reassured about the pace of global economic recovery by the strong quarterly results from major U.S. companies. Monday, Alcoa sent a positive signal, captured well by Wall Street, which signed its sixth consecutive session.Then, Tuesday evening after the stock market, Intel announced it had completed the performance in its history with net earnings in the second quarter of 2.887 billion dollars, far above the consensus.

The reassuring news overshadowed the announcement by Moody's from a severe degradation of the note in Portuguese debt. Similarly, they overshadow the low morale of German investors, illustrated by a Zew index at its lowest since April.

Side indicators on Wednesday, investors will keep a close eye on the industrial production figures for the euro area over the months of May and the index of consumer prices in June, savings account payday loans.The United States will publish details of their sales and their weekly oil inventories.

Note that in the good mood, the euro remains above 1.27 dollar, euro 1.2703 per dollar, more precisely. The greenback lost some of its appeal as a safe haven after this encouraging start to the season results in the United States.

The technology sector at the party

From the corporate side, the day will be very quiet on July 14, national holiday. No publication or any announcement are expected.

As in Asia, the technology sector benefited from the announcement of Intel. Alcatel-Lucent (+1.37% to 2.22 euros), STMicroelectronics (2.85% to EUR 6n95) or Soitec (4.31% to 8.60 euros) grew significantly.

Requiring further attention, the reaction of France Telecom, while the group general manager, Stéphane Richard, acknowledged Tuesday for the first time the suicide of an employee as an occupational accident. The securities lost 0.07% to 15.13 euros.

After his good start in stock, Carmat still trying to attract investors and does this mean securities earning 1.72% to 22.48 euros.

Unexpected success for the summer sales

July 10, 2010 - 11:32 pm Comments Off

Wednesday, the South East has joined the rest of France, which started one week earlier in the summer sales period 2010 – Corsica follow July 14. Everywhere these days have started "on the top speed, as evidenced by Claude Boulle, Chairman of the Union of the great trade center. For the first four days, the department stores had seen increases of 10-17% in Paris and elsewhere by 6% over the same period last year.

Kaufman & Broad returns to profit

July 9, 2010 - 7:16 am Comments Off

The developer Kaufman & Broad returns to profit.Deficit in 2009, Kaufman saw his accounts in the green board in the first half of this year with a net profit of 2.3 million euros against a loss of 27.5 million in the first half of 2009.

For the full year 2010, Kaufman & Broad confirms in a statement that "a return to positive net income, which will however continue to carry the weight of years, with a view to improvement."

"The results of the second quarter of 2010 are part of the positive dynamic recorded in the first quarter, confirming the validity of the strategy of refocusing the business offer implemented in late 2008 on products more compact, less expensive and more suitable at the request of first time buyers and investors, "said CEO Guy Nafilyan, quoted in the press release.

Turnover down

In the first half of 2010, home sales rose 55% in value to $ 675 million euros free credit report and score. "We restart faster than the overall market," says Guy Nafilyan. In contrast, the turnover stood at the promoter of 385.7 million euros, down 7.6% over the first half of 2009.

Kaufman & Broad has announced it has signed a memorandum of agreement for the sale of all its shares and interests in Senior Health (homes of elderly dependents) for a total price of 30.7 million euros.

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions to be met by September 30, 2010 at the latest, the statement said, explaining that the buyer's name can not be revealed.

Since the beginning of the year, as Kaufman & Broad has won less than 5%. On Thursday, the title rose 5.15% at 17.75 euros.

The World Cup effect boosts consumption

June 25, 2010 - 7:48 am Comments Off

The FIFA World Cup has made its small effect on consumption. With increasing sales of televisions, consumption rebounded in May to 0.7% after falling 1.3% in April, according to figures released Thursday by the INSEE. The category of "durable goods", which owns the TV, jumped 3.6% after falling 4.5% in April.

"Added to the fact the World was going" all digital "in Brittany and Pays de la Loire, which induces additional purchases of new TVs and Freeview decoders," said INSEE. On the other hand, auto sales have plunged, stabilizing in May (-0.1% against -9.6% in April).

Wall Street ended with a small increase

June 18, 2010 - 7:04 am Comments Off

Narrowly. Wall Street reaches the very end of the session to retrieve the ground lost during the day. Result: the Dow Jones closing on a slight increase from 0.24% to 10,434 points, the Nasdaq is 0.05% at 2307 points while the S & P gained 0.13% to 1116 points.

The markets have literally beaten to a few minutes left to return to the green. Before that, the entire session was marked by a gradual decline of the indices, itself caused by the publication of a round of disappointing macroeconomic indicators:

– Entries weekly unemployment rose in the United States during the week to June 12, at 472 000 460 000 against the previous week, according to the Department of Labor. Economists had expected jobless claims averaged 450,000. The entries of the week to June 5 were also revised up from an initial estimate of 456,000.

– Consumer prices in May have suffered their biggest drop since a year and a half under the ambit of the sharp drop in energy costs. The index of consumer prices adjusted for seasonal variations show a decline of 0.2%, the biggest drop since December 2008. Economists and analysts were predicting a similar decline after a decline of 0.1% in April.

– The current account deficit widened in the first quarter to 109 billion dollars, or 3% of GDP, compared to fourth quarter 2009. This is his third consecutive quarterly increase since the low of $ 84.4 billion in the second quarter of 2009, when the international commercial exchange had significantly contracted due to recession.

– The index of industrial activity in terms of the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia has emerged significantly weaker than expected in June and called for a fragile economic recovery in the United States. The index came in at 8 in June as against 20.9 expected and 21.4 in May The employment component falling in the negative, at -1.5 against 3.2 in May, the lowest since November 2009.

– The index of U.S. leading indicators registered a record high in May, according to the Conference Board, suggesting that the recovery of the U.S. economy will continue. The index rose 0.4% to 109.9, after having stagnated in April. Economists projected an increase of 0.5%.The index should continue to increase but more modestly in the coming months due to an unemployment rate still important.

Little comfort in Brussels

The markets were also attentive to the summit of European leaders in Brussels today. Following discussions, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy has sought to reassure markets about the financial health of Spain. Thus, any rescue plan would be the agenda, contrary to rumors markets.

European shares closed higher on a small, grim. The euro, however, is ironed for the first time since late May over the threshold of $ 1.24, to 1.2413 dollar to 18 hours.

AOL supervised

On the side of values, according to several American media, the internet group AOL (1.66% to 22.65 dollars) is about to give the social network Bebo to an investment fund, Criterion Capital Partners, a small fraction of the price he had paid to take it two years ago.

Always on the side of values, FedEx (-0.05% to 78.11 dollars) Wednesday reported a quarterly profit slightly above expectations.

Also note Apple (1.73% to 271.87 U.S. dollars) which said it had registered more than 600,000 bookings for the new version of the iPhone during the first day of marketing.

JM Smucker (6.58% to 61.55 dollars), a group specializing in food, has reported a turnover of 1.07 billion dollars for its fourth fiscal quarter and a Earnings per share (EPS) of $ 1.07 before exceptional items.

Pier 1 Imports (2.62% to 8.23 dollars) a manufacturer of furniture, for its part, reported an unexpected profit adjusted under its first fiscal quarter in favor of improving its sales business on a comparable basis and its margins.

London is helping BP

June 12, 2010 - 8:40 pm Comments Off

The United Kingdom is helping to champion its oil. British Prime Minister David Cameron and his finance minister George Osborne reiterated the importance of BP for English and American economies Friday. The group is under fire from critics across the Atlantic for his management of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a spokesman for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, "said he was in everyone's interest that BP remains a financially strong and stable". Nearly 40% of shareholders are British-including 25% of pension funds, and 40% are also Americans. The support of London has boosted the share price BP, whose market capitalization has lost several billion dollars since the explosion of the platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The title BP ended the session Friday up 7.2% in London, and 3.63% in New York.

Less good news for shareholders, BP has decided to suspend the payment of dividends, the Times of London. "The board of directors met Monday to approve the temporary deferral of payment of dividends," writes the British daily. BP has not confirmed the information, but the Chief Executive, Tony Hayward, told the Wall Street Journal that he was considering not paying dividends.

David Cameron is to hold talks on the phone with Barack Obama on Saturday 17h. The exchange promises to be tense: the two leaders must stand firm against their public opinion. The first to defend a large national group, the second to refute accusations of inaction.

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The price of the stamp will increase to 0.58 euro

May 15, 2010 - 7:59 pm Comments Off

From 1 July 2010 will require some additional documents to send a letter. The price of the stamp of the priority letter weighing less than 20 grams will increase from 0.56 to 0.58 euro, an increase of 3.5%. The economic costs will also increase by two cents to 0.53 euros.

This is the sixth increase in eight years. The price of the stamp for a letter of less than 20 grams had already earned a penny last year. But Post said she "is in the average tariffs in Europe even though the universal service commitments of the post office and geographic constraints are higher in France" instant payday loan.

"The rising price of stamps will have a minimal impact on the household budget, or approximately 0.10 ? per month per household," the statement said.In addition, The Post said they considered the economic situation by adjusting charges for companies depending on their situation: there will be no change for major mailers and the increase will be 0.6% Small and medium enterprises.

Financial assistance of 750 billion euros

May 10, 2010 - 11:11 pm Comments Off

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic

Fabrice Tourre denies withholding information

April 28, 2010 - 5:24 am Comments Off

A denied "categorically". Fabrice Tourre, a trader at the heart of the case heard Goldman Sachs on Tuesday by U.S. lawmakers, denies all charges against him and issued against the bank by the SEC, the U.S. financial policeman. In his written testimony, he denied the charge of the market authority that it did not inform investors of the nature of complex financial product he had created, the Abacus AC-07 1. He also denied the fact of not having told investors that Goldman Sachs had authorized the manager hedge fund Paulson & Co in selecting portfolio securities included in the Abacus betting on depreciation.The SEC alleges including Paulson & Co have put in the pocket more than one billion dollars in capital gains through the operation, almost the total amount of losses incurred by investors who bid on Abacus.

Fabrice Tourre himself "surprised" and said he never told the ACA, the media company that acted as an agent of selection underlying portfolio of 07 Abacus AC-1, that Paulson & Co take share or buying a long position in the Abacus. "I do not remember the exact words I used at that time," admits Fabrice Tourre but he claims to have suggested to the ACA, Paulson could be involved in the transaction without being an investor. "If the ACA was not insured on this point, she had every opportunity to clarify the subject."

"We lost money too"

Fabrice Tourre said he never intended to mislead "two of its two major customers, the ACA and the German bank IKB No checking account payday advance. "When Goldman Sachs told investors that ACA had selected the titles referenced in Abacus, this statement was absolutely correct," said Fabrice Tourre.

Contrary to qu'assurent members of the Subcommittee investigation ongoing U.S. Senate, the transaction Abacus, "was not designed to fail". He said Goldman Sachs had no economic interest in seeing it fail. "We lost money too," says he, advancing "an amount exceeding 100 million dollars."

A polluted river

In his testimony, Fabrice Tourre appreciates being able to defend itself against these "false accusations". "These past weeks have been difficult for me and my family. I have been the subject of unfounded attacks on my motives, "he says.

Things get tough for him, as for the other leaders agreed Tuesday. In opening the hearing, Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the subcommittee, did not mince his words regarding the Goldman Sachs "who took advantage of the collapse. "As the polluters who put the poison into a river, they have integrated the risky products in our financial system and polluted," he acknowledges. He does not forget to pass the role of credit ratings agencies "who with their triple A have to believe that the water was drinkable.

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