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The White House is ready to do battle with BP. Pace in London who tries to minimize the diplomatic chill cast by the ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Barack Obama is stepping up its action against the British group. The U.S. president, criticized for his handling of the spill will travel again on the coast, meeting with leaders of BP, and deliver a formal speech to the nation. Such a device intervention is rare. It reflects not only the seriousness of the situation but also the new turn of the screw that the U.S. government wants to give his handling of the disaster.

Thus, the Obama administration requires that the oil put under receivership on payment of its dividend. The goal is to create a fund to pay the damages claimed by the victims of the disaster.On Sunday, White House adviser David Axelrod said "BP has the resources to cover the damage and we will make sure they will do well." He said an independent management of the fund would ensure that the money will be paid on time.

Discussions in BP

The oil group did not show opposition to the creation of such a fund. The board will discuss on Monday at its weekly meeting. It will also define the issue of ownership policy group that should be announced July 27. According to the British press, the English major is preparing to announce a postponement of payment of dividend payable for the second quarter.

In addition, BP could lose control of its oil and natural gas in the U.S. and be allowed to have business with the federal government as a penalty.But that does not stop there. BP could also pay a fine of up to $ 8.6 billion under Oil Pollution Act.

Largest drop in the FTSE

This greater commitment of the Obama administration to want to pay BP is poorly perceived by investors. The track folds nearly 2.5% in morning London Stock Exchange and sign the biggest drop in the FTSE, which advances it by 0.5%. After sessions particularly volatile oil of the title had already sold nearly 10% last week. Since the beginning of the accident, the market value of BP was reduced by almost 44%.

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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Trading – financial transactions – markets do not know the crisis. According to the Financial Times, U.S. banks would have benefited every day to make huge profits in the first quarter. The paper is based on a document with the SEC, the U.S. financial policeman to prove that Goldman Sachs would have earned at least $ 25 million during the 63 days of the first quarter and would have even 35 times, made profits of 100 million dollars. But Goldman Sachs is not the only investment bank cited. JP Morgan's side have conceded through its $ 118 million transactions per day, an average of 5 million dollars a hour.

The performance is particularly noteworthy that the period January-February-March is a time when the markets were nervous and suffering from high volatility.The leaders of Goldman Sachs attributes this success to "a robust risk management.

$ 78.8 billion in sales

These market operations long way to explaining the excellent quarterly results of the two banks. JP Morgan reported net income up 57% year on year to 3.3 billion dollars. For its part, Goldman Sachs announced earnings doubled in the first quarter to 3.3 billion dollars as well.

More broadly, the 14 largest investment banks have announced a total of 78.8 billion dollars in revenue over the first three months of the year. Either their best showing in three years.

Analysts estimate that these figures may give ammunition to advocates of a tax on bank profits and the wider policy to require banking institutions to strengthen their equity.The information falls worse for Goldman Sachs who is the subject of a complaint by the SEC accused him of having misled investors by selling them derivatives-backed U.S. mortgage risk.

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Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic

Greece, Portugal and Spain. Southern Europe continues to frighten the markets. The Spanish saw its debt rating one notch worse, with a negative outlook.

Between degradation rate and retention Note

During a joint press conference yesterday, Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, director of the International Monetary Fund, have called on Germany to take an expeditious decision on aid Greece. Both men say they are confident. German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems he heard the message, since it has declared its intention to activate "as quickly as possible" aid plan.

Fortunately, a decision from the United States has been somewhat reassure financial markets. The Fed has indeed confirmed keep interest rates low for a "prolonged period".And this, despite a rapid recovery of the economy.

In this context, it will be interesting to see how values are changing bank, after they have been two sessions in the red. Above Credit Agricole said Wednesday night that its exposure to sovereign risk in Greece amounted to 850 million euros.

Quarterly Results: Sanofi-Aventis, and Technip for ArcelorMittal

Among the values that have posted Wednesday, PPR has returned to growth in the first quarter after five consecutive quarters of downturn, and said Tuesday anticipate a further acceleration in sales during the year.

The day of Thursday will be rich in quarterly publications: ArcelorMittal, France Telecom, Suez Environment, Sanofi-Aventis, Pernod-Ricard, Vivendi, AXA, Bouygues, Areva or Michelin publish.

Renault has announced that the equity between the group, its Japanese partner Nissan and Germany's Daimler had been made Wednesday. The three groups have formalized their alliance in early April for three to share technologies and reduce costs.

The U.S. unemployment statistics in the heart of the day

On the macroeconomic front, the day will, however, less responsible.On the program, the weekly claims for unemployment benefit, which will be published at approximately 14.30 U.S., unemployment for the month of April in Germany and in April business confidence in the euro area.

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Return to growth and confirmation of annual targets for the manufacturer of industrial and medical gases Air Liquide has posted this Monday morning pre-market turnover for the first three months of the year.

Total revenues for the group led by Beno?t Potier amounted to 3.152 billion euros against 2.997 billion over the same period of 2009. An increase of 5.2%. The company listed on the CAC 40 was that the increase of its activity has occurred in all business sectors and in all geographic areas.The emerging areas, however, contributed to the improvement.

"Unless a major turnaround in the economy, Air Liquide in 2010 is a new growth in net profit in the continuity of its historical performance," said the CEO, which states that "the discipline in terms of cost management and cash (…) has been maintained during the first quarter of 2010 and the ratio of operating margin was slightly higher than the average for the year 2009."

Emerging markets drive our business

Gas & Services activity (2.76 billion euros, 8.3%) is indeed characterized by "a marked contrast between mature economies (+5% compared to Q1 2009) and emerging economies (28 %), while activity Industrial merchant finds the path of growth, although sales in the mature economies still lower than the first quarter of 2008 before the crisis easy payday loans.

Large Industries recorded a rebound in activity, particularly through the start and ramp-ups in China, South America and the United States. The electronics is experiencing a rebound, supported by sales of specialty gases.Finally, health remains strong, always worn by home care.

During the first quarter, Air Liquide welcomes the signing of three new contracts with steelmakers in China, construction of new production capacity of liquefied gas to India and starting five manufacturing facilities in emerging economies.

The group also continued its acquisition strategy in health.

Air Liquide outperforms

Since the beginning of the year, Air Liquide shares rose 6.43%, with a gain of 0.31% on Friday, listing at 88.37 euros. The CAC 40, it has seen its course take only 0.38% since January 1, 2010.

If in 2009, they were virtually stable operating margin of Air Liquide rose to a record level of 16.3%.Air Liquide profits rose an average of about 8% per annum over the last twenty years.

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77% of turnover is generated abroad, including 11% in Asia.

The turnover of automotive operations increased by 53.4% over the first three months of the year, to 605.6 million, a level comparable to the turnover of the fourth quarter of 2009 (594 million euros).The environment of the activity rose 4.1% to 104.2 million unsecured personal loans.

In 2009, the automotive supplier has made an annual turnover of 2.459 billion euros, down 8.8% and a profit of 63.8 million against a loss in 2008.

Boosted by new models

The activity was supported by the rebound in production in North America and Europe, by continued strong growth in Asia, especially China (152%) and by new model launches in Germany BMW X1 and X5 in the U.S., the Citroen C3 and DS3 in France and the Opel Astra in Germany.

The turnover of the second quarter of 2010 should be similar to the First and growth pole Environment, started in Q1 2010, is expected to accelerate throughout the year, the company said in a statement.

The title, which has a market capitalization of 570 million euros, has already increased by nearly 75% since 1 January after a gain of 160% in 2009.

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In trials with Irish rival Ryanair, and having given up to launch its low cost, Transavia, Air France-KLM posted in March up 4.7% of its passenger load factor to 80, 5% (+5 points), according to a statement released Thursday. The total number of passengers carried in March amounted to 5.9 million people. This is the first increase since December 2008. In February, the traffic had emerged down 0.6%. By comparison, Ryanair carried 5.3 million passengers in March, an increase of 13%. Its load factor was 79% (+2 points).

"The continuing recovery of passenger and cargo operations has been significant in the month of March both in terms of traffic and unit revenue.Even if they were significantly higher than last year, they remain below levels reached in March 2008, "the statement said.

The largest increase (+7.2%) is recorded on the Asia network for a load factor of 88.5% (+5.8 points) against 2.2% for the Americas and Europe, whose respective load factors amounted to 85.1% (+4.4 points) and 67.2% (+4.4 points).

At the Paris Bourse, the stock has lost 1% to 11.87 euros in a market that has yielded 1.20%.

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The index futures are predicting a slightly higher opening of U.S. markets. Shortly before the opening of Wall Street, futures on indices Standard & Poor's 500 and 10.8501961,50 points.

The U.S. markets have ended on a stable note Friday. The Dow Jones gained 0.08% to 10850, 36 and the Nasdaq 100 0.18% to 1952.63. The values of consumer durables and clothing and basic materials have gained ground. Conversely, those software and services and facilities and health services have been abused.

For U.S. investors await today in early afternoon revenues and expenditures of households for the month of February.

But the main highlight of the week on the macroeconomic level is expected Friday with the release of monthly statistics of unemployment in the United States.But U.S. markets will be closed as usual April 2 for the Friday that precedes Easter. Investors can therefore respond to the employment figures as the following week. They should focus their attention until the "Leading indicators of employment 'perception of the labor market by households, with the Conference Board survey from Tuesday, then the number of ADP private practice Wednesday. According to the makers of "Aurel BGC, the consensus of economists expect a sharp rebound in job creation."But, "this movement is partly technical, related to the reintegration of people who temporarily lost their jobs because of weather conditions in February …" add the specialists Aurel BGC.

Other key indicators of the week will be Tuesday house prices and an estimate of consumer confidence, Wednesday the index of activity in the Chicago area and the numbers of orders in February. Thursday last week's meeting, the market will focus on the ISM index of manufacturing activity and construction spending in March.

On the currency markets, the euro continued to recover against the greenback after the announcement last Thursday of an agreement between the countries of the eurozone to help Greece with the participation of the IMF.The euro was trading above $ 1.34 in the morning.

The values listed, Chinese, Geely signed Sunday an agreement with Ford on the acquisition of Volvo cars. The sale had been expected for several weeks, the Geely group wishing to build a Volvo plant in Beijing for its domestic market. Ford said the transaction was $ 1.8 billion and would be finalized during the third quarter.By selling Volvo, bought 6.45 billion dollars in 1999, and Ford sells the latest brand of upscale pole he had wanted to be and which also included Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover.

According to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Verizon Communications, the second mobile operator in the United States, is in talks to merge with Vodafone.

Companies are also starting to communicate on the cost of health reform. AT & T announced a provision of 1 billion, Caterpillar announced a 100 million dollars and Deere & Co, an extraordinary expense of 150 million. The impact of this legislation on corporate performance is difficult to estimate the short term. The new law eliminates many tax deductions that companies used to reduce health costs for retirees.

At dawn on a trail lined with pine trees, hundreds of faces marvel at the sunrise over ridges carved Yellow Mountain, immortalized in traditional Chinese paintings. Search for a little solitude during his vacation in China is a challenge. On most sites, it is not uncommon to see the flags float guides, which announced the arrival of yet another group.

"I travel a lot, but I've never had either the opportunity or means to go abroad," Huang Yun smiled. Commercial for a Chinese company, this young woman of 29 years has never traveled child. But since she works in Shanghai, she loves from a change of pace and has swelled the ranks of Chinese visitors to their own country. These represent the vast majority of tourists visiting the Middle Kingdom.Moreover, only a minority of Chinese can afford to leave the country for holidays.

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The China National Tourism Administration has counted last year 1.9 billion domestic tourist trips to China by plane, train or car. A steady increase in sales for twenty years, thanks to higher living standards, the relaxation of regulations on interprovincial travel and the emergence of paid leave. The award of "Golden Week" by the authorities in the late 1990s, now allows the public to enjoy each year, more than four public holidays, two weeks of leave data at all, for Chinese New Year and National Day on October 1.The Law on Employment Contracts of 2008 provides between five and fifteen days of additional holiday for employees according to seniority no faxing pay day loans .

Besides the New Year with the family, the Chinese go on holiday generally organized in groups, with a busy schedule to as much as possible in four or five days. Beginning with visits to historic and natural sites, their favorite activity. The Chinese territory is seventeen times the France and has twenty-seven sites classified cultural heritage by UNESCO.The local holidays are often more affordable than those spent abroad.

Restaurants & karaoke

Nearly 40% of Chinese tourists spend each year between 100 and 500 euros for travel, 30% between 500 and 1 000, and one quarter more than 1 000, according to a survey by Ctrip, the first Chinese travel agency , which depends on the state.

If the "sacred mountains", Beijing and the Great Wall continues to attract a mass of tourists, new emerging destinations. Almost deserted in the 1990s, the tropical island of Hainan in the south, has become one of popular destinations. Even if the tan is not part of beauty of Asian middle class does not sulk pleasure to enjoy a little sea air.And always have access to a choice of restaurants and karaoke.

For more exotic destinations, the Chinese can afford a small world tour for 16 euros on the national pavilions of Shanghai World Expo, which opens on 1 May Of the 100 million expected visitors, 95% should be Chinese.