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In Athens

It is now the strongman of the government just revamped George Papandreou: Evangelos Venizelos. Imposing, talkative and impulsive, professor of constitutional law of 54 years did not mince his words when entering his new office as Minister of Finance: "I left the Department of Defense to enter a war", has he said. And for good reason, this war is that of the economy. He is determined to carry out reforms and has a good chance to convince members to vote in favor of the second austerity plan on 28 June. Observers say it is the ideal person to mitigate the discontent within the party.

The entire political class recognizes Evangelos Venizelos his intelligence and his status as a pillar of the new government.Gathering his majority was a priority to calm the ardor of the critics of the Greek Prime Minister.

But for some experts, this man from northern Greece be too wet to agree with the Europeans. "It is the one who said the Council of Ministers last week, the country was under occupation administration. How Brussels will trust him? "Assen there be in the ranks of the Conservative opposition. For political analyst Giorgos Kirtsos, "Evangelos Venizelos wants to be Prime Minister. It has a very social discourse and is highly regarded by the barons of the press. He will use his gift as an orator to get the reforms in the population, "said he. "When he was at the Ministry of Development, he has managed the beginning of the privatization of the Greek electricity utility by arranging their own way.Now, decisions are more difficult, especially since it's not a reformer, "says Giorgos Kirtsos. The new "czar of the economy" as it is called the Greek press has an agenda of the busiest on the European stage. He will travel to the meetings of the Eurogroup and has make a difference with his predecessor, Giorgos Papaconstantinou, became Minister of the Environment.

Control social discontent

According to Petros Doukas, an economist and former Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos must quickly make proposals to the Europeans to save the country from bankruptcy. This could be a takeover of the Greek debt, "which currently is sold off at least 40% on the secondary market," said he. "Once acquired, they can erase part of our debt and other loan us again as a loan at 4% for twenty-five years.This is the ideal model for the second funding of 100 billion euros, "explains the former Conservative minister.

Meanwhile, Evangelos Venizelos will also control the rising social discontent in the country, especially as the indignant and unions are willing to take it a turf war without thank you. Rallies and demonstrations are scheduled from Sunday until Friday next European Council.

The Paris Bourse plunges on Wednesday. In early trade, the CAC 40 lost 0.43% to 3851.23 points, affected by renewed concerns about Greece and the decision by Moody's considering downgrades of three major French banks because of their exposure to Greece, which Moody's has downgraded the beginning of June.

In the viewfinder of the rating agency: BNP Paribas (-1.62% to 51.76 euros, the biggest drop CAC 40), Credit Agricole (-1.48% to 10.05 euros) and Company General (-1.43% to 39.22 euros). Moody's also points out that the review it conducts since late March on the note of the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (-1.20% to 2.30 euros), also may be lowered, take into account its exposure to Greece.Carried away by the decline sectoral Natixis loose as 1.33% to 3.48 euros.

In the wake of Paris, the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange opened down 0.37% at 7178.05 points and the London Stock Exchange began declining from 0.24% to 5789.4 points.

Already this morning, Asian markets have sent mixed signals, some following the positive trend on Wall Street and others focusing on new measures taken by monetary tightening to counter China's runaway inflation.

Inflation has stabilized in France

Caution is all the greater a significant number of macroeconomic indicators is expected today. In France, consumer prices rose 0.1% in May from the previous month and one-year inflation has decelerated slightly to 2.0%, according to statistics released Wednesday by the INSEE.

The euro area will unveil its industrial production.United States, the day will be busy: there will be firstly the Empire state index of the activity of the New York Fed, follow the index and consumer price figures from the Fed industrial production and capacity utilization of production. Wells Fargo index of the property market is also planned, as are the weekly crude inventories.

Just oil on the forehead, it was time for caution in morning trading in Asia. A barrel of light sweet crude for July delivery lost 25 cents to 99.12 dollars while that of Brent North Sea crude for delivery rose 49 cents identical to $ 120.65. As for currencies, the euro fell slightly against the greenback at 1.4421 dollar.Finance ministers of the euro area have not reached an agreement Tuesday for a new plan for financial assistance to Greece.

PSA supervision

To be continued outside the banking sector:

Technip: -0.12% to 72.98 euros

The French oil engineering group won, via its subsidiary, Duco, a contract worth around 15 million euros from the British company BP Exploration Operating Development of Lan Do field offshore Vietnam business card templates.

Total: -0.22% to 38.24 euros

The tanker is confident in its ability to meet its production targets despite the political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East, said Tuesday strategy director of the French company, Jean-Jacques Mosconi.

Carrefour: -0.63% to 29.39 euros

The police court of Evry Tuesday condemned the teaching of retailing at 3.66 million in fines for non-compliance with minimum wage of about 1,200 employees in France, officials said a judicial source.

PSA Peugeot Citroën: 0.63% to 28.81 euros

A central works council will be held June 23 to discuss the strategy of the manufacturer, which maintains that the closure of its site of Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), discussed in internal documents, is not on the agenda.

Renault: 0.99% to 37.06 euros

The manufacturer has postponed to 2014 or 2015 its plan to implement Flins (Yvelines) a plant for production of batteries for electric vehicles, originally planned for 2012, wrote Wednesday Le Figaro and La Tribune, citing the CGT and the management of Renault, which in turn explains the delay by "technical reasons".

EADS: +0.84% ​​to 21.58 euros, Air France-KLM: 0.33% to 10.67 euros

Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Pierre Lellouche, will in the coming days the CEO of Air France-KLM, said on Tuesday from his office. The company is under pressure to support Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, to the detriment of Boeing's next aircraft order.

Lagardère: -0.11% to 26.79 euros

The group announced Tuesday the appointment of Alain Lemarchand and Seamus O'Brien for the posts of deputy general managers of Lagardère Unlimited, its sports and entertainment division recently affected by a series of departures.

Rhodia: 0.24% to 31.34 euros Solvay: 0.14% to 106.80 euros

Solvay ofiiciellement Tuesday launched its takeover bid for Rhodia at a price of 31.60 euros per share. The offer should be between 15 and 20 July, according to the timetable.Solvay also offer 52.30 euros per Equator.

Areva: -0.02% to 24.35 euros

In an interview with Voices, the group's president, Anne Lauvergeon, admits that nuclear power should "rebuild confidence" after the accident at the Japanese central Fukushima, but it emphasizes the importance of the sector: "Imagine our trade deficit without nuclear power! ".

Note that BioMerieux holds its general meeting today and Faiveley Transport will publish its annual results after market close.

The standoff between Lactalis and Leclerc continues. The retail giant refuses to pass on higher rates charged by the number one dairy. Result: Lactalis not book any more of its brands to stores Leclerc. The first cheese world requires a tariff increase of 11% to pass higher milk prices upstream, or the revisions granted by the distributor are nearly 4%.

Michel-Edouard Leclerc judge price increases requested by Lactalis "excessive," what Lactalis contends that the attitude of Leclerc is "unacceptable." The dialogue between the two groups seems a dead end. Especially as the CEO of Leclerc says the lack of Lactalis products ranging from milk to mozzarella Lactel Galbani, through brands of cheese and butter President, Bridel, Ruby or Company, does not affect the right walking group.The first sign of distribution in France also argues that Lactalis continues to provide a mark of distributors for nearly 250 million euros in business volume, says Les Echos.

The conflict with L'Oreal ended

But Lactalis is not alone in its struggle against the sign, the milk producers themselves have shown this Tuesday at the Paris headquarters of the distribution group to the call of the National Federation of Milk Producers (NPFL) high risk personal loans. In his blog, Eric de La Chesnais, note that the NPFL, the milk industry FNSEA, the main French farmers 'union, "has made contact with the various brands' distribution to explain" the importance of taking into account Higher prices for raw materials. " Producers have obtained, in principle, a meeting with the distributor. A date remains to be determined.

And for the same reasons, some products Ricard no longer appear in store shelves Leclerc, reports Les Echos. After a previous crisis in 2009, Leclerc refuses to pass the rate increases required by the group of wines and spirits. Only one-liter bottle of Ricard continues to be delivered because Ricard obtained for the product to appeal, an increase of 3% of the price.

Earlier this year, L'Oreal was also in conflict with the sign but an agreement was reached.

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LinkedIn assesses its value to three billion dollars in its IPO issue addressed yesterday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Constable of overseas markets. American professional social network is about to score this month on the New York Stock Exchange.

The startup has warned that its growth could slow in the future, investment is expected to increase the capacity of the site. The site could not even be beneficial shareholder this year. In 2010, it has recorded fifteen million dollars profit on a turnover of 243 million. This income was 78 million in 2008.It has also surpassed the hundred million registered end-March, with 102 million accounts online payday loan lenders.

Some analysts remain skeptical of the optimism LinkedIn whose business model is based on recruiting, marketing solutions and profiles "premium" pay, is very different from sites like Facebook or Zynga, very popular with investors, who rather seek to consume their users via their interfaces. Despite these differences, the IPO of LinkedIn will probably be a good barometer for gauging the success of quotations from other social networks, eagerly awaited.

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France succeeded his exam. "Frankly, we are satisfied, we are not far from having achieved more than we hoped," let go Sunday a collaborator Christine Lagarde, visibly relieved. It must be said that the meeting this weekend in Paris was a test for the French presidency.

"Not many of you believed in!" Launched Saturday night a French negotiator to reporters, his eyes riveted on the final communique obtained at the price of a colossal task. The strong statements of China before the summit in fact left little hope for an agreement on indicators. Christine Lagarde, herself, had prepared the minds of this hypothesis: it would "not a tragedy," she said."You have no right to fail, it would be the death of the G20!" Was firmly told, however, Nicolas Sarkozy, welcoming ministers and central bankers at the Élysée.

"Not a wink" of the night

The objective was clear: get an agreement, which does someone lose face. During the day Friday, Christine Lagarde received most of G20 ministers to move forward in bilateral negotiations. The dinner that evening was unsuccessful, however, China – backed by Turkey – camping on his refusal to see the exchange rate listed as an indicator of global imbalances. Xie Xuren, the Minister of Finance of China even tried, after dessert, get the support of its German counterpart, Wolfgang Schäuble. This, however, tried to persuade him that an agreement would be beneficial to all …

22 hours, it was the turn of deputy ministers take over.The Director of Treasury, Ramon Fernandez and his colleagues spent the night Friday to Saturday, without a wink. But without success. Several formulation projects were rejected. "I just had time to shave in the toilets before the talks resumed on Saturday morning," confided Saturday Sherpa of the minister, smiling despite the missing hours of sleep.

Saturday morning, the French presidency then decided to leave everything flat. At dawn, Christine Lagarde and Ramon Fernandez were drafting a new compromise text, new working basis: in the new version not only foreign exchange reserves were disappearing, but the exchange rate, although mentioned, were no longer a indicator per se.

Noting this change in tone of the French presidency, during a coffee break, the Chinese Minister Xie Xuren lifted his veto.Still had to approve the document by 18 other countries …. The game was less difficult. During lunch, based on feedback, "we changed a word, then another," says Ramon Fernandez.

At 15 am, a bailiff distributed the final text, while another offered a plate of macaroons designer colors of 20 countries. A general reading was made without objection, which allowed a deal to snatch a few minutes before the closing press conference … "Everyone applauded, but it's true we had doubts until the last time, we recognize in the French camp."The talks were frank and sometimes tense," said Christine Lagarde modestly summary, aware that the hardest work to do to achieve this unprecedented agreement.

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The situation becomes more blurred in Egypt and a barrel of oil rises. On the only day on Friday, the price of a barrel of light sweet crude for March delivery gained 4.32% to 89.34 dollars in New York as they leapt from 2% in London, pushing Brent a hair of $ 100 (99.74 dollars). A threshold has been crossed over from 1 October 2008.

On Monday, the rise continues. In morning trading in Asia, the "light sweet crude gained 37 cents to 89.71 dollars and that of Brent North Sea has appreciated by 18 cents to 99.60 dollars.

The Suez Canal in the heart of the concerns

This rise of prices, after several sessions swales, reflects the fear of the markets to see the routing of oil through the Suez Canal impacted by the events.Since the early disruption, port operations are slow and some employees can no longer reach their workplace. In addition, ships can no longer find in the port of Suez capable of military escorts to protect them while crossing the Gulf of Aden, whose waters are crisscrossed by hackers.

"No ship has been delayed for two days but no responsibility for immigration and customs has come to give permissions for security teams to shipments, said a coordinator of a freight company Suez. Crew changes have also been disrupted and some supplies, like food and water, are no longer transported to the port, "he added.

Nervousness

The situation is even more problematic that about one million barrels per day pass through the Suez Canal.In 2009, the latest data available, more than 34,000 vessels passed through the canal, including nearly 2,700 tankers carrying approximately 29 million tons of crude fast cash advance loan. "There is some nervousness about supply and this could affect Europe more than the U.S.," said Tom Bentz of BNP Paribas.

Now, ships calling at ports in neighboring countries like Turkey or the UAE for their supplies. "If the shipping lanes closed, it will be a detour of 6,000 miles (almost 10,000 kilometers) in order to ensure deliveries," warns Rich Ilczyszyn, Lind-Waldock.

Also concerned about the situation, OPEC said that a "shortage" of oil is possible. The secretary general of the organization, Abdullah El-Badri said, however, that OPEC stands ready to increase production if necessary.

"A blip"

Some observers, however, take the situation into perspective. "Investors are speculating on the situation of the channel but it has very little chance of getting stuck in the light of financial challenges it poses to Egypt," said Djillali Hacid, technical analyst at XTB France. Remarks confirmed by the Egyptian official media said on Monday that the Suez Canal works "full capacity".

"For now, the impact of Egypt on the course is not so huge. This is just an excuse for investors to speed up that takes place from August but stumbled on the psychological threshold of 100 dollars, "adds the analyst XTB.

Evolution of a barrel of Brent since February 2010. Source: XTB France

Areva said on Tuesday the completion of its capital increase reserved to Kuwait Investment Authority and the French State for a total of about 900 million euros and the launch of the issuance of preferred shares without voting rights for a total maximum of 38,311,992.91 euros.

The operation was delayed several times, Monday received the visa of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). It values Areva to 11.5 billion euros on the basis of its own funds and a prelude to a stock exchange listing of shares of French nuclear specialist by the end of the first half of 2011.

In its statement issued Tuesday after the close, Areva recalls how validated last week in general meeting, and stated that the subscription period for shares without preferential voting will be open from 3 to 14 January 2011 inclusive.

Appointment in January

"During this period, the subscription rights will be listed and traded on the regulated market of NYSE Euronext peers," added the group paperless payday loans. The settlement and listing of the preference shares without voting news is expected next January 27.

The state, which now controls nearly 90% of Areva, had initially set a goal to complete a capital increase of up to 15% before the end of 2010 with industrial and financial investors, for a total estimated at between 1.5 billion and 3 billion euros. But he had to resolve itself to participate in the operation up to 300 million euros as part of a fundraising much more modest than expected, even if other operations could come and complete it later.

(With Reuters)

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In 2010, Twitter has experienced a boom. One hundred million people have joined this year the website, which offers to share messages of 140 characters and links with a network of readers (called "subscribers" or "followers"), Twitter has announced this month. This figure, which brings about 160 million users of the site is supported by a study just released by the firm Sysomos. According to this, 44% of Twitter users have joined the platform between January and August. In contrast, only 4.7% of the site were already enrolled before January 2009.

This new influx of users has also resulted in a significant change of use on Twitter, reveals Sysomos.The number of users with over 100 friends in their network, ie user accounts which we receive messages in real time on his Twitter page, has tripled since 2009 and represents 21% of members site. Conversely, the share of those who take less than five accounts was almost halved in a year from 37% to 21%.

Conclusion Sysomos: "Twitter users consume more updates and maybe after more people outside their circle of friends."

A strong EU dimension

This is probably a consequence of the change in the Proposal for Twitter. At its launch in 2006, Twitter asked its members to answer the question "What are you doing?".Now the platform prefers a generic "What's going on?", Inviting its users to share information more interesting than "I eat an apple" and to draw attention to current events like New York or Bombay. The recipe was taken: In September, one of the leaders of the site said: "Twitter is not a social network is a network of information."

But as with any collaborative web platform, a minority of contributors generates the majority of content.

Thus, 22.5% of accounts are responsible for 90% of the activity. Conversely, 80% of members have published fewer than 500 tweets. The most active accounts are automated, that is to say they return flows generated automatically as RSS feed of articles published by a press site. Nevertheless, the community dimension remains paramount on Twitter.According Sysomos, the share of users sharing a brief biography about them rose from 31% in 2009 to 69% in 2010. In addition, 82% of site members share their name on their profile, as against 33% last year. 73% provide information on their geographical location (as against 44% in 2009) and 45% refer to a site (cons 22%).

"It shows that a significantly higher number of Twitter users agree to provide information about themselves, suggesting the growing importance of having a public profile on a leading social networks," Sysomos analysis.

This is also an asset for brands: "The growing share of available data makes it easier for companies to target individuals according to their interests, occupation or location." Good for Twitter, which is now seeking to expand its revenues.

The Minister of Industry and Energy, Eric Besson said Sunday the closure "imminent" in a "first step" of the capital increase of the nuclear group Areva, with a participation of KIA's sovereign wealth fund Kuwait, which will join the French state.

"For the first step in the recapitalization of Areva, is imminent," said Eric Besson on Europe 1, but without being able to say whether the transaction would be announced "within a few hours or a few days." The proposed recapitalization of the nuclear giant steps, it is true, a scenario in rebounding. The operation appeared to be impossible before the end of 2010, after abandoning the assumption Mitsubishi. Thursday, Christine Lagarde, economy minister, however, had suggested she had a "plan B" through further negotiations with the Kuwaiti Fund.

New round likely in 2011

Eric Besson would not disclose precise figures, while the press has talked in recent days, a total of around 750 million euros, in which governments could contribute up to one third, the balance being Supported by Kuwait.

He also left the door open for another round in 2011, which could then be part of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, with which the negotiations have so far foundered, and the Japanese group Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). Areva has in fact over 10 billion euros for its development. About 5.5 billion is already entered into the coffers with the sale of T & D investments (Safran, Total …).To this sum must be added about 600 million euros if the sale to the Strategic Investment Fund (ISF) of the 10.9% stake in STMicroelectronics succeeds.

Asked about the possible participation of EDF and Alstom in this second phase, Eric Besson said that "obviously the president has ruled out any line of work."

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We can have decent income and yet live uncomfortably, for example in housing too cramped in the Paris region. Therefore INSEE looked this year on the issue of quality of life in his study of the French "France Social Portrait."

To scientifically measure the quality of life, statisticians have relied on very specific indicators: the state of housing (noisy or not well heated or not …), food (eating meat every two days …) , deprivation (such as lack of access to the Internet or on vacation …), the frequency of overdrafts … were also taken into account health status, degrees, the hard work, the risk of lose his job or being a victim of theft, violence.And INSEE added criteria such as human contact with family, friends, participation in associations.

Not surprisingly, a quarter of the population with the lowest incomes was 53% higher risk than average to have a quality of life deteriorated. In short, poverty "monetary" and poor quality of life go hand in hand. More worryingly, 22% of adults were once between 2004 and 2007 "poor living conditions, that is to say poor by the standards of quality of life. However, only 4% of people have been four years in a row. Poverty is often transitory.This applies, for example for young families with children.

Skid rents

INSEE point another phenomenon: the French who receive little pay in a year are often those who have not worked full time, mainly because they were part time or because they went through a period unemployment. A quarter of the lowest paid workers do not earn in a year that 73% of an annual minimum wage.

Working time is a major factor in inequality, which are corrected in part by social policies. The ratio of living standards between the richest 20% and 20% smaller increases from 7.4 before to 3.8 after redistribution.

These transfers do not prevent inequities habitat to grow.In 2006, housing costs (rents, expenses, loan payments minus allowances) accounted for 39% of household budgets with limited resources, against 27% nationally. It must be said that in ten years, rents for low-income households have increased by 42% and only 28% for other households! Improving housing quality (surface, heating …) is far from explaining all this up. There have been a slip of rents in France in recent years.