Posts Tagged ‘news’

Electricity prices: GDF Suez very dissatisfied

April 20, 2011 - 3:04 am Comments Off

The law on the reorganization of the electricity market is now back on track. Tuesday morning, confirming the information of Figaro, Eric Besson, Minister of Energy, said the sale price of the EDF nuclear power to its competitors would rise to 40 euros per megawatt hour as of July 1 next, then 42 euro from 1 January 2012.This device, designed to boost competition in France will be considered in a fortnight by the Regulatory Commission (CRE), which must render a reasoned opinion.

Meanwhile, the government clearly adjudicated in favor of electrical lights: it was still estimated at 42 euros per MWh the full cost of nuclear power (operation, maintenance, future investments …), while its competitors, GDF Suez head, had set the bar at 35 euros, in line with the current regulated rates.

The reaction of GDF Suez has been immediate. The other French energy giant said that "this election will penalize customers who will experience increases for electricity prices." Convergence expected by 2015 between regulated tariffs and prices Arenh (restricted to nuclear power history) will increase mechanics first.The consumer association UFC-Que Choisir dread even price shock, "a rumor, according to Eric Besson, which I would like to help twist the fact."

Also in the eyes of GDF Suez, the high level of Arenh prevent the establishment of effective competition in electricity supply in France no fax payday loans. In these circumstances, the group will study the consequences of that decision and the possible ways to overcome the narrowness of the market opening in the short term induced by the choices of government. "

Another competing operator EDF, Direct Energy (which serves over 600,000 clients), however, shows less severe. Its president, Xavier Caitucoli welcomes first that law enforcement has not been postponed, as had been discussed earlier this month. "After several years the French market was locked, the start of the competition has really come.At 42 euros, it is possible for a competitive operator, although it will be difficult, "he says.

Seasonality

Xavier Caitucoli, it should also not focus too much on the price of Arenh: "The product is also very important and the fact that the volumes of energy vary according to seasonality will make it attractive." Sub- understood: in winter, when electricity prices are very high on the wholesale market, Direct Energy will be able to provide through Arenh on much more interesting.

In this issue, which collects opinions shared, all players meet at least the fact that the accident Fukushima weighed a heavy weight."Somehow, the government has anticipated that the audit of EDF plants could lead to huge additional costs of maintenance and needed to be reflected in the selling price of electricity."

Sony Ericsson signs partnership with Canal +

March 10, 2011 - 10:12 pm Comments Off

"Sony Ericsson will partner with the biggest names in entertainment," explains director France, Pierre Perron. Illustration of this strategy, the partnership between the phone manufacturer and Canal +. The platform will be available on some smartphones range from the month of April. The application will be embedded directly on phones. The offer is decorated with three months free trial on all of Canal +. Then, without subscription, only emissions will be available in clear.

The announcement came while the group wants to make her comeback on the smartphone segment. Outpaced the market, Sony Ericsson has added four new references to its Xperia range, with the ambition to sell 2 million units in France this year.Currently, he weighs 10% of this market, which stood at just under 8 million units in 2010.

To do this, the brand mobile phone, a joint venture equally owned by Sony and Ericsson, placing more than ever on his Japanese parentage. Sony Ericsson has taken its technology to Sony Bravia Engine that its TV crew to offer a "better signal processing, richer colors …." For the photo, Exmor R is directly inherited from the image capture developed for ranges of SLR cameras and compact Japanese. With Xperia Play, the smartphone-game console, the brand has pushed the logic of convergence to a climax.

The convergence between television and the phone does not stop there. Connected to a TV with an HDMI cable, a smartphone brand makes "any connected TV."Indeed, it is possible, from its smartphone view photos, videos on his TV and even surfing. Everything is even easier when the TV is also a Sony, with a dedicated menu. But Sony TVs are themselves connected. "We are number two on TV in France and number one for sales of TV connected with 50% market share at the end of 2010," says Philippe Citroën, managing director of Sony France. A quarter of owners have actually connected their television. "They use it mainly for the TV catch up, Sony has a partnership with M6 Replay or visit community sites like Dailymotion," added Philippe Citroën.

Remains whether this marriage of the "best of both worlds", will be sufficient to allow Sony Ericsson to regain lost market share in mobile telephony.

Quick attendance down after a suspicious death

February 27, 2011 - 4:32 pm Comments Off

The death of a teenager who ate at Quick in January led to a decline in attendance of fast-food chain, said Sunday its CEO Jacques-Edouard Charret. "The drop in attendance of about 30% of our restaurant Avignon Cap Sud (where the teenager had eaten) remains unchanged since the beginning of the case," he says in an interview in Paris . "On all of our franchisees, we also note a lack of interest, but it is weaker," he says. The fast food chain has more than 350 fast food in France.

"It will take us much time and effort before returning confidence," says the CEO of the sign, which recognizes that "as with any food crisis of this kind, it will take several months before s' in return. "The company also announced Thursday a strengthening of its sanitary measures, with the creation of a quality label, a hardening of the scoring system and better training of its employees and managers free credit score.

Quick had raised some ten days the possibility of a "local fault" in his restaurant in Avignon, in view of the first results of the investigation into the death of the teenager. It has already been established that the death was related to the meals the day before by the young man of 14 years. The prosecutor opened an investigation against X for manslaughter, citing serious breaches of hygiene. The victim's parents have become civil parties.

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Oil: the situation of the Suez Canal worries

February 1, 2011 - 1:36 am Comments Off

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

Wall Street took a breather

January 19, 2011 - 7:00 pm Comments Off

U.S. stock markets open on Wednesday in a disorganized. The Dow Jones gained 0.03% and the Nasdaq was down 0.14%. Tuesday after three days of interruption to the "Martin Luther King Day, Wall Street still closed in the green, after some hesitation morning.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro was still up in the morning against the dollar, even briefly climbing above $ 1.35, against a dollar weakened by renewed concerns about the strength of economic recovery U.S. real estate before an important indicator.About 11 hours in Paris, the euro bought 1.3456 dollars against 1.3389 dollars late Tuesday.

Property: less Starts

On the macroeconomic front, the housing starts in the U.S. rebounded by 6.1% in 2010, following a relapse of 4.3% in December, and building permits rose 2 , 6% for the year despite a 16.7% jump in December, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The U.S. housing sector has been one of the most severely affected by the crisis and investors scrutinize with utmost vigilance on each new indicator of market conditions as an index on the strength of the recovery of the world's largest economy.

Also note, the rating agency Standard and Poor's warned yesterday that the debt rating of the United States "will be put under pressure" if the government does not soon a "credible plan" to reduce its budget deficit.

Very good results from IBM and Apple

The side of values, the United States, the strong performance of IBM and Apple were reassured. The computer giant IBM announced Tuesday it posted a net profit up 10.5% year on year last year to 14.8 billion dollars with an equivalent growth in the last quarter, exceeding forecasts analysts.The group's turnover increased by 6.6% to $ 29 billion over the quarter and 4.3% over the year to 99.9 billion.

For its part, the computer group Apple, which has alarmed investors with the absence of his new boss, should snatch them with the release after the close of Wall Street by record results in the first quarter of fiscal offset, with a leap of 78% of its net profit to $ 6 billion cash advance payday loan. Based on the number of shares, earnings for the quarter amounts to $ 6.43, while analysts were still waiting for 5.38.The turnover for its part has also reached a record level of $ 26.7 billion (+71%), well beyond the expected 24.38 billion dollars.

For his part, Western Digital, the second largest manufacturer of disc drives, Seagate last, announced a profit of $ 225 million or 96 cents per share ($ 1.85 against the same period in 2009), down 48% over one year. Analysts' expectations were only 58 cents. Turnover was 2.48 billion dollars, down from $ 2.62 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 but still well above expectations of analysts on average expected 2.35 billion dollars.

Always on the side of values, insurer American International Group (AIG) has selected banks Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to complete the withdrawal of the U.S. state of his capital, it was learned Tuesday sources familiar with the matter. Last Thursday, AIG and the U.S. government invited to New York with representatives of the ten largest banking groups worldwide so as to retain the best facilities to complete the transaction.

Also note, the Japanese airline All Nippon Airways (ANA), which will be the first to use the new device 787 Dreamliner Boeing, demanded Wednesday that the U.S. aircraft manufacturer guarantees that the new delivery deadlines are respected.The Japanese firm has hailed as a "step forward", the return to flight test the aircraft, suspended for two months after a fire occurred during a test in November in a cab 787.

On Wall Street investors expect another round of results. Indeed, after Apple, IBM, Citigroup and Western Digital yesterday, eBay, Bank of New York, Goldman Sachs, State Street and Wells Fargo have announced their numbers today. AMD, Rockwell Collins will continue the ball Thursday and General Electric and Schlumberger Friday.

Fiat Mirafiori will work harder

January 16, 2011 - 12:04 pm Comments Off

The yes won with 54.05% of the vote, according to final results announced Saturday morning after a night of counting. Employees of Fiat's Mirafiori plant history in Turin (north) have approved the agreement toughening their working conditions and whose survival depended on the site.

The signing of this agreement is considered a turning point in social history. It provides a specific contract for workers at Mirafiori, which no longer depend on the collective agreement for metalworking. The plant will now run on 24 and 24 hours to six days a week. Breaks will be reduced and the number of overtime tripled to $ 120 per year. Penalties are also provided for absenteeism "abnormal" or strike against the agreement.But wages will rise up to 3,700 euros gross per year due to night work and overtime, unions have argued signatories.

In exchange for signing the agreement, Fiat has committed to invest over one billion euros with its U.S. partner Chrysler to produce up to 280,000 Jeep Mirafiori and Alfa Romeo annually. If failure had won, the group would have produced such vehicles in the U.S. or Canada, and the lack of new models, the plant would have gone to Turin closure assured.

Membership narrower than expected

Almost all employees of the Fiat factory – on 5119 5431 or 94.2% – participated in vote.Les employees have played a decisive role in the yes vote when the workers of the assembly line rather have them voted no.For Fiat, which has not yet reacted to this result, membership is narrower than in the referendum held on a similar agreement in June to plant Pomigliano (south) where the yes had accumulated 62% of votes payday loans. With the exception of the IMF – metallurgy branch of the CGIL (left), the first union in the country – who denounced a "blackmail", all unions had signed the agreement on December 23 and asked to vote yes. Giovanni Centrella UGL union praised the "sense of responsibility" Mirafiori employees who "saved tens of thousands of jobs" while Giorgio Airaudo the IMF has instead praised the "courage" of workers who said not. Very controversial point of the agreement, the IMF will have to aiileurs more delegates in the plant, refused to sign.

Supported by the Government, employers and the left part of the agreement Mirafiori sharply divided peninsula.Sign of tension, red stars, symbol of the Red Brigades, have emerged in recent days on the walls of several cities. The vote has sparked more passion than this plant in Turin is the industrial heart of Fiat in the city where the band was born.

The head of government Silvio Berlusconi pledged personally in favor of yes, believing that if no victory, companies "have good reason to go to other countries." For the boss of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, who wants to make the alliance a giant Fiat-Chrysler world car, this type of agreement is essential if the Italian factories are more productive and stop losing money .He made a sine qua non for investment of 20 billion euros in total by 2014 to Italy to double production.

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Detroit, the resurrection of the "Big Three"

January 10, 2011 - 3:40 am Comments Off

After two losses, the Detroit show this year symbolizes the victorious return of the Big Three, the Big Three U.S. automakers. In 2009, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have been brought to its knees by the financial crisis, after years of abysmal losses. Two of them, GM and Chrysler, have gone through a bankruptcy and owe their salvation to the billions of dollars in aid the U.S. government.

This year, the mood should be much more festive in Detroit, as reasons to be optimistic are real. After collapsing in 2009 to its lowest level since 1983, the U.S. car market is again on the rise for the first time since 2005: 11.6 million cars were sold last year, a rebound 11%.In 2011, experts predict volumes between 12.5 and 13.5 million cars, far, however, nearly 17 million copies in 2005.

Factories closed, wages reduced

GM has made for his return to Wall Street, in November, the most spectacular IPO in history, raising more than $ 23 billion. Photo credits: David Zalubowski / ASSOCIATED PRESS

"The United States is a crisis more serious than Europe"

January 8, 2011 - 9:40 am Comments Off

U.S. economist Jeffrey Sachs, special advisor to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and professor at Columbia University, spoke today at the conference "New World, New Capitalism", organized in Paris by the Minister Industry Eric Besson, in the presence of François Fillon and Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou. Father of the liberal shock therapy in Russia of Yeltsin, Sachs, who has advised many governments, has evolved over the years in cross-interventionist in the fight against poverty.

LE FIGARO. – The European Union will she have to save other Member States this year?

Jeffrey Sachs. – I am more optimistic than most of my fellow economists about Europe. I think the euro will resist and that countries have chosen the difficult path of austerity will hold good.The bailout of Greece and Ireland's long overdue and has been implemented grudgingly, which was expensive in Europe. I agree with these plans, with one caveat: in the case of Ireland, where the weight of private debt is large, the government guarantees to banks have been too generous to me.

The French economic model he was protective against the crisis?

As an American, I am tempted to say, especially to the French right long seduced by liberalism in the U.S.: do not go to the American model! The United States undergoing a structural crisis much deeper than Germany or France. United States, unemployment reached 10%, income inequalities have never been so blatant, and the budget deficit weighs 10% of GDP. The financial system and labor market deregulation are the cause of this crisis.The heart of Europe – except Italy, which has its own political problems – France, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia are much more balanced, more resistant, more competitive in the long run than the States USA.

How the West can they stay competitive?

Global competition is intense. You can increase competitiveness by lowering wages of unskilled workers or, conversely, promote education. The crisis has led to a decline in consumption. Rulers had the choice between stimulating the consumption or boost investment. The second option was the best, not one chosen by the United States, who preferred short-term policies. The recovery requires investment in major infrastructure, the green economy and human capital. Stimulate consumption is a very naive approach.The scrapping, for example, in vogue in many countries, is an easy solution, but absurd.

Are you in favor of reforming the international monetary system?

The dollar has already begun its decline. An international monetary system based on multiple currencies is needed. We must first restore the credibility of the euro. Second difficulty: Asia. The yuan prevail there as the Asian currency or will he monetary cooperation with the Japanese yen and Korean won? The yuan is not even a true international currency, but China probably has a plan to transform the next ten years or even faster.If Europe speaks with one voice (there was dithering in Germany), while Asia also agrees, then the monetary system will be based on three pillars, the euro, Asian currencies and the dollar .

In this context of weak growth and debt in the West, China Will it extend its control over Europe?

No need to be a genius to see that China is trying to recast the global economy. It saves half of its GDP! This accumulation of wealth is spectacular. One part feeds the fastest urbanization in history, which involves the construction of infrastructure, roads, power plants on a scale without precedent. China has also become the largest investor in Africa. She also played an important stabilizing role for the euro. Premier Wen Jiabao said China would continue to purchase debt securities Greek, Portuguese or Spanish.On the other hand, China is the source of rising world prices of energy and power. What she did not properly managed, are its natural resources. She is going through a profound environmental crisis. But this is twenty years I reiterate that China's growth is strong and she changes the world.

Reassured about the poison, Wall Street ended in the green

January 6, 2011 - 8:20 pm Comments Off

After long hesitation, the U.S. stock markets end on a small rise on Wednesday. At the close, the Dow Jones gained 0.27% to 11,723 points, the Nasdaq climbed 0.78% to 2702 points and the S & P ahead by 0.50% to 1277 points. The indices were displayed in the red in early trade but the trend was reversed in favor of two macroeconomic statistics found reassuring:

– Operators have learned earlier this afternoon, good numbers of the ADP survey on employment in the United States. Job creation in the private sector were almost three times more than expected in December. In total, 297,000 jobs have been created over this period, while the consensus expected 100,000.This increase is greatest over a month since 2001.This statistics were scrutinized by investors because they often foreshadow those of the monthly report on employment expected Friday, a major indicator to assess the strength of U.S. recovery.

– Moreover, the ISM index on the service sector stood at 57.1 last month, a highest since May 2006, while economists and analysts surveyed on average had forecast an index to 55.6. This is much more representative of the U.S. economy as the ISM manufacturing sector released Monday.

Retail sales climb

Also on the macroeconomic front, according to Retail Metrics, retail sales in the U.S., rose 3.4% in December over a year. This is their strongest growth since 2006 and the best month of the year for U.S. distribution.The snow storms that have occasionally affected sales, purchases by households after Christmas, were very dynamic.

More good news: the real estate office would have improved slightly last year. For the first time in 3 years, rental prices have increased slightly in the fourth quarter 2010 vacancy rate remains high (17.6%, the highest since 1993) and the prices are low (they were $ 25 average in mid-2008). But the stabilization or even slight recovery, employment benefits to this area.

Operators leave a little later the pessimistic talk of the Fed. In reporting its last meeting, it considers that the European crisis is one of threats to the recovery in the United States.

Facebook and Goldman Sachs in the crosshairs of the SEC

The side of values, Constable U.S. stock, the SEC decided to look at investment bank Goldman Sachs (+0.50% to 173.94 dollars) in Facebook, to ensure that it not circumvent the rules governing non-listed companies, says the Wall Street Journal. Under the current rules, dating from the '60s, when a private company reaches a threshold of 500 shareholders, it becomes compelled to disclose certain financial information. Many commentators saw in the investment of 500 million made by Goldman Sachs with the Russian group mail instant payday loan.ru a way for the community site to gain access to customers of the prestigious U.S. bank, while remaining below this threshold, and freeing itself from any limitations of transparency.Depending on the outcome of its investigation, the SEC could recast the regulations in force, according to the Wall Street Journal. For the regulator, the newspaper said, the challenge is to find a compromise between protecting investors and unlisted companies will have access to sources of capital.

Also note, the year 2010 has been very positive for automakers and marks the return of the Big Three U.S. automakers General Motors (+0.47% to 38.08 dollars), Ford (2.99 to 17%, 90 ollars) and Chrysler, according to figures released yesterday after the close of Wall Street. A total of 11.6 million vehicles were sold in the U.S. last year, up 11% year on year, according to provisional figures from Autodata.Manufacturers should respond to these figures.

Always on the side of values, also after market, the manufacturer of fertilizers Mosaic (2.79% to 77.09 dollars) has published its results for the second fiscal quarter. The group's profits climbed to over $ 1 billion, well beyond analysts' expectations. Turnover was up 59% to $ 2.7 billion is also above expectations.

In addition, the American designer of components for mobile phones Qualcomm (2.08% to 52.03 U.S. dollars) Wednesday announced the acquisition of its partner Atheros Communications (1.45% to 44.64 dollars), a specialist WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, based on an enterprise value of $ 3.1 billion.

Annual gathering of consumer electronics in Las Vegas

The world of consumer electronics is preparing the opening Thursday of its big annual event in Las Vegas.This market is in full recovery is expected to reach almost one trillion dollars this year. Moreover, the Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo introduced on Tuesday in Las Vegas a new hybrid version of its IdeaPad computer, a laptop running on Microsoft Windows 7 (-0.31% to $ 28) with detachable screen can turn into a tablet Android (Google (1.15% to 609.07 dollars). In the same sector, the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated a verdict quashed in September thought that the software giant Microsoft guilty of patent infringement against rival Uniloc, but has not confirmed a significant financial penalty of $ 388 million.

In Europe a heavy presumption weighs manipulation on Google.This is evident first of questionnaires sent to European players of the Web by the European Commission as part of its antitrust investigation on U.S. Internet group.

Insurance: Group Figaro launches online broker

October 20, 2010 - 10:32 am Comments Off

The Figaro Group has announced the launch of an insurance broker on the Internet. This is the first time a traditional media launches such a service. "The site cplussur.com to help diversify the group's activities Figaro. The strength of a media brand is to meet on the web as the paper a skilled and motivated people around specific themes. Intervene on their future, protect his family are major concerns for readers of Le Figaro, "said Francis Morel, Managing Director Figaro Group.

The French often misunderstand the insurance same day pay day loan. They do not know what budget they spend annually on their various contracts and often the latter, especially in the field of health, do not shine their light. Hence this finding, Christophe and Stephane Saunier Mazzoleni, officials Cplussur.com, focused on pedagogy.The target? "All those who seek the right product at the right price and with quality service," says Christopher Mazzoleni. To avoid the jargon of insurers, the website expresses such reimbursements in euro (and not as a percentage of those Social Security).

"A broker is an independent intermediary who is mandated by the insured to find the best product at the best price and then to track administrative and claims management," explains Christophe Mazzoleni. The site and select offers from several companies. "Our surveys are anonymous unlike what happens on the comparators online who sell contact information of the user to insurers. Customers can thus have very simply a selection of offers that match their demand, "adds Stéphane Saunier 24 hour pay day loan

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