Sharp decline in European stock markets in early trading

4th October

European shares opened sharply lower Tuesday, financial and cyclical stocks in the lead, continuing a decline the last two sessions in markets still dominated by fear of failure Greek and a return to recession.

Following a meeting of finance minister in the euro area, the President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said that the private sector into the background of aid to Greece should be reviewed to reflect of the degradation of the economy and European markets.

At 9:38, the CAC 40 was down 2.51% to 2853.30 points and a loss of over 6% since last Thursday.

"It is clear that these concerns about Europe are not going away anytime soon, as long as markets remain dominated by this fear, the downward pressure should continue to prevail. The meetings of European finance ministers who stand in Luxembourg have already lead to a series of statements that move the markets – again primarily to the decline, "said IG Markets.

Other major European markets, London yields 1.95%, 2.57% Frankfurt and Milan 2%.The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index lost 2.5%.

The banking sector is still one of the largest declines, dragged down by Dexia, which collapsed after holding an emergency board on back of speculation of dismantling the group.

In this context of anxiety and risk aversion, the performance of the German government bond (Bund) is relaxed to 10 years again, to 1.72%, 1.81% against the previous day.

The euro continued to decline and is trading at 1.3174 / 78 dollars, against 1.3181 the day before the end of the session.

Similarly, a barrel of U.S. light crude lost another $ 1.31 to 76.30 dollars amid concerns about global growth.

Slovakia challenged to find a majority on the EFSF

2nd October

The ruling coalition in Slovakia will have to overhaul the government or call early elections if it does not find a majority in parliament to ratify the reform of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), said Sunday the main opposition party.

The country, with only 5 million inhabitants, could hinder the ratification process of strengthening the powers of the Fund reform validated so far by 14 of the 17 countries in the euro area.

The center-right coalition of Prime Minister Iveta Radicova hard to achieve a parliamentary majority on this vote, which is expected by October 14, since one of the coalition parties, Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) is refuses to support.

"Either the government approves the EFSF and the coalition will do well by itself, or the ruling coalition is not able to make such a decision and will have to rely on the help of the opposition, but with consequences on the functioning of the ruling coalition, "said Robert Fico, Smer party leader, during a televised debate.

The Smer, which has nearly 40% approval rating in the polls, supports the reform of EFSF but refuses to reach out to the coalition.Robert Fico said that it would overhaul the government or call new elections if it failed to unite.

"We are ready to support the EFSF, but if we do, that means no more ruling coalition in Slovakia," said the former prime minister Iveta Radicova predecessor as head of government.

Greece hopes to conclude an agreement Tuesday with the Troika

20th September

Greece hopes to conclude an agreement Tuesday with its international donors, so you can receive a new tranche of eight billion euros scheduled for October, told Reuters on Monday a senior Greek finance.

"The climate was better than expected," the official said, referring to a conference held on Monday between the Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and the "troika" (EU, IMF, European Central Bank).

The Ministry of Finance said earlier that this discussion had been "productive and substantial" and that it be repeated Tuesday night.

"We are close to an agreement and we hope to conclude tomorrow.The government will make an announcement likely on Wednesday after the cabinet meeting.We will continue the discussion tomorrow, "the official added.

Without this new tranche of aid, tied to the forefront of international bailout which Greece received last year, the Greek government said it would find itself short of resources in mid-October.

To avoid this, Greece has to reduce its public sector and improve its system of tax collection, consider its international donors.

"The ball is in the Greek camp, the key lies in the implementation of reforms," ​​said Bob Traa, the IMF representative in Greece, at a conference.

These reforms are required to Athens to collect a new tranche of eight billion euros in the first part of its bailout.

According to him, Greece has cut jobs in the public, reduce the salaries and pensions of civil servants and improve its system of tax collection rather than creating new taxes.

Bob Traa was concerned about the lack of public support for the IMF austerity program / EU, while saying that other countries in the euro zone were on the side of Athens, provided that the government showed that he was acting to control its deficits.

FIVE MEASURES

The euro, but Wall Street had cut their losses after an initial source of the Greek Ministry of Finance had said that an agreement was near on aid between Athens and the troika.

Earlier in the day, the euro was down sharply and European shares closed down for fear of a significant failure of Greece.

Greek media have published a list of 15 austerity measures that they believe the troika requires the implementation.They include a new deletion of 20,000 civil service posts, a reduction or a freeze on salaries and pensions of the public service, increasing the tax on heating oil, the closure of public deficit, reducing spending on health and accelerating privatization.

The EC stated that it did not ask to Athens to adopt austerity measures in addition to what has already been agreed in the reform program of government."What is on the table is in full compliance with the agreed objectives," said the spokesperson of the EC Amadeu Altafaj.

Asked whether Greece would receive the next tranche of aid, Venizelos responded to Reuters: "Yes, of course."

Even so, many economists and investors believe that Greece will end up in default on a debt that reached more than 150% of GDP, perhaps a few months.

Venizelos insisted on Sunday that the spending cuts would be the priority of the 2012 budget. He predicted a contraction of GDP higher than expected 5.5% this year.

No job creation in the United States in August, unemployment stable at 9.1%

2nd September

The creation of non-agricultural jobs in the United States were zero in August and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 9.1%, according to official statistics released Friday.

Last month, the creation of non-agricultural jobs were zero, according to the Labor Department, while economists on average expected 75,000 creations.

Statistics better than expected in July (117,000 new jobs) was also revised down to 85,000.

That of June was also revised downward, to 20,000 against 46,000 initially.

Overall, the private sector created 17,000 jobs, against 105,000 expected and after 156,000 in July (revised from 154,000).

The unemployment rate however remained unchanged from one month to the other 9.1%, in line with analysts' expectations.

In August, the U.S. economy has eliminated 3,000 manufacturing jobs, while economists expected 4,000 new jobs after 36 000 (revised 24000) in July.

The public sector has in turn eliminated 17,000 jobs, after having destroyed 71,000 in July (revised from 37,000).

Why Paris and Berlin do not want Eurobonds

17th August

Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy were opposed to the creation of Eurobonds, though presented as an anti-crisis. Explanations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a press conférecne at the Elysee Palace August 16, 2011.

Until the last moment, the markets have hoped that the magic word is uttered on Tuesday night at the mini-summit between German Chancellor and French President. Las. The Eurobonds, the European bonds, which could present a solution to the debt crisis, are still not on the agenda. Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel will remain strongly opposed, while the debate is growing in Europe. Result, stock markets go down, disappointed by the weakness of the Franco-European.

The Eurobonds, what is it?

These are bonds issued in Europe.To avoid the sharp disagreement between interest rate bonds issued by different states in the euro area, it could issue its own securities markets. The rate is an average for that individual member countries are financed. This system would in some way to centralize the refinancing of the member countries of the euro area via a new product under the guarantee of the 17 member states.

How do they present a solution to the debt crisis?

Because of the doubts hanging over the strength of the European economy, some countries are now unable to obtain financing in the markets on acceptable terms. Obligations stamped with European countries, like Greece, Ireland, Spain and Italy, could be financed under much better conditions.If that is increasingly demanded by the markets, because they fear that, like Greece, other countries have their notes soon spoiled by the rating agencies. The risks of bankruptcy then cause a domino effect on all countries in the euro area, which would directly threaten the survival of the single currency. Currently, the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), created in 2010 by members of the EU, is a kind of substitute for Eurobonds, because through him all states provide for the repayment of debts to 440 billion European euros.Some states want it to reach 1,000 billion euros, but Paris and Berlin are opposed.

Why France and Germany do not want Eurobonds?

The idea of ​​a Eurobond is not new, but it has always encountered opposition from Berlin, as the best student in the euro area does not put out the fires for the last class. In fact, mechanically Eurobonds would increase the cost of credit rated countries such as Germany. Today a 10-year bond issued by Germany costs the country an interest of approximately 2.3% when the same bond issued by Greece is an interest of 15.26%.According to recent estimates of the famous German Ifo institute, the additional cost of Eurobonds for the German budget and would amount to 47 billion euros per year.

In addition, Paris and Berlin are concerned that these obligations could discourage European countries most low scores, like Greece to undertake needed economic reforms, that is to say the drastic reduction of their budget. But the reason most sensitive is primarily political: the creation of Eurobonds involve a scrutiny of the European Union on national budgets. Understand, a lot further economic federalism. Before discussing the sharing of debt, we must consider the budget and tax harmonization, particularly explains Nicolas Sarkozy's entourage.Ireland, for example, maintains a more advantageous tax system to attract companies.

However, in recent days some reluctance in Germany begin to break. For the first time Tuesday, members of the CDU party of German Chancellor Angela Merkjel lifted the taboo of Eurobonds, while the debate is growing in the country. "It does no good to see things in black and white. (…) I do not think (Eurobonds) be an instrument of the devil," said MP notably Johann Wadephul CDU at Handelsblatt in a statement. Last Sunday, the conservative daily Die Welt, which said that Berlin "does more, ultimately, a transfer of funds to government bonds in common."The maintenance of the euro area as a priority for Germany.

Who is in favor?

In France, the PS is favorable long, Francois Hollande has even made some of his presidential program. On Wednesday the former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius has also expressed its "disappointment" considering that Nicolas Sarkozy had made a "major mistake" by ignoring the common obligations. In fact, the left parties of different countries are generally more favorable to this system, like the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which argues for months to create and eurobonds in return for a increased scrutiny of Europe on national budgets. In recent days new voices have emerged in the debate, such as Italy, whose economy minister said this weekend be conducive to the solution of Eurobonds.The Spanish Minister of Economy Elena Salgado for its view that the "Eurobonds" were "good idea" that can make its way, but is "not on the agenda," some countries such as Spain to "make change" to appease the "reluctance" in Germany. Side markets, many investors see the birth of Eurobonds responding adequately to the attacks on weaker nations in the euro area.

Public debt reached 84.5% of GDP at end March

30th June

The public debt of France increased by 54.9 billion euros in the first quarter to the end of March 1646.1 billion or 84.5% of GDP, show statistics released Thursday by INSEE.

The debt / GDP ratio is an increase of 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The government debt increased by 41.5 billion euros over the period from January to March to $ 1286.5 billion, Insee said in a statement.

In addition to government debt, public debt under the Maastricht include those of social security funds (end of March 191 200 000 000) Local government (156500000000) and other central government agencies (11 , 9 billion).

The net debt of general government amounted to 1.504.8 billion euros at the end of March, 77.3% of GDP, against 76.5% at end-December, up 26.2 billion over three months, Insee said.

"The difference between this 28.7 billion increase in net debt increased 54.9 billion of gross debt reflected in particular the strong increase in cash of the state (22.0 billion) and that of social security (4.2 billion), "said the National Institute of Statistics.

Brussels is the poor diet

20th June

The European Commission has cut its 400 million euro aid package to the poor. Associate them believe that two million European population will be deprived of food aid. The European Commission will drastically reduce its allocation in 2012 food aid program for the poor.

The European Commission announced Monday, June 20 a severe reduction in next year's allowance food aid program for the poor Europeans, reduced to 113 million euros, 400 million less than this year. According to several charities, the drastic reduction of aid to the poor could leave at least 2 million Europeans of food aid they need. In recent years, the European program of assistance to the poor (MDP) was abundant up to around 500 million euros a year.An estimated 43 million people in the EU are threatened by food poverty.

"The reduction (of funds) is due to a ruling of (European justice) in April in which the European court states that the current regulation requires that the commodities covered by this plan come from public stocks of the EU "instead of funds from the budget of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Commission explained in a statement. Because of this ruling, the years when the EU does not release stocks, the European program of aid to the poor (PEAD) and sees its means drastically reduced.

Free distribution of food in Europe has been launched for the first time in a hurry during the exceptionally cold winter of 1986. At that time, Europe has surplus stocks of agricultural products.They were given to charity taking care of distribution to the poor. But in the CAP reform in 1990, the European stocks were deleted. Europe stocks replaced by a financial representative 1% of the agricultural policy of the European Union, 500 million allocated to EU states that fall between the vending associations.

This investment represents for Europe some of them up to 50% of their resources, or even 90% in Poland. But Germany, supported by Sweden, filed a complaint before the European Court of Justice on the grounds that the 500 million euros from the budget of the CAP were, in their view, a purely social assistance "would have lost any connection with the Common Agricultural Policy "and violates the principles of the WTO (World Trade Organization).The European Court of Justice ruled in Germany in a ruling last April. The Commission did not appeal.

Altran CEO ousted by shareholders

10th June

Yves de Chaisemartin lost Friday the direction of Altran, the Board of Directors of the technology consulting company has designated Philip Hall to replace him.

The fate of former boss was sealed since the vote of the general meeting of shareholders by late morning, they stood together to Altrafin Participations, the holding company controlled by Apax Partners, which demanded his departure.

After heated debate, they voted for the election to the board of directors of two new representatives of Altrafin Participations, Philip Hall and Monique Cohen, rejecting the appointment of three independent directors, as proposed by Yves de Chaisemartin.

"Game Over", had already acknowledged after the vote of the General Assembly Yves de Chaisemartin, who refused to bow to calls for the resignation of Altrafin.

The outcome of the Board was not in doubt, Altrafin, which has the support of representatives of the two founders of the company's board now has six votes out of ten against four out of eight in the previous configuration.

The new CEO Philip Hall has meanwhile said in an interview with Reuters that he set the objective to develop a first draft strategic plan for technology consulting company by the end of September.

NO VERDICT APPEAL

The verdict of shareholders was no appeal in contrast to what could suggest the applause for Yves de Chaisemartin in the room: Phil Hall, Monique Cohen were elected with 91.52% and 83.42% of votes.

With a quorum at 62.61%, the balance of power firmly in favor of playing Altrafin Holdings which owns 19.2% of the capital and 31.2% of the voting rights of society.

At 46, Philip Hall, who spent eight years in consulting before leading international groups such as Vedior and Geoservices, unsurprisingly should take the lead Altran when the company is on the road to recovery.

"I proved in my career that I have made strong developments (…) Internationally and I think that is a topic of particular interest that Altran, "he said.

Former McKinsey and Accenture, but it will build a reputation in a sector where it has so far not had the opportunity to exercise.

The meeting, held under the supervision of a bailiff in the presence of a large police contingent, led to heated exchanges.

"You wanted me to leave as we do from a chicken thief," shouted Yves de Chaisemartin, accusing Apax Partners will take control of the board.

Altran's boss has defended the record of his five years at the helm of the group, believing that the refocusing of activities on project management and control policy costs were paid off.

YVES DE CHAISEMARTIN DEFENDS HIS BALANCE

"The strategy worked," he said at the podium, recalling that the group had recorded a double-digit growth in its turnover in the first quarter.

"I can tell you, even if the official turnover of the group's second quarter will be announced at the end of August (…) we are largely in line with these figures, with this growth and it will even accelerated. "

While acknowledging that some things "could have gone faster," he again denounced the methods used by Apax, confessing to having thought resign.

"We could organize a smooth transition smoothly," he told representatives of Apax first.

They have defended their decision to want to appoint a new CEO, regretting that their dispute with former boss was focused on the media and judicial fields.

"Despite the tremendous efforts made by the company, it is clear that the results do not go," said Maurice Tchenio, founder of Apax he represents the Board of Altran.

He has set several priorities for Philip Hall: lead a strategic review by country and profession to better direct human and financial resources, accelerate growth both internally and through acquisitions and improve profitability for the bear "at the best ".

"The goal we have (…) Is Altran again become the undisputed leader, "he said, recalling that Apax had invested 150 million euros in Altran since his arrival in the capital in 2008.

The action of Altran closed down 0.94% to 5.2460 euros. Since the beginning of the year, it jumped 61.27%.

The French connection crudités weakened by the E. Coli

3rd June

French producers of vegetables clearly feel the impact of fears related to the outbreak of the epidemic caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli, show the first items delivered by industry professionals.

The side of distributors also slowing consumption continues, according to the Federation of Commercial and distribution.

Complained primarily by German health authorities, the cucumber is the first victim of consumer disaffection. The suspension of Russian imports continued to shrink European opportunities and engorge the market.

"A psychosis has settled.It is measured by falling prices, "says Angelique Delahaye, president of the Federation of vegetables from France, cultivator of cucumber and tomato in Indre-et-Loire.

"We're losing every day some euro cents per piece. We are far from selling the volumes that should sell at this time."

At Rungis, the first wholesale market in France, the cucumber was sold Friday around 10 to 12 cents against 40 cents the unit a week ago, she says. Philippe STIS, spokesman International market of Rungis, estimated that between 70% and 80% slump this vegetable.

On tomatoes is also declining significantly.

"We lost 30% on prices since last Friday," explains Pierre Diot, who chairs the association of producers PDO tomatoes and cucumbers from France."We sold on Friday (May 27) of the tomato cluster around 1.15 euro. Today, it is over 70-75 cents."

He also notes that accumulate unsold and, according to its figures, around 3.5 million cucumbers that were destroyed Friday, which represents approximately 1.5 million euros.

Decommissioning case of cucumber in the development of the epidemic caused by the bacterium E. coli, on Tuesday, has not so far had the desired impact on consumers, which remains suspicious, say professionals chain.

They complain that the German communication, "dismal" according to Pierre Diot."We will struggle to raise their heads if not quickly identify the precise cause," he feared.

The blow is particularly hard for the farmers that the period is one of the most favorable year for the production of cucumbers in Europe.

Chinese scientists who analyzed the genome of the strain that has killed 17 people and infected 1,500 people in ten European countries, have found genes that make the strain resistant to certain classes of antibiotics.

For the Société des Bains de Mer, the game still weighs

25th May

Societe des Bains de Mer, Monaco group of hotels and casinos, has not found his attendance before the crisis and saw its sales remain stable over the period 2010-2011.

The group, the largest employer in the principality of Monaco, is the owner of the Casino, hotels in Paris and the Hermitage.

Its turnover grew 10% in its hotel business (45% of sales), while it declined further in the game that continues to suffer from the ban on smoking in public places, said its director General at the height of luxury and fashion hosted by Reuters of 23 or May 25

"To me, we are not yet out of the crisis," said Bernard Lambert.

In an attempt to halt the decline in attendance of the casino company founded in 1863 and controlled 69% by the State of Monaco, will open this week the first large terrace table games, against the casino and situated overlooking the sea

The company also hopes that the marriage of Prince Albert of Monaco with the swimming champion Charlene Wittstock of South Africa, July 2, will attract tourists to the Principality.

"If the environment improves, we will have good chances to see the turnover increase in hotels, but in games, predictions are difficult to do," said Bernard Lambert.

Societe des Bains de Mer accused in 2009-2010 sales down 6% to 374 million euros and operating profit fell 15% to 51.5 million.

Owner of the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort and Monte-Carlo Beach Hotel, she also holds at parity with the businessman Stephane Courbit, the gaming company online Manga Gaming.

It plans to open a beach club in Abu Dhabi in September and a hotel in Morocco, in Marrakech in 2013.