26th November

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended Friday in a piecemeal, according to a new low of two and a half years in session for the Nikkei, while France and Germany have not reached the day before to convince investors of the imminence of a consensus on the answer to the debt crisis.

The Nikkei lost 0.06% (-5.17 points) at 8,160.01 points, while the Topix, broader took 0.52 points (+0.07%) to 706.60 points.

For the week, the two indexes have lost respectively 2.6% and 1.9%.

At the conclusion of a tripartite meeting in Strasbourg between the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the latter reiterated his opposition to any change in the mandate of the European Central Bank (ECB ) and the introduction of Eurobonds.

"Some investors bought oversold values ​​in the afternoon (Japan), but concerns about the situation in Europe remains" Judge Kenichi Hirano, Tachibana Securities.

17th November

Fever market does not seem to stop. So many voices calling for the ECB buys massive amounts of government securities in difficulty to break the panic and speculation. But is this really the solution? ECB

In the state of current market panic, the ECB is more than ever figure of last bastion of the euro area. Provided, however, she agreed to play this role … Italian interest rates still evolving around 7% Thursday, an unsustainable level on the scale of a few months. And fears of contagion from France have propelled the difference in interest rates between Germany and France to a new record (204 basis points difference, France into debt at a cost of more than two times higher).Sign that it is a disruption of markets, interest rates of other states in the euro area AAA rated – such as Finland or the virtuous Netherlands – are also affected.

In this context, increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank in order to redeem government bonds heavily attacked. The Nobel Prize in Economics Paul Krugman recently called for greater involvement of the ECB. "It should send a clear message and say" we buy as many (sovereign debt) than necessary. "In France, many economists on the left are also campaigning on this issue. Even in Germany, there are voices in this sense Like Peter Bofinger, an economist and adviser to the German government. "It's not attractive … But we must clearly realize that it's an emergency.

Slovakia crucial vote on aid to Greece

11th October

The coalition parties are divided on aid to Greece. The Prime Minister threatened to resign if the Slovak Parliament does not vote, this afternoon, strengthening the EFSF. If the vote is negative, the mechanism of rescue of Greece is paralyzed. Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova and the president of Freedom and Solidarity Movement (SaS) Richard Sulik in negotiations for el parliamentary vote of expanding the EFSF on 10 october 2011.

The Slovak coalition parties, on the brink because of a profound disagreement on strengthening the Rescue Fund of the euro area (EFSF), should continue their last-minute negotiations Tuesday morning, a few hours of the crucial vote in Parliament . A small party of the four-party coalition, the Freedom and Solidarity Movement (SAS), is willing to torpedo the EFSF during the vote, expected in the afternoon.

Facing the worst crisis since the installation of his cabinet in July 2010, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova threatened to resign if the coalition could not agree, according to the Slovak press. According to news agency SITA, has offered to link the vote on the EFSF a vote of confidence, to resign if the strengthening of the Fund does not go to Parliament or to resign before the election. "I will make a responsible decision, by tomorrow morning, on the proposal that I will do my coalition partners," she said Monday, without further details. She said it was his "ability to govern" is at stake

Bratislava does not pay its contribution of 7.7 billion EFSF

To enter into force, the expansion of EFSF must be ratified by 17 countries in the euro area.Entry into the euro area in 2009, Slovakia is the last of its members have not yet ruled on this issue. Malta has given the green light Monday night. Considering that the Slovaks are too poor to pay for the mistakes of others, the head of SaS Richard Sulik opposes EFSF, unless that Slovakia is provided to pay its contribution of 7.7 billion euros to the fund increased to 440 billion, a possibility already excluded by Brussels.

His liberal and Eurosceptic movement also requires Bratislava gets a veto on future disbursements EFSF and may disengage from the ongoing European Stability Mechanism (ESM) intended to replace the EFSF in 2013. A negative vote of Slovakia paralyze the financial rescue mechanisms decided on July 21 at a summit of leaders of the eurozone help the financially troubled countries, including Greece heavily in debt.

The ruling coalition in Bratislava holds 79 of the 150 parliamentary seats and therefore does not have a sufficient majority without the 22 members of the SAS. If the SAS continues to block the vote in Parliament, the coalition would seek the support of the opposition Social Democratic Party (Smer-SD) of former Prime Minister Robert Fico (62 deputies). But it said it would not support the EFSF unless obtained major concessions: a government reshuffle or early elections.

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.

The EU should the need for a more robust banking sector

17th September

The EU finance ministers agreed Saturday that special attention should be paid to the capitalization of banks, but without considering that they were in urgent need of new funds.

Eight European banks have failed the stress test last July and must raise a total of 2.5 billion euros, while sixteen others were narrowly successful and were invited also to make arrangements.

But faced with violent turbulence in August and early September in the markets, the executive director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde called for a broader recapitalization of the banks of the old continent.

"From our point of view, there is a clear need to recapitalize the banks' said Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg at the end of the informal meeting of finance ministers held Friday and Saturday Wroclaw, Poland.

"I think the IMF has expressed very clearly, the banking system needs to be more robust and it is primarily a question of capital," he added.

His Spanish counterpart, Elena Salgado concurred."There is a consensus that it would be good for our financial institutions increase their capital to comply with Basel 3 and deal with any eventuality of time," she told reporters.

She also acknowledged that the opening of branches of unlimited liquidity by central banks did not reflect a situation "optimal".

Thursday, central banks in Europe, Japan, Switzerland and Britain announced they would offer refinancing operations in dollars to banks so that they have to face a credit freeze as the worst of the crisis Fall 2008.

"CREDIT CRUNCH"?

Earlier this week, senior advisors to European finance ministers and heads of the Treasury of Twenty-Seven had warned about the risks of a new credit crisis like the one observed in 2008 if nothing was done to solidify the capital structure of European institutions.

They mentioned such a "risk of a vicious circle between sovereign debt, financing banks and the negative growth", which could cause a credit freeze.

"Spillover effects" could "feed a dangerous downward spiral between the financial sector and real sectors of the economy or financial problems (…) risk aversion (…) Could lead to a deleveraging of banks, a phenomenon that in turn would result in some Member States, a credit crisis, "they warned.

According to several sources who attended the meeting, the European Central Bank, the EBA and the European Commission echoed these demands Saturday and urged the Member States to ensure that the capital position of banks remained strong.

Some ministers, however, sought to disperse fears and minimized the risk of a repeat of the "credit crunch" of 2008.

"The general situation of European banks is stable," stressed the President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker.

Luxembourg Finance Minister, Luc Frieden, has meanwhile found that the situation was "not alarming".

The debt issue is back Wall Street

6th September

Wall Street closed down Tuesday for the third straight session, concerns about the debt crisis in the euro area has once again taken an advantage over all other considerations.

The Stock Exchange, closed Monday for Labor Day, but ended above its low of the session.

The market questions the desire of Italy and Greece on the path of austerity, even in Germany voices are heard in protest against the aid given to countries in the area Euro trouble.

The Dow Jones lost 100.96 points (0.90%) to 11,139.30. The S & P 500 drops 8.73 points (0.74%) to 1165.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index gives 6.50 points (0.26%) to 2473.83.

Banks in particular have suffered and KBW index yielded 1.68%.So far only the German Dax and the Nikkei Japanese have sunk.

In terms of statistics, the growth of services sector in the United States has stepped up against all odds in August, ending three successive months of slowdown in the sector.

Sprint has taken legal action because it believes that the transaction will result in higher prices and create a duopoly between AT & T and Verizon Communications.

Sprint lost 4.5%, while AT & T has sold 0.78%. Verizon Communications fell almost 1%.

Bank stocks fall again in Europe

5th September

European banking stocks were again down sharply Monday on the stock market due to lingering concerns of investors about the financial health of banks exposed to the crisis of sovereign debt in the euro area.

Around 9:50, the European banking index gave up 3.03%.

"This is the euro area is still Greece.We tend to underestimate the problem, "said one Paris-based financial analyst who requested anonymity.

"Clearly, I think of Greece, the banks will have to make additional provisions, especially after the statements of recent days as what the trajectory of debt (Greek note) was uncontrollable."

The analyst also noted that U.S. money managers have reduced their investments in European banks.

"Structurally U.S. banks will lend less to European banks as the crisis lasts," said he. "European banks will have to go looking for funding sources for other areas."

Among the largest declines, the German bank Deutsche Bank falling 6.74% to 24.25 euros.In Paris, Societe Generale was down 4.62% to 21.14 euros and BNP Paribas 4.14% to 32.0350 euros.

The action suffers from Deutsche Bank launched two investigations into the bank in Britain and the United States.

According to the Financial Times, the British authorities in the fight against fraud are currently reviewing certain transactions by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

The bank is also part of the list of 17 major international banks covered by the plain of the U.S. federal agency oversight of mortgage loans (Federal Housing Finance Agency) for the role of these institutions in the subprime crisis.

COR-Agreement on a "golden rule" on the deficit in Spain

27th August

The Spanish Socialist government announced Friday the signing of an agreement with the conservative opposition in the Constitution for the country the principle of limiting the public deficit and debt.

The Constitution will be amended through a law to be adopted before June 30, 2012, the government said in a statement released in the early hours of Friday.

Both sides agreed to secure 0.4% of GDP limit of the overall structural deficit of the country audience, ie excluding debt service.

The law will also include criteria for a gradual reduction of debt pursuant to the Pact of Stability and Growth in the euro area.

The two sides signed the agreement will review the deficit ceiling in 2015 and 2018.

This follows a call to that effect made by France and Germany to countries threatened by the debt crisis in the euro area.

Spain has already announced Tuesday that it would enshrine in the Constitution a public debt ceiling before the legislative elections in November.

More than 900 billion euros went up in smoke in two days

10th August

The bill for the storm that hit Friday and Monday on the financial markets totals 917 billion euros for the European and American companies, according to calculations by Dexia. Traders at the New York Stock Exchange, August 8, 2011.

More than 900 billion euros went up in smoke on the stock market in two days in the U.S. and Europe, according to analysts' estimates of Dexia Securities, the brokerage subsidiary of the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia.

The bill for the storm that hit Friday and Monday on the financial markets totals 917 billion euros for companies on both sides of the Atlantic, said the document, which speaks of the "cost of great fears in the year 2011. "

On Friday, August 5, the European stock markets had fallen because of fears about the U.S. economy and concerns about contagion from the crisis of debt in the eurozone.That day, London had dropped 2.71%, 2.78% Frankfurt and Paris 1.26%. For the week, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange had lost 13%, in London nearly 10%, and Paris almost 11%.

Monday, August 8th, financial markets had panicked after the deterioration of historic note credit of the United States. The New York Stock Exchange fell by 5.55%, its worst day since December 2008. In Europe, Frankfurt plunged 5.02%, Paris and London of 4.68% from 3.39%. "As you can see, the addition is heavy," said the AFP Jean-Paul Pierret Dexia Securities.

3.4 trillion lost in six months

Seven months, about 3,400 billion which went up in smoke, which represents almost a third of gross domestic product of the United States (14,500 billion), according to Pierret.These estimates take into account the loss of 500 U.S. companies grouped in the stock market SP 500 and 600 European companies listed in the Dow Jones Stoxx 600, said Dexia Securities.

All economic sectors are represented, to finance services through the health, transport, luxury and consumption. We thus find the energy companies ExxonMobil American, French Total, BP, U.S. banks Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the French BNP Paribas, Barclays, Banco Santander of Spain, the German Deutsche Bank and pharmaceutical companies Merck and Sanofi .

The G20 will consult on debt crises

7th August

G20 countries have made contact by telephone Sunday morning to discuss the consequences of the debt crisis on both sides of the Atlantic, shaking financial markets and fears of a relapse of Western countries into recession.

After heavy turbulence in global financial markets, which lost 2,500 billion during the past week, European and American leaders find themselves again forced to reassure investors about the ability and determination of countries to reduce their deficits and public debts.

According to South Korea, a conference call Sunday morning brought together financial officials of the G20, which groups the world's major economies, to discuss the situation caused by tension on the debt in the euro area and lower by Standard & Poor's sovereign rating of the United States.

The G7 finance ministers are also expected to contact during the day and it is possible that they broadcast a statement, said a Japanese government source. The most logical would be that the conference takes place before Asian markets open on Monday at 9:00 (0:00 GMT).

The European Central Bank (ECB) will hold a conference call for its Sunday afternoon.Markets expect the ECB to see begin on Monday the purchase of government bonds in Italy and Spain in order to stabilize prices, but the issue divides within the institution in Frankfurt.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently chairs the G7 and G20, spoke Saturday on the phone with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

ITALY

In Washington, an economic adviser to the White House deplored the decision by S & P to degrade the rating of U.S. debt from AAA to AA +, which could ultimately affect all markets by increasing the cost of borrowing and undermining the prospect of sustainable recovery.

Asian allies of the United States, Japan and South Korea have renewed their confidence in U.S. Treasury bills, may lose value.

"There will be no sudden change in our policy of reserve management," said Vice Minister of Finance of South Korea, Choi Jong-ku.Much of the country's foreign exchange reserves, valued at over $ 300 billion, are made up of U.S. bonds.

"No alternative does not provide such stability nor such liquidity," said the South Korean official.

But the immediate concern of financial markets for the debt crisis in the euro area, while interest rates in Italy or Spain jumped to their highest levels in 14 years in recent days.

The absence of repurchase obligations of both countries by the ECB to ease prices has been particularly punished by the markets that have seen the sign of internal divisions harmful.

German officials in the central bank to claim the benefits of the implementation of stringent austerity measures before giving the green light.

Pressed on all sides, the Council President Silvio Berlusconi said Friday evening the implementation of an austerity plan a year ahead of schedule, achieving a balanced budget in Italy in 2013.

WASHINGTON SERMON S & P

One of the dangers feared by economists is to see Italy, the third economy in the euro area and the eighth world economy, private market financing.

Italian public debt reached 1,800 billion euros, or 120% of gross domestic product.

July 21, the countries of the euro area agreed on strengthening the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) to assist its members in trouble, but decisions must still be translated into action.

In addition, an extension of the crisis in Italy or Spain, after the bailouts granted to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, in the eyes of observers would require a strong increase in lending capacity of EFSF, with time for the 440 billion euros.

Quoted by the weekly Der Spiegel, the German government experts doubt that Italy could be re-floated by the EFSF even if the fund saw its capacity threefold, because the needs of Rome are in their too great.

United States, the lowering of the sovereign rating has been denounced by the Treasury, which held that the rating agency "forgot" 2000 billion in budget savings in its calculations.

Gene Sperling, economic adviser to Barack Obama, quipped on an agency "that starts from a conclusion and then looks for arguments to prove it."

The U.S. president called on members of Congress, who have battled for weeks over the question of raising the debt ceiling, to unite to improve the fiscal situation and stimulate growth.