Close of trading up with the financial sector

Auto Date Monday, September 26th, 2011

European shares finished higher Monday, with the financial sector, buoyed by speculation of lower interest rates by the European Central Bank (ECB) and new measures to support banks.

However, markets have reduced their earnings during the afternoon for lack of more precise statements confirming the rumors.

The CAC 40 index finished up 1.75% to 2859.34 points (final closing), while London has been 0.45%, 2.87% Frankfurt, Milan and 3.32% EuroStoxx 50 2.84%.

The index of the banking sector has been 3.57% and 6.42% of the insurers, with an increase of 8.18% for Axa, from 5.44% for Societe Generale and BNP Paribas for 3.99%.

The Competition Authority pin on Canal + GST

Auto Date Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

Canal + has breached commitments made at the acquisition of TPS, said Wednesday the Competition Authority, which withdraws the decision to authorize the transaction and places the encrypted string in a difficult position even as the authorities are looking at its stake in the TV division of Bolloré.

Vivendi's subsidiary is accused of several violations by the Authority of the 59 commitments made in 2006, some considered "essential", what prompted the regulator to decide on the first withdrawal of authorization in its history, plus a fine of 30 million euros.

The Authority one month left to the parties concerned to inform him of the operation again, which would be studied on a new basis.

"We will put everything flat.The authorization of 2006 no longer exists.We will discuss again all under the market situation today, "said Bruno Lasserre, President of the Authority, at a press conference.

The regulator could start by redefining the characteristics of the market affected by the operation, by drawing a border more or less clearly between the segments of pay television and free.

With a dominant position in pay TV, Canal + is a relatively small player in the free.

"There is no doubt that we will do a thorough review of this matter," whose outcome is likely to be one of two options: allow the operation by asking for new commitments to Canal +, or give a green light by imposing unilateral orders, said Bruno Lasserre.

Canal +, for its part that it would initiate action against that decision, saying it "is of course not possible to challenge a merger nearly five years."

The pay-TV may request that the State Council an interim order to suspend the regulator's decision, giving the necessary time to the State Council to rule on the merits of the case.

CONCESSIONS

The regulator's decision comes as the acquisition of a 60% of Canal + in the television division of the Bolloré group – which includes the general channel Direct 8 Direct Star and music, as well as advertising – is waiting for the green light authorities.

"Channel is clearly in a dominant position in the pay and instead abused.Now he wants to go in the free, "said one media analyst who declined to be named.

"I do not think that this decision will undermine the 'deal' with the GST or cancel Bolloré, but all this will lead to new commitments by Canal in both the paid and free."

Canal + has struck a blow in early September by announcing the takeover of two DTT channels free of Bolloré, a process seen by experts as a threat to TF1 and M6, and is expected to reshuffle the cards in the French media landscape .

If it is validated, the transaction would enable Canal Plus to have a total of three free channels on DTT counting i> Télé, making par with TF1, owner of NT1 and TMC, and distancing M6, W9 holder.

The subsidiary of Vivendi, however, could be asked of concessions by regulatory authorities, because the regulations up to seven the number of possible frequencies for the TNT group. However, the acquisition of Direct 8 Direct Star and bringing to eight the total channels of Canal +, not counting its draft free channel called Canal20.

Examination of the application and Direct 8 Direct Star will be done separately from that of the GST case, but delays are likely to be concurrent, around six months, said Bruno Lasserre.The Authority, he added, has not received any notification for the time of Canal + Group for the second file.

Obama wants to raise taxes for millionaires

Auto Date Sunday, September 18th, 2011

This increase in tax rates, btisée "Buffett rule", only affect 0.3% of taxpayers, less than 450,000 people. President Barack Obama issued Tuesday, August 2, 2011 text authorizing the raising of the ceiling of U.S. debt.

President Barack Obama will propose Monday to raise taxes on millionaires so that they reach at least the same percentage of their income than that applied to middle-class taxpayers, said Saturday the New York Times.

Citing government officials, the newspaper says Obama will present a draft on this issue during a speech at the White House, he calls the "Rule Buffett", named after the multimillionaire Warren E. Buffet.It was recently pointed out that the richest Americans pay a smaller proportion of their income in federal taxes than middle-income employees.

Profits on investments – such as profits from capital, dividends or premiums paid to investors and holders of risky investments – are taxed less than wages, in fact, explains the New York Times. In addition, those receiving more than 106,800 dollars do not pay Social Security tax.

The newspaper said Obama will not show the tax rate or clear it intends to apply the amount it hoped to achieve through this measure and will not provide further details, these should be included in a program long-term deficit reduction.However, it will call savings of $ 300 billion over ten years of health insurance for the elderly and medical aid to the needy.

A joint committee of Congress is working on a bipartisan agreement on the budget to be presented in late November while the Republican representatives opposed the project of the president to tax the companies in the sectors of oil and gas and individual income above $ 200,000. The tax would only affect 0.3% millonnaires taxpayers, less than 450,000 of the 144 million returns recorded in 2010, according to The New York Times.

RPT-European banks too dependent on markets

Auto Date Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

European banks including Societe Generale and Dexia still suffer from their bad loans, but also another evil, more discreet: their dependence on debt markets to finance their operations.

Unlike some U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, which finance a larger share of loans with the deposits of their customers, private banks in Europe generally depend more on their loans in capital markets in the short term.

This exposes them to the whims of investors, may require a sudden interest rates higher for their money, or even remove it from the market place and the banks to thank you for a government bailout.

The sudden increases observed in recent weeks on the rates of short-term loan of some European banks in this respect revived memories of the 2008 financial crisis, when Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers collapsed in a liquidity shortage .

The recent turmoil highlighted the need for the European banks most vulnerable, to adjust their loan commitments that can actually pay their deposits.

"The European banking system must be redesigned and re-capitalized," said one institutional investor this money markets and based in New York, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid offending customers.

Many banks have sought since the 2008 crisis, to raise their levels of deposits, with some difficulty.

In Europe, public banks and savings banks enjoy tax benefits because they can maintain their stranglehold on the market, said Rocco Huang, a professor at the University of Michigan.

The race then draws customers to higher costs, so that some institutions are turning to overseas, such as the Franco-Belgian bank Dexia, which recently expanded its network in Turkey.

FINANCING RISK

Fears about the financial health of European banks is easily exacerbated by their lack of transparency about their cash reserves, analysts said.Lack of clear data, investors resort to inadequate instruments, such as loan-deposit ratios ("loan-to-deposit ').

Dexia loans represent 2.5 times the sum of its deposits, according to data compiled by Keefe, Bruyette and Woods.For Societe Generale, the ratio "loan-to-deposit" is 1.2.

By comparison, loans JPMorgan use only two-thirds of it are lists of deposits under its customers.

To make up the difference, European banks therefore depend heavily on capital markets, including money market short-term, which can be risky in the current environment of distrust of investors.

The credit default swaps (CDS) – which measure the cost of insurance on default of payment – General Corporation has more than doubled in less than three months, reaching 303 basis points (bps) on August 19 against 138 bps on May 31, according to Markit.

At the same time, the share of the Company generally has lost about 49% of its value.For comparison, the CDS JPMorgan rose 75 bps to 125 bps, and the action has lost 21%.

This movement took place when a strong seller that major U.S. investment funds have withdrawn money market billions of dollars they previously injected in European banks through short-term loans.

In June and July, according to Fitch Ratings, the top ten funds have pulled 70 billion dollars (48.38 billion euros) or 18.4% of the money they had lent to banks Europe.

Finance is increasingly global, many of these funds have explained to need this cash if their investors wanted their money out of fear of failure to pay the United States.

This sudden loss of funding has forced banks to seek their dollars elsewhere, taking their rising borrowing costs in a way that seemed to indicate that they were in need of funding, said Mark Pawlak, strategist and vice president of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Societe Generale then attempted to allay fears about its financial strength by providing investors with details on its balance sheet during a presentation on August 3.

"The bank has no liquidity problems, its activity is healthy and its investment capabilities are intact," he said last weekend Oudéa Frederick, CEO of Societe Generale, in an interview with Journal du Dimanche.

Neither Dexia nor Societe Generale have wished to comment during this analysis.

HP might separate its PC business and buys Autonomy

Auto Date Friday, August 19th, 2011

Hewlett-Packard has made a bid Thursday to the British publisher of Autonomy software and mentioned the possible split in the group with his branch of PC.

HP has offered to buy all outstanding shares of Autonomy for the price of 42.11 dollars per share for a total transaction of $ 10.3 billion (7.1 billion euros).

He also announced the abandonment of its shelf TouchPad who has not had the expected success.

The group also sees a possible split with the PC industry, faced with slow growth and low margins.This is one of the largest divisions of HP but also one of the least profitable of the group.

The American manufacturer has announced a little earlier than expected revenues rose for the third quarter to $ 31.2 billion (2.17 billion euros) against 30.7 billion a year earlier in accordance with the expectations of Wall Street.

The group lowered its annual forecast for the third consecutive time.It now expects an annual turnover of between 127.2 and 127.6 billion dollars, against a previous estimate of between 129 and 130 billion.

The forecast of earnings per share was also down, with a range from 3.59 to 3.70 dollars against a previous forecast of at least 4.27 dollars.

The title, which closed down 6%, down 2.1% after closure of the exchanges on Wall Street.

Ford releases quarterly results better than expected

Auto Date Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

Ford reported Tuesday a better than expected for the second quarter.

Excluding items, earnings per share amounted to 65 cents against 68 cents a year ago. Analysts on average had forecast on this basis EPS of 60 cents, according to the consensus established by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

In pre-market action is gaining 3.6% to 13.65 dollars.

Turnover was up 13% to $ 35.5 billion.The total net profit stood at 2.4 billion, or 59 cents a share, against 201 million in the second quarter 2010 (61 cents per share).

Now Ford shows eight consecutive quarters after accusing recipients of $ 30 billion in cumulative losses from 2006 to 2008, during which time the manufacturer had reduced its workforce, sold unprofitable brands and revamped its line overloaded and other large 4×4 pick- up.

U.S. debt: towards a compromise in Congress?

Auto Date Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

A group of six U.S. senators, Democrat and Republican, introduced Tuesday a new plan for deficit reduction in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. Capitol

A group of six U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans, called the "gang of six" presented Tuesday in closed session before other elected a new plan to try to find a solution to the crisis related to raising the debt ceiling . According to a source familiar with the matter, the plan includes spending cuts of 3600-3700 billion over 10 years. It would include increased revenues from the federal government, not by raising taxes – something the Republicans are viscerally opposed – but by reforming the tax system. The same source, the proposal also attacked the Medicare (health insurance for the elderly), dear to the Democrats.

The new plan was presented to fifty elected as one of six senators, Republican Tom Coburn, who had left the group in May announced his return Tuesday. The group is also composed of Democrats Kent Conrad, Mark Warner, Richard Durbin and Republican Saxby Chambliss and Mike Crapo. The plan of the "Gang of Six" is inspired by findings made in 2010, a special parliamentary committee. The recommendations of the commission, established by U.S. President Barack Obama, have never been approved in Congress. The commission proposed a reduction of 4,000 billion over 10 years, with cuts in social programs.

According to Senator Conrad, the reaction of elected officials present at the presentation Tuesday morning was "extremely positive"."We promised to come back and listen to their reactions over the next 24 hours and decide what to do," he told reporters. Side House, elected officials were preparing to vote Tuesday on the latest Republican proposal, entitled "Reduce, cap, balance." This radical plan of budget cuts, which contains an amendment to the Constitution for a budget to "balance" should not get through the Senate.

The CAC 40 falling off again, the debt crisis spreads

Auto Date Thursday, July 14th, 2011

The Paris Bourse falling off again in early trade Thursday, the rating agencies have struck again sovereign debt, and this time, on both sides of the Atlantic.

Around 9:15, the CAC 40 index lost 0.79% to 3763.27 points at the start of the day a national holiday in France that could be very active, stakeholders who have opted for a long weekend.

Moody's warned late Wednesday it may lower the rating of "Aaa" – the best – the United States if President Obama and the Republican opposition failed to agree on raising the federal debt ceiling to time wanted to avoid a default.Discussions between the President and the Republican leaders have been strained Wednesday, and do not seem on the verge of success.

Fitch, for its part, S & P as a month ago, degraded to "CCC" the note of Greece.

The banking and technology are among the largest declines the CAC 40, while Lafarge, which has entered the active phase of sale of its gypsum in Europe and South America, is the only value of the CAC 40 in green (1.69%).

Alcatel-Lucent (-2.44%) and Capgemini (-2.0%) recorded the largest declines in the index.

Company lost 0.75%, 0.49% Credit Agricole and BNP Paribas 0.2% after opening down more than 1.5%.

London was down 0.58% from 0.32% and Frankfurt.

Joint bid from ArcelorMittal of Peabody and Macarthur Coal

Auto Date Monday, July 11th, 2011

Peabody Energy has teamed up with ArcelorMittal to submit an offer of $ 5 billion on the Australian Macarthur Coal, the world leader of pulverized coal.

A 15.50 Australian dollars per share, the offer exceeds 40% of the closing price on Monday (11.08 Australian dollars).

ArcelorMittal and Peabody confirmed Monday mid-day for submitting a joint bid to the board of Macarthur.

The coal market is currently very healthy, especially because of the increasing demand for raw steel.

Macarthur has been the subject of a takeover battle between candidates in 2010 and had then agreed to enter into discussions with Peabody that had made the best offer at 16 Australian dollars per share.

The talks had ended when Peabody had lowered its offer, due to the government's decision to impose stronger Australian industries of coal and iron ore.

For its part, ArcelorMittal is already the second largest shareholder of Macarthur, with a 16.2% stake.

The largest shareholder, Citic Resources said it would consider joint bid ArcelorMittal-Peabody, which is subject to the approval of regulatory authorities and the meeting of 50.01% stake in Macarthur.

"The board makes no recommendation on the proposal, but will seek to discuss with ArcelorMittal Peabody and the issues of prices and conditions," Macarthur said in a statement.

The fate of Europe's crisis but the recovery will be slow, "said Walnut

Auto Date Monday, June 6th, 2011

Europe is undergoing the crisis but the pace of recovery could slow in coming quarters, said Monday the governor of the Banque de France Christian Noyer.

"The financial environment is favorable rates in the short and long term are at low levels and there is virtually no evidence of credit rationing," said the member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank during a conference in Helsinki.

"The pace of recovery could slow in coming quarters (…) our economies could still bear the scars of the crisis. The potential for growth could have been affected.The process of repairing balance sheets, which involves private and public, could also weigh on growth over the medium term, "he added.

Noyer also said that countries receiving assistance from the joint European Union and the International Monetary Fund had to carry through their austerity programs and that debt restructuring was not possible.

"Solutions of the type of debt restructuring is not possible," he said.