Archive for the ‘money’ Category

Released crisis: OECD insists on reducing deficits

Friday, March 12th, 2010

When and how to get out of recovery plans without jeopardizing the fragile economic recovery? If Obama Administration believes the time has come to reduce public spending, the Europeans are driven by the market to tighten their belts. A timetable for ending the crisis is the agenda of the next Ecofin. The OECD can only be welcomed.

In a report presented Wednesday, the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development calls for post-crisis "progressive" and "contact" who favor reducing deficits, without neglecting the structural reforms essential to future growth. "The global recession has left deep scars," said Secretary General Angel Gurria. The OECD estimated at 3% of GDP the impact of the crisis on the potential long-term growth."The only way to begin to heal the wounds is to take steps now that will allow our economies to regain their lost growth potential," added Angel Gurria.

For rich countries, priority will be to reduce the deficit while fighting against unemployment. The equation means that reforms focusing on the rate of employment rather than productivity. Each state must first stop gradually according to budgetary margins and recovery, the outstanding public support, including aid industry as the premium breaks or the financing of major infrastructure works cheap payday advance .

Carbon tax and VAT

To reduce deficits, we must act on spending and taxes. "We recommend targeted actions," said chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan.Be careful not to touch the most productive expenditure in education and health research and development.

On the fiscal side, the OECD recommends that taxes do not jeopardize the long-term growth, such as the carbon tax to "encourage the development of a more sustainable economy and contribute to the well-being of citizens."

Another tip: it is better to tax consumption rather than labor income or corporate profits. And act quickly. "If we want fiscal consolidation in 2011, policy measures must be taken now," says the chief economist of the OECD Pier Carlo Padoan. The most indebted countries, like Greece, are requested to take urgent and radical action, to borrow at lower cost.The OECD has welcomed yesterday the plan of austerity Portugal, who combined tax increases and wage freezes for staff.

On the monetary side, the OECD recommends withdrawal of the measures "Unconventional" credit assistance, but without higher interest rates in the short term because there is "no inflation pressures in countries more industrialized.

ECB: Greece will "in the right direction"

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

No surprises from Frankfurt. The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday left its main interest rate unchanged at 1%. Earlier, the Bank of England also announced the continuation of its policy rate at 0.5%.

In March the Governing Council of the ECB "will take decisions on (…) a gradual lifting of the measures of liquidity [in support of banks] who are no longer as necessary as in the past," said Jean-Claude Trichet at a press conference.

Long awaited on the subject of Greece, Jean-Claude Trichet has held that the fiscal savings by Greece are "not in the right direction.""We are confident in the ability of Greece will take all decisions necessary to achieve the objective" of a deficit below 3% of GDP by 2012, said President of the ECB personal business card . No exceptions will be made for any area countries, "he said.

While Portugal and Spain in turn disturb markets, Jean-Claude Trichet reiterated that it was "crucial" that all countries "respect strictly the exit procedures for excessive deficits."

"According to the International Monetary Fund, the overall deficit of the euro area will rise to 6%", said Jean-Claude Trichet. "The United States will be at 10%, Japan is also at 10%.(…) A more flattering comparison for the euro area! Nevertheless, we exhibit unabsence total of convenience "in the direction of monetary policy," he said.

The Paris Bourse expected in the green

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

The Paris Bourse is expected in the green Tuesday. At just under two hours of opening, the Index Future CAC 40 gained 0.64% to 3979 points. The previous day, investors had concluded in Paris on the first day of the week in the green despite a sluggish trend in Asian places. The negative close on Wall Street Friday was forgotten (Monday, the U.S. places were closed due to holiday).

As for statistics, several publications are expected. The market index monitor consumer prices in December in Britain at 10:30 and the barometer of the financial German ZEW at 11am. Overseas will be issued at 16h index of investor confidence as measured by State Street.After exchange, the Americans 19h to unveil the long awaited housing market index, the National Association of Home Builders.

On the corporate side, the markets could be affected by the release of fourth quarter results from Citigroup to 14h. Friday, disappointing trial results from JP Morgan had weighed on the markets of Paris. IBM will release its results after the market closes.

Distributors monitored

Casino was released Monday after market its figures for the fourth quarter of 2009. The group has announced a turnover of 7.32 billion euros over the period, in line with expectations. But sales were lower in France.In its wake, the reaction of other distributors is expected.

Vinci said Monday night having won, in cooperation with the British Morgan is a contract of 476 million euros for the construction of a tunnel for stormwater and sewage to east London. The contract was awarded by Thames Water, the incumbent of the London waters, and will be shared equally between Vinci and the construction group Morgan Est.

GDF Suez said Monday in a statement that discussions toward an agreement with International Power had failed.

Guyenne et Gascogne has announced a turnover in the fourth quarter of 2009 rose 2.4% to 151.3 million euros. For the full year 2009, sales fell by 0.4% to 582.4 million euros.

Soitec has issued a revenue decrease of 9.3% in the third quarter and anticipates a fall limited to less than 10% for sales throughout the year.

The market also anticipates publications for 18h, after market, Alstom (turnover for the third quarter), Accor (fourth quarter), Faiveley (third quarter) and Seb (fourth quarter).

California requires 500 million for growth

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

Addressing the parliamentary meeting Tuesday morning in the Capitol in Sacramento, the capital of California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a new recovery plan to save California from economic stagnation in which she remains entangled.

The governor of California last Wednesday in Sacramento. Photo credits: AP

Trustees: associations challenging the Government

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Consumer associations and owners want to end abusive billing trustees. Six of them (the Association of responsible ownership (Arc), the General Confederation of Housing (LMA), rural families, CNAFC consumers, UFC-Que Choisir and Union of Women civic and social) challenge the government on Thursday and request the publication of an order prohibiting certain pricing practices clearly. Objective: To achieve greater transparency in contracts of trustees and limit the share of additional fees.

In late October, the Secretary of State for Consumer Affairs, Herve Novelli, has announced that the list of benefits included in the package paid by the owners would be fixed by decree.If they welcome the decision they demanded two years, associations have expressed concern that the Government merely the final text was minima, taking the advice of the National Consumer Affairs September 27, 2007. Notice that as they raise problems of interpretation. They denounce such abuse by the multiplication of the trustees pay benefits when these services should be integrated into the annual management plan.

ALSO READ

"Condominium: rising costs slows

"New rules for trustees

"Condominium: six steps to better regulate the trustees

"Trustees of ownership: further abuse management

Review bleak for the "Black Friday"

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

"More people in malls, but less money to spend, so gloomy assessment of the first big weekend of shopping at the end of the year in the United States. The prospect of a significant increase in online sales during special promotions planned on Monday, a day renamed "Cyber Monday" has nevertheless somewhat reassured professionals.

Last year, the financial crisis and the collapse of credit availability during the fall had resulted in a dip of 3.4% of purchases at year end. Few analysts expect a fall as strong this year. The test of the weekend of Thanksgiving is not conclusive: the average shopper spent $ 343.31 dollars between Friday morning and Sunday evening.It is almost 30 dollars less than last year.

This decline was however offset by a higher attendance of stores: 195 million Americans flocked to the malls during the three days following the Thanksgiving holiday Thursday, 172 million were in this case in 2008. We must be cautious in analyzing these figures. The favorable weather these days is indeed a significant factor in attendance. Conversely, rising unemployment, the highest in twenty-six, and the persistent shortage of credit deter curious to succumb to the temptation of promotions.To overcome these two obstacles, the distribution industry is increasing its marketing efforts.

Emplettespour of the fun

The mall opened at dawn wanted the Americans to leave their home by displaying very low prices, but very limited quantities of popular items, for a few hours.

It was such electronic products (TVs, cameras, computers) or toys. Promotions less targeted and less fugitive is likely by Christmas. They might be less generous, however, because traders also need to preserve their margins.All factors combined, the National Federation of Retailers (National Retail Federation) table always erode global buyers end of the year of around 1%.

According to the firm ShopperTrak, during the single "Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, sales rose only 0, 5%. In contrast, online sales have jumped on that day by 11%, according to the firm comScore. Thursday, several department store chains publish figures of their sales throughout the month of November. This will give a better idea of the context in which the profession deals with Christmas 2009. The biggest surprise of this first weekend of shopping is that over 63% of Americans have opened their wallets to give pleasure, rather than the prospect of gifts.It shows a sign of underlying demand fairly high from some homes, eager to release a little of their savings discipline evident since last winter.

New Real Estate: Sales up 65% yoy

Friday, November 27th, 2009

With just over 26,900 new homes sold, the third quarter of 2009 should give a little smile on their promoters. The new home sales have indeed increased by 65.2% compared to the end of 2008 days for the sector. In one year, the average time for disposal of real property increased from 18 months to 8 months for the group and 18 months over 10 months for houses. In the second quarter, sales were already up 29.6% over one year after a decline of 5% in the first quarter.

However the number of starts of new homes continued to decline by 18.1% over the period August-October over the same period of 2008, the ministry said. The number of building permits granted for new housing also appears to decrease (-17.2%) over the period from August to October over the same period of 2008. Over the period from May to July, the decline was 29.6% a year.

Price later, a new home sells on average 241,900 euros, a figure lower than 4.4% in the third quarter 2008. The decline affects all sizes of homes – excluding houses fewer than four parts whose price is higher than the third quarter 2008 (+2.4%). For new apartments, the average price per square meter record in the third quarter of 2009 reached 3382 euro, less than 1.2% from the third quarter 2008 (EUR 3 423).

"The sales increase is a good sign"

Nevertheless, the Secretary of State for Housing Benoist Appearing sees soaring sales in a year "a good sign." "The demand increases, buyers found a solvent and the sites will be able to restart," he told AFP.However, although sales picked up, the number of new homes sold by developers in the third quarter was down 9.6% on year to 19,300. According to the FPC, the government measures that have stimulated investment rental must be extended to allow real sector recovery. "The doubling of interest-free loan for six months will only exacerbate the imbalance between investment and rental assumption, sorry Marc Pigeon, president of the Federation of Property Developers.

ALSO READ

"Real old: slight price increase in October

Sino-French three proposals Christine Lagarde

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Last April, the presidents Hu Jintao and Nicolas Sarkozy have had a fruitful meeting with the G20 summit in London, putting the Sino-French relations over the rail of a healthy development. Recently, they met in New York, reaffirming their commitment to the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and French. To realize this convergence of views, to echo the call of the business communities of both countries and strengthen economic cooperation and bilateral trade, a delegation from the Ministry of Commerce of China and a "mission of promoting trade and investment "consists of 290 Chinese entrepreneurs from more than 140 companies, travel these days in France.

Despite the challenges of all kinds, economic cooperation and Sino-French trade has always grown at a steady rate.In 2008, the volume of our trade reached a record 38.9 billion dollars, an annual increase of 16%. Today, more than 2 000 French companies are operating in China, their combined sales amount to 25 billion dollars per year, equivalent to twice the amount of French exports to China. Our two countries have conducted fruitful cooperation in various sectors such as energy, aeronautics and aerospace, transportation, etc.. The France is the fourth largest European trading partner of China; it the first partner of France in Asia.

Despite the crisis, our companies have succeeded in finding new business opportunities. Of the first ten months of the year, bilateral trade volume reached 27.75 billion dollars.French exports to China have registered a decrease of 11.9% better performance than that of the foreign trade of China and Sino-European trade, which shows the opening of our recovery plan for French exports. More than 140 companies with French capital have been created in China during this same period, averaging one new company every two days.

The path the world economy of early recovery to a new growth cycle will be long and tortuous. The Chinese government, putting priority on expanding domestic demand, has developed a comprehensive plan. The results are there and the target of 8% growth for 2009 will be realized.

China has also sent a dozen missions to promote trade and investment to over 30 countries and made its contribution to the global economic recovery.The assertion that the crisis will be following the global economic imbalance due to large surpluses in Asian countries is without foundation. The imbalance between developed countries and developing deserves much more attention. Alas, this néothéorie world economic imbalance is in the process of furthering trade protectionism, threatening the economic recovery. The seventh meeting of trade ministers of WTO will take place in a few days, during which will be assessed progress in the negotiations of the Doha Round. The short term success of this cycle is essential to curb trade protectionism. I also make three proposals on bilateral Sino-French. First, increase exchanges between our companies.Recently, we welcomed the visit to China by Ms Christine Lagarde, who took with her famous French companies. And in early December, the third edition of the business convention "China Europa will be held to Le Havre. Second, turn challenges into opportunities, especially in emerging sectors such as the green economy.

Our two countries should deepen cooperation in areas such as new energy, environmental protection, transportation, aeronautics and aerospace, focusing on certain projects. At the same time, China is experiencing strong demand in services sectors such as finance, logistics, tourism, creative industry, software development. It will welcome French companies in its market.Thirdly, provide more facilities to increase the cross-investment, French and Chinese in China in France.

China and France are linked by a history of friendship. In the early twentieth century, many young Chinese have gone to France to study, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping became the founding of new China. General de Gaulle made France the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with new China. Today it is for us to consolidate the traditional friendship between China and France.

ALSO READ:

"Good Offices Mission in China for Raffarin

"China is emerging OECD recession