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.
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
After Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and most recently Bank of America, Citigroup could in turn repay the 45 billion dollars in aid it has received from the American state to cope with financial crisis .
Dick Parsons, the chairman of Citigroup, said Wednesday on CNBC that the bank was in talks with regulators about the end of the repayment plan support Tarp (Troubled Asset Relief Program).
A fundraiser for 20 billion dollars (14 billion euros) with issuance of securities should be made according to sources quoted by CNBC in order to finance a portion of the refund. But to finally release the Tarp, which allows time for Washington to fix the amount of remuneration of employees of the group, such a transaction might not be sufficient.
The complexity of the assistance is in question as well: besides the 45 billion dollars in direct aid, the U.S. government has also agreed to $ 7 billion of "Preferred Securities" to offset the additional guarantees granted portfolio. And 25 of the 45 billion have subsequently been converted into shares of Citigroup type "ordinary". If fundraising is necessary, it should also allow for participation by the government.
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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.
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