Posts Tagged ‘international’

The benefit of EDF affected by provisions

Friday, July 30th, 2010

EDF has unveiled a new series of bleak, including the formalization of the two-year delay in the construction of the EPR Flamanville. In addition, the group's net profit plunged tricolor 46.9% in the first half to 1.66 billion euros, while analysts were betting, on average, profit of 2.57 billion euros. The group has indeed passed a provision to cover the risk of loss in value of its nuclear activities U.S. $ 1.1 billion. "This provision covers the risk of impairment of assets CEng, investment in Unistar and certain future costs and risks of the project, EDF will now continue his studies for the development of a new reactor at the Calvert Cliffs site, "said in a statement.

Sales and EBITDA exceed expectations

The energy company's EBITDA rose him, from 4.4% to 10.4 billion euros against 9.93 billion euros targeted by analysts. And the turnover amounted to 37.5 billion euros, up 7.7% and also above the expectations of experts, which amounted to 35.9 billion euros. The increase in sales figures is primarily due to acquisitions and CEng SPE, the company said.

EDF maintains its annual outlook

In terms of outlook, EDF has confirmed its objectives for the current year. It is thus an organic EBITDA growth of between 3% and 5%, a ratio of net debt / EBITDA of between 2.5 and 3, and a stable dividend.However, the company said it was a nuclear power between 405 TWh and 415 TWh in France for the whole year, with an availability target of its nuclear plants between 78.5% and 79.5 %. It had previously targeted a rate of availability of its French nuclear plants up 1.5 point "at least" in 2010 compared to 2009. This rate is crucial for the profitability of the group has been set at 85% over the medium term.

In addition, EDF has confirmed two information widely mentioned by the press. The electrician has announced a delay of two years starting from the EPR Flamanville cost of construction and re-evaluated at 5 billion euros.

On the other hand, the group said it has received an offer from Li Ka-shing on its UK business.The Hong Kong billionaire head of Cheung Kong Infrastructure offers 6.9 billion euros for the acquisition of the distribution network owned by EDF in the UK.

Towards a new step forward on Wall Street

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

The U.S. stock market should open in the green Wednesday. The index futures Standard & Poor's 500 and Nasdaq 100 advancing in effect respectively from 0.34% to 1083.80 points and 0.57% to 1850.50 points. On Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange after moping around for most of the session was closed up, buoyed by rumors of new measures the U.S. central bank to strengthen the economy. The Dow Jones gained 0.74% and the Dow Jones 1.10%. The Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, today and tomorrow must deliver its verdict on the U.S. economy before the Senate Banking Committee.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro retreated against the dollar, traders were playing the card of caution before the release Friday of the results of resistance testing of the 91 largest European banks.In the morning, the euro was at 1.2867 dollars against 1.2881 dollars the previous day.

The session will be moderated somewhat in the macro, no indicator being expected that day, but many U.S. corporate results must be published in mid-day, including Coca-Cola and Wells Fargo banks and Morgan Stanley free credit score.

On the side of values, Apple released its quarterly after the close of Wall Street.The firm at the apple once again exceeded market expectations in the third quarter of fiscal offset with net income up 78% year on year to 3.253 billion dollars, and sales far beyond forecasts.

Always on the side of values, the U.S. Internet portal Yahoo! posted a group net profit up 51% year on year to 213.32 million dollars in the second quarter, better than expected by analysts, but its sales came out virtually unchanged.

Also note, the British oil giant BP, which is listed on Wall Street has reached an agreement on Tuesday with U.S. rival Apache to sell him to seven billion dollars in assets, making a sudden the majority of assignments to which it s 'was hired to offset the cost of the spill.

Brussels puts Google and Facebook in its sights

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

The threat of an investigation Brussels comes from Google. Wednesday at a symposium on digital media organized by the University College London, Joaquin Almunia, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Competition, said the complaints carefully examine the American search engine was the subject in Brussels. Last February, the Commission announced a query to Google after receiving complaints from the price comparison site UK Foundem, legal search engine ejustice.fr and compare prices at Ciao, a subsidiary of Microsoft.

"My services are currently examining allegations of anticompetitive conduct in the field of online research. The work is at a preliminary stage, but given the importance of online research on a competitive digital market, I look at these allegations very carefully, "said Joaquin Almunia.Without mentioning Google by name, the European envoy said that "the first search engine in Europe has a market share of 95%.

He also wondered about the possible manipulation of search engine results, while "information flows more quickly over the Internet." Finally, he noted that if the Web services differ, they are very likely to opt for the same business model: the monetization through advertising. A market where Google is also present through the marketing of listings.

Facebook in the viewfinder

The speech wrapped kits diplomatic caution suggests difficult days for Google, which could suffer the same fate that other giant U.S. technology in Brussels.Methodically pursued by the European Commission for ten years for abuse of dominant position, Microsoft has been fined for an amount of 1.68 billion euros.

Google, for its part, denies any evil intent. "We have always worked hard to ensure our success was gained in a fair, through technological innovation and good products, rather than the confinement of our users or advertisers, or creating artificial barriers to entry, "stated the group after the filing of complaints to Brussels in February.

If the question of Google has become the most urgent, Brussels is not only concerned the latter's dominance in online search. Social networks are also in the crosshairs of Joaquin Almunia. European number one, Facebook has a market share of 70%, he believes.But "changing search engine may seem easy enough. Changing social network is more difficult because of the effects of stronger networks and data portability, "says the vice-president of the Commission. Another concern: "The online advertising market is it the same when the advertising is broadcast on search engines or social networks?"

In the case of Google as Facebook, Brussels fears that having acquired strong positions in their respective markets allows these players to capture other activities.

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Pensions Woerth ready to go further on the arduous

Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Nicolas Sarkozy had given two days after the submission of the pension reform for the amendment and it was ultimately changed nothing. The bill, sent Friday around 22:30 unions serving the High Council of State Civil Service, which will give its advisory opinion on July 6, is consistent with the announcements on Wednesday. Its 19 articles incorporate the measures, with the exception of the 3.7 billion euros of taxes on households and businesses scheduled in 2011. These will be included in state budgets and the "Safely" in accordance with the guidelines of François Fillon consolidate all tax measures in these two texts in order to better manage public finances.

The head of state has asked his Labour Minister, Eric Woerth, think by September of possible changes to be incorporated by amendment to the House.And so on three themes: careers long, arduous, and polypensionnés. Three subjects dear to the CFDT. The latter is not even addressed in the present text. These are provided by several statutes passed during their careers (public, private, independent agricultural system …). The calculation of pensions is often disadvantageous for them.

Opening the arduous

But it is on the hardship that opening sketched payday advance. The employees for whom an occupational disease or an accident caused the failure of at least 20% will leave at 60 with full pension, the bill provides. Unpublished, but not enough for the unions.They argue that the mere fact of being exposed to certain factors (heavy lifting, breathing chemicals, environmental noise, night work …) reduces life expectancy in good health, and so should go on retire earlier.

Fearing an uncontrollable costs, the government said no to this point. Eric Woerth, however, acknowledged Sunday on Europe 1 that certain factors can "trigger almost invariably physical disorders. Article 9 of the text in 2012 require employers to record exposure to these "risks" in a "medical record in occupational health" that will follow the employee from one employer to another. Prerequisite to a device for all these people to stop working before the legal age? The Minister of Labour was careful to say so explicitly.

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Wall Street chooses the rise

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Tuesday's session starts on a positive note. A few seconds after the opening, the Dow Jones is 0.66% at 10,258 points, the Nasdaq climbed 0.62% to 2258 points and the S & P wins 0.58% to 1096 points.

On Monday, after having risen during the session, the Dow Jones fell into the red after a further deterioration of Greece's debt by Moody's. At the finish, the Dow Jones dropped 0.20% while the Nasdaq has eaten 0.02%.

On Tuesday, markets were reassured by national indicators considered generally positive. The subscript "Empire State" measuring the evolution of manufacturing in the state of New York continued to rise in June although employment has declined sharply, according to the regional Federal Reserve. The index stood at 19.57 against 19.11 in June in May

Also note, the import prices in the U.S., who have registered their biggest drop in ten months in May because of the plunge in prices of petroleum products.

U.S. investors are also added reassuring the reaction of European markets after the announcement of the deterioration of the debt rating by Moody's greek last night. The evolution of the euro (which returns above the $ 1.22) has become a yardstick of investor appetite for risky assets. But auctions Spanish, Irish and Belgian reassured markets on the debt problems of the region despite the lowering of the Greek sovereign rating speculative grade by Moody's.

BP, still under pressure

On the side of values, BP shares traded on the NYSE are attacked again, facing political pressure on the British group: they fall from 1.29% to 30.39 dollars. According to the parliamentary committee of inquiry of Congress, BP took risks to save money in the drilling of Macondo, the source of the spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A hearing leaders of the group is scheduled today before this Committee and President Barack Obama has a speech tonight faxless pay day loans.

In addition, Fitch downgraded six notches Tuesday of the memorandum of oil due to higher estimated cost for compensation of victims of the spill.

The media group News Corp. (0.61% to 13.20 dollars) submitted to the British BSkyB, which already owns 39%, a bid rejected for being too low, but both companies are continuing discussions with a view a friendly offer.

Apple (1.21% to 257.36 euros) announced Tuesday the launch of a new version of its Mac mini personal computer, its entry-level model, sold from $ 699.

Best buy (-5.94% to 38.61 dollars) Tuesday reported a bpa of 36 cents under its first quarter and a turnover up 7% to 10.8 billion dollars. The consensus of analysts polled by Reuters gave an bpa 50 cents on revenue of 10.930 billion dollars.

Pepsico (0.58% to 64.22 dollars), the world's number two soft drinks, has no plans to split its bottling subsidiaries, whose capital it has recently risen to 100%, said Monday one of its leaders, Tom Greco, while his arch rival Coca-Cola has hinted he might go that route. He added that the buyout of minority other bottlers not among the priorities of PepsiCo but it could be a buyer if some shareholders wanted to sell their shares.

Hershey (-0.26% to 50.75 dollars) said on Monday forecast earnings per share (EPS) 2010 adjusted between 2.47 and $ 2.52, in line with the consensus. It also anticipates a turnover up 6 to 7% in 2010 compared to 2009.Hershey plans to cut between 500 and 600 jobs, or 5% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan and cost savings of 60 to 80 million dollars (49 to 65 million euros) per year.

The CAC 40 start up supported

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

If the benchmark index of the Paris meeting begins on Tuesday backed an increase, from 1.22% to 2586 points, it is not immune to a further sharp correction. The CAC 40 is moving in a technical area fragile. On Monday evening, the CAC 40 closed Monday evening at 3543 points (-0.47%), or under 3550 points. The Nikkei in Tokyo closed scrounge 0.07% and the Dow Jones U.S. who nibbled 0.05%.

From a perspective of technical analysis in the medium term, the underlying trend is now clearly negative and the real threat is a return to the starting point of the upward movement engaged in July 2009 around 2960 points.

The euro, deemed a "credible currency" by Jean-Claude Juncker, the leading ministers of the euro area as a result of the Eurogroup meeting started Monday night, continues to rate to $ 1.23 either a low of four years.On Tuesday morning, about 9:15, it's 1.7378 dollars.

Such a drop in the euro (-13.5% since January 1) may in fact give the boost needed to recover a bit better in Europe. This is the principle of competitive devaluation.

The finance ministers have wanted Sixteen reassuring and felt that the new savings measures announced by Spain and Portugal are "courageous".

For its part, the ECB (European Central Bank) acquired for 16.5 billion euros in government bonds – a symbolic amount – while taking the same amount of liquidity to avoid any debate that the ECB would finance European countries' debts, and leave the spinning inlation upward.

Statistics follow

In France, INSEE release its flash estimate of employment in the first quarter of 2010.In Germany, the famous Zew index, closely watched, will be unveiled at 11:00.

In the euro zone foreign trade for the month of March will be released at 11:00. Same time, inflation in April for its second estimate.

In the U.S., the housing starts in April will be announced at 14:30, and the producer price for the same period.

If these statistics are usually scrutinized by investors for their decisions on markets, movements of the euro have largely taken over in recent sessions.

No decrease in the CAC 40 SBF 120 or on the

Among the strongest increase in the CAC 40 on Tuesday morning, SocGen takes the top spot, up from 3.64% to 36.7 euros, followed by Credit Agricole (3% to 9.8 euro) then Vallourec (+2.9% to 157.7 euros).U.S. President visits one of its seamless tube mill in Ohio.

No value will decline, or on the CAC 40, nor on the SBF 120.

On this last index, Sperian Protection climbed 7.9%, NicOx takes a bit of color: 4.7%, to 2.44 euros and Altran rises 3.5% to 3.7 euros.

Veolia: towards a big contract?

Veolia is about to win a giant contract to supply drinking water Ile-de-France, Les Echos reported on the front page of their Tuesday edition. Titles rise of 1.44% to 21.41 euros.

According to Le Figaro, the airline Air France-KLM (2.03%, to 10.2 euros) prepare a plan of reconciliation counters Air France, KLM, Alitalia and Delta in most European airports, and so remove agencies. 300 jobs could be lost, but not dismissal.Furthermore, the cargo branch of the air group has seen its business drop by 22% last year and has registered 499 million loss, or over a third of the 1.3 billion loss that the group will announce Wednesday.

Accor Services, the service arm of the Accor group (1.86%, to 41.1 euros) wants to accelerate growth, make acquisitions and expand into new countries, according to the prospectus for the Financial Markets Authority ( AMF) on Monday. Accor will hold a press conference at 8:30 on the demerger and listing of branch services provided July 2.

Axa Private Equity, a subsidiary of the insurance group Axa (1.88%, to 13.25 euros), announced Monday it had completed the acquisition of Go Voyages by taking a majority stake in the French specialist for booking tickets line.

Real estate: how to take advantage of bargains

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Realtors? A good indicator of the economy. Today, the stone as the economy heads out from the water, but both of them are not yet fully recovered and remain afloat in midstream. Tails, the good news, transactions leave. This year, Fnaim, the federation of estate agents, believes that the bar of 600 000 transactions could be completed. But the market remains mixed. The nine was widely supported by the success of Scellier law, which allows investors to benefit from a tax of 25% within an investment of EUR 300 000. The former, he, still suffers. Because the coin has two sides. Front side, the bad news, the former has not solved the fluidity necessary for proper functioning of the housing market.Those professionals call the secundo-time buyers, that is to say, households who sell a property to buy another, are still not massively back on the market. In many places and on many products, it is still often difficult to match the expectations of those sellers with buyers.

After a blip like this has crossed the housing market, have a good idea of the price of a property is difficult. All the buyers and sellers are determined based on their expectations about future price developments. Roughly speaking, professionals assume a status quo prices. The most optimistic evoke certain properties, the most sought increases in the order of a few percent. Others believe that the balance should tilt towards a price reduction. Mathilde Lemoine, director of economic studies of HSBC France, and expects a decline in prices of the old 4% this year.For its part, the Land Bank expects "a drop in prices of 3% in the former and stability in the new." And pout Mouillart Michel, Professor of Economics at Paris X-Nanterre, "there is no risk of sudden fall of the market.

Another less quantifiable changed with the crisis and must be taken into account. In real estate, as elsewhere, households are determined to buy at the right price, to be smart consumers and investors informed. The beating of the heart are more difficult. Today, we buy more with his head than his heart. The ball is still in the camp of buyers. They have attractive credit terms. It is indeed possible for those who have the best records, to find a fixed rate loan over fifteen years to 3.5%. It will be hard to beat. "Interest rates will necessarily undergo one or more increases in 2010," said the broker CAFP.In a market recovering, prices are difficult to read. We publish in this case the numbers of notaries, those of the Credit Foncier Fnaim and according to our tour of France prices in Ile-de-France and its regions. Searched information, necessary but not sufficient. For now, the price changes between a product with and without defects, good or bad situation, are becoming wider. To help you better understand these variations, we have pushed the investigation further. With concrete examples of prices that are resistant and those who decline (page 114) and a tour of France that you can buy if you're lucky enough to have a budget of EUR 500 000 (page 142). On most goods, prices have declined from their level two years ago. But they have not collapsed.In the Ile-de-France, for example, notaries emphasize that "the decline in prices recorded between autumn 2008 and summer 2009 was about 10%. But the downward trend in prices has "interrupted". "On an annual basis, the decline in prices between late 2008 and late 2009 is more than 5.6%," they add. This year they expect a stabilization of prices. And sounding the alarm. "The resumption of construction of new housing in the private sector is essential to stabilize the market. The shortage of quality housing appropriate to the needs of Parisians is short-term risk of a return of speculation.

The network Orpi evokes a "real recovery, but fragile." A word that recurs in several experts. Mathilde Lemoine and speaks of a "housing demand remains fragile because of imbalances persist. Yet the French like stone.After the fall of shares in 2008, the erosion rate of return on financial investments, many households have even rediscovered the charms of real estate, which enjoys a level of trust greater than financial markets. If market participants, professionals and individuals, are reasonable, it could therefore grown out of this crisis.

The purchasing power of households holding back price increases

In the nine programs are, at least for this year, many to sprout and marketing is well underway (see page 148), and some programs, proponents talk about buyers sleeping room not to miss the opening the sales office. Others talk of bidding on the price of land currently for sale. We find places for runaway phenomena. Sign of fine weather sets found for Real Estate? Nobody dares to translate it well.Because we have not yet met for the recovery that is taking shape into a market stabilized and restored. "A major risk of the recovery is that sellers reflect recovery by rising prices," says Orpi. For the market to find its stride, the sellers should stop dreaming about trees that rise to heaven, and that construction professionals are able to reflect the changing purchasing power of buyers in their projects. In a recent study based on the relationship between prices and incomes, Patrick Artus (Natixis) estimates that property prices are still too high (10 to 15% in France). Today, many proponents say, if prices rise too far, the application will not be there because the acquisition of a home no longer go into the budgets of many households. This constraint incomes and high unemployment limit the potential for price recovery.Managing the crisis will be difficult for the economy as a whole and real estate. This is the challenge of coming months to policies and professionals. For individuals who have the means to, global rates, market and taxation are conducive to a real estate purchase. If they have a project, they have a vested interest in the reality.

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Sharp launches a small screen 3D without glasses

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

The story accelerates. This Friday, the Japanese group Sharp has introduced a tiny touch screen, color, reproducing 3D videos. The big innovation is that this screen does not require glasses. A step that should be taken seriously. Unfashionable as it may eventually large screen televisions in 3D now being launched in the U.S. by Samsung and Panasonic but need to don special glasses.

However, to see the effect in relief, it is necessary to be right in front of the small screen, 30 cm apart. "We can only produce small screen in this technology. In addition, 12.7 cm diagonal. It must be well in front, otherwise the perception of 3D fade, "says Patrick Chardin, director at Sharp France. To develop its new technology, the Japanese group has improved its previous innovations.Three years ago, in Tokyo, Sharp has introduced an innovative technology which allowed three people to watch at the same time, a different program broadcast by the same TV, depending on the position of each face on the screen. Each point on the screen was broadcasting a different image depending on the viewing angle of the viewer.

According to this principle, with an image emitted for each eye, the semiconductor division of Sharp has designed its new 3D display device called an "interlaced effect. The additional cost compared to a conventional screen is not excessive.For the screen in landscape consists of a conventional LCD panel on which is placed a filter.

Nintendo

But because of its limited size for the 3D effect, "we focus on three markets: portable gaming devices, smartphones (note: mobile phones for surfing) and embedded screens, such as GPS in cars" said Patrick Chardin best payday advance.

Production should begin in September. One of the first objects that can use this technology should be the next portable game console, Nintendo 3DS, announced last week and promised for 2011. For its previous screens of the DS, sold 125 million units, Nintendo had already appealed to Sharp as a supplier.

Nintendo's next console will be presented in June in Los Angeles at E3.The Japanese group said the old games the DS can be reused on its future console. With 3DS, the group led by Satoru Iwata will take another step ahead of the Sony PSP (67 million), which was sold two times less than the DS. In addition, the CEO of Nintendo will reduce competition from the iPhone and iPod Touch which guests are on the market for portable game consoles.

Moreover, it could sell 78 million smartphones equipped with 3D screens by 2018, says DisplaySearch.For now, only one mobile is sold only in Japan by Hitachi, with a 3D effect without glasses.

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BHP agrees on a price with steelmakers

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Mining giant BHP Billiton ADR agreed with its main customers in Europe, China, India and Japan on short-term sales of coking coal. This agreement puts an end to traditional trading system prices this year among major mining companies and steelmakers.

BHP proposes three options to its customers for contracts on coking coal: an annual listing and every two months for half of the offers, the possibility of reducing tender contracts between quarterly and half, and finally, publication of prices every three months.

According to Macquarie Group, is the first time an agreement on a three-month contract is signed in the steel sector.

Without any contact number, the group said it sold a "significant portion of its volume of coking coal for 2010.JFE Holdings, the second largest Japanese steelmaker, had said last Friday it had agreed to pay $ 200 per tonne over three months. For Jim Lennon, analyst at Macquarie, specialist materials, "the Japanese will prove more flexible on prices." Flexibility which could benefit BHP, Teck Resources, Xstrata, Mechel OAO, Rio Tinto Group, Alpha Natural Resources and Massey Energy.

The new contract for three months, for which Morgan Stanley anticipates a course at $ 222 per ton, beginning 1 April next year, according JFE. One that expires next March 31, is listed at $ 129 per tonne.

On February 26, Energy Publishing, which reports the data supply and demand in the major coal producing countries, has published three price indexes for coking coal."The pricing in the short term will be difficult to manage without a reliable index of the prices of coking coal, which is why the publication of these indexes comes at the right time for the coal markets," said Forrest Hill, President Energy Publishing.

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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.