Archive for the 'life' Category
After considering the price of flour in supermarkets and those of certain financial products, the European Commission is vigilant in fine watchmaking. The competition regulator on Friday launched an investigation into the agreements and dominant positions among manufacturers of luxury watches, trying to see if they have agreed to refuse to supply spare parts to independent repairers.
"The Commission informed the parties concerned and the competition authorities of the Member States of the opening of the proceedings in this case," said the European Commission in a statement.
The investigation follows a complaint filed in 2004 by the European Confederation of Associations of watch repairers (CEAHR) for alleged violation of competition rules of the European Union.Multi-brand repairers had indeed used to make many of the repairs of luxury watches payday loan online. But from 2002, according to CEAHR, manufacturers of luxury watches began to refuse to supply spare parts to multi-brand repairers who were not part of their repair networks. The CEAHR therefore seeks the condemnation of the practice, saying it could force independent repairers to put the key under the door.
The European competition regulator rejected its complaint in 2008 for lack of Community interest. Then the decision was overturned by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in December 2010. This does not prevent the European Commission to be cautious about this.She stresses that the opening of an investigation does not mean it already has evidence about the existence of an offense. And yet, no manufacturer of luxury watches is specifically under investigation.
Cyprus is on the brink both economically and politically. Many speculate that the country, which joined the euro in 2008 to become the fourth of the area to apply for financial support.
The situation worsened with the explosion on July 11 last of a shipment of arms on a naval base. The tragedy left 13 dead and destroyed the main power plant on the island that produced 60% of its electricity. Since the disaster, Cyprus is facing a government crisis. Daily demonstrations demanding the resignation of President Demetris Christofias. To calm discontent, the latter requested the July 28 resignation of the government to conduct a reshuffle.
In addition, the economy ends up weaker than ever. The rating agency Moody's has revised its forecast for GDP growth of 1.5% this year and 2.5% in 2012 down after the explosion.It provides stability in 2011 and a 1% growth in 2012. In addition to the cost of rebuilding the plant and import of electricity in the interval – valued at over one billion euros – daily cuts disrupt an economy already weakened by the crisis. As a result, Standard & Poor's and Moody's both lowered the rating last week in Cyprus due to budgetary concerns of the country.
The banks are the Achilles heel of the Cypriots. Bank of Cyprus, the largest financial institution on the island, called earlier this week the government in Nicosia to take prompt action to prevent the country does need a financial rescue plan. "Unless we act, we risk the ability of the state to refinance and the consequences will be immediate and serious," the bank said in a statement.
The deficit is widening
Especially since the official debt of Cyprus – which is about 61% of GDP – may actually be higher according to some experts. End of 2010, the agency Stock Watch estimates that the debt was around Cyprus 105% of GDP, if we include the debt of social security funds. Enough to feed all the speculation? The spokesman of the Commissioner of Financial Services, Chantal Hughes said Tuesday he was "no question of an assistance plan" because the country is "determined to do what is necessary in terms of fiscal consolidation" . However, the deficit in the first half widened sharply, reaching 3.5% of GDP against 1.9% a year earlier.
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Competition without doping and full of uncertainty is the best guarantee of a successful Tour. In France Televisions, one welcomes the improvement of the hearings provided by the Tour de France 2011. The latter was successful, according to Médiamétrie, peaking at 8.5 million viewers and posted an average over the entire round of 5.2 million daily viewers. The mountain stages as Pinerolo-Serre Chevalier even totaled an audience share of 55.4%.
Daniel Bilalian, head of France Televisions sports, these good results are due primarily to the fact that "the Tour was a real race with many uncertainties, suspense and surprises.As in previous years, the doping scandals have caused the alienation of the event, the 2011 has shown, not supermen, but real riders in the choice of strategies winners or losers, often arriving exhausted. "D ' Moreover, as noted in the athletic director of France Televisions, "sporting events that are stable or growing in audience are characterized by their rarity, such as Six Nations, the Olympics or the Tour de France. It is not just a sporting event but a historical monument as well as July 14. "
"The arrival of new international actors"
This would explain que15 including 20% of viewers of the Tour are not fans of "Little Queen." To hang, France Televisions has also developed programs around the retransmission of the competition."The austere retransmissions within the meaning of the word belong to channels. In France Televisions, we focus instead on the sporting spectacle, "insists Daniel Bilalian. And it noted that "if no channel can claim an immediate return to a sports broadcast, however, its market share in a day later, a commercial value that advertising can be negotiated. The sport has allowed France to claim 2 throughout the year an audience share of 16% and not 15%. "For this reason in particular that France Television has extended by two years until 2015 included a distribution contract with Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), the copyright holder of the Tour de France, but the Paris-Roubaix, the Paris Marathon, or the Dakar.If no amount has been disclosed, market experts say that "France Televisions, which remained faithful to the Tour in the worst moments of its history and has guaranteed its sponsors visibility of its branches, would have known that a reasonable increase of prices of the competition. "
In 2015, all contracts of the Tour de France, however, must be renegotiated. Daniel Bilalian cause for concern that fears "the arrival of new international actors such as al-Jazeera, which invests to meet all requirements and policies that have no marketing budget limit."
The reputation of Europcar in the wake of Voeckler
Ten days in yellow by Thomas Voeckler, Europcar team leader, allowed the car rental company to significantly improve its reputation.The group chose this sport for its popularity intact despite the image linked to doping.
Number one European location, the group has engaged in cycling in 2010 to try to improve its reputation with its competitors (Avis, Hertz, Sixt) most frequently cited in surveys of customers. Building 15 million for three years in cycling, the group has apparently achieved its objectives through thousands of citations during the Tour de France.
This bet – won – was nevertheless very bold: Europcar had bet 75% of its budget and marketing communication, 2011.
Still no solution. The elected representatives of the U.S. Congress again tried Sunday to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, but without success. Democrats and Republicans had themselves set a target to announce progress on a plan for deficit reduction before the opening of Asian financial markets on Monday morning. The disappointment of investors is large, the Asian financial centers such as the Paris Bourse.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sought Monday to reassure Asian markets: "I am confident that Congress will do what is needed and will come to an agreement on the debt ceiling, and work with President Obama on measures to improve our long-term fiscal outlook, "she said in the text sent in advance of a speech in Hong Kong.
Members of both parties decided to work separately on separate projects. The chairman of the House of Representatives, Republican John Boehner, now plans to announce a plan at 14 am local time (20 hours in Paris).
"Nobody wants a failure"
John Boehner told his troops last night that no breakthrough had yet been obtained to repel the specter of a failure of the United States after August 2. According to two officials, he would have repeated in a conference call that "no one wants a failure." But he also warned his party's elected they may need to make "sacrifices" to avoid it.
Twice since Friday night, the talks between the two sides have failed to unlock the status quo on the action to start to reduce the U.S. debt.Friday night, the country experienced a further escalation in the standoff between Democrats and Republicans, they refused to pander to Barack Obama. The Democrats call indeed now $ 400 billion of additional tax increases. A change of position is unacceptable, according to John Boehner, while the two sides had previously agreed to a ceiling of one trillion dollars in additional tax revenue bad credit payday advance. Saturday evening, the President was therefore convened in emergency to four White House officials Republicans and Democrats in Congress for a new emergency meeting. But no more successful in negotiations, after 50 minutes of discussion.
Democratic side, the president believes that the 1.6 trillion cuts represent an offer "extraordinarily fair".Republican side, these efforts remain insufficient to John Boehner, who wishes to bring to 3 trillion budget savings over ten years.
Critical deadlines
Given the failure of talks between the president and elected representatives of both chambers, the compromise could eventually go through further discussion within Congress. If a common ground on removing the ceiling on debt seems likely, no party could only be satisfied with this short term solution, and discussions on the reduction of public spending should be more difficult. One observation that seems to share Timothy Geithner.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary said yesterday that there would probably have two stages for an agreement, first raising the debt ceiling and an agreement on spending cuts and a second stage of higher taxes and reforms.Whatever the timing adopted, it was also described as "unthinkable" that the United States do not meet their debt obligations. And as Barack Obama, who does not want the thorny issue of debt re-emerged during the election year ahead, Timothy Geithner wants to avert the threat of a default for at least 18 months, but at nine days the deadline of August 2, the time is now critical.
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In the future, the quality of service to access the Internet at very high speed could be paid by consumers and Internet giants like Google and Facebook. Telecoms operators should therefore more profitable to make significant investments to connect at least half of Europeans in very high speed (100 Mbit / s) in 2020. This is one of eleven proposals submitted to Neelie Kroes on Wednesday in Brussels by three CEOs of large European companies that have telecom floor forty counterparts. In early March, the Vice President of the European Commission, responsible for digital strategy, had given three working groups to Jean-Bernard Lévy, Vivendi chief executive, Rene Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom and Ben Verwaayen, the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent.She wanted to know their positions to achieve the objectives of the Internet of the future of Europe. But Neelie Kroes has given its green light. She noted that the discussion "has not led to a consensus."
Contribution of 9 billion
However, Europe has announced that it could contribute up to 9 billion euros for investment in telecom infrastructure. The total was estimated between 200 and 300 billion euros over the period 2010-2020 for the operators. The President of the European Commission, "Jose Manuel Barroso has made the announcement Tuesday night at a dinner.Wednesday, Neelie Kroes reiterated the proposed contributions to investment of 9 billion euros in European funds, "says Jean-Bernard Lévy, CEO of Vivendi.
In order to reduce investment, European players have suggested that the frequencies are shared for future mobile networks and that "investments are pooled, especially for civil works and the optical fiber," says Gabrielle Gauthey, Director of Public Affairs Alcatel-Lucent. For his part, Rene Obermann, head of Deutsche Telekom, has urged all sectors to agree on the creation of standards for interconnecting the next generation network.
But among all the proposals, which calls on Europe a "differentiation in terms of traffic management to promote innovation and new services and meet the demand for different quality levels" is to be the most difficult to be accepted by the giants of the Web. They should negotiate in secret affairs, with operators to deliver services to high-speed Internet users. Supporters of this proposal, it would not be called into question the "neutrality" of the Internet. Because Google and other Facebook would not have to sign these contracts.
Gain an advantage over competitors like Netflix preparing their arrival in France. Thursday, VideoFutur announced a new offering called "hybrid" meant to build consumer loyalty and especially fond of videos of recent films. Netflix based on the model, offers a package VideoFutur Pass Duo 6.99 euros to access both video on physical media (DVD, Blu-ray) and video on demand over the Internet. For that price, subscribers will have access to all films released theatrically for over nine months on DVD and Blu-ray on Wheels. They have more opportunity to access video on demand for new films four months after their release at a price of 2.99 euros per film.Finally, the subscription will provide access from the start to an unlimited number of old films on the Internet (thirty-six months after their theatrical release).
"We found that video on demand suffered from very competitive prices since, until now, users had to pay 5 euros to access a work. However, the price of a physical video is now 2.90 euros, says Marc Tessier, president of VideoFutur. It was important to align the rates of physical and dematerialized video. We also wanted to compensate for the disadvantage of video subscription which provides access to a limited number of works thirty-six months after their theatrical release. "
This marketing offensive is primarily intended to prepare announced the arrival of more competition in the market for image and video over the Internet.
Rapidly changing
Netflix, the video service to 25 million U.S. subscribers as well as Amazon and Google – the search engine which now recognizes the images – prepare for their arrival in Europe. With their agreements with major U.S. studios purveyors of blockbusters, these new players may be required. For VideoFutur, it is especially important to speed up the transfer that the company is experiencing a difficult situation. In 2010, the results showed a loss of nearly 6 million euros for a turnover amounting to 8.2 million euros, down 42%. If the company does not envisage a return to balance by 2013, however, it focuses on new developments such as increasing the number of physical stores, which should be of the order of fifty 'By the end of the year.
Small form for Wall Street to start the week. At the close, the Dow Jones lost 0.50% to 12,089.96 points, the Standard & Poor's was down 1.08% at 1286.17 points and the Nasdaq dropped 1.11% to 2702.56 points.
The scheduled end of the second program of quantitative easing (QE2) of the Federal Reserve also weighed on the trend on Wall Street. Started last August, the program of monetary easing had allowed the S & P 500 gain 30% over a period of eight months through April. The S & P 500 has since lost 5% from its peak last month.
The absence of major economic indicators or corporate earnings later in the week also makes investors excited.
Portugal calls for calm
Concerning the problems of sovereign debt in Europe, the new Portuguese government appealed for calm on markets.The President of the Social Democratic Party, Pedro Passos Coelho, who succeeded Jose Socrates, has assured creditors on Sunday night that his country would not be "a burden" for them, promising to "do everything" to "honor the commitments" the Portuguese State.
As a result, U.S. banks suffer: Bank of America loose 3.99% to 10.83 dollars, Citigroup dropped 4.47% to 38.07 dollars and Morgan Stanley sells 2.60% to 22.52 dollars.
On the foreign exchange market, the euro declined slightly against the dollar on Monday after climbing to its highest level since a month after the release of new funding for Greece, while the greenback suffered from concerns about the strength of U.S. economic recovery. In the evening in Paris, the European single currency was worth 1.4570 dollars against 1.4637 dollars on Friday night.The euro climbed to 1.4658 dollars in early morning, its highest level since May 5
Apple introduced its icloud
The side of values, the airline sector is battered on Monday. Delta Airlines coward 3.01% to 9.33 dollars. Forecast company profits will be halved in 2011 because of high oil prices, unrest in the Arab world and natural disasters in Japan, said today the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
Apple: -1.57% to 338.04 dollars
On Monday, Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple announced the service icloud cloud computing. The Cupertino company creates a new front against Amazon, Google and Microsoft.For the "cloud" is expanding.
Goldman Sachs: -1.06% to 133.90 dollars
For its part, the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs will make public internal documents on its activities in the mortgage before the crisis, to counter the charges against her in the Senate, says the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).Also according to the American newspaper, the United States are studying the possible impact on competition in the acquisition of patents from bankrupt Canadian telecoms equipment maker Nortel giants of the computer and the internet like Google or Apple.
Fiat: -0.56% to 10.72 dollars
Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday on the sidelines of a conference in Venice, having made an offer to the Canadian government to buy back its share from 1.7% of Chrysler for about $ 125 million, or the same terms as the takeover announced on Thursday from 6% U.S. Treasury for $ 500 million. Two years after taking 20% stake in Chrysler, Fiat Group will officially become the majority in the third of the U.S. Big Three. The price for crossing the symbolic threshold of 50% was indeed set Friday: Fiat will spend 560 million dollars for the last 6% stake held by the U.S. Treasury.This enables him to climb to 52% of capital.
Microsoft: 0.44% to 24.01 dollars Yahoo!: -1.47% to 15.45 dollars
The e-mail services from Microsoft and Yahoo have in turn been the subject of infiltration attempts. The U.S. wants global rules against piracy.
This is unprecedented in the history of the prestigious American newspaper The New York Times, founded in 1851. A woman, Jill Abramson, will take the lead, at a time when the newspaper industry is undergoing a revolution. At 57, she succeeded on September 6 to Bill Keller, who declined to slow down but will remain a contributor to The New York Times Magazine and the weekend edition of the newspaper.
New York, Jill Abramson began his career as a journalist for Time magazine, while still a student at Harvard. From 1976 to 1986 she worked for The American Lawyer, a magazine for lawyers, before being appointed editor of Legal Times. From 1988 to 1997, she was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Washington.
In 1997 she joined the editorial of The New York Times, still in Washington. Bureau chief of the Federal Capital in 2000, she became its editor in 2003.In his new position, she aims to make "The Gray Lady" nickname of the newspaper, a "multichannel media committed to providing excellence in journalism," as explained by Arthur Sulzberger, owner of the title.
One million copies a day
An 'ascension into heaven, "according to its own terms. Jill Abramson takes the reins of a newspaper sold nearly a million copies daily, which is speeding up the turn on the Web (31 million unique visitors per month).
The site was chosen in March for a mid-free formula, half-pay: After the free consultation of 20 articles a month, readers are offered Internet users to subscribe monthly or yearly.A "freemium" inspired from the Financial Times.
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Whoever does not pay pockets. According to The Echosce Monday, the UMP would favor the principle of taxation of companies that pay wages to their employees outside the norm instead of fixing an additional tax for very high incomes. This is to discourage entretreprises to pay fees too high, as is the case for the 50% tax on the traders' bonuses. "The idea is (…) to treat the problem at its source, a disincentive for companies to pay compensation aberrant, rather than trying to correct the situation then by taxes," said an elected majority in a maintenance business daily.
The majority remains divided on the threshold, beyond which the tax should be levied.For many UMP deputies, the threshold should be set at 150,000 euros per unit, while others, like Pierre Mehaignerie, advocate the taxation of income in excess of 1 million euros no checking account payday advance.
The definition of the Tax Code regarding salaries "excessive" is not very clear and now it is more applicable to the bosses of SMEs and large companies. It would therefore define the notion of "excessive compensation" based on wage policy and business sectors. A working group will floor on this subject during the summer to give a decision in September.
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"Asia, the Mecca of luxury groups. This could be the slogan applied to Gucci, Prada, Burberry, Hermes, Dior and others at the end of the financial and economic crisis that has shaken the past three years the global economy. For all these companies, if they were not spared by the crisis, have largely absorbed the shock by taking advantage of the growing appetite of Asian markets for luxury, chic, and know-how almost craft of some European countries.
This appetite, the luxury sector was well integrated, making the Asian market including China and Japan, their main growth drivers. For example, the French LVMH in 2010 from nearly 35% of its turnover in Asia (25% excluding Japan).In the first quarter 2011, excluding sales of the Japanese archipelago (affected by the tsunami on 11 March), billings Asian group Bernard Arnault grew 24% and 30% on the only Chinese territory.
Finally, by 2015, China should be the first global luxury goods market in all sectors according to consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers. And to develop there, Western societies today are choosing bulk of trading in Hong Kong, the gateway to become known in China. "With its historical heritage, the Hong Kong is much more attractive than that of Shanghai, details of William Corbiac, emerging equities manager at Axa IM. It is much more liquid, accounting standards are long Anglo-Saxon, there are many financial analysts, fewer permissions and cheaper.In Hong Kong, Western investors feel almost like home. "
Making a name
This is the typical case of American Coach, specializing in accessories (shoes, bags, sunglasses, jewelry …) who announced in early May will be doubling its side by the end of the year, Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and its place of origin, New York. For all the luxury groups, for historical reasons or qualitative, not in Asia have the notoriety of LVMH or Hermes. The goal of Coach is clearly stated: "better brand awareness among consumers and investors in the Chinese market and throughout Asia," according to its CEO Lew Frankfort said in a statement.
This Friday, the luxury goods group Burberry has come to swell the ranks of contenders.Already present in London Stock Exchange, the British group would try to seek a listing in Hong Kong by Hong Kong Economic Journal, to "increase the interest of Asian investors."
The idea is not new. "Many Chinese entrepreneurial companies, including Internet companies and in renewable energy, are parties in the 2000s to seek a listing on Wall Street to take advantage of both technologies and to conquer the U.S. market, said William of Corbiac. We can now do the exact parallel with these Western groups visionary who want to be closer to the markets they want to grow. " A listed company must indeed comply with the requirements of disclosure and / or related to its activity, which increases its exposure to the media and therefore the general public.What support development activity in new geographical area. A strategy that seems to have also adopted in another sector, BNP Paribas. Initially, the French bank will not undertake a capital increase at its eventual listing and just want to "enjoy a better visibility in China."
A significant influx of capital
But watch it only as a matter of image. For BNP Paribas may, in a second time, make an appeal for funds on the Hong Kong site, thus killing two birds with one stone. For their part, the intruding Western luxury brands in Hong Kong are also looking to take advantage of capital and investors who flock to this place. In 2010, according to data from PricewatershouseCoopers, nearly 45 billion euros have been raised, an increase of almost 80% over one year.And for 2011, the firm estimated 30 billion funds in Hong Kong through introductions. A total of one hundred companies are entering the stock each year, more than half are Chinese.
This is the case of the Italian Prada, which recently received the green light from authorities in Hong Kong market. Pending the final IPO price (June 16) and the introduction scheduled for 24 June, the Italian company hopes to raise about 2 billion dollars (1.4 billion euros). After three failed attempts, Prada therefore preferred to Hong Kong to Milan, saying "better" opportunities offered by the international capital market.
Before her, and with the same motivations, the French L'Occitane has chosen Hong Kong to make his first public offering, there is just one year.One way for the group operating on the cosmetics market is very dynamic in Asia and almost treated as a luxury brand, to raise 532 million euros. What repay debt and finance part of its development. This gamble on the brand image now appears successful, while Reinold Geiger, President of L'Occitane, explained that he initially had great difficulty to prevail in Taiwan and Hong Kong. And for investors who subscribed to the introduction, the operation has also been very positive, because despite the turbulent early sessions, the stock rose over 30% year on year.
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