With his candidacy in the general direction of the IMF, announced Saturday at the last minute, after those of Christine Lagarde and Mexican Agustin Carstens, head of the Central Bank of Israel will test the sincerity of the countries facing the board IMF. They have been saying for weeks that "the competence and not nationality" should prevail in the choice of successor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Now Stanley Fischer, highly appreciated by the staff of the Fund where it is still nicknamed "Stan" is one of the best economists in the world. He has unparalleled experience in managing crises. Graduated from the London School of Economics and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he worked with Nobel Prize winner Paul Samuelson and Robert Solow. He directed the thesis of Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief. He is the author of economics textbooks for reference.IMF number two in the 1990s, alongside the French director Michel Camdessus, he played a key role in managing crises that shook Mexico, Asia and Russia – its remedies are also not allowed only good memories to the countries concerned. But Fischer is a pragmatist. He has learned the lessons from the mistakes of the IMF in the 1990s ", provides a framework for the institution. At the head of the Central Bank of Israel, it also helped that the country would emerge from the economic crisis in good shape and enjoys a high popularity.
Dual Nationality
However, Stanley Fischer knows better than anyone that has little chance of being elected. The first drawback of this modest man, sparkling in the light of intelligence, is his age personal loan for poor credit. The IMF Articles of Agreement stipulate that the candidate for the superintendent must be under 65 years. Now it has 67.It should therefore be that the board make an exception for his particular case.
Second handicap in practice even more problematic: his nationality. Or rather "its" nationalities. Born in Rhodesia (now Zambia), relatives of Jewish immigrants from Latvia and Lithuania, trained in London, Stanley Fischer has an Israeli passport and a U.S. passport. The first could play against him in some emerging countries, which are among the states in the Middle East conflict with Israel or supporting them. The second might also interfere. It is time that an American was proposed by Bill Clinton as number two in the IMF in 1994. However, in the traditional allocation of posts – that's just emerging challenge – is the World Bank which amounts to an American (Robert Zoellick), while the IMF is the preserve of Europeans.Even though they deny it, they do not intend to cede this seat, especially during a storm on the euro area.
Unless the matter is suddenly deemed unacceptable Tapie, Christine Lagarde remains the overwhelming favorite. The French Minister of Economy has received this weekend the support of Indonesia, and Egypt, during a trip to Cairo. His campaign trail is also passed through Jeddah, where his counterpart has expressed support for Saudi Arabia to his candidacy. She remained silent on the emergence of this new Israeli competitor.
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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.
"Today, we can not take action without evaluating and communicating the results to the French. Otherwise they feel cheated, "said Liberal MP Claude Gloasguen. Photo credits: Jean-Christophe Marmara / Le Figaro
The Cac 40 will test its ability to safeguard the 4000 points on Tuesday. Having dropped 1.25% Monday because of the deteriorating financial situation of Greece, the Paris stock market should open up slightly. But this context of uncertainties could cause investors to be very cautious on Tuesday.
These follow closely the issue in six months in Greece amounting to 1.25 billion euros.
On the macroeconomic front, some indicators are on the program: industrial production in March in France (8.45) and import prices in April in the U.S. (1430).
Greece in big trouble, gasoline at record levels
Bank stocks could again battered on Tuesday after losing more than 2% Monday. The rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded two notches sovereign rating of Greece.
Oil companies will still follow while gasoline prices breaking new records almost 1.55 euros on average.
BNP Paribas is expected to formalize Wednesday Pébereau departure from the presidency of the French bank at the end of the year or early 2012, and appoint in his place the current chief executive Baudoin Prot, the Financial Times.The latter should be replaced by Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, deputy CEO of the group.
JCDecaux has significantly exceeded its target on the first three months of 2011 by signing a growth of 7.8% of its turnover but it is more cautious for the current quarter assuming an increase of about 4%.
Safran and Thales should arrive this summer with a tentative agreement on an exchange of assets in the defense wanted by the government, as the chief representative of arming Laurent Collet-Billon, in an interview Tuesday at Les Echos.
Sales and general meetings in the program
The IT services company Atos Origin said Tuesday sales down 1.3% in the first quarter 2011 to 1.22 billion euros.For the first half, the group seeks an operating margin up 50 basis points, compared to 6% for the first half of 2010.
The investment company Eurazeo in the first quarter revenues stable at 866.8 million euros, but up 5.9% in not taking into account the base effect associated with adverse chain of budget hotels B & B Hotels, sold in 2010.
The turnover in the first quarter of Medica and Noble Age will be known before the opening of trading. And those of Maurel et Prom, Nexity, Ruby, Alten, Assystem, Devoteam and Eutelsat (third quarter), after market close.
Note that the general meetings of ArcelorMittal, Lagardere and Havas will be held Tuesday.
A symbol of French fashion has changed hands. After several weeks of discussions, the sale of the Jean Paul Gaultier to the Spanish group Puig was confirmed Tuesday. Perfume specialist, this quiet family business Catalan is not a novice in fashion. It owns the brands Nina Ricci, Paco Rabanne and Carolina Herrera, she manages the business of ready-to-wear and fragrances operates. Moreover, this expert also manufactures and distributes toilet waters claws Prada, Comme des Garcons and Valentino. But also the general public perfumes Zara and Mango or artists Shakira and Antonio Banderas. It also manages the luxury cosmetics brand Payot and supermarkets in Spain. Puig has achieved a turnover of 1.2 billion euros last year, and net profit of 130 million euros.
To get your hands on the former troublemaker of French fashion, he spends about 100 million euros, 60 million to take over 45% of Hermes Jean Paul Gaultier. This is a book profit of EUR 30 million for Hermes. The designer, advised by the bank Aforge Finance, Puig also sells 10% of its shares, thus assigning to the control of his home, he agrees to be diluted to 45% of capital.
He remains master of the creation and image. " The remaining investment will be devoted to a development plan by Jean Paul Gaultier, especially in the accessories and distribution in Asia payday loans with no fax.
Manna fragrances
Other candidates were interested in the brand, which PPR (which owns Gucci) and perfumer Coty (Chloe, Balenciaga), who quickly closed the case. Inter Parfums (Burberry, Lanvin) was launched in the race without much conviction.At the finish, Puig has eclipsed the joint project presented by the Chinese group Fung, who has just bought Cerruti and Robert Clergerie, and Japan's Shiseido. The latter, through its subsidiary Parisian Beauty Prestige International, is behind the success of Jean Paul Gaultier fragrances, which are the real gem of the house.
If fashion and haute couture have made 26 million euros in turnover last year, with a slight loss, fragrances, with several bestsellers, representing several hundred million euros in turnover business very profitable. This is manna for the moment at Shiseido, until his contract expired in 2016, when Puig likely want to see it reach its other lines. Among them, Paco Rabanne has become a cash machine. Perfumes represent 83% of revenues Puig.
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The U.S. publishing rocked. In February, he sold more electronic books (e-books) in the U.S. as paperbacks, paperback books or children's books. According to the monthly report compiled by the Association of American Publisher (AAP), Association of American Publishers, the revenue generated by e-books reached $ 90.3 million over the period. So far the top-seller, the paperback had fallen below $ 85 million revenue in January. In February, they amounted to 81 million.
The total market for printed books in the U.S. declines. The adult books (pocket paperback) have declined from 34.4% in February to represent all $ 156.8 million in sales. Children's books fell from 16.1% to 58.5 million.In parallel, the electronic book grew by 202% between February 2010 and February 2011. A growth rate that promises a fast restructuring of the publishing market in the U.S., comparable to the transformation of the music market. Moreover, the results of the PAA reflects sales by only 16 publishers of digital books, publishers against 84 for the physical book.
Sales reached by parties
According to the Association of American Publishers, the strong growth in sales of digital books in February "is mainly due to a high level of sales of e-books after the holidays and downloading by consumers who received gift digital reading lights us fast cash. Another engine of growth: a renewed interest from consumers for backlist titles from the catalog."The February results show that people love books and publishers are actively trying to serve their readers everywhere. The public embraces the breadth and variety of reading choices that are available, "commented the CEO of the AAP, Tom Allen, in a statement.
These findings echo those announced by the online retailer Amazon Kindle reading lamp manufacturer, when publishing its annual results in late January. "Amazon.com now sells more books than Kindle paperbacks. Since the beginning of the year, for 100 bags sold by Amazon, the company sold 115 pounds Kindle, had indicated the company founded by Jeff Bezos. Meanwhile, sales of e-books were three times greater than sales of paperback books.This market should continue to grow with the arrival of new reading lights on the market, like a low-cost version of the Kindle, financed by advertising.
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All experts agree that this March is decisive for the euro area. So decisive that Moody's has seen fit to deliver a blow pressure on European countries, on the eve of an important EU summit, degrading the Spanish debt rating. And a few days after he had done the same with Greece.For Nicolas Veron, an economist at Bruegel European Think Tank, "Moody's does that reflect the current consensus in the markets where heads of state should quickly agree on measures to better cope with the debt crisis .
"The rating agencies want to dictate their law to Europe"
So that is precisely what Europe is about to finalize Friday, the rating agency would not she putting in new fuel to the fire? Or diagnose it a lack of enthusiasm on the part of European countries to find a consensus? Philippe Dessertine, director of the Institute of High Finance in Paris X, the rating agencies want to dictate their law to European countries. "The rating agencies are in control of their schedule," he says.Once an agency has information that allows it to ascribe with certainty a note, it must do, otherwise nobody would trust him. "
Singled out in 2010 for European countries heavily degraded and often unintentionally, the rating agencies do not fail to raise anew the questions and even criticism. The most virulent from countries concerned. In a letter to EU leaders, the Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou calls for action "urgent" against these agencies to "self-fulfilling prophecies."The last degradation of Greece is more indicative of the distorted incentives of the agencies, and the fact that we do not ask them to account, that the actual situation of Greece," he adds.
Rating: "Having a better regulated environment"
Like last year, Moody's will therefore triggered the hostilities before that European countries will gather. Why did she not wait for the outcome of lce EU summit and in the case of Spain, the diagnosis provided by the Bank of Spain on the health of the banking sector? And especially since it is rather positive. As the government anticipated, Spanish banks would need 15 billion euros and not 50 billion as assessed financial markets. The Spanish Minister of Economy Elena Salgado said his "differences" with Moody's."Our decisions take into account four criteria: the strength of the economy, institutional stability, sound public finances and the likelihood of a risk" of default, Moody's defends itself from the AFP.
Anyway, this new controversy revived the issue of reforming rating agencies. And that's good, Brussels intends to offer "before the end of summer" reforms "core" on the regulation of rating agencies. "The Last Days are once again highlight the importance of having a better and more controlled environment for ratings," stressed the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn, and one charge of financial services, Michel Barnier Thursday in a joint statement.He concluded: "It is clear that the objectives of the reforms will be to put some diversity in this highly concentrated industry, reduce the excessive reliance on notes, to improve the rating of sovereign debt, resolve conflicts interest '.
Otherwise, in addition to the thorny issue of soaring oil prices, Europe will have to address as soon as possible that the debt crisis is far from closed. Contrary to the good performance of financial markets in January and February suggest.
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"SPECIAL: Public debt, the threat of the post-crisis
Technicolor, formerly Thomson seems reborn from its ashes. Having won the tender launched by France Telecom for its next generation of Internet box in France, the group that came close to bankruptcy in late 2009 has improved its results in 2010.Sur …
Increasing wages would be "foolish to the last" in Europe and undermine the reduction of unemployment, said yesterday, Sunday, on Europe 1 the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, renewing his warnings against the "second round effects" linked to soaring commodity prices.
"We can do nothing against the immediate increase in oil prices or raw materials quick guaranteed personal loans. But instead, we must avoid at all costs is what we call the second-round effects, that is to say that other prices begin to move, "he said.
"When I look at the success or relative failure, within the euro area, it is perfectly clear that those who have mastered their costs are very successful in reducing unemployment," he said, referring the German successes.
The siege is perhaps not what we think. In the battle between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo President of Cote d'Ivoire, do not be fooled by appearances. Certainly, Ouattara, who won the presidential elections of 28 November, can not leave the hotel Gulf surrounded by military forces loyal to Gbagbo. But the latter, which does not release the power, is increasingly isolated from its financial resources by the strategy of suffocation of his opponent.
"Without military intervention impossible, the only weapon Ouattara is the economy," said Vincent Darraque, associate researcher at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI). "The goal ultimately is to divide the clan on fund bankruptcy." Alassane Ouattara and its international allies have thus closed one by one all the valves supplying the cash war chest of the outgoing president.
"Gbagbo tinker"
But each time, "Gbagbo crafter, artisan economy develops and it seems impossible to reduce to zero its resources," says Rinaldo Depagne, the International Crisis Group (ICG). The camp Ouattara example decreed the suspension of exports of cocoa, Gbagbo has the upper hand in the industry. The European Union has followed, as well as large multinationals in the sector. But, warns an observer working for a French bank, the president turns the embargo through the ways of smuggling.
The hardest blow dealt to the clan Gbagbo went more unnoticed: printing money has been confiscated by the Central Bank of African States (BCEAO). Ally at the head of the guardian of the CFA franc, the common currency for countries in the region, was ousted in mid-January no fax payday loan. His replacement, a pro-Ouattara, immediately closed the antenna of the institution in Abidjan.Gbagbo then organized the robbery of the branch that hosts 268 billion CFA francs (408 million). According to the magazine Jeune Afrique, he could pocket as 8 billion, can not open the coffers, "the access codes are managed from Dakar, Senegal, and changed daily."
Extortion tax
Short of forcing the doors armored reserves of the BCEAO, Gbagbo can always count on one of its main resource: oil. Nearly a third of production would be siphoned off by his clan, or about 20,000 barrels / day. Besides the black gold, Gbagbo controls the direction of Ivorian taxes. Businesses are at once caught in the crossfire. Ouattara called them not to pay their taxes to the Treasury, but hurry up now Gbagbo armed men for extortion. More sources of cash are scarce Gbagbo, his reactions are more extreme.Latest: the requisition of banks, including subsidiaries of BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, which closed this week.
How long will even the outgoing president? "Gbagbo has already dipped into its reserves before his election to buy votes. He sprinkled a lot, "says geographer Christian Bouquet. The UN estimates that he must find each month to 150 million dollars to pay 104,000 civil servants and 55,000 soldiers. Clan of the outgoing president said he could take two months "without problem". Impossible to verify. Meanwhile, the Ivorian economy, deprived of its banks is disintegrating.
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