Business News & Financial News

The trade balance between imports and exports French deficit was over 69 billion euros in 2011, the Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Pierre Lellouche. This is more than the previous record of 2008. View of the commercial port of Marseille

The Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Pierre Lellouche, announced a trade deficit of 69.6 billion euros in 2011, more than the previous 2008 record of 56.2 billion, in an interview published on the website of Figaro Tuesday. "With a trade deficit reached 69.6 billion euros in 2011 (after 51.4 billion in 2010) the results are less bad than expected," said the minister who had, in mid-January, revised down the estimated 5 billion annual deficit, previously estimated at 75 billion.

"In 2011, our imports have increased 11% to 498 billion. At the same time, more than 117 000 firms sold their products abroad, a figure unchanged from 2010, "said Secretary of State." Our exports increased by 8.6%, to 429 billion euro – which will create 90,000 jobs this year "has he congratulated

. Surplus for the food processing and aerospace

" We can be satisfied with the functioning of certain sectors: agribusiness is experiencing a historic surplus of 11.4 billion. The aircraft also implies a surplus of 17.7 billion through the sale of Airbus 534 "also said Pierre Lellouche

. It is observed that exports French grew less in 2011 than Germany, but also that exports from Italy, Spain, UK and U.S.. The global market share captured by France and has deteriorated significantly since 1990 from 6.2% 3.6%

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The party of the presidential majority proposes the opening of branch agreements on legal working hours. For the head of the UMP, Jean-Francois Cope, the output of 35 hours is "inevitable." The national secretary of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope

The UMP will propose at its convention, which opens Tuesday, the opening of branch agreements in areas where the 35-hour "lasting problems arise," said Tuesday the Minister for Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet on LCI. "Our position, which will be presented tonight is to give the possibility to open branch agreements. There are branches in which lasting 35 hours pose problems despite the flexibility that we have done," said Ms Kosciusko-Morizet.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet did not specify which areas were specifically concerned, however, saying that all branches should be able to open negotiations."But there are areas where it is more complicated than others, where the division of labor is much less homogeneous than in others," she said.

In an interview published Tuesday in La Voix du Nord, the Secretary General of the UMP Jean-Francois Cope said that "the crisis, the output of 35h is inevitable, since it secures the purchasing power" .

Porsche AG said Friday expect operating income (Rex) was up over 10% this year, Chinese demand for luxury vehicles has boosted its sales in the first nine months of the year.

Operating income for the German automaker will show growth in 2011 "clearly double digit," said a spokesman for the group.

Porsche has reported an operating profit up 25% to 1.51 billion euros over January-September.The spokesman declined to provide comparable figures for 2010, when Porsche had experienced a truncated fiscal year from August to December.

The manufacturer, owned by Porsche SE and Volkswagen reiterated its plans to sell more than 100,000 vehicles this year, after having passed 85,872 from January to September, or 26% more than in 2010.

Sales in China soared 82% over the period, to 17,683 units.

Thursday, Volkswagen reported an operating profit for nine months rose 86% to 8.97 billion euros, with a rate of double-digit growth in sales and a gain related to the merger with Porsche.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened a broad investigation into index funds (ETF) to ensure they are sufficiently transparent and do not feed market volatility, said Wednesday a leader of the U.S. stock policeman .

"The Commission staff are conducting a general review of index funds including on the sufficiency of the information provided to investors, the levels of liquidity and transparency of the underlying instruments in which the index products (FTE) invest, the accuracy valuations, the effectiveness of arbitration and the relationship between market volatility and FTEs, "said Eileen Rominger, Director of the Division of Investment Management at the SEC.

According to the text of a planned intervention Wednesday before members of Congress, the official stressed that the survey also aims to "gather and analyze detailed data on specific products."

This assessment is the second SEC investigation related to investment companies, after the commission decided in August to gather opinions on the potential risks of the use of derivatives by mutual funds ("mutual funds' ), ETFs and other structured funds.

ETFs, such as those managed by BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard Group, are financial products reproducing the weighting of an index and therefore its performance.Since their introduction in the 1990s, they took off to about 1,000 billion in assets (724.7 billion euros).

However, certain types of incidents and some ETF market, as the "flash crash" ('flash crash') of 6 May 2010, have fueled concerns of regulators, who fear that these index funds do not contribute to volatility markets and pose problems for the less informed investors.

During the 'flash crash', for example, ETFs have experienced massive changes in the meeting and represented 70% of aborted transactions.This incident prompted the SEC and stock exchange operators to set up a system of "circuit breaker".

The SEC also began to focus on leveraged ETF, used to multiply the gains, ETF and reversed, that achieve the performance opposite to that of the underlying index.

Cigarette packs will cost on average 30 cents more starting Monday. This should bring 600 million euros to the state in one year.

Cigarette packs will cost on average 30 cents more starting Monday in France, a 6% increase sought by the government should have little effect on consumption, but that will bring 600 million euros a year in State to Safely smokers will find it in a package less than 5.70 euros in their tobacconist. For the first time, the Marlboro (the best-selling package with nearly 25% market share) will pass the bar 6 euros to 6.20 euros.The government has allowed manufacturers to revise their prices, anticipating an increase in minimums of perception which must be passed by Parliament in the law on financing of Social Security.

This increase was announced by Prime Minister Francois Fillon, in late August, when presenting the plan anti-government deficit. It should bring 90 million euros this year and 600 million in a full year.

Taxes are 80% of the price of a pack of cigarettes. Most (over 10 billion euros in 2010) goes into the coffers of the social security system. Fillon also announced a further increase of 6% in 2012, without specifying the date. This is the third consecutive year that the cigarettes in the fall recorded such an increase (30 cents per pack), well above inflation.However, sales have never declined so far in the same proportions.

54.8 billion cigarettes sold in 2010

Thus, it has sold 54.79 billion cigarettes in 2010 against 54.98 in 2009, a mere drop of 0.3%. At the same time, the amount of rolling tobacco rose from 7257 to 7598 tonnes (+4.7%). In total, sales of tobacco (including cigars) increased by 0.14% by volume, according to figures from the observatory of drugs (OFDT). Again this year, cigarette sales in late July had declined by only 0.6% in volume compared to 2010.

Value, because of previous price increases, the market is increasing by about 5%. Growth shared by the state (almost 13 billion euros in 2010, including 2.5 under the VAT), tobacconists (8.2%) and manufacturers and distributors (11.8%). The anti-smoking groups believe that any increase less than 10% has no effect on consumption.The Office of Tobacco Prevention (OFT) ironically on Monday up seeing an "application" of the state "to the tobacco industry for agreeing to increase by more than 100 million profit."

Tobacconists and manufacturers recall their part that a sharp increase has an effect on sales in tobacco shops, without lowering consumption, since it encourages smokers to buy abroad or from resellers on the sly. A study of Customs estimates that 20% of cigarettes smoked in France are not purchased in the network of tobacconists, but fraud (5%) or legally (15%) in the neighboring European countries (Belgium and Spain) where the package is sell up to 30% cheaper.

These purchases, which exploded after the sharp increases in tobacco prices in 2003/2004, affecting particularly border trade, result in financial compensation from the state to tobacconists.A parliamentary report issued in early October to the Minister of Budget, recommends "a convergence of prices of tobacco in France and in neighboring states," but also "to reflect on the taxation of rolling tobacco" for "contrecarrrer the substitution effect for each increase in the price of cigarettes. "

5500 communities and public institutions are still contaminated with highly volatile lending rates, which could cost them up to 3.9 billion euros. The key points of the problem. The bank Dexia had sold 25 billion euros in loans structured to 5500 clients. Complex mechanisms and uncontrollable

The toxic loans are loans that have a hand-indexed floating rate indices extremely volatile, likely to cause a spike in interest rates. Some loans are indexed to such an exchange rate of foreign currencies. According to their variations, interest may pounce. Release cites the case of municipalities that have seen interest rates rise to 10 or 15% this summer because of rising Swiss franc, their credits are indexed to such currency. However, some loans are still running until 2025 or 2030.The low cost of borrowing in the early years convinced the financial services community, who thought to save money without receiving the opacity and complexity of products.

Read about: Local authorities caught up toxic loans

5500 communities and institutions concerned

Liberation published on Wednesday a confidential document from the bank Dexia Credit Local (DCL), which amounts to 5500 the number of local authorities and public institutions which have made French toxic loans between 1995 and 2009. In total, the bank would have distributed 25 billion euros for these clients.Or "as estimated by the bank, the additional cost of these loans was estimated at 3.9 billion euros at the end of 2009," wrote Liberation, "which means that communities should pay a penalty of this order" .

Libération.fr provides a map of France infected bodies, municipalities, regions, departments all political stripes combined. Antibes, for example, has borrowed 60 million euros. It must repay 21 million extra. In Rouen, the risky loans represent 53% of the debt, for a total of 162 million euros.The city has already been provisioned 500,000 euros in 2009 and 1 million in 2010 to cope with soaring interest rates of its loans.

Read about: Local authorities still mired in the toxic loans

The HLM also contaminated

As local authorities, social landlords have contracted toxic financial products before the outbreak of the banking crisis. Exposure to risk financial products could reach 50% for a dozen of them.

Read about: What you should know about the crisis of public housing

The toxic loans account for 8% of the debt of public housing

Dexia in its sights

In a report published in 2009, the Court of Auditors has confirmed the responsibility of banks, which provide "information over-optimistic or even wrong, to borrowers, guaranteeing them virtually no risk."Among them, the Dexia Group, the first local lender. In 2008 and 2009, its share in domestic credit has also plunged by 40, then 20%. Are also singled out the savings banks, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. But the Court of Auditors also accused local authorities, who have adopted "a speculative approach" by borrowing structured.

Read about: Credits toxic local irrational, greedy banks

A double threat to taxpayers

Adding salt may be administered for. Exponential to pay the interest, communities can cut back on investment and substantially increase local taxes."The rise of the Swiss franc is a college at least for the Seine-Saint-Denis", says the chairman of the General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis, Claude Bartolone, in Libération.

Read about: The tricks of the departments to make ends meet

"The financial department is dramatic"

Legal action

From 2009, Saint-Etienne was the first city to announce its intention to assign the Deutsche Bank before the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris to set aside 20 million euros of toxic loans. In February, Claude Bartolone has also filed a complaint against the bank Depfa, Dexia and Caylon, hoping to overturn the 63 risky loans taken out between 1997 and 2008. He had already assigned Natixis in 2009.Other procedures, initiated by municipalities, are under way.

Read about: Borrowing toxic Seine-Saint-Denis attack three banks

Toxic loans: the politicians do block against banks

Claude Bartolone accuses Dexia "scam"

Some changes since 2008

In the months that followed the discovery of toxic loans in 2008, the government initially tried to minimize. The charter of good conduct promised at the time of the crisis has emerged in January 2010: it forbids banks to offer loans to local governments whose interest rate changes based on indices high risk. In practice, this rules out any link with commodity prices and equity markets.For their part, communities agree to more transparency on their debts and loans.

Tuesday, communities have come to begin the process that should lead to a funding agency dedicated to local investment, without automatic recourse to the banks. It could be operational in 2012 and would cover, in ten years, a quarter of loans to local market, which totals 20 billion euros. A bill will be tabled in Parliament with a view to its adoption before the end of the year.

Philips reported new measures of cost reductions on Tuesday due to weak demand for its products, an ad that has boosted the title of the Dutch in early trading before it turns into a context of new sharp fall in European shares.

One who is both a world leader in lighting, one of the top three global manufacturers of hospital equipment and the European leader in consumer electronics is affected by higher commodity prices, from budget cuts in the Health and by sluggish consumer spending.

Philips said it had increased to 800 million its goal of cost reductions, which represents a 60% increase compared to $ 500 million announced in July.

The group also expressed confidence in its ability to meet financial targets for 2013, despite the uncertainties surrounding the global economy.

By 10:35 GMT, Philips yielded 0.78% to 12.13 euros after gaining about 7% in early trade. However, the value is better than the AEX index of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (-1.6%) and the index grouping the European values ​​of consumer goods and luxury.

Standard & Poor's lowered Tuesday its economic growth forecasts for the eurozone to 1.7% this year and 1.5% for 2012 and believes that a relapse into recession can be avoided even if the risks are increasing .

The rating agency expects that the European Central Bank (ECB) is not interest rates before the end of first quarter 2012 and that the Bank of England keeps rate at 0.5% until the second half of 2012 to meet the 1% by the end of next year.

S & P planned to date for euro zone growth of 1.9% in 2011 and 1.8% in 2012.

"We continue to believe that a true 'double dip' ('double dip') will be avoided by maintaining sources of growth, although we recognize that downside risks are significant," writes Jean-Michel Six, an economist for Europe S & P "In particular, we will closely monitor the evolution of consumer demand over the coming quarters."

For its part, the International Monetary Fund next month should lower its growth forecasts, reported Monday the Italian news agency Ansa.For the eurozone, the IMF expects more than 1.9% of GDP growth in 2011 and 1.4% in 2012.

The S & P forecast for Germany is reduced to 2% in 2012 instead of 2.5%, and for France to 1.7% in 2011 and 2012 instead of 2.0% and 1.9% respectively .

The French government has lowered its forecast last week to 1.75% in 2011 as announced in 2012 and 12 billion euros in measures of income and savings to reduce its public deficit in the agreed proportion.

According to S & P, the British economy should grow by 1.3% in 2011 and 1.8% in 2012 (instead of 1.5% and 2.0%) and the Spanish economy by 1.0% in 2012 to instead of 1.5%.

European shares sink their media one after the other against a backdrop of slowing global growth, the President of the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet who failed Thursday to allay concerns.

Since the beginning of the week, the European equity markets have lost about 290 billion euros of their value, two thirds of the 440 billion vested in the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), under the influence of fear of relapse the economy and the persistence of the crisis of sovereign debt in Europe.

"There are two important points in the speech of Jean-Claude Trichet that are quite contradictory: the desire to control inflation, meaning that eventually a new rate hike, and the possible injection of liquidity through repurchase obligations, "said Alexandre Baradez, market analyst at Saxo Bank.

Jean-Claude Trichet at a news conference after the monthly meeting of the Governing Council of the ECB has implicitly confirmed the recovery of market intervention, and stressed that inflation expectations in the euro area were remain firmly anchored.

If the part of speech of Jean-Claude Trichet on redemptions of bonds was expected by the market, allowing the index to delete then some of their losses, the talk about inflation is not necessarily what is more appropriate in the current environment, explains Alexandre Baradez.

"Inflation eats away at the debt and rising interest rates would not be appropriate when the level is already high in Europe.We also see that we do not ask this question in the United States, "said he.

THE CAC 40 COULD FALL TO LOWEST OF 2010

After pressing multiple media techniques, markets could even fall even lower.

"The CAC 40 may now fall to its next support at 3,350 points, and then go towards the lower end of the year 2010 at 3287 points," warned Alexander the Drogoff technical analyst at Aurel-BGC.

Moreover, all this should be done in a climate of increased volatility, analysts warn.

"The volatility of the Eurostoxx 50 is too low and this should be corrected," warns Gastaldy and Valerie, an analyst at Day By Day graphic.

"The implied volatilities have been very quiet in recent months, despite the intense agitation of the equity markets. Intermarket arbitrage operations are clearly under way: between the CDS, bonds and equities, and especially so on the Eurostoxx50, "said she.

As for metals, an ounce of gold hit a new side of his most historic 1677.90 dollars in the wake of the conference of ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet.

The euro yield 1.42% against the greenback at 1.4139 dollar.Baradez Alexander points out, however the relative strength of the euro against the dollar, which manages to stay in a range between 1.4150 to 1.43 dollar down without crossing the threshold of $ 1.40.

"On the foreign exchange market, we see that there is a seller of wind shelters currencies (dollar and yen) for the benefit of currency risk. This could be a harbinger of a renewed appetite for risky assets and therefore support equity markets, "said he.

Company well established in France and in all the capitals of energy, Technip is the ideal partner to help us meet these major tenders, "said Keith Anderson, president of the offshore division of Iberdrola.

Areva was committed to the end of June to become the exclusive supplier of turbines powering offshore wind farms developed by Iberdrola.

Technip has in turn opened Monday the head of its operations offshore wind farms near Aberdeen, Scotland, joining other market players like Gamesa, Vestas and Siemens.

The new center will accompany the offshore wind projects in Britain and Europe, said Technip.