Egypt: why the revolt shakes markets - January 30, 2011

The shockwave of the Egyptian revolt shakes up Wall Street. The chaos seems to reign in the second economy in Africa is causing great uncertainty. Accordingly, investors are lying around.

• Scholarships Arab fall. Sunday, which is not a public holiday in Muslim countries of the Arabian Peninsula, financial markets are in the red. The Dubai Financial Market lost 4.32%, that of 2.95% over Qatar, Abu Dhabi 3.68% and 1.76% of Kuwait. Riyadh, which ended Saturday night in 6.43% drop, recovered some of its losses (2.47%).

"On Saturday, the fall of the stock market in Riyadh has erased all the gains since mid-October," says Paul Gamble, Jadwa Investment."The turmoil will not affect regional economic prospects or those of Saudi companies, but they have undermined confidence, particularly that of foreign investors." Investors in the Kingdom have also suffered: they hold $ 126 million market Egyptian.

• Fears over the Suez Canal are the flaming oil prices. Brent crude ended the day higher Friday, brushing the symbolic 100 dollars to 99 dollars. The markets are worried because Egypt, which produces little black gold, occupies a strategic position on the oil route between the Arabian Peninsula and the western countries. It controls the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline (Sumed). About three billion barrels pass through these two paths, according to analysts at Societe Generale.They deemed unlikely a paramilitary attack against these facilities instant payday loan lenders. They believe however that a strike could affect tanker traffic.

"The closure of the channel lengthen the 10-day tanker trip toward North America, and 18 days to Europe," said specialists from JP Morgan. Developed countries have sufficient reserves to cope with these setbacks. But put them to work would automatically lead to higher oil prices, they said.

JP Morgan analysts fear that in the longer term, "the troubles are spreading across the Middle East producing countries of North Africa, which would have great impact on the stock market and confidence," noted Analysts at JP Morgan.A sustained increase of 10% in oil prices may cut off the global growth of 0.25% over the quarter.

• Tanks Cairo pound the floor on Wall Street. On Friday, the index feature of American values, the S & P 500 experienced its sharpest decline since August. Concerns about rising interest rates in Europe have dragged down the market share in early trading. But analysts wrote JP Morgan, "the floor was frankly collapsed when the news came out of an escalating protest in Egypt." It was enough for investors to rush to sell. Movement "that sought for some time good excuse to go off," added the experts the U.S. institution.

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The State Council dismisses the solar - January 29, 2011

Power projects and large solar photovoltaic systems on roofs remain suspended until March 9, as requested by the government. The approximately eighty companies solar and association without borders ecology grouped under the collective "Hands off my panel" did not in fact been successful with the State Council. The judge Philip Martin on Friday rejected their petition calling for the suspension of three-month moratorium declared on December 9 by the government.

Reason Referee: no emergency justified to suspend the moratorium. The judge took "into account the public interest associated with reviewing the system of incentives to produce solar electricity," the statement said the State Council.Multiannual programming set a target of 5400 megawatts (MW) of installed photovoltaic end of 2020, said the State Council. Yet in late 2010, the "queue" of projects submitted by producers (excluding individuals) was a 5375 MW capacity. The supreme administrative court invokes the extra support to solar for the consumer but "without advancing any numbers," says Alexandre Faro, lawyer of several applicants.

Consultation at Bercy

The judge nevertheless acknowledges "that the decree could lead to the companies involved economic harm." "I invested about 200 000 euros in roofing projects in agriculture", explained last week, outside the hearing of the State Council, Charles-Louis Utruy, founder of the micro-enterprise Fransola payday loan lenders.The freezing of the queue by the government, "it is a year of work in the trash and all that money lost staff.

The profession was divided on whether to sue the decree. "We do not wish to participate in this action because we considered unproductive: he plunges into the profession even more uncertainty," says Andre Antolini, president of the Renewable Energy Association (SER). Meanwhile, the consultation meetings are linked to Bercy."Not everything is written," the president trusts the SER.

Thierry Lepercq, president of Solairedirect, like many of his colleagues, however, believes that "the government's intentions leave no room for discussion: lower prices and volumes for smaller plants, lower rates and also opening bidding for large installations. "The tender squeeze smaller players like us," says Charles-Louis Utruy.

And if the annual cap of 500 MW planned by the government is maintained, many firms will abandon the sun provides me Faro.The latter looks certain customers compensatory remedies ErDF cons (a subsidiary of EDF, which bought the photovoltaic current), ahead of the commercial courts, as entering the queue, producers received a guarantee of the purchase price before that the decree of December 9 cancel their projects.

The new rules are expected in mid-February.

CGT: premature departure of Bernard Thibault for - January 27, 2011

The leader of the CGT would be "tired". According to reports on Thursday morning Parisien – Aujourd'hui en France, Bernard Thibault, head of the union confederation since 1999, decided to leave the ship. He had already informed, on 21 and December 22, his closest aides of his decision not to overcome the three-year term which was given in 2009. "I'm leaving at the end of the year, so that my successor is in place before the presidential elections," reports the newspaper a part of the CGT.

Since his re-election to Congress in Nantes comfortable, the difficulties faced union leader have indeed multiplied.The failure of the battle of the CGT against the pension reform, the union's internal difficulties, the decline in weight in the union strongholds such as RATP, EDF or My Computer, the difficulty to position itself politically before the 2012 election , not to mention personal problems: Many factors seem to have converged to decide Bernard Thibault to leave office prematurely cheap credit report.

To succeed him, it is decided to promote the candidacy of a woman. "He always said," confirms a close in the "Parisien, Aujourd'hui en France". His choice would have finally settled on Nadine Prigent, nurse and secretary general of the CGT Health. Other possible contenders remain, however, as Frederic Imbrecht, head of the federation mines and energy.

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Savings Plan dwelling upgraded from 1 March - January 26, 2011

In 2011, many rules are changing in real estate. Besides the introduction of a new zero-interest loan and a Scellier recast the terms of the Plan Epargne Logement (PEL) will be upgraded from 1 March. The decree on the reform of the financial investment has been popular previously published this Tuesday morning in the Journal Officiel. The stated objective of the Ministry of Economy is to "modernize and enhance its attractiveness for the consumer, mainly by boosting its earnings.

With a salary remained unchanged at 2.5% since 2003 and access to mortgage rates higher than the market, the ELP was losing ground among investors since 2004. However, this investment allows them to be a personal contribution to a property purchase, according to its original purpose to promote homeownership.It also represents an important financial resource for banks, which contributes to the funding of loans. According to the statement released Tuesday by Christine Lagarde, outstanding ELP now represents 23% of mortgages. Yet this investment is in decline since 2005.

A higher rate of 0.4 points on average

The method of calculating the remuneration of the ELP will be changed for all accounts opened from 1 March quick payday loan. Previously set by the government, the applicable rate will now be recalculated each year based on market interest rates. A floor rate, at 2.5%, gives an advantage compared to PEL savings accounts for which no minimum payment is expected."With the proposed formula rate ELP would have been higher each year on average from 0.4 points to what he has been over the last ten years," argues Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

In contrast, mortgage rates which gives access ELP is not lowered, and will remain unchanged at 4.2% minimum. A rate higher than those charged by banks currently, the average granted last November for a 15-year loan amounting to 3.22%, a historic low. But the government expects the next rate hike to reinforce the advantage of the ELP. Another pitfall for the consumer: the taxation of investment will be slightly hardened, with a collection of social contributions made each year, when he intervened before the end of ten years. A tax system "more legible to the consumer," according to Christine Lagarde.

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The Asian market mixed - January 24, 2011

The Tokyo Stock Exchange remained slightly higher throughout the session as investors again acclaimed exporting companies and related natural resources. The Nikkei index has gained 0.69% closing at 10,345.11 points, and the Topix broader, took 0.69% to 917.18 points also.

In China, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong plaice 0.34% to 23,795.79 points and that of Shanghai, CSI, down more frankly of 0.86% to 2957.71 points. While Chinese President Hu Jintao was visiting Washington last week, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said on CNN that "China may revalue its currency this year without this being regarded as a failure in Beijing vis-à-vis the international community cash advance payday loan. "Accusing the Chinese exchange rate policy to be responsible for the huge trade deficit the United States, Washington continues to urge Beijing to move faster appreciation of the yuan began in June, when Chinese authorities decided to allow their currencies to float a little more freely. Moreover, China also plans to extend its restrictions in purchasing real estate, a market that is growing too fast, according to reports from China Daily Jounal.

Scholarships uncoordinated

The situation remains tense in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Exchange was closed. Photo credits: MUNIR UZ ZAMAN / AFP

The French have shunned the Livret A in 2010 - January 22, 2011

The French have abandoned their preferred placement in 2010. Collection recorded last year by the Caisse des Depots et Consignations (CDC), representing a significant decrease from 2009, to 7.9 billion euros filed against 16.5 billion the previous year. A significant decline, mainly due to two factors.

The first is the record amount collected in 2009 due to the introduction of competition in the distribution of savings product. With a rate of 4% while the French had rushed on that investment safe, even opening some illegally – several books in different banks. The closure of some of these accounts had already contributed to the end of 2009, a drop of amounts collected.Evidence that 2009 was exceptional, the funds collected in 2008 were actually much lower than in 2009, to 10.6 billion euros.

The second factor is the weakness of the remuneration of the booklet A during the last year. She fell in the first months of 2010 to a record low 1.25% – below inflation. Clearly, holding a booklet giving rise to a negative return. If the acceleration of inflation induced a revaluation rate of return on investment on 1 August 2008 to 1.75%, this incentive has not been sufficient to compensate for the meager deposits of the first month of the year. In December, the deposits were again higher than withdrawals, from 1.33 billion euros. A booklet but nevertheless continues to suffer from competition from other investments, such as life insurance, paid in 2010 around 4%.

The legacy weighs heavily in the composition of wealth - January 20, 2011

We understand that the idea of taxing the sale of a principal residence raises outcry in France. For heritage of French people – estimated at 10,000 billion – is 60% real estate, according to a Treasury study presented Tuesday night to members. And the main home alone represents 80% of household real estate holdings. This is the very strong house price growth (111% in 10 years) who explains that the French have seen their total assets more than doubled in ten years.

The other investment of the French flagship, is life insurance. She picks up alone 40% of household financial assets. 1.36 trillion euros are stored!

More households heritage, the more they diversify. Typically, the French bit off putting their savings on tax-free accounts.The middle classes are investing in their primary residence and life insurance. As for better-off households, they are going more toward stocks and bonds, but without abandoning the life insurance and investing in real estate. Thus 80% of shares and bonds are held by the 10% richest households payday loans. Very affluent homes, in addition, holding two-thirds of life insurance and real estate off primary residence. This diversification pays off because equities have a higher yield. Result, 10% of households living in better capture 60% of income from assets when they have "only" 30% of total wealth.

We see the holding of assets remains highly unequal. And income does not explain everything. "Two thirds of households in the last installment of income tax do not pay ISF" says one at Bercy.Further evidence of this phenomenon, the 10% richest in terms of revenue capture 30% of total wealth, while the 10% richest in terms of assets capture 50% of total wealth. In fact, nearly one third of the estate of a typical household 50 years it has been transmitted by inheritance and gift taxes.

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Reinvigorated Wall Street, Apple heckled - January 19, 2011

U.S. stock markets, which were closed Monday for the "Martin Luther King Day, is back on their feet on Tuesday. After opening lower, impacted by Apple and banking stocks, led Citigroup, Wall Street closed higher. The Dow Jones gained 0.44% and the Nasdaq is 0.36%.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro rose and traded around 1.3380 dollars against 1.3294 late Tuesday Monday night, supported by the prospect of the establishment of a European global financial solidarity.

On the macroeconomic front, the rise in industrial activity in the New York region accelerated in January, according to the index "Empire State" which climbed to 11.9 against 9.9 in December.

Foreign investors increased their purchases of U.S. securities in November, but the bulk of the purchases came from private and non-central bank said Tuesday the U.S. Treasury Department.

The United States in November attracted capital flows net long-term 85.1 billion, after $ 28.9 billion in October.

Steve Jobs and Apple misses the stock market unscrews

Apple: -2.25% to 340.63 dollars

The side of values, Apple is changing sharply down on Tuesday. Steve Jobs, who is 55 years, announced Monday a new sick leave, while U.S. markets were closed without giving a likely date of return, contrary to what had happened during his previous arrest. This is the second in two years – he had been away for six months in January 2009 for a liver transplant – and the third since 2004.

After the close of Wall Street, Apple should announce its quarterly results. For the first fiscal quarter ended in late December, Wall Street expects a turnover increase of over 50% and over 24 billion, driven by sales associated with Christmas and New year. Analysts also expect earnings per share of $ 5.40.

Citigroup takes a slap in Stock

This week will be shortened on Wall Street marked by the publication of numerous corporate earnings. For this new burst the technology and financial sectors will take the spotlight.

Citigroup: -6.43% to $ 4.80

Indeed, besides Apple, Citigroup, Western Digital must publish their accounts today. The U.S. bank drop 4.39% to 4.91 dollars.

Ebay, Bank of New York, Goldman Sachs, State Street and Wells Fargo tomorrow.AMD, Rockwell Collins will continue the ball Thursday and Bank of Ameriac, General Electric and Schulmberger Friday payday loans.

Goldman Sachs: -0.18% to 174.68 dollars

In banking, Goldman Sachs announced Monday that it excluded the U.S. private equity fundraising on Facebook. Several elements of the financial group had been disclosed by the press in recent days.

Boeing: 3.43% to 72.47 dollars

For its part, Boeing has announced that its future long-haul 787 Dreamliner had resumed flights to obtain the approval of regulators in the United States.

Comcast: 0.26% to 22.78 dollars

Moreover, according to the Wall Street Journal, U.S. authorities are about to give the green light to the sale of NBC Universal, a subsidiary of General Electric and Vivendi, the cable operator Comcast.

AIG: -1.54% to 53.17 dollars

Also note, the U.S. Treasury announced Friday that the Federal Government had increased its share in the capital of the insurer AIG to 92%, and planned to leave the group over time, "in depending on market conditions. " The stabilization of the group has mobilized a total of nearly $ 180 billion of public funds. According to what was expected, AIG paid the $ 47 billion it owed to the central bank, said the Treasury.

BP: -0.04% to 49.23 dollars

Always on the side of values, the British giant BP, also listed on Wall Street and the Russian company Rosneft have signed an unprecedented agreement for the exploitation of oil in the Arctic, described as "historic" by both partners.This strategic alliance, announced Friday night, can be considered the first real good news for BP since the explosion in April of the platform Deepwater Horizon and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, whose consequences have a time threatened its survival.

News Corp.: 1.41% to 14.37 dollars

Also note, Rupert Murdoch would like to redeem his group News Corp's British production company Shine Group, founded by his daughter Elizabeth, to enable the latter to join the leadership of the media giant, said this weekend the Wall Street Journal .

Hewlett-Packard 0.19% to 46.34 dollars

Moreover, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) is finalizing a strategic plan for the world's number one computer, planning to put more emphasis on more profitable activities of the group, including software, reported Friday Wall Street Journal.

The hard freeze of the assets of Ben Ali - January 17, 2011

Those close to the Tunisian president ousted in the viewfinder are the cell of French anti-money laundering Tracfin. Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday that Paris had "taken steps to ensure that suspicious financial transactions involving assets Tunisians in France are administratively blocked".

Clearly, the French government has asked investigators to Tracfin "exercise particular vigilance" and launch "administrative obstacles" if necessary. The goal: that the money from alleged bribes bribes and plunder placed in France can not be evacuated to greener pastures by families fleeing the President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali and his wife Leila Ben Ali Trabelsi.Ben Ali's fortune is estimated at 5 billion euros by the U.S. magazine Forbes.

"Measures of vigilance"

Sunday, January 16, Tracfin published on its website a note to the professionals. The cell calls them "to be applied with particular attention to measures of vigilance." In case of suspicious movements, Tracfin may in a first step, "block [funds] for 48 hours and then enter a court," said Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde. "Very often what happens in difficult situations like this, in case of change and transition plan."

Beyond these 48 hours, only a court or international sanctions can lead to the freezing of assets suspected.Bercy list three types of sanctions: those imposed by the United Nations; those established by the European Union and those from French justice.

Problem, notes Daniel Lebegue, president of Transparency International France, "if assets are blocked for 48 hours and if not followed a court decision, the Tunisian complained they gather their ill-gotten money?" S ' asked the head of the NGO fast cash loans.

"Avoid evaporation sums"

Transparency International and the NGO will therefore Sherpa complaint Tuesday morning for a court intervention as a conservatory-type decision to freeze assets. Before a return of funds to Tunisia. "We must absolutely avoid evaporation of money to the Middle East and tax havens," insists Daniele Lebègue.The two associations have already led to the complaint in France against three African heads of state, Ali Bongo (Gabon), Denis Sassou Nguesso (Congo-Brazzaville) and Teodoro Obiang (Equatorial Guinea) in the case known as " ill-gotten gains. "

The clan of Ben Ali and Trabelsi, who has residences in France, probably did not put all your eggs in one basket. "The Trabelsi have invested heavily in Dubai, especially in real estate," says Catherine Graciet, journalist and author of the regent of Carthage, "an investigation into the woman's ex-president. "Ben Ali recently traveled to Argentina and took care of his cancer in Malta, which suggests that there is located a part of his fortune." Circles of Tunisian exile in Paris also buzzing with rumors of investments in Switzerland and Monaco.Many places where the freezing of assets is not a practice still widespread.

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For the IMF, mistrust persists in Europe - January 15, 2011

Despite a marked improvement in the European financial environment, and the European idea supported by the Belgian government to double the amount of the plan to help struggling countries, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Europe is still struggling to reassure investors.

While Portugal, Spain and Italy have passed their first test of the year and bonds attracted investors, three members of the IMF officials warn against any optimism démesuré.Naoyuki Shinohara, vice- Director General of the International Monetary Fund, has conceded that "today, it appears that the contagion of the crisis of European debt to other countries remains limited," adding that "spreads between bonds of State Greek and Irish and those of Germany are still very high, despite the European rescue plan. "This is shown, according to the Economist, that "the market skepticism about the ability of states to the euro zone to contain their debt has not disappeared."

The former member of the Japanese Ministry of Finance has concluded that "it is important that states reduce their budget deficits while continuing to pursue structural measures to boost growth and reduce unemployment."

In response to statements by the IMF, the euro fell against the dollar after rising continuously for five days. The single currency is trading Friday at $ 1.33 against the euro.

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