Crucial week for banks

The week promises to open high risk for the European banking sector in general and French institutions in particular. Literally slaughtered on the stock market since the beginning of the summer, the banks are preparing to face new headwinds. While the Europeans this week to finalize the second bailout of Greece, the rating agency Moody's might, according to some rumors, lower the credit rating of three French banks, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and Societe Generale. June 15, the agency had placed under "surveillance" for three months, with "negative outlook" because of their exposure to Greece. If she sticks to what she had said before the summer, Moody's lowered by one notch notes BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole and two notches that of Societe Generale.During the weekend, Moody's and the three banks involved have declined to make any comment.

The Perfect Storm market, this change of note, even anticipated, will be a blow to those banks seeking to reassure investors about their ability to refinance. The climate is harmful: the action of Societe Generale, the most attacked by the markets, has lost 56% since January 1, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole and 37%, 43%. The European banking index at the same time dropped by 35%.

Troika in Athens

The tension is escalated Friday when the very orthodox chief economist at the European Central Bank (ECB), the German Jürgen Stark, resigned to show his disagreement with the assistance provided by the Mint of the fragile the euro area, including Italy and Spain, as a redemption of their bonds on the market.To make matters worse, banks are reluctant to lend to each other. Deposits from day to day banking in the euro area with the European Central Bank (ECB) are at record levels.

This week, representatives of the troika (EU, IMF and ECB), to oversee the accounts of Greece, it will return. They had left unexpectedly in early September, saying that Athens had not fulfilled its promises in terms of privatization and economic reforms. The Greek government has given additional pledges Sunday and EU Commissioner Olli Rehn said he was confident in the prospect of an agreement by the end of the month. Time is short indeed: Greece is in dire need of approval from the troika to receive a new tranche of EUR 8 billion taken from the first aid plan in 2010. A refusal would mean the default.Banks that have lent money, would suffer, while heavy losses.

In this context, the debate rages about whether European banks, which hold their balance sheets in packages of loans to countries in fragile states in the euro area are adequately capitalized.

August 27, Christine Lagarde, the executive director of the IMF, had felt it was "urgent" that the European financial institutions reinforce with new capital. Saturday, it reduced his remarks, adding that the figure of 200 billion euro recapitalization needs of European banks was only a preliminary estimate "under discussion" …

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SNCF tariffs: "We want more transparency"

A new decree, issued July 31, should allow the station not to set an annual calendar of dates or normal movement of its trains. The National Federation of Transport Users (FNAUT) will be consulted as the set of consumer groups before the implementation of new measures. Its president, Jean Sivardière explains the consequences of their introduction.

Lefigaro.fr – The decree abolishing the concept of peak or normal was claimed by the SNCF. What benefit the operator does he draw?

Jean Sivardière – SNCF wants more freedom in setting its prices to meet more of its trains reservation is to say mainly the TGV, but also trains Lunéa (night train, Ed) and trains Téoz (Paris-Clermont-Ferrand, Paris-Toulouse and Bordeaux-Nice, Ed).The TER intercity, Coral, are not affected. The absence of a predetermined schedule as it is today will allow it to adjust its prices more freely according to demand and events. This is the generalization of "yield management" pricing based on supply and demand. The benefit for the station is to be better armed against competition from airplanes, cars and eventually other train operators who will come with the opening of the network under EU regulations.

The station will therefore be free to increase prices …

Yes, when demand will be strong. But it can also reduce some of the trains filled to attract travelers. We do not reject the principle of the decree. Unlike other associations, we try to assess the medium-term effects.Of course, they will be positive for the station, but we believe that if the station is in better financial health, the traveler found there too. If the operator performs better trains, the French users should benefit from a tariff acceptable. In Germany, where pricing rules are much more rigid, the prices are also higher.

Is there not a risk of soaring prices?

The decree provides that the station will make public the amount of the highest rates and that of the lowest rate charged instant payday loan lenders. But we also know that the operator is a state within a state and it is difficult to impose such measures. We have no evidence that the average tariff will not increase, but we nevertheless believe that a surge would mean a loss of customers, and would therefore be against-productive.What we regret is the new benchmark loss arising from the removal of the schedule of dates for users already lost to the variety of tariffs. When we are received by the Advisory Committee of the SNCF, for example, we will request the publication of the quota of seats at reduced rates. Currently, we are not aware of this number. We need more transparency so that travelers know what they pay for. For several years, we also ask for the maintenance of lines parallel to the TGV Corail. This would create a kind of low-cost rail. This line exists in the Rhone Valley. They work very well and does not infect clients of the TGV.

New User Reviews

A survey by the Consumers' Association CLCV last spring and published Monday in Le Parisien, Aujourd'hui en France testifies to the annoyance of SNCF customers. Chief among complaints: the pricing policy. Nearly 90% of 570 respondents believe that prices are expensive or too expensive. According to a study by Boston Consulting Group, the average price per mile has actually increased by 26.4% between 2002 and 2009, twice as much as inflation. Travelers also denounce the complexity of the fee schedule. Another study conducted by the association CLCV also noted between the discount cards, and offers Prem's and other iDTGV, it was possible to find twenty different prices for the same seat.Finally, the survey raises the issue of timeliness because nearly half of respondents say they regularly experience delays … and poorly compensated. 63.9% of passenger demand and to be systematically compensated for any delays exceeding 30 minutes.

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The concern again lead the CAC 40

Friday promises to be as black as the night before at the Paris Bourse. The CAC 40 was launched on the day down 0.37% to 3064.49 points. But around 9:40, the drop is accelerating: the Paris index unscrewed from 3.44% to 2970.13 points, releasing the threshold of 3000 points. London and Frankfurt lost respectively 1.10% and 1.36%. 2.19% loose Madrid, Milan were down 2.14% and 1.76% in Zurich.

Operators are struggling to recover from their emotions after the new European stock markets plummeting and U.S. Thursday. This morning, Asian stock market sent negative signals with indices in very sharp drop. This bad mood due to a surge in concern about the state of the global economy, reinforced by poor indicators of the Atlantic.Bad index measuring the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing activity in the region, lower sales of existing homes in July, new jobless claims rising again during the second week of August … All signs of the apparent stagnation of growth in the United States.

Concerns about U.S. growth fears add to the debt crisis in Europe, European banks are the first to bear the brunt. In its Thursday edition, The Wall Street Journal reported on fears the U.S. Federal Reserve on the liquidity of European banks. And for the first time since February, the European Central Bank (ECB) has given a major dollar loan to a European bank, whose identity was not revealed.An action that reinforces doubts about the ability of banks to refinance.

Morgan Stanley has added his two cents to panic, explaining that she perceived the United States and Europe as "dangerously close to recession." The President of the European Union, Herman van Rompuy, tried Thursday to calm the mind by ensuring that there was "no new recession" in sight. And this morning, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed that the U.S. economy was "resilient". In vain.

"The bears are back"

"The bears (pessimistic players, ie) are back in force that night, after disappointing U.S. economic indicators and renewed fears about the stability of European banks, which prompted investors to push the button sales," said Ben Potter, an analyst at IG Markets in Australia."There seems to be getting ready for a weekend very ugly, with a market dominated once again by fear and panic," he added.

Gold reached a new record Friday morning in Asia, to 1,837.50 dollars per ounce, due to the concern. And oil, which fell 6% in New York yesterday, continues to fall in morning trading. A barrel of "light sweet crude" for September delivery lost 1.69 dollars to 80.69 dollars while that of Brent North Sea crude for October delivery gave 68 cents to 106.31 dollars.

No significant indicator that could reverse the trend, are expected on Friday.

Values ​​to follow

The banking sector

European financial stocks, which had been rolled by a renewed tensions in the interbank market and concerns about the short-term refinancing of banks are still misguided.BNP Paribas (-3.22% to 33.11 dollars), Natixis (-2.90% to 2.81 dollars), Credit Agricole (-2.70% to 6.06 euros), Société Générale (-2, 69% to 21.02 dollars) and AXA (-0.56% to 10.28 euros) are in the red.

Danone: -1.75% to 46.05 euros

Nestlé, the group became a favorite activity for infant formula, Wyeth, Pfizer subsidiary, valued at approximately ten billion dollars (seven billion euros), officials said a source familiar with the bank.

Technip: -3.67% to 57.77 euros

The French engineering group said it had received a letter of intent on the part of the American oil company Anadarko for the construction of an offshore platform for the Gulf of Mexico.

The government is mobilizing to the development of telework

Working from home one or two days a week: an impossible dream for most of the French, a reality for many Americans or Scandinavians. While telecommuting is over 30% in Finland, Sweden or the United States, it reaches 18% on average in Europe, it lags behind true in France with a rate of 9%.

However, telework is now greatly facilitated by the development of broadband networks and the boom in smartphones. But the benefits are many, for the employee, but also for businesses and the community. For the employee, it reduces stress, travel time, can increase efficiency and to better balance professional and personal life. For the company, it is a source of local savings and productivity gains.It is also an element of flexibility because it can help extend the service to customers, allowing more time slots adapted to their needs. Finally, for the community, promotes telework planning, reduced emissions of greenhouse gas emissions and relieving congestion. Thus, according to estimates, telecommuting one day a week could reduce by 5% carbon emissions.

Main obstacle: the manager

With this in mind, Eric Besson, Minister of Industry, is determined to eliminate the backlog of France. Pragmatic, he launched a study on the practice of telework in large companies. The results of this study will be published later this year.Conducted by the consulting firm Greenworking, this study aims to identify best practices and identify key success factors to foster the spread of teleworking in France. More than a dozen major companies have already agreed to participate in the study.

In the public sector, negotiations on telework in 2011. In the private sector, a dozen agreements were signed last year in large groups in the CAC 40. Based on volunteering, telework arrangements have been set up at Renault, Alcatel-Lucent, Dassault Systems, EDF, France Telecom and Microsoft. Axa, which has 76 telecommuters, the goal is to move to 200 people by the end of 2012.

But the brakes remain. Rather than legal, they are primarily cultural.Some employees are more justification in their work attendance and their results. But it is mainly the managers who are often opposed, fearing the loss of part of their power and status … Even if, ultimately, the overall results of their teams are improved.

Sony will reopen Wednesday its PlayStation Network in Japan

Sony will begin a new chapter Wednesday. Services PlayStation Network (PSN) for online games, and Qriocity for video, will reopen Wednesday in Japan. This is the last country in which Sony has to return to work "normal". Mid-June, the NSP has opened in South Korea and Hong Kong. The group was waiting for the approval of the "authorities" after hackers suffered since early April that forced him to interrupt his service. "We will restore the entire PSN as soon as possible, as soon as the national authorities will be comfortable with the protections we have put in place," explained the beginning of June, Le Figaro, Kaz Hirai, who became president last week Sony games division. He left his position as general manager Andrew House, Welsh origin, like Howard Stringer, the chairman of the Sony Group.

The matter is serious.More than 100 million accounts were hacked Sony, whose 77 million just for the PSN. The data on 23 million credit cards in use were recovered by "hackers" Pirates of the Internet. The group's data center in Tokyo, located in San Diego, has been more than a dozen attacks.

The origin of piracy, according to Kaz Hirai spoke with Le Figaro, at the show for video games? "I do not know who the pirates who want the Sony group as a whole. Individuals or groups of "hackers" are attacking us to tell the world that they were able to pass our security checkpoints. We have suffered denial of service from a group of hackers known as Anonymous, related to the fact that we have tried to protect the intellectual property of the PlayStation 3. But it does not seem that there is a link between the group Anonymous and piracy.It does not appear that there is an increase in fraud since the breach in the PSN. We have not been contacted by consumers who have complained of the misuse of their personal information. Or personal data were not stolen, the target of hackers did not use the information, but to tell the world that the FBI, Sony or another company were attacked. "

The investigation is ongoing. The group of pirates "Lulz Security", which has decided to disband, has posted online more than 2 million customer names from Sony. One of its alleged members was recently arrested by Scotland Yard.

Faced with these attacks, Sony has taken in May, a provision of 14 billion yen (120 million euros). This amount should be reassessed after the latest attacks? "No, says Kaz Hirai.The biggest potential risk was the breach of the PlayStation Network. Thus, the estimate is based on the attack. But we are not sure what information is taken or the potential misuse of data could be made pirated. Our service was closed and we made an offer to return to clients who have returned over the network online. That's why we made this estimate. "

The injury picture is not yet rated. But Sony is comforted by explaining that "customer loyalty is incredible." For "where we have restored the PSN service, 90% of the activity returned to normal. This is the case in the United States and in most countries where we have restored. Less than 1% of customers ask to close their account on PSN. That's why we are very grateful to them.We can not thank them enough. This incident would not have happened, "admits the president of the division games.

The Ideal City in 2050

Atlanta Barcelona instead. That is the conclusion from the report today entitled "Cities of the future, the future of cities." Barcelona is 26 times less extent that Atlanta, which reduces transportation and therefore energy consumption. "In Barcelona we consume ten times less energy than Atlanta," it said in the report, which draws the portrait of the ideal city by 2050. A city that is sure to play the card of density but without falling into the excesses of Mexico, a "monstruopole" of 22 million people suffocated by its size, which has the largest slum in the world.

To avoid this shift, Shanghai with 17 million inhabitants has a plan: develop nearby cities to ensure that services are not concentrated only in the city world fast payday loans. Another challenge: finding the right level of decision in these cities more and more large.In Toronto, for example, the five municipalities that made up this megalopolis since the early twentieth century were merged in 1995 to save money while making governance more effective. A political choice that has not been successful: the "New Toronto" was still recruited 3,500 people for its operation. And some red tape remains in decision-making.

Apple after the iPhone and iPad, the revolution icloud

Monday night, Steve Jobs must have Apple's service icloud. Using a deal with record companies, the Cupertino company will upgrade its online music service iTunes. Customers can purchase their music from Apple's online store and listen to their wishes, where they are. The service called "cloud computing, or cloud computing, grow fast. This is a new revolution in computing. It is to connect to the Internet to access data and applications. Individuals no longer need to store on their PC or hard drive at home, and businesses no longer need to invest in high-performance computers.

The computer then used to open the application as a water faucet or turn on a light.Apple already offers a first service "cloud" to synchronize the network, contacts, emails and diary, from an iPhone or an iPad. The MobileMe service is very expensive (99 dollars or 79 euros per year from France).

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic.

Amazon has shown the way

Google will launch this summer the free operating system for PCs, Chrome OS, designed and filmed for the cloud. "The biggest users of cloud services are already without knowing it, individuals using tools such as Gmail or Google pay services data storage from Amazon," said Lew Tucker, Director Technical cloud at Cisco.With his offensive, Apple created a new front against Google, Amazon and Microsoft.

One of the largest global provider of cloud services Amazon is the world leader in cultural services in line with an estimated turnover in this area at one billion dollars in 2010. The original idea of ​​the champion of e-commerce, which has expanded its services to music storage for individuals, was to lease excess capacity of its own "farms" of computers. "It comes down to your apartment when it is empty during the workday and when you go on vacation," says one expert. All the giants of the Web follow the lead of Amazon. In economic terms, the marginal cost is low for providers of computing power and storage capacity low interest rate personal loans. The additional revenue generated almost as much profit.For ten years, computer manufacturers, software publishers and computer services companies dream of a paradigm shift.

56 billion market

With the development of the Internet and especially because of the economic crisis, companies have converted to cloud computing. "After years of germination, cloud computing takes off. Partly for macroeconomic reasons. The crisis led all organizations to scrutinize their spending. In this context, a solution which can offer more for less is difficult to ignore, "says Ben Pring, vice president of research firm Gartner. For now, most of the market is done by software. The turnover of the software on demand is estimated around $ 11.7 billion in 2010 by Forrester Research. Today, 60% of worldwide turnover is made in the United States.But the phenomenon should spread to other countries. By 2020, the worldwide market will reach $ 56 billion, says Forrester Research.

With about 3 million business customers worldwide including one million in Europe, Google makes between 500 million and $ 1 billion in sales in the cloud. Finally, Microsoft will invest 90% of its budget on R & D in the cloud this year, said Jean-Philippe Courtois, senior vice president of Microsoft. But its sales in the area is estimated at "several hundred million dollars a year," admits a group leader. Each offers its solution. IBM, HP, Dell, Microsoft and Oracle want to use huge "farms" of servers to store and rent computing power to their customers. To this end, HP and Dell have acquired companies in the storage and data virtualization, in order to compete with VMware, a subsidiary of EMC.The market also attracts telecom giants like Cisco, Ericsson and Huawei, and specific actors, such as Akamai, Rackspace Hosting or Salesforce.

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Portugal: two aid plans exist

What is the real plan of assistance to Portugal? Since Friday, the question is on everyone's lips in the country. Doubts have been launched by the third television station in the country, Sic, who spoke of the existence of two different versions of the plan signed by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the Socialist government resigning.

Thus, a first version of the document, signed May 3 by the Socialist government after talks with the troika (EU, IMF, ECB), has been submitted for approval to the two main opposition parties, the PSD (center right) and CDS (right). But it is another version of the text, including changes in schedule, which was eventually signed officially by the government on May 17 in Brussels at a meeting of EU finance ministers.

A surprise for the opposition

This revelation has caused controversy in the country, forcing the Ministry of Finance to explain. In a memo to reporters, he confirmed the existence of "ad hoc adjustments" between "the draft memorandum of agreement" developed in Lisbon and "the final version signed by the Ministry of Finance, the Governor of the Bank Portugal and the European Commission on May 17 payday loan.

Similarly, the outgoing Prime Minister Jose Socrates said the parties had signed "two documents, one with the European Commission, the other with the IMF, and the final text did the" make compatible . But for its part, the president of PSD, Pedro Passos Coelho says "not having been informed of these differences," which he said "are not just small adjustments."

For the socialist Jose Socrates, this mess falls at the worst time. The Prime Minister, who resigned in March following the rejection by parliament of its austerity program, is indeed a candidate to succeed himself for early parliamentary elections on 5 June. This Saturday, surveys conducted for the newspaper Publico and Expresso weekly show that PSD collects between 33.9 and 35.8% of the vote, beating the Socialist Party, credited with 32.3 to 34.1% of voice. CDS (right) remains in third place with 11.3 to 13.4% of the vote.

(With Agencies)

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DSK's arrest revives the debt crisis in Europe

While the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was charged with attempted rape and arrested in the U.S. yesterday as investors worried about the turn that will take the debt crisis in the euro area, especially in Greece. The indictment of Dominique Strauss-Kahn ally of Prime Minister of Greece George Papandreou, arrived in effect at the worst time for Athens. The IMF chief would have had to go in Berlin on Sunday and meet Angela Merkel to discuss a possible new aid to Greece, who won the spring of 2010 using a 110 billion euros, 30 billion from the IMF.This meeting was to take place on the eve of a meeting of the Eurogroup, the Monday night and Tuesday in Brussels, with the main discussions at the agenda of the financial problems that resurface Greece for several days and plaguing the markets, concerned about the risks of bankruptcy of Greece, and the possible contagion to other countries of the euro area.

The IMF will be well represented at the meeting of the Eurogroup, the deputy general manager of operations, Nemat Shafik, who was missionnée to attend. But analysts say the IMF's support to Greece is not as steadfast as Dominique Strauss-Kahn took the reins of the institution.Thus, Eswar Prasad, an analyst at the Brookings Institution told the antenna Bloomberg: "The assumption was that as Dominique Strauss-Kahn remained at the head of the IMF, the institution has not dropped in Europe and continue to support the continent. But the departure of Dominique Strauss-Kahn casts doubt on the intentions of the IMF. "

The IMF board will meet on Monday

Immediate consequence of these doubts, the euro fell to 1.4056 dollars in Tokyo Monday morning, 1.4108 against the dollar in New York Friday night. Against the yen, the European currency eased to 113.61 yen against 113.99 yen.However, shortly after after the opening of financial centers in Europe, the single currency has regained some color, displayed a very slight increase, to 1.4131 dollar.

For its part, the IMF has tried to be reassuring, saying yesterday that he remained "fully functional and operational," after stating that John Lipsky, IMF number two, will the Interim Director General of the institution the time required. The institution must meet its board of directors on Monday to decide the fate of its president at its head.Originally scheduled yesterday the appointment was postponed, the council waiting for new developments to make its decision in this situation that observers deemed "not simple".

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After Japan, the fall in industrial activity in France

Surprises in the industry. Production fell unexpectedly in March, activity in the manufacturing of picking up 1%, offsetting a rebound of the same magnitude in March, reports the INSEE. The industry as a whole fell 0.9% in March, after +0.5% in, February.

Virtually all sectors are in the red in March. The most dramatic decline is undoubtedly out of road car production, which lost 4.3% in one month, after 2% in February. The end of the scrapping partly explains the sudden stall. "The supplies seem to suffer from the Japanese crisis," also argues INSEE. The earthquake and tsunami, has paralyzed parts of the archipelago where factories subcontracting to automotive know-how.For example, the manufacturer PSA had to slow down its production in Europe because of a part for diesel engine developed exclusively on a Japanese site affected by the disaster. In addition, all transportation registers down -4.2% (against a rebound of 2.4% in February).

Also penalized by shortages of components due to events in Japan, activity in the electrical, electronic and information technology has continued to decline in March, to -1% from -0.9% in February. The agrifood sector displays a production decline of 0.4%. In this as in the automotive sector, "it remains unclear how much of the decline in production due to malfunction of the Japanese industry and what proportion by lower demand," says Dominique Barbet, an economist market at BNP Paribas.

The production of energy and water, on the other hand, fell 0.7% against 1.2% in February. In construction activity also declined by 0.3% after -0.2% in February.

Quarterly Progress

The poor figures of March are not enough to spoil the balance on the first quarter. From January to March, manufacturing output jumped 3% from late 2010, and the industry as a whole by 2.1%.

This increase is due to the boost given by the maturity of scrapping the transport sector (+3.1%) and the catch-up effect in refining (+21.3 %) after a fourth quarter of 2010 severely disrupted by strikes.

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