International & World Report

The case Goldman Sachs has taken the weekend of 24 and 25 April, a new political era with the publication by the U.S. Senate emails embarrassing for the bank, accused of having enriched in 2007 by betting on reduction of financial products that the bank had itself sometimes sold to its customers.

Larry Summers, the Obama economic adviser, declined Sunday to comment on the case Goldman Sachs, except to state: "This highlights what is at the heart of the president's vision (in the reform of finance) : the importance of transparency. "

Shocked that unpacking before the opening of public hearings Monday in Congress, Goldman Sachs categorically denies having violated the law.It maintains its role as an intermediary to serve institutional clients with differing views on the trend of the real estate market forced her to speculate for a fall on some securities to cover its risks also taken on other positions.

If they prove nothing of fraudulent e-mails made public Saturday by the Senate show that the bank on Wall Street reveled during the crisis, earn so much money, thanks to its derivatives betting on the fall of subprime housing market, while its own customers – including European banks – in poorer inverse operations.

"We will make a big pile of money!"

In July 2007, David Viniar, chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs, learning that the bank had already won $ 51 million by betting on falling subprime reacted in an email: "It gives an idea of what might happen to those who not a big short position. "

In October 2007, while the housing market plunge, a trader from the bank sent an email to his colleague: "It seems we will make a big pile of money!" The answer: "Yes, we are well positioned … In 2007, the bank led by Lloyd Blankfein has achieved record profits of 11.6 billion dollars that enabled him to pocket a bonus record of $ 67.9 million.During the same period, rival banks, including Morgan Stanley, suffered massive devaluation of their assets.

On Monday, Lloyd Blankfein and six of his colleagues were summoned to explain himself before the Senate subcommittee charged with investigating the financial crisis. Among them, Fabrice Tourre, a French 31 years, accused of fraud by the SEC, the gendarme of the U.S. financial markets. There is theoretically no link between the two investigations. But they are on the same subject: conflicts of interest of Goldman Sachs derivatives markets of mortgages.An email signed by Fabrice Tourre in 2007 shows his pessimism about the products he elaborated: "This market is completely dead and the poor little subprime borrowers will not be long." Fabrice Tourre will even be compared to Frankenstein for creating products that will turn against their owners, by precipitating the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble and the global financial crisis.

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While the markets were panicking on Thursday, Greece, she was idling. The whole public was mobilized for the fourth time since the beginning of the year against the austerity measures imposed by the Papandreou government to reduce the deficit. Boats and ferries were nailed to the port of Piraeus, judicial officials absent, schools closed and shows postponed and actors to doctors, the National Movement has won the Employee of the private sector such as tourism, some of which blocked access luxury hotels in the capital.

Acropolis closed

Many tourists found themselves before an Acropolis closed to the public as most national museums and historical sites. In the streets of Athens, the mobilization was less important. "We've had enough of disaster scenarios," says Emilio, a tax inspector."We see the men of the IMF over the reins every week, we announced that the borrowing rates explode and he'll have to tighten their belts still no teletrack payday loan. How far do we go? Today, people are angry, but they are afraid to go down the street, "he says. The government is trying to appear confident and delaying the application for EU funding, but he struggles to reassure the public. According to Petros Leantros, Institute of Work, "state failure" is no longer a taboo word. "Greece will have to suffer the actions of the IMF because it is unable to pay 13 billion euros per year (5% of GDP) to repay the loan rate debt," stresses said.Meanwhile, Greek authorities will therefore have to contain the anger of the street while trying to persuade European partners and markets their ability to clean up the country's economy.

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Atypical in French capitalism, Jacques de Chateauvieux is embarking on an unprecedented operation to a contractor of the Hexagon: IPO for a Chinese company on the Shanghai market. It includes a case rate the shipyards Sinopacific Shipbuilding, a small empire that makes $ 1.8 billion in sales and whose Jaccar, the personal holding company of Jacques de Chateauvieux holds 23.5% stake.

The public offerings of the company is in the pipeline since 2007 but it met with halting introductions imposed by Chinese authorities in the wake of the global financial crisis. Today, markets are reopened. And according to our information, Sinopacific just dropped his record updated in light of its 2009 accounts, the office of Constable of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.Objective: To be listed this year 2010.

Specifically, the transaction, advised by the Chinese bank Citic, will consist of a capital increase of around 15% to 18% of the capital. It would show a valuation of about $ 1.5 billion. Not bad for a company born in 2003, only the combination of Jacques de Chateauvieux and Simon Liang, a Chinese married to a French speaking, who was educated in France and the United States. The two men met when first proposed to sell in the supermarkets of the second Vietnamese – sold for an activity – the firs … plastic.

53 boats in one year

In 2003, the two entrepreneurs are going into the adventure by buying a naval shipyard privatization in Zhejiang province, then by taking another auction facility, in bankruptcy, in Jiangsu.The addition of the two sites account for the time employees and 1 500 pound … 3 boats a year. Eight years later, Sinopacific advanced to fifth place in the Chinese shipbuilding private and delivers two types of products: large commercial vessels, including bulk shipping, and smaller specialized boats in the offshore (gas, bitumen , …). 53 buildings are out of his workshops last year.

The explosive growth of Sinopia due to several factors. It is obviously correlated with that of China. Shareholders Sinopia also significantly expanded its capabilities.

Finally, Chinese shipyards have found a regular customer to the other great asset of Jacques de Chateauvieux, the Bourbon Group, which owns a quarter Jaccar capital. The world's leading specialist marine services, especially the oil companies, is leading a fleet of 369 ships.Last year, it accounted for a quarter of the order book Sinopia.

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"The benefit of Bourbon folded 30% in 2009

After closing in the red Thursday, almost all the CAC 40 woke up green this Friday at 4022.66 points, excited by the great increase of Wall Street. And closed, its momentum, to 4050.54 points, up 1.81%, exceeding its peak.

The London Stock Exchange and Frankfurt have also recovered well in the wake of Wall Street, buoyed by an upturn in consumer spending … The London FTSE 100 closed up 1.02% to 5770.98 points. The German Dax closed up 1.26% to 6249.70 points.

Thursday evening, the CAC 40 lost 1.20%. After rising almost continuously since February. The index had been weakened by fears of renewed solvency of Greece.

The lifeline of the ECB

Fears eased by the reassuring words of Jean-Claude Trichet, called "lifeline" by the Greek press.The President of the European Central Bank, rejected any risk of contagion to other countries, like Italy. He also assured that a default of Greece was "beyond question". In fact, the President of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, promised Friday that the Europeans are "ready to intervene if the Greeks call" and implement a plan of assistance involving the IMF, which Greece seems to want to avoid. French President Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed: the European Union is ready to activate its plan "at any time" bad credit payday advance.

These incentives have led to a rebound of the euro against the dollar above $ 1.34 this morning, then at 1.3385 dollars this afternoon. Volatility remains a must.After being stretched to 7.5%, the yield on loans to 10 year-old Greek, too, calmed a time, returning this morning to 7.2%. It said Thursday that Athens be able to reduce its deficit by 40% YoY in the first quarter.

The Greek situation remains fragile. The rating agency Fitch has lowered a few minutes from the end of Paris, noted the long-term debt of Greece, from BBB + to BBB-. This could well lead Greece to seek EU aid promised on March 25 …

According to strategists at BNP Paribas, investors await the issuance of treasury bills by Greece on Tuesday to assess the ability of countries to find core funding.Markets await the second season launch of results from U.S. companies, with Alcoa on Monday.

Side values, in Paris, the banks have been resilient, despite their exposure to Greece, to the tune of fifty billion euros. This does not raise "no particular concern, said Friday the governor of the Bank of France Christian Noyer, even if the French regulators monitor" closely "the situation.

The rising price of rubber has instead penalized cars, Michelin (-0.08%) signing the only declines the CAC 40.

Riding the wave of recovery in China, Australia offered a further rise in borrowing costs to prevent a resurgence of inflation. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised on Tuesday, its main interest rate a quarter point to 4.25%. This is the fifth increase since October. The higher rate, which surprised the market did bounce the Australian dollar to 0.92 U.S. dollar. The Sydney Stock Exchange reached its highest eighteen months of sitting.

Heavily dependent on commodities, the Australian economy is recovering faster than other OECD economies, thanks to strong demand from Asia, notably China faxless cash advance. In 2009, growth was 3%, while the unemployment rate remained at 5.3% of the workforce. But since the beginning of the year, inflation topped 2%.

The stimulus Chinese 450 billion euros to full advantage to Australian orders, even if the exchange rate weighs on exports. Experts expect interest rates between 5% and 5.25% at the end of the year, which explains the attraction for the Australian currency.

The luxury group Hermes has published its results on Thursday throughout the year 2009. Its net sales increased 8.5% to 1.914 billion euros. The statement said all areas are growing with the exception of Japan and is mainly the leather industry which has boosted sales. Its operating profit rose 3.1% to 462.9 million euros and its operating profitability reached 24.2% of sales against 25.5% in 2008.

Group profit is down very slightly, falling from 290.2 million from 288.8 million to cover the damage. At the General Meeting to be held June 7, 2010, the proposed dividend per share of 1.05 euro will be payday loans no teletrack .

The investments of Hermes in 2009 were mainly devoted to enhancing production capacity and its distribution network.The group plans to continue this year to develop its distribution network with the opening of twelve branches, including the new store Rue de Sevres in Paris and a second branch in New York on Madison Avenue, first store dedicated entirely to the masculine.

At the Paris Stock Exchange on Thursday around 9:30 am, the title lost nearly 1.5% at 103.6 euros.

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After several years of strong increases, rents have remained stable in 2009, according to the Center Clamor. "For the first time since the creation of this observatory in 1998, even since the crisis of the early 1990s as rents stagnate," says Michel Mouillart at the University of Paris-X and the host database Clamor (Know the rents and market analysis on urban and rural), fueled by 25 managers of rental parks. Last year, rents for new leases were symbolically rose 0.1% on average compared to 2008. This quasi-stagnation contrasts with the increases of recent years (2% in 2007, +1.5% in 2008). The comparison is even more significant with the average annual increase between 1998 and 2010: + 3% on average. But rising unemployment and falling purchasing power of households slowed."The mobility of households has been greatly reduced. It is the lowest since 1998, "said Observatory best payday advance .

Increase in the average city

This trend continues into early this year. However, like last year, the same time, rents of those who relocate rose 0.6% on average. But new phenomenon, most major cities have their rents reduced while those of medium-sized cities or resist progress. Major declines, there are Neuilly sur Seine (-6.4%), Nancy (-4.5%), Grenoble (-3.5%), Strasbourg (-3.1%), Rennes (-2, 5%), Metz (-1.4%), Bordeaux (-1.2%), Lille (-1.1%), Nantes (-1.0%), Marseille and Toulouse (-0.6%) and even Paris (-0.8%). The most significant increases occur in Clermont-Ferrand and Versailles (5.9%), Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine, +5.3%) and Draguignan (+5.2%)."In all of 2010, rents should remain stable," explains Michel Mouillart. "Like last year, rents should then fall to spring and again later in the year."

The sale of Lutetia is accurate. Reportedly, Alrov, a property development company Israel is in exclusive talks with Starwood Capital, the current owner of the palace in Paris. Alrov wants to redeem the walls and goodwill, while retaining management of the Concorde Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Starwood Capital. Alrov is head of several luxury hotels including The David Citadel Hotel and The Mamilla Hotel in Jerusalem. But nothing is signed yet complicated in this sale cash advance payday loan . Indeed, one buyer said, Sheikh al-Jaber, said to have priority following an exclusive agreement with Starwood Capital Group for the Concorde. A trial is underway in this regard. Al-Jaber and Starwood Capital, however, could reach a settlement before trial, expected in April.

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The French do not really feel the first effects of the recovery. Nearly 43% of them believe the situation will not improve in the short term, against 53% more optimistic, according to an Ipsos Direct Insurance. The 18-34 years are more positive, being 60% believe in a short-term improvement of the economy.

In contrast, the 35-59 years are 49% to fear for the future economic situation. Pessimism contrasts with predictions of positive growth, the government is relying on such an increase of 1.4% of GDP in 2010. It seems that the fear of unemployment prevails in this population group. They are right: the unemployment rate, currently at 9.1% should exceed 10% according to the OECD.

A large majority (69%) French also fear a rise in prices. Again, they are too pessimistic.Economists Natixis, inflation should not exceed 1.2% in 2010, a fairly low level. INSEE table involved a decline in inflation "underlying", that is to say outside energy prices, to 0.9% in July 2010 against 1.8% in October 2009 .

Eight out of ten people expect further increases in oil prices free credit scores . Again, the French would they be worried too? INSEE expects a stable price per barrel to around $ 80 by mid-2010. But the National Institute of Statistics warns that still considerable uncertainty surrounding its estimates, the market of black gold is very volatile.

According to the Ipsos survey, these pessimistic expectations should lead the French champions of saving, save more. Nearly 65% of respondents believe that the crisis will encourage them to save even more.On this point, they agree with the experts. The INSEE estimates that savings will remain at a high level (16.6%) in the first half of 2010, having broken records in 2009.

Latest cares, but not least, the French: the future of pensions. They are 90% believed that "concern about changes in the level of pensions in the years to come is a sense justified. Negotiations on the future of the pension system, initiated by the government this year, will soon fix the issue.

The job market is doing less harm to the United States. Published Friday by the Labor Department, the official estimate of 20 000 net job losses in January is consistent with the scenario of an expected return of recruits in the coming months, if growth continues. The most surprising is the fall in unemployment to 9.7%, its lowest level since last August. Economists feared the contrary a rise in unemployment beyond the threshold of 10%.

This rate is calculated from a survey of potential job seekers, while the estimate of creations or deletions of positions from a survey of businesses. But last month the proportion of discouraged unemployed and of persons employed part time, lack of full-time position, declined.So says the rate of "underemployment," the single most severe unemployment, back in January to 16.5%, against 17.3% in December.

Other positive signs are emerging. For the first time since January 2007, enrollment in the manufacturing sector increased (+11 000). This is best supported by increased overtime and raising the average actual working week. The average hourly wage also rises by 0.3% against 0.2% the previous month. Temporary jobs continue their net increase (+ 52 000). While they doubted the strength of demand, companies, out of prudence, first prefer to hire temporary employees, rather than recruiting staff permanently low fee payday loans .

The services sector, largely dominant in the U.S. economy, had destroyed 96 000 positions in December.He has recreated 40 000 in January. The good news is, however, be interpreted with caution, because it largely reflects the hiring of temporary workers by the federal government to carry out the census this year. The states and local communities hit by falling tax revenues continue to reduce their workforce.

Revised estimates

"Judging by the figures of growth in the fourth quarter (+5.7% yoy), reflecting mainly an effort to restock, real final demand is not strong enough to push companies to start of hire.It will take probably six to twelve months to see a trend of strong recruitment, "says Jay Mueller, portfolio manager with Wells Capital Management in Menomonee Falls (Wisconsin).

Reading the figures released Friday is complicated by multiple revisions of previous estimates. November proved much better than we believed, with 64 000 new net posts and not 4 000. But December was disastrous, with 150 000 net job losses, rather than 85 000 as we had originally estimated. Moreover, a massive revision of figures covering the twelve months prior to March 2009 reported eliminations 930 000 additional jobs. This brings to 8.4 million jobs destroyed in the United States for two years.