International News

Corroborating sources, the board of directors of French pharmaceutical group has voted the principle of an offer to repurchase the U.S. Genzyme. Management has the green light to offer up to $ 70 per share in the specialist biotechnology, which would be valued 18.7 billion dollars.

Currently, Genzyme is worth 18 billion dollars in stock. The stock has climbed nearly 26% in one week, supported by an initial informal approach from Sanofi-Aventis, rejected by Genzyme, and the interest of many suitors, as the U.S. investor Carl Icahn. The Reuters news agency says that Genzyme shareholders are willing to accept a redemption price of between 70 and 80 dollars per share.

Sanofi-Aventis, which must publish its results today, pay heed to potential targets across the Atlantic to develop after the expiration of several patents on several key drugs payday loans for bad credit. The laboratory has notably warned its results last week, after U.S. approval of its generic anti-coagulant Lovenox star. The anti-cancer Eloxin has already been impacted by the launch of generics in the United States. The patent on Taxotere, which must fall to fall across the Atlantic could bring down the sales of that other anti-cancer Sanofi-Aventis. To cope with this increased competition, the group renews its strategy and multiplied redemptions.

Reaction monitored Exchange

At the Paris Stock Exchange on Thursday, as investors judge this new proposed acquisition of Sanofi-Aventis that its interim results to be published before the market opening. The title of the group fell by nearly 25% since the beginning of the year.

The results fell on the strength of major European banks, is to know the verdict of the markets. Since Sunday morning, the stress tests are found in the test and the final verdict remains suspended from financial operators who often weigh heavier than the official figures and insurance.

Only 7 of the 91 banks have failed this test of strength, five Spanish, one Greek and one German. Their capital needs are estimated at 3.5 billion euros. We must add three who crossed the barrier but the recapitalization seems inevitable: the Italian Monte dei Paschi, Allied Irish Banks, Irish and German PostBank.Finally, the majority of European banks, the British and French in particular-seem to have redressed the balance.

The question now is whether the test can, as desired by the European authorities to lift the remaining mortgage, reboot, and finally the pump in credit to promote growth. By Friday, the European Union had welcomed the exercise as a vote of confidence. From Washington, the Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, hailed "a major effort towards greater transparency" on the health of the banks of the Old Continent. In markets, the euro rebounded to finish just below $ 1.29 after the close of European markets.Wall Street ended higher.

Consolidating banks at fault

Yet many continue to doubt the severity of the event European or completeness of its cash advance no faxing. Unlike other countries, Germany has refused on Friday to force its banks to publish the figures on a main line of their balance sheets: assets in government securities, ie their exposure to the European budget crisis. In the coming days, a first return to the trust will be the willingness to consolidate the banks at fault.

Weighing his words, the IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn described the stress tests as "the promise of a considerable strengthening of the European financial system. It remains to implement. Greece and Spain have promised for the end of the year.Germany, she announced a major restructuring. This is the interbank market which will provide the second element of discretion. The situation has eased since the beginning of the summer. But lack of confidence, many institutions do not always manage to borrow in the interbank lending market, considered one of the keys to sustainable economic recovery in Europe.

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The CAC 40 will reach there to stay above the psychological threshold of 3,500 points on Thursday? The answer has been given to opening. The leading index starts from Paris on a gain of 0.94% to 3516.13 points. A mid-term it moves from 1.21% to 3525.42 points. The goal now is to maintain this threshold, which had not been reached Wednesday.

The Paris stock exchange following the pulse of Wall Street on Wednesday, finished on a second consecutive increase of almost 3%, driven by the banking sector. This morning, Asian markets were also all in green.

Other European stock markets followed the same route: the London FTSE gains 1.42% to 5086.04 points in early trade.

The German Dax, meanwhile, gained 0.54% to 6025.32 points.In Germany, the operators were a bit chilled by the announcement, before opening a trade surplus in weaker growth than expected in May. Exports accounted for, adjusted for seasonal variations, 80.8 billion euros (+9.2%), while imports rose 14.8% to 70.3 billion euros. The trade surplus stood at 10.6 billion euros against 12.8 billion in April and 13.5 billion expected. The current account surplus has, for its part, in May represented 2.2 billion euros against 11.3 billion the previous month.

Investors now await the publication Thursday in the U.S., inscriptions weekly unemployment. Before that, the ECB should communicate their rates in the euro area.

The banking sector monitored

The banks have managed to bring the key index in Paris on Wednesday.On Thursday, they stay the course and top the charts. BNP Paribas (2.87%), Societe Generale (2.77%), Credit Agricole (+0.55%) are among the 91 banks submitted to stress tests (stress tests) whose European list been notified Wednesday by regulators. Investors are also relieved that tests the strength of the European banks will not include sovereign debt discount on German and French loans that could also potentially be delisted.

Faurecia (3.57% to 14.95 euros) announced Wednesday it had signed a strategic alliance with China Geely and Limin to develop, produce and deliver systems within the body and the marks of Geely.

More generally, the industry is likely to move throughout the session.After Peugeot (1.13% to 22.45 euros) is the turn of Renault (1.39% to 32.79 euros) to publish its first half trading results this Thursday. Given the success of the Dacia its competitor, Peugeot would also consider launching a low cost car in Europe.

GDF Suez (+0.08% at 24.61 euros) Wednesday reported a rebound of 10% of gas demand in Europe since early 2010, after a decline of 5% in 2009.

Carrefour (1.07% to 34.56 euros) announced Wednesday that he did not buy certain products in paper group in Indonesia Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), for environmental issues.

CGG Veritas (1.63% to 15.63 euros) announced Thursday that the overall availability of its vessels was 92% in the second quarter 2010, against 90% in the first and 89% in the second quarter of 2009.

Total (1.87% to 37.90 euros) enjoys a higher recommendation by UBS.The broker passes the purchase cons "neutral" before.

A year after its introduction, the majority and the government seem divided on VAT at 5.5% in restaurants. To reduce the government deficit, Budget Minister Francois Baroin, this plane would "very, very large niche for tax, estimated at 3 billion euros Bercy. Its minister, Christine Lagarde, has cropped Tuesday morning: the reduced rate of VAT "is legitimate on the merits.

But the revolt against the old promise of Jacques Chirac, applied from 1 July 2009 thanks to the activism of Nicolas Sarkozy, also scolded the Assembly. Without naming the VAT on food, the general rapporteur for the Budget, Gilles Carrez (UMP), has questioned "a number of consumer items that are 5.5% and that should not be at 5.5 %. He advocates instead an intermediate rate to 12%.

Since the introduction of the measure for the restoration, the context is not the same.The government, which has hitherto led a recovery policy, had to change tack in recent months under pressure from the markets. It is now to reduce the deficit. Especially in the planing tax loopholes.

Nevertheless, the statements and Gilles Carrez Baroin were poorly received by restaurants. "It's absolutely outrageous to say that the 5.5% VAT tax is a niche!" Reacts Philippe Villalon, president of the National Federation of the restoration (FNRF). "We buy our products and we sell 5,5% to 5.5%. As is the case for all areas of the mouth.Moreover, if we repeat the policies they want to end VAT at 5.5%, we should not translate that we lower our prices, nor that we hired, as the state would break its part of contract. "

During the implementation of the measure, the restorers had promised to lower prices, to invest and hire. These commitments, which would take over in case of cancellation of VAT at 5.5%, would have been more or less respected. The Court of Auditors estimated last October that the measure would involve only 6,000 new jobs. The profession claims to the contrary today promised 21,700 against 20,000 a year.

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to better protect investors. Like announced last April, the MFA has launched with the collaboration of the supervisory authority, a new public financial information. His goal? To better inform its clients on banking, savings, insurance, financial markets or the credit. The public will get information on insurance products (home, auto, life, health …), bank accounts, means of payment, bank books or the functioning of financial markets, products collective savings, companies listed on the Stock Exchange, the securities account.

"Applications will be redirected by the operators to specialists of the AMF or the supervisory authority," says Madeleine Guidoni, mediator of the AMF.The policeman of the Exchange hopes to meet customer expectations disappointed that their banks do not have better information about the content of such Fund.

Life buoy

"The financial institution has taken to bad habits for marketing of financial products", regrets the AMF Ombudsman Paperless payday loans. With this new service, the regulator should thus be able to better track business practices of banks and better focus the control activities.

After the merger of the bank authorities and insurance giving birth to the supervisory authority, the creation of this service, as required by the economy minister, Christine Lagarde, is like a lifeline to investors, including confidence in financial markets has been severely affected by the numerous cases of fraud or scam.

Called Bank Savings Insurance News Service, is available in a website – www.abs-infoservice.fr – a telephone helpline – 0811901801 – and a postal address – 61 Rue Taitbout, 75009 Paris. The domestic number is available Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 6:00 p.m..

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Ten weeks after the arrival on the shelves of stores of its nearest competitor, Nespresso is on the offensive … judiciary. Nestle, the world leader in food and owner of Nespresso, sued Friday in front of the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris the U.S. Sara Lee, which sells in France for use in coffee pods Nespresso machines under the brand Gold ( coffee house).

According to our records, Casino is also covered by this assignment, as distributor caps Gold. However, neither Carrefour or Leclerc or Auchan, which also sell, have received blue paper. Nestle has obviously wanted to spare its main customers in France.

In fact, the Swiss Casino attacks because it sells, in addition to pods Gold, its own brand caps, also compatible with Nespresso machines.Available for less than one month, they were designed by CSC, a company founded by a former boss of Nespresso, which claims to have found a way around the patents by the Swiss group. The best advertising we could do that Nestle would drag us to court, "repeated John Paul Gaillard, head of CSC. The latter will have to wait to see if it will receive such a boost from his former employer.

1700 patents

Nestlé experts (engineers, mechanics, lawyers), which took ten weeks to complete their technical analysis of the capsules, however, have not yet completed its review of those Casino."This assignment is a clever shot pool with three bands, according to a avocat.Casino will prepare his defense for Gold, while avoiding having to contradict itself in any future case."

Nestle has taken the risk of him a (bad) publicity to defend its brand and its margins."We welcome fair competition, the company said, but we will take all appropriate measures to defend our intellectual property rights."

With the Nespresso coffee machines tailored to accept (in theory) that caps his coffee house and sold exclusively in a distribution network owned, Nestle has a nugget that was made last year a number of business by 1.94 billion euros (up 22%) and whose profitability, kept secret, is close to levels recorded in the luxury industry.

The 1700 patent cover both Nespresso pods, machines, and the mechanism that provides the link between the two. The assignment of Sara Lee would focus on these last two points, not the pods themselves. While those of Nespresso, aluminum, are completely sealed, those of Gold, plastic, are already holes.The panel discussion promises to be tricky. Pending the outcome of the proceedings, which could take 12-18 months (unless an agreement was reached earlier), provides Nespresso not have noticed the slowdown in its rate of growth since the arrival of new competitors. Sara Lee and sell between 1.1 and 1.5 million capsules of coffee … ten to twenty times less than Nescafe.

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The countdown is triggered. If he wants to present its pension reform around the Council of Ministers on July 14, as expected, the government must balance its bill before the end of next week. Otherwise, the consultation of specific bodies (boards of funds Safely, Higher Council of Public …) required before the Council of Ministers, can not occur within time constraints. But there is no question of falling behind, not to shift the following schedule: study Social Affairs Committee of the Assembly during the week of July 19 – Can not overflow, the Palais Bourbon will work in August ! – And then in plenary on 7 September.

The final version of the bill will be known in a week.But a first draft will be unveiled Tuesday, Wednesday or later (it could have been Tuesday but the government wants to avoid being accused of incitement, while FP calls a strike on the issue of pensions that day … ). Meanwhile, the government will collect the reactions of unions. And perhaps he let go a little ground …

A quarter per year

There remain a few days to make the final arbitration. It is Nicolas Sarkozy himself who will decide, probably during the weekend, surrounded by the prime minister, Francois Fillon, Minister of Labour, Eric Woerth and Budget and Public Accounts, Baroin, and rare employees, including the social adviser at the Elysee Raymond Soubie. For now, nothing is decided. Not even the most expected: the decline of legal age. 62, 63 years? Only the pace of recovery seems likely: one quarter per year.Some – MEDEF in mind – still grow for a semester, but as Woerth Soubie consider this rate too fast to be acceptable.

Must we also announce today a further lengthening of the contribution period for a full pension? Everything depends on the horizon set. Aim Is there balance in 2020, 2025, 2030? The government will in any case to demonstrate that all of its reform can indeed balance financial accounts. This is the only way to justify the early use of a resource that is not sustainable – the Pension Reserve Fund – which now seems inevitable no faxing pay day loans. The seesaw in the medium term, a portion of unemployment contributions to pension funds, also participate in financial closure.

Pan "public" also remains to be determined.If this government has argued in favor of aligning the rate of pension pay of civil servants (7.85%) with that of private sector employees (10.55%), the head of state does not forget he was elected on the subject of purchasing power. If it was baneberry, the measure would be very gradual. She could not even apply to future employees, if this does not pose a constitutional problem of having two officers of equal status, the same post with the same gross pay but not clean … The same doubt remains maintenance of the famous method of calculating the pensions of officers for the last six months of salary. However the possibility of retiring after 15 years of service for mothers of 3 children, should not exist.

Restricted bonuses

The ages at which some officers may retire (50 years for police officers, 55 firefighters …) should be addressed alongside the legal age. And the improvements will be very limited (for example military, only time spent in theaters of operations will result in dangerous quarters "available", while yet an assessment year is given "free" every five years after 15 year career). In return, employees are entitled to the same measures of compensation for hardship than other employees.

These measures will in any case not be decided separately.The social and political acceptability of reform can be gauged as a whole.

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During the past several months, discussions on financial reform should be completed June 26 The Senate and House of Representatives have each passed a different version of the text. Elected officials from each chamber are now trying to work on a common version. Congress hopes to be ready for the G20, to be held on 26 and 27 June in Toronto, where regulation of the financial sector will be a central theme. The final text could be adopted just before the recess of parliament in early July. It will then be submitted to President Barack Obama for enactment.

Proposals expected in Europe in a few weeks

A desire to succeed which is felt also in Europe.On Wednesday, the President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have co-signed a letter to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, urging the agency to "accelerate its work" on "enhanced supervision" of financial markets. They attract attention of the European Commission on the issue of regulation of swaps and CDS. The naked short selling could be banned in the entire European Union.The two leaders also stressed the need for greater transparency in the global markets, that there trading stocks or bonds, sovereign bonds according to their benefit as soon as attention particular.

Proposals of measures could be presented in a few weeks.

A "circuit breaker" on Monday in the U.S.

In the U.S., initial development of markets will be set up incessantly. In its effort regulation of the financial sphere, the system of "circuit breaker" required by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could indeed come into force next Monday. It provides for a suspension of trade in a way which would fluctuate more than 10% in less than five minutes on the market.With this rule, the Constable of financial markets hoping to avoid the stock market panic like that of May 6.

The SEC is considering extending these fuses, which concern the companies currently listed in the Standard Poor's 500, over a thousand companies.

The shockwave of the complaint Friday Constable American markets spread throughout the weekend. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused a number of Wall Street and the first investment bank in the world to be guilty of fraud. She says the bank, especially one of its French employees had deliberately misled the clients to whom it sold in 2007, complex products linked to subprime, which were highly toxic. The move was made for the benefit of another client, the famous hedge fund Paulson & Co.

This brutally violent blow brought to Goldman Sachs by an American authority has given new force to the criticism that rained down on the bank already, although it became a symbol of a fund that has too quickly found the way of profits.For the first time since 1986, when the first attack against the bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, the SEC declares the war a pillar of Wall Street! And this time, Goldman Sachs sees his reputation reached in a way that can impair depth to his "business" as it is accused of having "played" against the interests of its customers.

In Germany, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said that her own financial policeman, BaFin, demanded an explanation from the SEC and considering, where appropriate, prosecutions: one of two customers cheated named to United States is another qu'IKB, a German bank bailed out that Berlin. Asked by the BBC, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "shocked" by what he calls "moral bankruptcy" of investment banks. He asked that the FSA, British counterpart of the SEC, in turn opens an investigation.Finally, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Olli Rehn, has promised an investigation "deep thrust" on the role of Goldman Sachs vis-?-vis Greece. The bank, which he denies and which has been cleared by the U.S. Federal Reserve in this regard has been criticized for several weeks helping Athens to hide, via financial products, the actual deficit.

The lawyers are already working actively to bring proceedings against Goldman Sachs on behalf of other investors potentially affected by the product under investigation by the SEC. In addition, the whole complex financial instruments and addicted to subprime will be winnowed at Goldman Sachs, but also in other banks.

In turn, the bank Goldman Sachs has reacted strongly against the accusations made against it in civil also, and not criminal.First line of defense: it has itself lost $ 90 million in the case, for only $ 15 million of revenue. The SEC estimated the total loss for investors to 1 billion. Then Goldman would reject the caricature of IKB, for example, an investor easily fooled. IKB had an active market sophisticated CDOs, says the firm on Wall Street.

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Since Tuesday, investors are moving away from safe-haven assets following the various signs of recovery in the global economy. The success of Intel promote appetite for risk. What will weigh on the dollar. Just as the maintenance of the speech by the Fed, which promotes interest rates still very low even for long.

EUR / USD – Sessions hectic since early April

After the Easter weekend, there has been a depreciation of the euro against the dollar in a climate of distrust of so-called risky currencies. The operators were cooled in their appetite for risk because of their fear on the issue of Greece. The single currency has lost about 220 pips * from a quotation of dollar 1.3500 1.3282 U.S. dollar on Thursday at 10am (lowest of the week).

Then the tension on the markets have weakened.Speech by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the ECB (European Central Bank) last Thursday, has eased the financial world. He said he pursued the policy of low interest rates up to 1% in the euro area. And it has said that "Greece was able to reduce its deficit" and had already started to employ strong measures.

Nothing better to give a boost to the euro. The last weekend, offering assistance to 30 billion euros – Athens does "not want to use" – the European Union gave a big blow oxygen, allowing the euro to rise around 1 36 dollar on Monday.After two sessions of stagnation (Monday and Tuesday), the exchange rate has increased again, bolstered by renewed investor optimism about the strength of the global recovery due to favorable economic statistics, while comments Fed chairman on a forecast of "moderate growth" have weighed on the greenback.

On Tuesday, the foreign exchange markets have welcomed the issuance by Athens Treasury bills.And on Wednesday, Ben Bernanke (Beige Book) reiterated Wednesday that the rate of the institution should remain close to zero, at which they are set since December 2008, for an extended period, dismissing speculation of an anticipated tightening of Fed monetary policy, which has given new impetus to the euro.

As expected by analysts Realtime Forex Tuesday, which saw the euro test the 1.3541 support for better back, it is mounted to 1.3667 to 18 hours.

CDN / JPY – Same trend

Nippon side, the euro followed the same "trend" * weekly against the yen. The single currency began a decline of more than 400 pips against the yen. On Monday, the euro / yen was quoted at 127.70 to touch a low of 123.40 yen. But from the response Trichet yesterday, the euro strengthened to 125.60 yen to return.

The yen fell for the sixth straight session against the euro, with one course from Wednesday to 127.07 yen against 126.83 yen the day before.

GBP / USD – Sterling held up better than the euro

Across the Channel, the BoE (Bank of England) has also left interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, indicating that this was not the time to make an adjustment of rates.

Monetary side, the pound sterling, however, fared better than the euro against the dollar. Like British macro-economic figures emerged this week (GDP 0.4% and manufacturing output up 1.3%), the pound has evolved into a "range *" between 1.5130 and 1.5320 dollar.

* The cable is able to break this channel by treating up to 1.5473 dollar.

Against the yen, the pound again the delay and found almost the level of 144.21 yen on Monday.

CHF / EUR – Swiss Franc still going strong

On Wednesday, the Swiss franc 1.4362 per euro symbol. This is a very strong for the Swiss franc, which traded in 2009 almost all the time between 1.50 and 1.54.

Since the beginning of the year, the Swiss Frabce climbed more than 5%. This is not the business of the Swiss Central Bank, whose foreign exchange policy is heckled.

The yuan under the spotlight of the world

On Wednesday, Ben Bernanke, who appeared before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, reiterated that "the United States must continue to press China to bring it to revalue its currency, the yuan."Barack Obama this week's encounter homolgue Chinese President Hu Jintao on China's trade deficit background.

Most economists agree that the currency is undervalued – by 40% according to analysts and has been used to obtain an economy more oriented toward exports to domestic consumption.

On the one hand, in case of revaluation, China would be ready to counter the speculative bubbles that threaten, and inflationary pressures. But then again, remember that a more expensive yuan will be more expensive for the "Western" to fill all Chinese products.And they will have the effect of melt exchange reserves in dollars of the Chinese, which does allow them to buy as many more U.S. Treasury Bonds, and therefore finance the debt of the United States …

* Definitions

• Forex: For Foreign Exchange, or foreign exchange market

• Technical analysis: analyst or chartist. She studied graphic evolution courses. The research in the historical price behavior involved in a situation to predict the evolution of financial securities.

• Pips: Price Interest Point. Unit rating for foreign currency. It designates the last digit used: in the case of the euro, the fourth decimal place.

• Trend: trend.

• Range: range.

• Support: value as the price has very little chance to pass down.

• Resistant: value as the price has very little chance to overtake on the rise.

• EUR: Euro, USD: U.S. Dollar, or U.S. dollar JPY Japan Yen or Japanese yen, GBP: British Pound, CHF: Swiss franc.