Mario Draghi evokes the release of Greece to the euro

May 17th, 2012 admin Posted in events, features, opinions, people, resources Comments Off

 

President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, excludes more than Athens could leave the euro. "Our preference is that Greece continues to remain in the euro area," he said Wednesday at a conference in Frankfurt. This is a recognition that an outflow was no longer taboo. "Since the Treaty (establishing the single currency) is silent on an output, this is not the ECB decides," he added, recalling the legal vacuum in this area often referred, including the experts themselves same.

This statement confirms the remarks made Monday by Luc Coene, one of six members of the ECB Executive Board, responsible for economic analysis, which spoke of "an amicable divorce," in an interview with Financial Times.

These words, at least ambiguous and seem to add fuel to the fire, also reflect the embarrassment of the authorities in Frankfurt. They face de facto capital flight experienced by Greek banks. The phenomenon is not really new but it has accelerated in recent days further weakening the Greek banking system.

Emergency stop

To date, commercial banks do so more than the cash they receive from the ECB, which totaled nearly $ 100 billion or one third of their balance sheets, a level quite abnormal. According to market sources for Reuters, the ECB has started its lending quotas to Greek banks. She no longer accept to take title they give him as collateral. The commercial banks will have no alternative but to use the emergency window established by the Bank of Greece, according to a procedure remains perfectly legal, but that goes against the principle of uniqueness of monetary policy in the euro area.

In doing so, the ECB intends to pressure the Greek government which must recapitalize the banks that need it. At the Cabinet meeting on 27 April, it was envisaged that a recapitalization of € 18 billion would be set up. This is an emergency measure pending the recapitalization program released a wider 50 billion euro, and whose envelopes are explicitly included in the second rescue package announced last March. The technical details are currently in discussions with European experts and the IMF.

The ECB seems caught in the crossfire. While recalling officially Wednesday that it continued "to support Greek banks," the president about his aim to put pressure on the government and the public pending elections to be referendums value vis-à-vis of the euro.

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Auto Insurance: IGAAS knows everything about you

April 30th, 2012 admin Posted in business, events, money, online, people Comments Off

The AGIRA and auto insurance

Regarding auto insurance, the insured pricing depends in part on their history. To establish reliable statistics and national insurance companies IGAAS members can view and add the file containing the history of the insured.

With this file Official IGAAS allows insurance companies to know the situation prior to a safe future. It allows to identify fraudulent misrepresentation or non-payment.

Note: an insured in the file of AGIRA can access data concerning them. To do so they can go directly to IGAAS, or contact the insurance company having its registration process.

The missions of AGIRA

The AGIRA is responsible for managing the file listing the history of the insured on auto insurance. The association is also responsible for managing the Central Office Pricing (BCT). This body determines pricing may compel an insurance company to insure someone it would normally refused.

Finally, IGAAS is responsible for the Agency's Management Information. The latter is responsible for transmitting to an insured in an accident abroad contact the insurance company liable to the insured.

Reasons for inclusion in AGIRA

Generally, any significant event affecting the auto insurance policy the insured shall be grounds for registration in the file IGAAS. Thus, each claim, whatsoever, is grounds for inclusion in AGIRA (theft, damage, fault accident …).

Termination of auto insurance is also a pattern of registration. This termination can be either the fault of the insured that the insurance company.

The nature of information held by IGAAS

Three main information is held by IGAAS:

-The elements of the auto insurance policy,

-Information about the subscriber's auto insurance,

-Information on the vehicle involved in the auto insurance policy.

Namely: the information concerning termination of an auto insurance policy are kept for two years. In cases where the termination follows a disaster, this information is kept for five years.

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Sarkozy, Netherlands: pass programs on test

April 28th, 2012 admin Posted in Uncategorized, business, people, resources, special Comments Off

 

Note: Nicolas Sarkozy aims to balance public finances in 2016, Francois Hollande in 2017.

Roman Lucazeau, Chargé de Mission in the Business Institute, details the mechanisms at work in the test programs.

THE FIGARO.FR. – Why submit programs of candidates for this test?

Roman Lucazeau. – Although, compared to the 2007 presidential campaign, the programs of the two main candidates are more accurate, they still gray areas and are based on slightly different economic scenarios. This makes comparison difficult. So we tried to apply the same economic variables: growth rate, inflation, unemployment rate, by 2017. We also wanted to discover what happened to the public finances if the programs were implemented with, notably, lower growth than that provided by the candidates, for example, that France has known, on average, over the past decade.

Originally, this type of exercise is applied by the financial authorities to banks. These are subject to economic scenarios degraded to assess their strength in case of economic crisis. We use a similar method to test the ability of candidates to achieve their stated goal (zero deficit in 2016 for Nicolas Sarkozy in 2017 for Francis Holland).

But in a crisis, a candidate can always abandon its initial program

guaranteed high risk personal loans.

Absolutely. We test the strength of their roadmap, as defined during the election campaign, in a worse position than they anticipate. We evaluate today's promises and do not prejudge the future president of the reactions in case of contingencies.

How does this model?

We leave the bases nominee programs (eg growth rate, the level of taxes and public spending …) and against which they built their proposals. These assumptions are public and have been developed by their campaign teams. We determine how the deficit and debt change if we change some parameters on the basis of data and public reporting, the INSEE, the Court of Auditors and of Bercy. The details of our methodology is available on our website.  

How do you ensure objectivity of your approach?

We submitted the candidates' platforms to the same constraints: same inflation, even growth, even drift government spending or health insurance, etc.. The differences between results are explained by the differences between the programs themselves. Debt strategy of the two candidates based on both on growth, tax increases and budget savings. But Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande do not intend to use these levers to the same extent. Their programs do not react the same way a change of parameters.


Philippe Starck designer of Apple

April 13th, 2012 admin Posted in Uncategorized, economy, events, people, technology Comments Off

 

A small sentence is enough to ignite the Web. The scoop carelessly launched Friday morning by designer Philippe Starck on France Info enough to wake all the fantasies about what could be the revolutionary new product from Apple. For all fans of the brand are convinced, after the iPhone and the iPad, the Cupertino firm should upset a new domain. But which one?

Citing the "cult of secrecy" dear to Apple, Philippe Starck has obviously meant nothing more. He just confessed that he met Steve Jobs, Apple founder has now disappeared, "once a month," and said he would return Monday (April 15) "see the wife of Steve Jobs" .

The care that the Apple brand brings to the design of its products is a sign of his gratitude. And Philippe Starck would not be at his first attempt in the high-tech. He was in New York this week to launch the headphones Zik, French Parrot.

Apple TV

Among the objects that the French could have drawn face on TV, this beautiful Arles Apple. The arrival on the market of ultra-thin OLED screens or flexible opens the field of possibilities in design. Only problem, the two major suppliers of screens are LG and Samsung. They are not necessarily willing to let the U.S. access to their latest technologies. Unless Sharp

.

Another track, the digital table. Samsung has also made a nice demonstration in Paris Thursday, April 12. This table, which resembles a TV a bit thick, is actually a large touch screen that can accept almost any application. A

Thus, the restaurant touch'In is the first to have equipped with the "size" of Samsung, including the ability to choose their cocktails, to prepare the menu and send the order directly to the bar. A London bar has even developed a message function to communicate with neighboring tables. More seriously, the Paris airports have ordered 300 to equip the waiting rooms of Orly and Roissy. But as usual "Apple does not comment on rumors."

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A recovery plan for French fiction

April 12th, 2012 admin Posted in business, people, publications, resources, top news Comments Off

 

French television production has nothing to envy to the cinema and proved, in 2011, its dynamism. "By volume and investments, all indicators of audiovisual production are green," says Benoit Danard, director of studies, statistics and forecasting at the National Cinema Centre.

With 4830 hours of programs assisted and an investment of television channels from 782.8 million euros, on behalf of audiovisual support beats a record since its inception in 1996. In total, the value of stock programs – fiction, documentary and animation – representing 1.477 billion, while funding by the CNC is around 200 million.

Yet, while fiction is the kind preferred by the French, the French drama production is struggling. In its annual report on audiovisual production in France, presented on Wednesday morning, the CNC recalls that "in 2011, a French watched 288 hours of drama on national television is free 5 hours 33 per week, representing 26, 8% of the television consumption ".

But this enthusiasm helps primarily foreign series whose presence continues to grow on antennas French from "in 2011 from 431 to 491 nights." On some channels such as M6, the AcSB notes that 91.1% of nights are American fiction. That says a lot about the dependence of the chain towards Hollywood and its ability to reduce in future years. And successes as "Gear", "Braquo", "short" (Canal +), or "Men of the Shadows" (France 2), "Scenes from" (M6), or "Do not they do not "(TF1) are rare.

The documentary, a genre cheaper

Worse, under three sets were produced in 2011 over the previous year while four new foreign series appeared on our screens. France is also a tentative entry into the world of big international co-productions like "XIII" (Canal +) or "Transporter" (M6). This funding abroad grew by 70% and represented 36.6 million euros. Small consolation, the format of the Franco-French 90-minute film is now less in favor of 52 minutes and short formats, more suitable for export.

Finally, Eric Garandeau, Director General of NCC, draws attention to "low investment of new DTT channels." If they represent "15% of the advertising market and 23% of the television audience, their investments do not exceed 17.5 million euros", or 2% of investment in production chains. Worse, in terms of fiction, only two channels TF1 Group invested TMC with "The Mysteries of Love" and NT1 with "My fridge told me." Most of the new DTT channels indeed prefer to invest in the documentary, a genre less expensive. They account for "11% of volumes ordered."

Suddenly, the CNC agrees today a new aid plan for fiction. It "seeks to promote the renewal and installation of the series," says Eric Garandeau, executive director of CNC. In Focus, support for early seasons of the new series. Thus, production for the programming of the day and evening before, as well as those for new DTT channels will be better supported. Similarly, the prime-time series of international formats (45 and 52 minutes) will receive a "bonus for their help when the order will exceed at least six episodes." This increase in aid should be an allocation of around 8 million euros.

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Sony will eliminate 10,000 jobs this year

April 9th, 2012 admin Posted in events, features, finance, money, people Comments Off

 

Sony's new boss, Kazuo Hirai, did not wait long to make the painful cost reductions promised. According to Japanese newspaper Nikkei on Monday, the Japanese group will proceed in the year to the elimination of 10,000 jobs worldwide, which corresponds to 6% of its workforce. Sony has not confirmed this information for now.

The group fears a net annual loss of over $ 2 billion for the year ended March 31. In addition to the ill health of his division TVs, Sony has suffered, in 2011, the soaring yen, Japanese tsunami and flooding in Thailand. Hit hard by the crisis of 2008-2009, the electronics giant had already eliminated 16,000 jobs during this period.

In February, Kazuo Hirai had prepared the minds of a new wave of job cuts: the former head of Sony's games division, officially inducted Group CEO on April 1, announced that it would take "tough decisions involve layoffs, and reduce fixed costs in some areas, "to restore profitability.

Kazuo Hirai then spoke of the sales divisions of Sony in Japan, Europe and the United States and its supply chains. According to Japanese daily, half the job cuts announced should also result from divestitures. A few weeks ago, Sony had sanctioned the sale of its chemical activity, for the manufacture of LCDs, which employs nearly 3,000 people. The transfer should be effective in the last quarter 2012.

Marrying content and products

The disposal of these chemical activities is a first step in the restructuring of Sony. The group suffers from poor health of his TV division, which has grossed more than eight billion euros in losses over the past eight fiscal years. Kazuo Hirai himself has undertaken to restore the profitability of this division, undermined by the strong yen and fierce competition in two years.

Preferring to take advantage of lower prices of liquid crystal displays (LCD) rather than lose, the Japanese had already withdrawn from the joint venture owned with Samsung LCD, whose impact "on costs too heavy" had been singled out. Sony has no plans to abandon much of that product category. The television division is considered "critical" by Kazuo Hirai, who hopes to have it return to profit by reducing costs.

More generally, the new CEO of Sony account revive its brand by marrying more products and content. "The material leads to software to hardware and software," said he. A strategy that has already been implemented successfully in the video game division of Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment. In addition to manufacturing phones, tablets, game consoles, cameras and PCs, the Japanese group is indeed also a producer of content, through its film studios and music.

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Sarkozy: Holland "denies the existence of the crisis"

April 5th, 2012 admin Posted in economics, news, people, top news, world Comments Off

 

Since formalizing his candidacy on February 15, Nicolas Sarkozy deseeded thirty proposals, his team compiled a campaign document, presented Thursday. The president-nominee warned, however, he intended to issue new proposals before the end of the campaign.

Nicolas Sarkozy has also presented his "letter to the French," in which he exhibited his "values" and his "vision of France" by the year 2017. This document, published in several million copies, will be distributed as part of an operation of door to door. On the first page of the 34-page document, is a sentence written by hand by Nicolas Sarkozy: "My fellow Americans, there is nothing more beautiful than the love of his country."

"Read" Letter to the French "Nicolas Sarkozy

• Economy and Public Finance

"" All my proposals are built around one goal: the balance of public finances in 2016, "said Nicolas Sarkozy business cards. He confirmed in his project a French public deficit has 0% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2016 and a surplus of 0.5% in 2017. Incumbent President states in his proposed reduction of the French public debt to 80.2% in 2017 instead of 85.8% in 2011 with European commitments.

"To achieve the deficit targets, the tax burden will increase from 43.8% of GDP in 2011 to 45.6% in 2017 in France. Nicolas Sarkozy plans in its plan to cut public spending in France to 51.9% of GDP in 2017 instead of 55.9% in 2011.

"Nicolas Sarkozy has acknowledged that 115 billion effort is needed over five years. "I have to add the 9.5 billion campaign proposals," he added. This brings the total effort of 124 billion. Three quarters will focus on reducing expenses, the remainder of the revenue, insisted the president candidate, as he had already announced.

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Lauvergeon touches his severance Areva

April 2nd, 2012 admin Posted in economic, events, online, people, resources Comments Off

 

Continuation and conclusion on the issue of allowances Lauvergeon. Except cons-order last minute, the former president and CEO of Areva touch Tuesday amounts associated with leaving the nuclear group: one million euros – the equivalent of one year's gross salary excluding bonuses – which 500,000 euros in addition, financial compensation to a non-compete clause. Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Areva, has asked the company to make the regulation of 1, 5 million in all.

In late March, the Minister of Economy, Baroin, had indicated in writing that "the implementation of the proposals of the supervisory board being the settlement agreement did not call for opposition (his) hand." He belonged to Jean-Cyril Spinetta to apply – or not – this protocol. It ruled.  

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French morale jumped on the bottom of presidential

March 28th, 2012 admin Posted in economy, news, online, people, technology Comments Off

 

Consumer confidence has rebounded dramatically and unexpectedly in March. The economic confidence index, released Tuesday by INSEE, has actually won 5 points this month. At 87 points, it finds its level in February 2011 but remains low. "This increase, the third in three months, confirms the end of the downward trend of the index," says Alain Carbonne, France economist of Natixis.

Analysts scrutinizing the fine details of the statistics of the day, they explain this evolution wrong. Certainly, households are less numerous than in February to anticipate a rise in unemployment, reflecting the more moderate than before the number of unemployed in February. The indicator addressing the issue is still well above its long-term average, with 57 points.  

Anticipated change

But it is the consumer confidence about their future standard of living that records a boom in March (12 points to -39 points), pulling all the confidence index. It has, since its lowest level reached last November, a cumulative increase of 24 points. "The presidential election seems to be the only factor behind this increase, the economist Dominique Barbet of BNP Paribas Faxless payday loans. It seems that households expect a policy change for the better. "And the analyst noted that the previous record increase of consumer sentiment had occurred in May 2007, after the presidential election.

Depressed consumption

Renewed consumer confidence could result in a moderate recovery in consumption, after two small declines in December and January. Do not expect a dramatic recovery: "The opportunity to make major purchases (eg car), the most important component of the indicator of consumer sentiment from INSEE, remained stable in March despite the upturn in other sub-indices, notes Alain Carbon. And do not forget that consumption is expected to remain depressed throughout the year because of high unemployment and the expected decline in real wages through inflation amputees. "

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Free Mobile has recruited 1.5 million customers

March 5th, 2012 admin Posted in people, publications, technology, top news, world Comments Off

 

Who will be the big loser of the arrival of Free Mobile? While Orange, Bouygues and Vivendi have just published their annual results and must submit his Free Thursday, the operators have their accounts.

In only six weeks, Free Mobile would have earned 1.5 million customers, according to estimates by Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom. Free for now refuses to confirm.

But everyone sees what he lost. Orange said 400,000 of its customers had left for Free Mobile. Bouygues Telecom, a quarter of customers since January parties have joined Free Mobile or 134000. SFR did not elaborate, but analysts said it could provide around 300,000 customers Free Mobile.

500,000 net new subscription

It remains to evaluate clients lost by MVNOs, network operators without these, like Virgin Mobile, La Poste Mobile, Auchan Telecom, etc.. "Some of these operators have lost heavily at the start of Free Mobile. While some have reacted very quickly, it was to stop the bleeding. They have de facto acted as shock absorbers for Orange, SFR and Bouygues, "said one analyst.

MVNOs with models based on commitment and with a strong distribution network suffered the least. And NRJ Mobile, which has 90% of customer engagement in and benefits from the network of bank branches CM-CIC, has limited the damage. The operator that displays 1.1 million customers continued to win in January, before losing around 5,000 in February. "Ultimately, MVNOs may have lost between 200,000 and 300,000 customers," said one analyst.

Summing up all these figures, Free Mobile would have earned about a million customers in the market in its various competitors. The remaining 500,000 would net creation, that is to say, new subscriptions. Given its attractive price, consumers who already have a subscription and can be subscribed to the offer 2 euros (EUR 0 Free for subscribers) as a second subscription or subscription relief.

One thing is certain: the fierce competitive battle was triggered not leave room for all operators and everyone is fighting for its survival.

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