Archive for November, 2010

The state barely pay its employees

Auto Date Thursday, November 25th, 2010

We thought this could happen only in countries with the greatest difficulties of the European Union. But it is the French state encounters any difficulty in paying its employees in December. The Senate Finance Committee is concerned in a statement that Bercy seeking 930 million euros to pay bills of staff at the end of the year. Eight departments are involved, including Education, Defense and the Budget.

No worries, the state employees are paid. The state will open "emergency" "authorizations of commitment" to the tune of 1.39 billion euros in payment appropriations for 1.14 billion, say the senators said in a statement, "including 930 million euros will be earmarked to cover staff costs. "These expenditures will be offset by cancellations of appropriations in other positions on the Budget and not aggravate the deficit, said the Senate Finance Committee creditreport.

This slippage results, according to senators, "retirements below expectations, but also additional costs associated with categorical measures whose multiplicity leads to doubt the consistency of real efforts to control the wage bill of the state." And elected upper chamber to denounce the repeated "very worrying" that kind of budget deviations, due to an underestimation of the financial needs of the state.

The Budget Department, contacted by The Figaro.fr, was unable to comment on this information immediately. Baroin announced November 17 that the government deficit would be reduced to 149.7 billion euros in 2010, instead of 152 billion initially planned.

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Brussels: 3.7% increase in wages cohosh

Auto Date Thursday, November 25th, 2010

This is a victory for Brussels embarrassing. At a time when the Commission puts States on a diet, the Court of Justice in Luxembourg ruled in favor of this on Wednesday, EU officials defended their right to a 3.7% increase in wages. A revaluation hard to swallow for the Twenty-Seven, who wanted to divide this up by two "to take account of the crisis."

In its ruling, the Court held that the Council (which brings together 27) "had no discretion" to change the remuneration of the 45,000 civil servants in times of crisis. In fact their pay is adjusted automatically each year, and only the Commission can play an exemption clause in cases of "serious and sudden deterioration of the economic and social situation i need a payday loan immediately." This does not match the current situation, according to the EU executive."We can not say it's a sudden crisis," said Michael Mann, a spokesman for the Commission. "It is a crisis that lasts for years. In our view, it does not apply. "

Legally, the decision comes as no surprise, already in 1972 a similar dispute had been resolved to the benefit of officials. But the timing is disastrous, because the decision falls on the day of a historic general strike against austerity in Portugal and the presentation of a drastic austerity plan by Ireland.

A bit embarrassed, explains the Commission that the increases are calculated based on changes in salaries of civil servants in eight countries, and that the fiscal tightening will affect the current European level with a time lag. Recall that the officials pay them as a contribution to crisis.But these explanations go wrong in view of the comfortable level of income (2,300 to 16,000 euros excluding gross compensation), although the contract, less well treated, are becoming more numerous fast cash loan today.

The case could also harden the standoff on the EU budget initiated between the European Parliament and the bloc, which wants a cap on spending increases to 2.9%. The 2011 budget is currently blocked, for the impasse, the Commission must submit a new project in the coming days.

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Greece may need an extension

Auto Date Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

Greece will probably need more money, longer. It is not safe because it can repay on time the 110 billion loan from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have jointly recognized the creditors of the Mediterranean country.

"Whether Greece will be able" to repay within two years of 2014 and 2015 provided the loan "is actually an issue," acknowledged the representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Poul Thomsen, at the end of a visit to Athens. "We have several options to fix this, options to allow a longer repayment period for a loan or monitoring." The IMF chief, Dominique Strauss-Khan, has already prepared the markets for such an event in early October .

Objectives achieved

The willingness of Greece is a priori not an issue."The recovery program of the Greek economy has achieved the objectives set out previously, welcomed the IMF representative. But, said Patrick Jacq, a strategist at BNP Paribas, "asks what is practically unattainable." It represents 11% of GDP. "I've never seen eun effort of this magnitude. It is heroic, "said Mohamed A. El-Erian, head of PIMCO, the largest bond fund management in the world and worked 15 years at the IMF.

The road is still long, and probably internationally too short. "The main danger now is related to the possibility of advancing structural reforms" in terms of tax policy and labor market, admitted Poul Thomsen. The health of public enterprises, and expenses of the health system concern.And growth prospects are bad: BNP Paribas expects a recession to 3.1% in 2011 and one rebound shy of the activity of 0.5% in 2012.

The markets concerned

Despite the focus on Ireland in recent weeks, Greece has not been spared by the markets. The cost of insurance against default risk in Greece peaked and culminating now around 1,000 points, almost double that of Ireland (530 points). The gap widened from the time when Austria has threatened not to participate in the bailout in mid-November.

Some investors, the most pessimistic, fear not that the Greek request an extension to the IMF and the European Union, but rather that it is obliged to restructure its debt to the output of the assistance plan in 2013. The restructuring is reflected, at worst, failure to repay a portion of the money it owes to its creditors.Best by lengthening the term of repayment.

"The market is located on the most risky scenario," relativize Patrick Jacq. According to him, he must give a little more time to Greece to escape the abyss. In an interview with Le Figaro, Prime Minister George Papandreou has sought reassurance. "A restructuring is out of the question," he said.

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Harry Potter's latest film reported $ 24 million in one day

Auto Date Monday, November 22nd, 2010

Historic launch for the latest film adaptation of the adventures of boy wizard Harry Potter. The first part of "Deathly Hallows" Release Thursday at midnight on American screens, earned $ 24 million (17.5 million) in a day, according to the specialist Hollywood.com. The output in France is scheduled for Wednesday.

This places the adventures of the wizard in the third podium of the biggest launches, behind two games in the Twilight series, including "Eclipse" (30 million). "The Deathly Hallows," part one, well ahead of previous episodes of the wizard, including "The Half-Blood Prince," which tallied $ 22.2 million in its output payday advance.The second part of the "Relics" released in mid-2011.

Very oiled mechanics of the launch with a bang on the last Harry Potter film has been slightly disturbed by the appearance on the websites of downloads a sample of "Deathly Hallows." Thursday, Warner Bros. announced it was doing everything possible to make it disappear from the Web.

"This is a serious violation of copyright and theft of property of Warner Bros., has governed in a statement. "We will pursue those involved with all legal weapons available." According to NME magazine, the game lasts 36 minutes and broadcast is the beginning of the film.

Ireland expects a loan of several tens of billions of euros

Auto Date Friday, November 19th, 2010

The EU should make available a loan of Ireland "several tens of billions of euros". It is in all cases the amount to which the governor expects the Central Bank of Ireland, Patrick Honohan.

The aid plan is still virtual, but Europe is already pushing to start the mechanism. A joint team of experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) is expected Thursday in Dublin to discuss the restructuring of the banking sector. This visit is very similar to the first stage of the rescue plan as expected by the markets, even if nothing can be officially launched without the application of Dublin. In this delicate process, Great Britain could be involved.

"The expectations (of the EU and the IMF), and mine are that a loan will be made available.That's what I expect and I do not think it's really disturbing, "said Patrick Honohan the microphone of the Irish state radio RTE. "These discussions are serious, and they (the EU and the IMF) would not send a team as important if they did not think that a loan was acceptable. (…) It will be a big loan. We're talking about a very large loan, tens of billions. "

The joint mission to review the draft budget of Ireland, and especially the state banking sector, in view of possible support plan. "It is clear that the Council will listen to what the Commission to do the same job bank restructuring in Ireland than has been done in other countries," warned Wednesday the Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.Dublin can do it again he did not need help, and his finance minister himself has acknowledged on Wednesday the character of "urgency" of discussions.

Because time is short. Markets are still alert and boosted yields Irish Wednesday. The United States wants a quick response. From the standpoint of the ECB, it will be "hard to go beyond what it does in terms of supplies of cash" to Irish banks, says Reynders.

And the British are likely to be called to the rescue. "Ireland is our closest neighbor and the success of the Irish economy is in the British interest," said Wednesday the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is saying "ready" to participate in a plan assistance. A service offering significant because London had refused to participate in the stabilization fund at its inception in the spring.The austerity plan announced since discourages spending. But British banks have heavy exposure in Ireland, around 150 billion euros.

The fund would commit half

European officials refused to speculate on the time of the total amount and the possible allocation of funds. The Wall Street Journal, the envelope could reach 100 billion euros with 45 to 50 billion for the banking sector alone. The IMF would take half the sum, the EU and the United Kingdom contributed the rest.

It remains to convince Ireland to sound the alarm, a tough pill to swallow to Dublin. Aid plan would be accompanied by stringent conditions, seen as a loss of sovereignty. The very low rate of corporate taxation, a magnet for foreign investors in particular may find themselves in the crosshairs."We should talk about this issue," said Austrian Finance Minister Josef Pröll. Ireland has already said she would not touch it. The negotiations will be delicate. A few weeks before a crucial vote on the budget, the government knows that any concession will pay dearly.

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Roche removes over 4800 jobs

Auto Date Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

The pharmaceutical sector is infected by the virus of dismissal. Sanofi-Aventis recently announced 1700 job cuts, Pfizer, Merck 19,000 and 15,000. And this Wednesday, the Swiss laboratory Roche announces turn drastic cuts in its workforce.

The leading manufacturer of cancer drug cons considering eliminating 4,800 jobs, almost 6% of the 82,000 employees of the company. These job cuts affect primarily the United States, where 3,550 jobs are threatened. Europe is not lagging behind as 2070 jobs will go by the wayside including 770 positions in Switzerland. In addition, 680 jobs will be eliminated in other unspecified countries.

In France, Roche employs 1,685 people, according to latest figures from the group dating back to 2009.The Swiss laboratory is present in France through two entities: Roche Diagnostics, which specializes in medical diagnosis, which employs 540 people at Meylan, near Grenoble, and Roche, Ltd., which develops and commercializes prescription drugs. Even if we do not yet know the exact number of jobs threatened in France, we know that all entitée Roche are affected by this plan.

Beyond job cuts, the Swiss laboratory will transfer 800 jobs to other group sites and outsource 700 jobs to third party companies. In total, 6300 positions were thus affected by the cost reduction program.

A savings plan faces "a more challenging market environment"

Roche's objective is to achieve cost savings.The laboratory setting about 1.8 billion Swiss francs (1.3 billion) in savings next year and 2.4 billion from 2012. But the operation will also produce significant restructuring costs of around $ 2.7 billion.

The group also discusses the implementation of these cuts by "price pressure" increasingly strong "a more challenging market environment." Roche recalls in particular the consequences of the implementation of health reform in the United States which should generate a decline in sales of around 1.5 to 2% this year and 2.5% in 2011. In Europe, lower prices should also affect sales of the group.

Roche confirmed its annual growth targets

In sum, Roche believes that the measures announced are "necessary to guarantee lasting success of Roche."In the first half, the Swiss group net profit up 37% to 5.6 billion Swiss francs and a turnover up 3% to 24.6 billion. The laboratory has also confirmed its outlook for the current year, with an increase in turnover of almost 5% in local currencies and a double-digit growth in earnings per share at constant exchange rates.

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Facebook Reinvents Mail

Auto Date Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

Facebook has just opened a new front in the war between the key players of the Net. The first global social network has offered on Monday a new messaging service. Under the banner of an email address ending in "facebook.com" will be grouped various types of communications such as texting, email and online discussions. The system will also eliminate spam.

"It's not a killer e-mail is a messaging system that includes e-mail, said Mark Zuckerberg. We bet more people send short messages and it's a new way to communicate. "The blow is hard for the major industry players.

Certainly, Google, Hotmail and Yahoo! are already well installed in the area of e-mails. Hotmail currently boasts just over 360 million users for its messaging service, 273 for Yahoo! and 193 for Gmail, Google's email service.With its 500 million active members, including 350 million who currently use instant messaging with friends, Facebook starts to turn into the fray.

The Titan project have also been dubbed "Google Killers" (Google-killer) by employees of Facebook. Google has already responded to the threat by banning the import Gmail contacts on Facebook. No way to share contact information with a competitor's customers.

The development of Facebook in the field of messaging is indeed not the first attack made by the social network saving account payday loan. This summer, the launch of its geolocation service marked the beginning of the offensive. The strategy has not diminished since.

Open competition

Facebook also said to be past the era of "internet research than the recommendation."In other words, the social network aims to become a social search engine, which would overshadow the traditional search engines Google or Bing. Instead of typing a query on the Google toolbar and a list of answers ranked by the search software, Facebook members posed a question to their friends. It is the latter which provide an answer.

For its part, Google does not start to turn a social network to its brand. He already has the network Orkut, which has about 50 million members. Yesterday, during the presentation, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, tried to reduce the scope of investigation by estimating unlikely that "Facebook might one day make video games, nor do we build warehouses to make e- trade. " This does not, according to Bloomberg, to provide an impressive growth for Facebook.The network, which is not publicly traded, would weigh 41 billion (30 billion euros), against 192.9 billion dollars to Google.

Tense negotiations in Seoul on currency

Auto Date Sunday, November 14th, 2010

From our special correspondent in Seoul, Alexandrine Bouilhet.

The G20 just to bury the hatchet on the coins. Meeting of Heads of State and Governments of the twenty largest world powers opened last night in a tense, because of the strong opposition between Chinese and Americans on the front of currencies. "When we discussed the terms of currencies, the atmosphere was so stuffy in the room, we had to open the door!" Said one diplomat Korean.

The working dinner of Heads of State, chaired by the Korean Lee Myung Bak, failed to find an acceptable compromise."All countries must make concessions," urged the South Korean president, who had deliberately placed the dinner, President Barack Obama in front of his main opponents on the issue of currency: Hu Jintao (China) Lula da Silva (Brazil), Angela Merkel (Germany), and Dmitry Medvedev (Russia).

At dinner, Chinese and Americans insisted on the "need for cooperation," but, on the coins, they are sticking to their positions: Hu Jintao will not be imposed by the G20 a revaluation of the yuan more candid when he accuses the United States, issued the world's reserve currency, to depreciate the dollar voluntarily. The Chinese are not alone in criticizing the U.S. monetary policy.Europeans, Angela Merkel at the head, then Russians and Brazilians said to Barack Obama all the evil they thought the Fed's decision to inject $ 600 billion into the monetary system, to revive the economy.

The U.S. president was forced to defend the action of the Federal Reserve, in principle independent, placing it in an uncomfortable situation. Barack Obama has assured his peers especially that "the U.S. does not seek to weaken the dollar to gain in competitiveness. Not always convincing.

Towards a compromise "less ambitious" than that of Gyeongju

Failing agreement between heads of state, the "sherpas" G20 continued to work until 3 am on the final communique. But they went to bed without finding a satisfactory compromise."We want to send a message criticizing the competitive devaluations, as the notorious undervaluation of certain currencies, but in the present context, it is not easy!" Said one trader.

At this stage, the proposed compromise on the currency would be "less ambitious" than that reached by the G20 Finance Ministers, in Gyeongju (Korea). "The Fed's decision has robbed the Chinese, which brought us one step back," lamented a European diplomat.

"Need for sustainable growth and balanced"

Failing to extract a commitment on the Chinese yuan, the U.S. insists to get in the final communique, firm commitments for the reduction of current account imbalances. "We want to stimulate growth at home but also abroad," urged Barack OMAB.This should translate to Americans, by creating a new "mechanism" requiring exporting countries China, Germany, Japan to reduce their current account surpluses, which would translate into practice by opening new markets to foreign companies . Washington has given up trying to impose the limits of 4% surplus or deficits, a goal firmly rejected by Berlin before the summit.

But Barack Obama insists: if domestic demand and falling deficits in the United States, without China or other countries with high savings take over consumption, "it will result in a decrease of growth" for the world wide. "You see, we find an agreement by all countries including Germany, the fact that we need a sustainable and balanced growth," said Barack Obama.Answer today in Seoul.

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The mobile cinema projectors become

Auto Date Saturday, November 13th, 2010

After the "cameraphone" prepared to take photographs and digital videos, smartphones designed to surf the Internet, now a new class of notebook is emerging. These mobile phones are also pocket projector. Three devices already exist. South Korea's Samsung sells its "Galaxy Beam" only in South Korea and Singapore. In Japan, two national groups, Sharp and Fujitsu, have been selected by NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile operator in the country for their first devices used projector. Nothing is yet announced for the U.S. or Europe. But the mobile manufacturers prepare for battle. Last year became the first mobile brands in North America, Samsung and LG are considering launching in the U.S. smartphone with this function plastic business card pocket projector.

On a highly competitive global marketplace, where over 1.2 billion mobile phones will be marketed in 2010, a fringe of customers can be attracted by such a function. The image is fairly good, provided it is projected onto a wall or a white screen placed in a room in the dark. The image is sharp even when its size is limited to 50 inches diagonally.

Pocket projectors exist because the American manufacturer of semiconductor Texas Instruments DLP technology has miniaturized his (short for Digital Light Processing), called 'Pico DLP, she is jealous exclusivity. These components are chips whose surface consists of at least several hundreds of thousands of microscopic mirrors, aluminum, used to broadcast a still image or animated.

"We started to develop this technology in the mid-1970s.The first projector to show was marketed in 1996. For two years, with the Pico DLP, we opened a new market in portable projectors, a score of existing products, telephones, simple moving lights, cameras and video. In twelve to eighteen months, there will be a hundred, "said Kent Novak, vice president of Texas Instruments DLP charge.

Technological Innovation

Its technology has even been used for 23,000 cinema projectors, which are passed to digital 3D and glossy business card . DLP chips incorporate then 8 million tiny mirrors cons 300,000 for those of "pico".The wholesale market from Texas Instruments is constituted by about 3.5 million chips per year for overhead salon used in presentations or business, especially in schools. Through its technology, the special chip from Texas Instruments is used by half of the overhead projectors in the world, say research firm Pacific Media Associates and Futuresource.

"Around 2012 or 2013, sales should exceed DLP Pico, in units, those of ordinary DLP. A year or two later, they represent the bulk of the market value, "Novak hopes Kent.

Low pay: nearly the end of reduced charges

Auto Date Thursday, November 11th, 2010

The phasing, but inevitable, relief from social security contributions on low wages: it is simply what the Senate voted by adopting, on Wednesday night in the 2011 budget of Social Security, an amendment of the rapporteur Alain Vasselle (UMP). Enough to leap employers who consistently argued that the reduction in labor costs was crucial for the employment of low skilled, particularly in sectors likely to relocate.

Businesses benefit from 2003, an almost total exemption from insurance contributions, retirement and family at the minimum wage (down 26 points the same pay and 28.1 points on the first nineteen employees). This relief is decreasing, vanishing at 1.6 SMIC. The Senate has decided to freeze the threshold at its current level in absolute terms or 2150 euros.The minimum wage continues its steady increase (+1% to +2% per year in recent years), reduction of charges will also apply to a field increasingly restricted in 2011, theoretically to disappear when the minimum wage amounts to 2150 euros.

The government is cons

This is of course to contribute to the reduction of public deficits. Exemptions on low wages are not less than twenty billion per year. "An increase of 1% of minimum wage increases the cost of mechanically general relief of about 600 million euros," stressed mid-2008, a report by Mr Yves Bur (UMP), already arguing for this "disconnect" between minimum wage and tax employer contributions.

The gel decided Wednesday to reverse the trend and is less "brutal" than a sudden drop to 1.5 or 1.4 minimum wage to the output terminal of the device, calls Senator Vasselle.Remains to be seen whether the measure is finally adopted. Members that have not adopted, it means it is caught in the harmonized version of the law to be submitted to both Houses.

The government opposes. Relief contributions on low wages will anyway take another penknife next year with a new method of calculating anti-business whose employees pay their employees poorly, but on 13 or 14 months. This time, with government approval, since the change, announced in June, will participate to the tune of over $ 2 billion per year in financial closure of the pension reform.

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