International Business News

France prepares to beat Thursday's record consumption of electricity and gas. Blame the intense cold that strikes the Hexagon. Y there is a risk of blackouts? Cars are blocked due to the snow at Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines toll near Paris December 8, 2010 as winter weather and freezing temperatures sub-continuous in France. (FRANCE – Tags: ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT)

The cold wave that moved to France will intensify in the coming days, but so far, "no major blackouts are to be expected" reassures Herve Mignon, Director of Economy, Planning and transparency in TEN (a subsidiary of EDF). In total this Thursday, 41 counties are in orange alert "cold and snow", until Saturday, 7 am. Level 3 Plan "Extreme Cold" was triggered in Isere, Savoie and in the Oise and the North. "It is seven degrees below seasonal averages of both north and south," said the forecaster Meteo France Dominique Raspaud. A cold that will become even stronger to the end of the week throughout France. For Friday, says Ms. Raspaud to AFP, "is expected within 5 to Marseille in the south-west, at least 6 Bordeaux and La Rochelle, below the minus 10 in Alsace, France-Comté and Rhône Alps "… Even in Britain, a region often spared the extreme temperatures are expected least 1 or less 2 Friday morning in Brest.

Consumption soaring …

The latest forecast of RTE, EDF subsidiary that manages the French high-voltage network, the national electricity consumption would reach 95,500 megawatts (MW) this Thursday at rush hour, at 19h, grazing and the peak total of 15 December 2010 (96,710 MW). After a hard day following the historic summit next Monday could be exceeded, providing RTE for now peaked at 98,700 MW that day. However, an estimate will be refined at the mercy of weather bulletins France. The reason for the runaway? The cold wave which pushes the Hexagon shiver the French to run their electric heaters at full speed. "During cold spells in winter, when there is a degree Celsius less, this corresponds to 2,300 megawatts of additional consumption, the equivalent of twice the consumption of the city of Marseille," recalls Herve Mignon, Director of the economy, foresight and transparency in TEN.  

But … no risk of "blackout" National

"Nationally, there is no risk now, in the sense that the means of production and available national electricity imports from neighboring countries can meet the electricity consumption as expected, "said M.Mignon.

To spend the winter safely, France is indeed important to the Power Utilities. She buys from Germany and Great Britain. Belgium and Denmark can also provide electricity. Spain, if it is untouched by the cold wave, could also provide some of the energy it needs by turning to its own power base.

Increased prevention of certain departments

RTE enabled for the first time this season the device Ecowatt in both "electric peninsulas" that are Brittany and the Côte d'Azur, which were placed in "orange alert". A clear message was sent: "We invite you to moderate your consumption of electricity between 18:00 and 20:00." And for good reason, these areas suffer from a lack of internal capacity of electricity generation, and therefore rely on neighboring regions to meet their energy needs. They are located at the ends of the national grid, it creates risks of bottleneck in their diet. In the Var, 3,000 homes remained without power Thursday morning.

Some useful tips

The right temperature is 19 ° C, no more! A simple thing: go to 20 ° C to 19 ° C in the living rooms of 7% to reduce your energy consumption. In the rooms, ADEME cautions that it is better to keep a temperature between 16 ° C and 17 ° C. In case of absence, he should lower the heating and do not put them up after work. "They will not heat the room faster," said the Environment Agency and energy management. Reduce power consumption between 17h and 20h in winter. few simple actions like turning off appliances on standby, turn down the heat in unoccupied rooms, close the shutters at night, and use appliances after 20h. Companies must also participate in this national effort.

The European Central Bank is considering to extend the maturity of its loans to banks in two or even three years, wanting to prevent the crisis in the euro area does not cause a "credit crunch" that would stifle the economy, we learn of sources familiar with the matter.

The ECB considers this unprecedented opportunity, while growing fears of an explosion in the euro area affect the interbank market, banks tend to reduce the number of establishments to which they lend.

For now, the maximum maturity of liquidity operations of the ECB is one year.A bank to finance two or three years from the ECB, it could be misinterpreted. "

Another source said that the ECB was considering the possibility of providing liquidity to maturity in the same vein through several short-term loans, pledging to keep such a line of credit for a period up to three years.

In June 2009 the ECB has proposed for the first time refinancing operations to one year. She repeated this year with a LTRO to 12 months in October and 13 months in December.

The lobbying firm Clark Lytle & Geduldig Cranford offers 850,000 dollars to the Association of American banks to undermine media-movement Occupy Wall Street. These indignant protest against the Wall Street financial crisis behind, growing inequality and policy failures, they accuse of being subject to the bosses of finance or business. They claim to represent the aspirations of 99% of Americans, arguing that 1% of the population owns most of the wealth and is always preferred.

Lobbyists deemed related to banks, proposed a $ 850,000 plan to attack the movement Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and the politicians who would support him, reported Saturday the U.S. television network MSNBC.In a four-page memo, the Washington firm Clark Lytle & Geduldig Cranford (CLGC) propose to the Association of American banks (ABA) to conduct a "search" Occupy on Wall Street to "build a story negative" on the move , "to place in the media," and on "those who support them," according to the memo published by MSNBC. If the Democrats support OWS, "it would mean more than a temporary embarrassment for Wall Street. This can have an impact long-term political and financial companies for the heart" of Wall Street, the memo adds.

"It may be easy to dismiss OWS as a group of protesters demonstrated disordered but rather they should be treated as competing organized, highly skilled and able to work the media.

The European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) should be made operational as soon as possible, said Friday the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi, showing some impatience vis-à-vis the slow progress to date this.

In a speech at the European Banking Congress, Mario Draghi said that the Heads of State and Government of the European Union had decided to launch the EFSF here over a year and a half and decided to leverage capacity four weeks ago.

"Where are we in the implementation of these decisions?" He asked."You must not wait any longer," he added.

The ECB president reiterated that the downside risks to the outlook in the euro area had increased and felt that this activity should moderate and weak pressure on prices, costs and wages.

MIPCOM, the world's audiovisual content market, ends Thursday. Again, the TV series cartonnent with chains. And for good reason, they can provide maximum profitability. Kiefer Sutherland, actor beacon of potential hit series Touch at MIPCOM 2011

NCIS, experts, or other Mentalist not familiar with the crisis. "The industry of TV series is thriving and continues to grow well. It reaps hundreds of millions of euros of turnover" provides Didier Liardet, author of twenty books on the history and evolution of the series. The international market for audiovisual and digital content Mipcom ends Thursday. Again, it confirms the success of soap operas. The key points of success.

Series account for the hearing

The series are the mainstay of the French audience, before the movies, reality TV, or even football.In 2010, nearly 70 of the 100 largest audiences were TV shows. Each episode of CSI or Mentalist includes about 8 to 10 million viewers. "Just one or two films, or some sporting events, reach this audience on a full year. While each episode of a hit, every week," Didier decrypts Liardet. The side of reality, the audience is also the rendezvous, but the level is still a notch below that of the series. Larger posters as Love is in the meadow or Koh-Lanta meet from 6 to 7 million viewers.

French soaps are not left out either. Episodes of Josephine Julie Lescaut guardian angel and still attract 6 to 7 million viewers."The problem is that the French series are struggling to grow as time slots are trustees for the U.S." finds Didier Liardet.

Worldwide, the success of the series is no less either. The U.S. always exported cartonnent (65.3 million viewers in over 100 countries for CSI). But the programs are not left out either. In Turkey, the local series As Time Goes By is a hit with 12 million viewers on average and exported "very good" according to Médiamétrie, while in China the most-watched series brings together 108 million people!

Of huge advertising revenues for the channels

Advertising revenue is the main TV series.A study by Forbes magazine, a Half Men, 24 and V reported each in ad revenue in 2009, approximately $ 3 million (over 2 million) for a half-hour broadcast, to their American chain. Knowing that a chain buys a successful episode between 100,000 and 200,000 euros profitability is there. According to the website dedicated Yata, experts have reported more than 1, 2 billion in gross revenues from 2005 to 2011 of TF1. And M6 would hit 530 million by NCIS. And "the industry has increased advertising revenues. He is doing very well" ensures Laurine Garaude, director of the division Reedmidem television, a company that organizes MIPCOM.

TV, DVD and derivatives: the winning formula for producers

And the studios producer profitability is no less either. The making of an episode costs about 1.5 to 4 million.And the series are then sold to the chains around the world. The expertsse are well sold in over 100 countries. And also the money that has strings, TV shows industry is fueled by the tremendous impact of DVD sales and products. "The derivatives market a hit series, including the United States. Caps, figurines, t-shirts, guides … Each series has its range. It works less well, however, in France. The prices are often three times higher "Didier notes Liardet. Proceeds from sales of DVDs and Blu-Ray of the "off-fiction film" retreat, however, by 3.4% year on year, but remain at 262 million euros in 2010, according to GfK.

Internet: friend or foe?

If illegal downloads are losing money to the sector, is also an internet business tool size.Several chains have already posted a video-on-demand to watch a series online for a price of about € 1.99 for an episode of Dr. House, for example. TF1 is able to join Facebook for HD episodes of series 24 hours after its U.S. broadcast on the channel at the same rate, but currency Facebook.

In addition, various games and online applications are jumping the reputation of the series. Prior to the release of Dexter, viewers can, for example, through a Facebook application, get in the shoes of the hero. And the recipe has taken: the game already involves 10 million fan! "Some series, such as the American Jericho was even stopped on the TV, then revived because they have had great success on the internet," recalls Didier Liardet.

"The growth of the Internet, social networks, new technologies, the arrival of the iPad, tablets, PDAs or digital channels … This is not a threat. It will just cause change in the sector of audiovisual content. It is the major challenge of Mipcom 2011, "Laurine Garaude advance. "The screens are fragmented and consumption patterns change. The viewer not only wants to be master of what he looks, but when and where he looks" she says. Heads-we moving towards an era where the series will be broadcast on the Internet directly, without necessarily going through the TV? Laurine Garaude ensures that the event is more than credible: "Some meetings are in the show evoke the possibility. Pilots have already been launched on the internet before TV."

Future star series

One of the major trends to emerge at the Mipcom 2011 has been the alliance between the film and TV.To attract funding and viewers, the series are more and more appeal to movie stars. The four most anticipated productions of the season in the United States are no exception to the rule.

Touch, which tells the story of a father who discovers that his autistic son is endowed with supernatural powers will soon broadcast on Fox, will be played with Kieffer Sutherland. The star of the series 24 has recently made a name for the cinema with Melancholia, Lars Von Trier, presented in May at Cannes. Smash, Steven Spielberg, is a music series in which we follow the plight of players to mount a musical about Marilyn Monroe on Broadway. It will air in February on NBC, before arriving at the TF1 fall. American actress Ashley Judd will play in an old Missing CIA spy who will try to find her son disappeared 18 years in Rome.The series will air on ABC in the United States. And M6 is already on track to acquire it. In Hell on Wheels, where the hero is a former soldier in the Civil War who seeks revenge for other soldiers who killed his family, it will also play the actress Dominique McElligott.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended down 1.86% Monday, erasing its gains of the previous week, investors feared that the measures expected on the employment front in the U.S. this week are not enough to prevent a new recession .

The Nikkei lost 166.28 points to 8,784.46 points and the Topix, broader, dropped 13.96 points (1.81%) to 755.82 points.

Japanese exporters have suffered from the strengthening of the yen against the euro, Sony and Toshiba 4% yielding 2.49%.

Nomura Holdings fell 4.64%, the bank is covered by a complaint from the federal agency overseeing the mortgage market in the United States, which accuses 17 major institutions have sold bonds backed by mortgages in with these operations is misleading.

The Nikkei, which had 1.7% last week on hopes of a Fed intervention to support the U.S. economy, fell in the wake of Wall Street Friday in response to halt the creation employment in the United States.

Trade volumes were found well below average.

President Barack Obama must present Thursday in a speech to the nation a plan for employment, as investors increasingly fear the scenario of a relapse into recession the world's largest economy.

"In this atmosphere, foreign investors should remain risk averse and inactive," predicted Mitsushige Akino, fund manager for Ichiyoshi Investment Management.

The rating agency Standard & Poor's reaffirms its trust in "AAA" of France. The opportunity to understand the links in a few risks to the note light, and challenged the role of rating agencies. This Thursday, August 18, Standard & Poor's is confident the triple A of France

Standard & Poor's is confident the triple A of France The rating agency expressed "confidence" in the ability of France to maintain its optimum rating "AAA". The president of the rating agency for the French-speaking Europe Carole Sirou said Thursday on RTL radio that "the note of France is" AAA "stable, it is the case since 1975." Asked about rumors of Degrate the French note that shook financial markets last August 10, she declined to comment.August 8, John Chambers, chairman of the state rating of S & P reaffirmed that France had a "well-designed fiscal policy" which justified its "AAA" rating with positive outlook "stable".

Read the interview with Carole Sirou, president of Standard & Poor's, on RTL: "We are confident about the AAA rating of France."

The Triple A of France inquièteMalgré assurances from the rating agencies, who denied rumors of degradation of the note of the Hexagon, the concern remains. "The ratio of debt / GDP ratio is approaching the danger zone, said Jean-Christophe Caffet, economist at Natixis. It is not yet in the red but already in the orange." The rating agencies scrutinize closely the social spending of France. Second weakness, the lack of French growth, which does not pay interest on public debt.And the slowdown could continue. The expected growth in 2012 would not exceed 0.2%.

Read also: The anguish of the triple A of France

Why persistentPremière doubts because in the circle of countries stamped "AAA", France shows the worst budget ratios. Its deficit to 7% of GDP, above the level of other countries rated in the euro area. In addition, the primary deficit (excluding debt burden) is twice as high (3% of GDP) than its neighbors. From there to suggest that the hexagon is at the forefront of the next breakdown … Second reason, the commitments to reduce the deficit of France are struggling to convince. With growth low and, consequently, lower tax revenues, the country will have to make efforts for additional savings for deficit reduction.But in a report published mid-June, the Court of Auditors considers that "the effort goes beyond the measures that have already been taken." Removing more than expected tax loopholes, tax on very high incomes, increased taxation of life insurance, all measures envisaged by the Government, which will result in tax increases in 2012. Unless these measures to reduce the deficit does the cost of the presidential campaign. In 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy has loudly proclaimed that he was not elected to raise taxes …

See also: Why France worries markets

Rating agencies, the oracles marchésPour Gunther Capelle-Blancard, deputy director of CEPII, in times of great uncertainty about the economic outlook, financial markets are among the rating agencies the information readable and easy to interpret.These new oracles, act as aggravating factors of the crisis. They sow or exacerbate panic. Over the past 15 years, they never alert the warning signs of a crisis. Neither the failure of South American states in the 80 or the subprime crisis, nor that of the Greek debt in 2009. What to doubt their credibility. However, legislators and regulators have raised finance rating agencies to the level of ultimate reference. Difficult to deny that they have become essential because they illuminate the investors on the creditworthiness of the borrower. But to limit their destabilizing effects, detoxification is necessary, according to Gunther Capelle-Blancard. To limit their influence, they should be separate texts that regulate international finance, so that the rating agencies become mere sources of information among others.

See also: "You have to detoxify the rating agencies"

Dagong, rating agency alternative? According to the criteria of the Chinese agency Dagong Global Credit Rating, neither the U.S. nor the UK or France deserve the highest rating. Criticized for its dependence on the Chinese government, the agency presided over by Guan Jianzhong, at least has the merit of representing a creditor country, when the three major agencies, Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch are from debtor countries. With public debt ratio of 96% for the United States, 83% for the UK and 85% for France in 2011, difficult to challenge their degradation. Dagong aggréée was not in the U.S., it has no influence on the markets. Yet there are voices calling for alternatives analysis grids.Thus, Norbert Gaillard, specialist and consultant ratings for the World Bank, like the arrival of players offering "different angles of analysis."

Read also: The rating agency Is China too hard on the West?

Also: Financial analysis: the troublemakers of the rating

Baroin and Valerie Pécresse have a week to make proposals to the President and the Prime Minister to ensure the goal of deficit reduction. The executive will make its arbitration on August 24. Baroin was appointed Minister of Finance and Econo Wednesday, June 29, 2011. He was replaced by Valerie Pécresse Budget.

Ministers Baroin (Economics) and Valérie Pécresse (Budget) will have to be Nicolas Sarkozy proposals to ensure compliance with the goals of deficit reduction that will be subject to "final decisions" on August 24, announced the Elysee Wednesday. At a meeting convened at the Elysee Palace, Sarkozy recalled that France's commitments on this issue "are intangible and will be required regardless of changing economic conditions."

Proposals requested from Mr.Baroin and Mrs. Pécresse to ensure compliance will be first reviewed by Nicolas Sarkozy and François Fillon August 17 and then the "final decisions will be made August 24" at a meeting between the four of them, the statement of the Presidency. The meeting on Wednesday, August 24 will take place after the Council of Ministers of the season, on the morning of that day.

"This will be the day of decisions, actions to achieve these goals," said Minister of Economy to the press after the meeting. The Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, Minister for European Affairs Jean Leonetti, and Christian Noyer, Governor of the Bank of France also attended the crisis meeting, which lasted two hours and fifteen minutes.

"The head of state noted that the decisions made by European and American institutions have reduced tensions in financial markets," also claims the presidency in a statement. Specifically "in Europe, the measures adopted by the Spanish and Italian as well as the interventions of the ECB have been effective in significantly reducing the interest rates on the debt of these two countries," they added just source.

By the way Nicolas Sarkozy again called the gathering "beyond party lines" in order to restore the balance of public finances, the statement said. An allusion to the refusal of the PS to vote the "golden rule" which the Head of State wishes to inclusion in the Constitution. For this he needs the votes of 3/5èmes Parliament meeting in Congress.

The benefit of General Motors has nearly doubled in the second quarter exceeded market expectations, thanks to an increase in market share, particularly in the United States, the number one U.S. auto.

Net income stood at $ 2.52 billion, $ 1.54 per share, against $ 1.33 billion, $ 0.85 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S had forecast $ 1.20 per share.

Revenues came out up 19% to 39.4 billion, better than the 36.74 billion expected by the consensus.

The trip by Christine Lagarde, candidate for leadership of the IMF is funded by the state. The duck was chained estimates the cost of 46 000 kilometers traveled. Christine Lagarde, here on his arrival at Brasilia on Monday 30 May, where she defends her nomination to head the IMF, the first stage of a tour seeking support from major emerging countries.

150 000. That is what is expected to cost French taxpayers, the campaign of economy minister to run for head of the IMF, according to an estimate of the chained duck.

Brazil to Egypt via India and China, Christine Lagarde had traveled nearly 46,000 miles from May 30 last. The weekly was therefore based on first-class fares charged by Air France to assess the price of these displacements in all directions. The total is estimated at 38,400 euros.

To this amount must be added the ticket prices of its three companions (his security officer, his communications officer and his advisor), amounting to 115,200 euros. The campaign of Christine Lagarde around the world would be tantamount to 153,600 euros for the French taxpayers.

DSK's campaign had it, cost 48,000 euros

The site 20 minutes, which took over the information, said however that this amount is probably a little lower. Indeed, Bercy could benefit from preferential rates from the airline.

Adding salt remains as it takes into account neither the cost of restoration, nor housing. In 2007, the government also funded the campaign DSK. The former Socialist candidate had yet taken office "services to an American agency lobbying and communicating those of its French," reported Le Canard chains.The bill now approaching 48 000.