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Just arrived in Brussels Monday afternoon, Christine Lagarde has distributed the good report was expected of her: "Greece has clearly made major efforts … Now, we need others to do so efforts, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) is ready to work on these bases. "But the CEO was well refrained from giving any indication of the magnitude of the amounts that the Fund might have to put in the pot.

Curiously the German Jörg Asmussen, one of six board members of the European Central Bank (ECB), had announced yet for granted: "We Europeans are waiting (IMF) participate again in height third of the new program "(130 billion euros). This is totally excluded, it says in the entourage of the patron saint of the IMF.

Gone are the days when Dominique Strauss-Kahn had established de facto, in spring 2010, a totally new principle, that the IMF would participate in up to one third in terms of aid to Greece and Ireland and Portugal, the Europeans providing the other two thirds. This rule was applied to the latter two countries, but not quite to Greece where the IMF in assistance loans was only 27%.

And for good reason. It was noted in Washington that the loans in Athens have already exceeded the usual ratios: a country can not receive aid exceeding ten times its share capital to the IMF, according to an unwritten rule but was consistently observed for more sixty years. However, the facilities already enjoyed by Greece reach a multiple of 25.

Accountable

Second difficulty, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday, the latest "Report on the debt sustainability" would show that by 2020 the ratio was 129% instead of 120% which are considered the maximum allowable. If teams Fund refuse to confirm the risk of skidding, the better to reaffirm that it is imperative that the limit of 120%.

Christine Lagarde, more than ever needs to be accountable to all its 187 shareholder countries, including the United States, which have veto power. While Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary, said Sunday that "the United States encourage the IMF to support the agreement (European)". But this does not mean that his country is ready to increase the capacity of the Fund.

The Deputy Tim Geithner even said last Thursday before the Senate, he was no question that Washington is participating in the strengthening of the IMF, including Christine Lagarde has officially set the bar at $ 500 billion. Remember that this project all the countries of Southern Europe that the IMF might have to rescue them.

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The Spanish Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, began talks with the country's banks to reduce the number of foreclosures, which increase with the crisis. It should bring forward proposals to try to avoid eviction of defaulters.

The Conservative government of Mariano Rajoy seized and a sensitive social issue, of concern to all Spaniards and which took up the movement of Indignados. In 2010, 100,000 families were expropriated by Spanish banks for unpaid bills, a number four times higher than in 2007.

This worsening situation is as much a crisis as the structure of the real estate market. In Spain, 83% of the population own their homes, a record in the European Union. Despite a change in attitude since the bursting of the housing bubble, the rental market is still very small.

At the height of the housing boom, banks have extended credit indiscriminately to 100% or more of the property value, and floating rate over periods of up to 40 years.

Bombs

As the seizures, the bankers became the first Realtors in the country. These properties are difficult to sell in a sluggish market, now constitute a time bomb in bank balance sheets payday loans for self employed.

The Bank of Spain on Friday issued the rate of bad loans of Spanish banks. At 7.87% in December 2011, the highest figure since 1994, more than double the rate that prevailed there are still three years. These credits, some of which will never be repaid, mainly concern the real estate sector and amounted to 135.7 billion euros.

Between bad loans and a stock of unsold real estate and land, assets considered "problematic" – as to the uncertain value – totaled 176 billion euros in June 2011.

Financial reform prepared by the Executive aims to clean up the banking sector, the main source of market fears. The aim is to promote the absorption of small structures deficit by leading banks and compel credit institutions to strengthen their reserves of 52 billion euros.

The law was passed Thursday by a large majority of MPs. A sacred union rarely given the urgency of the crisis.

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The figures are record: 101,700 megawatts (MW) consumed by the French at 19 o'clock last night, a record that surpasses the previous day, to 100,500 megawatts. The previous record was 15 December 2010 to 96,710 megawatts. With each new wave of cold correpond a new historic peak of consumption to meet the increased need for hot water and heating.

Why do we save these records, while 2011 saw a decrease of 6.8% of electricity consumption in France? The sensitivity of electricity consumption to cold temperatures has increased over the last decade, the order of 70 MW per year, says the electricity transmission network (RTE), a subsidiary of EDF responsible for network of power lines. In addition, our electro-climate sensitivity is higher than our neighbors to each degree less, Europeans consume more today 5000 MW, of which only 2300 MW in France! In comparison, Britain consumes 600 MW for each degree lost, Germany and Italy 500 MW 300 MW.

This explains why the French electrical consumption was so low in 2011, the warmest year since 1900. Instead, the cold snap earlier this year led to a series of daily records: the scale of temperatures, the geographic scope (on the whole territory) and the duration of this wave creates a phenomenon of "cold accumulating," said Herve Mignon, Director of Economy, Planning and transparency in TEN.

More electric heaters, more devices

The origin of this particular sensitivity to cold in France: electric heating, which team nearly a third of homes and is installed in 80% of units built in 2009, according to the Environment Agency to control Energy (ADEME). "The electric heaters (except models with heat accumulation) contributes to peak electricity consumption observed around 19h," says this on his site. "It's a French specialty, says Francoise Clement, Information Officer at ADEME. We relied on electric heating, which makes us very dependent on climate. "

Easier and cheaper to install than central heating, it is elected by overwhelming in a country where electricity is more abundant than elsewhere. However, it may prove far more expensive to use, especially since many homes are poorly insulated. "The actual search for energy savings is still new in France, Clement says Françoise. We had no temperature control before 1975 and our expertise in high performance homes is still underdeveloped. "Now, the heat losses are significant: 25% to 30% through the roof, 25% by walls and 10% to 15% by windows.

In parallel, the use of electrical appliances has been steadily improving. In the living room consoles, computers and televisions are increasingly hungry for electricity, as well as kitchen equipment, such as coffee makers and electric robots. "The spirit of cocooning" increases in household demand, explains Françoise Clemente: "We like to equip themselves, we want to be like home."

We must add that the growing electricity demand with economic growth and the continued increase in population. In its latest forecast balance, RTE still see electricity consumption to grow by 1.1% by 2015. Then, assuming an improvement in energy efficiency in buildings, consumption could increase by 0.6% per year by 2030.

The Council of State suspended the execution of the decree of September 29 on the sale prices of natural gas, the institution announced on Monday. Gas prices are definitely a real headache for the government. Enact increases in the order of 4 or 5% per quarter is difficult to six months of a presidential election, particularly in times of crisis. So the government there decided by a ministerial decree of 29 September, to freeze the rates for individuals. This price stability followed that decided on July 1.

Problem: after much negotiation, the State and the suppliers had agreed in December 2010 on a formula, which was to end criticism of the political nature of periodic reassessments of gas tariffs.

How to make a hitch to his dog kibble? Appeal to teachers, as do the manufacturers for ages in their advertisements, not enough. It is also pet the pooches in the grain. Nestle, the world leader in animal nutrition with Purina (Friskies, Fido, Felix …), is launching this week at the Austrian television advertising directed at the first of the canine race! A 23-second spot that touts its brand Beneful. The brand hopes to honor "the unique relationship between dogs and their masters."

The matter was taken very seriously by Nestlé. The group uses its team of specialists in animal behavior, based in Missouri. They have identified the sounds that dogs, whose hearing is two times finer than that of humans, are particularly susceptible.Beneful spot, which features a dog bowl in front of her and his mistress, and has a grinding noise similar to that of a dog toy, a barely audible hiss of humans and a fairly high-pitched signal. Dogs are supposed to react differently to advertising based on their "individual experience" and the games they are used with their master, provides Nestlé. Last year, Nestlé Purina was pioneered in Germany with scented billboards that opened the appetite of dogs for a walk.

Coffee breaks should be shorter now for the employees of Goldman Sachs in New York. In recent days, in fact, they have at their disposal coffee cups smaller than normal. The bank, which has embarked on an extensive program of savings $ 1.45 billion in mid-2012, estimates that reducing the size of the cups 35 cl at 29 he will save "thousands of dollars ". In the same vein, the machines "cashless" (to recharge with cash cards can be used to pay vending machines) are becoming increasingly rare in buildings. According to Goldman Sachs, it will pay less armored car to transport the money raised.

Other banks, Wall Street stars, also address their operating costs.The offices are less green and Morgan Stanley, which decided to cut the budget plant. "Every dollar not spent is a dollar that can be used for growth," says her boss wisely James Gorman. Bank of America canceled several expensive meeting, while Barclays will strictly monitor the bill for business phones for its employees.

Bonuses reduced and job cuts

More importantly, the impressive bonus paid out to employees at year end should be reduced. Although for the moment, the cumulative 65.69 billion dollars, set aside for this purpose in the first half by Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, do not show it yet. In recent await the end of the fourth quarter before taking any decisions about it.

Saving measures will also affect employment high quality business cards.Goldman Sachs cuts and positions could not be about 3% of the workforce (1,000 people), as expected so far, but 5% of the total. Bank of America will eliminate 30,000 positions, JPMorgan Chase 3000.

A disastrous quarter

The time has come for U.S. investment banks to tighten their belt after a disastrous third quarter. The very poor stock market performance of major Wall Street banks over the period, characterized by loss of 16% to 49% over the period, illustrate the phenomenon.

The reason: the pressure around the debt crisis in Europe affects the banking sector on both sides of the Atlantic, the new cases of mergers and acquisitions and bond below the 2008/2009 levels, and economic slowdown in the U.S. and the euro area.Not to mention the always present impacts of the subprime crisis.

Symbol difficulties, Goldman Sachs is expected to announce on 18 October, its worst quarter since going public 12 years ago. The consensus of analysts now speak of an earnings per share of $ 1.35 (against 2.65 dollars a month ago), a loss of profitability of 50% over the year. Some even refer to a quarterly loss that the bank would be its first episode since the Lehman Brothers in 2008.

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Create a "collective imagination". It is the mission of public broadcasting as Remy Pflimlin, CEO of France Televisions. If he wants to "broaden the public of France Televisions" is less to redress hearings, which have been somewhat volatile, that to build "a public service that addresses all the French," he said Yesterday at the conference back from France Televisions. We must "constantly innovate and ensure that France Television is a reflection of society," says Rémy Pflimlin.

The group announced 30 new leaders of its branches, "to go to an increasingly diverse France." Diversity will also be found in the contents with 100 new programs on the channels of the group. In this wave of new, Rémy Pflimlin is willing to assume some failures."It's the price we pay for innovation," says he.

Result: the cost of channel grid is up this year. It reached 810 million euros on France 2, 820 million euros for France 3 (half of which is now devoted to regional programs), 45 million to France 4, France 5 to 145 million, 28 million for France and 180 O million for the nine channels overseas first. And the contract of objectives and means signed this summer with the state provides for increases of 3% per year over five years cheap credit report. Remy Pflimlin has identified two strategic areas: information and creation.

Back to movie nights

For information, France Televisions has the largest supply of the European audiovisual with more than 50 hours a day. JT and the hearing on 20-h de France is close to that of TF1. The group discusses the election campaign including the program "Words and deeds."On the creation side, the group now spends 20% of its budget to financing of entertainment, or 420 million euros. A significant increase compared to 365 million spent by the team of Patrick de Carolis. The group has signed an agreement that should lead to the development of new French drama. But the results will be on air in a year or two. France 2 will broadcast "contemporary dramas and thrillers," and France 3, of historical fiction. The cinema is back with such a "great movie night" on France 3 on Thursday with Frederic Taddei.

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Giving the trend of the European market yearlings, Deauville sales start today. For four days, 478 thoroughbred yearling will be auctioned in the ring establishment Elie de Brignac, located opposite the racecourse The Touques and completely renovated. Of these, 340 were born in France and "income" and therefore qualified for the bonus to the owner, in addition to the allowances paid if they win or place in racing gallop in France. The origin of most of England and Ireland, but also from Germany and some of United States.

After the disappointment registered last year (down 17% the average price of yearlings), the farmers hope that the market will recover. But the economy remains sluggish in Europe, Eric Hoyeau, president of Arqana, organizer of sales, remains cautious."Our goal is a slight increase compared to revenues in 2010, which was 29.3 million euros."

In the spring, some 2,000 yearlings were in the running. After examination of their pedigree, about 1000 were selected. Then, the teams toured Arqana stud farms to examine their model, their appearance, their health … In the end, they were divided between the two sales held in Deauville in August (the most prestigious) and October ."More balanced, combining quality and diversity, the 2011 catalog of the sale of August is an excellent year," said Eric Hoyeau.

Children of champions

No less than 114 stallions are represented, with a large battalion of son and daughters of very large foreign-based sires such as Danehill Dancer, Galileo, Dylan Thomas (35 000 euros per project), Duke of Marmalade (40 000 ) or Montjeu Dalakhani, father of Reliable Man, winner of last June's Prix du Jockey-Club.

Their children could burn the auction.For large investors or their representatives (brokers, coaches) from around the world (Britain, Ireland, Japan, USA …) on the Normandy coast, arriving with the hope to get your hands on foals or fillies may, at the age of three years, winning such prestigious races as the Prix du Jockey-Club, Diana, the Epsom Derby or the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

But it would be very surprising that the sales record, established in 2002, beaten. At the time, Sheik Mohammed al-Maktoum did not hesitate to pay 2 million euros to buy the filly Vimy Ridge.

Owner of the Godolphin Stable, one of the largest in the world, the emir of Dubai buys yearlings in the world, like its brethren its re Sheikh Hamdan.Last year, their absence on the Normandy coast, because of Ramadan, and the discretion of their representatives were the main causes of the fall (- 28%) of revenues from sales of Deauville.

Although lagged ten days, sales fall again this year in the period of the Muslim religious festival. But the interest of Australian investors and Eastern Europe, including Russia, not to mention the strong French customer, could surprise on the upside.

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Surf the Internet at home while monitoring its consumption. The 64% of French people connected to broadband Internet via a box, are not used. Yet they should consider this option. According to an information site Owni, operators in considering the effect of limiting access to the fixed Internet to deal with a network saturation.

The thinking has already begun by the operators, with the French telecoms and consumer associations. The idea of ​​a limitation of the offers is suggested in a paper dated July 21, which summarizes the means to implement for better consumer information. Attached to this document is an example of a table summarizing the supposed best offers.It shows, by type of household equipment ADLS (zone bundled, unbundled or very high speed), the boxes in which the operator must notify the "IP flow up to the offer," "the ceiling of consumption" and the consequences of exceeding the ceiling and a limit of downloads per session.

As the mobile

Operators could then be applied to the fixed Internet connection limits already in force on smartphones, which also apply to operators to be regularly singled out by consumer associations. On equipped mobile Internet, the connection itself is seen as limitless is slowed or blocked depending on the offers, beyond 500 megabytes (MB) or 2 gigabytes (GB).The operator then offers to large consumers to buy a new block of bytes.

The reason given by operators to explain the application of these methods is also fixes the same as for mobile phones: network saturation. In the July 21 document, a paragraph that mentions the need to ensure "continuity of service for all users, not financially penalize heavy users" alludes.

French operators and want to learn from the Internet Service Providers UK and U.S. have already implemented this system. United States, Time Warner, Comcast, Verizon and AT & T offer a connection often capped at 250 GB per month, customers finding themselves obliged to monitor their connection counter to avoid unpleasant surprises.

"Unacceptable"

If the operators claim that consumer associations adhere to their thinking, the most virulent of these, UFC Que Choisir, insane. Edouard Barreiro, in charge of digital within the association, cited by Owni said already that "this decision is unacceptable." According to him, "limit on the fixed Internet has no economic justification, he says. Fixed costs do not vary with consumption of users, or very little. Operators are seeking to extort money from both sides: first, content providers like Google and consumers. Traders feel all powerful. " Arcep, the telecoms regulator, was also described this change as "bizarre".

In turn, a spokesman for Orange, Jean-Marie Culpin, stick to his guns. "There are some packages on which we could put the thresholds," says he Owni.But he admits that this strategy is for "people who download movies all day" but is instead "an unacceptable impact if more customers." Proof is that reflection is not yet stopped.

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The Paris Bourse remained hesitant on Tuesday. The CAC 40, which had closed up yesterday, was down 0.25% to 3230.90 points. The Paris index was pressed into the red at the opening, losing 0.73% after the release of German GDP is very disappointing. Deutsche Börse also accused the coup, the Dax closed down 0.45%, limiting losses after falling 2.40% to 5877.91 points. In London, the FTSE-100 index of the core values ​​ends up slightly from 0.13% to 5357.63 points after losing 1.13% during the session. The other European financial centers have also reduced their losses late in the day: the Madrid Stock Exchange lost 0.4% and finally to Milan 0.8%.

The markets were reassured by the announcement of the Fitch rating of the United States. The rating agency remains in effect its "AAA" together with a stable outlook.But caution prevails before the summit between Sarkozy and Merkel spent on the economic governance of the euro area. Combined these on global markets, all eyes will be on the Elysee Palace in Paris to take place a meeting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to improve governance in the euro area . The two leaders will meet from 16 hours and hold a press conference around 18:30.

Investors already know that he must not expect miracles, especially not that the two largest economies in the euro zone agreed to set up Euro-bonds, which would be financially harmful to Berlin."Do not expect anything dramatic" at the end of the meeting Monday said a spokesman for Angela Merkel, that "people expect once again a spectacular blow." It should only be to continue discussions on the governance of the euro area, following decisions taken by Heads of State and Government of the European end of July.

Operators still expect progress on this issue. "If nothing is announced, it will mean that there is a deep rift between Paris and Berlin markets can get excited again," warned Yves Marc, sales of shares in Global Equities.

Meanwhile, Asian markets set the tone with very mixed sessions, followed by Wall Street that opened in the red. Oil down with a barrel of "light sweet crude" that is losing 45 cents to 87.43 dollars and that of Brent crude, which gives 42 cents to 109.49 dollars.Sign of nervousness room, gold is up, quoting around 1775.50 dollars against 1744 dollars the day before closing in New York.

German growth slows

The Franco-German summit is further expected that the disappointing figures were published today in the euro area. Germany has announced a particularly sharp slowdown in growth in the second quarter. German gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.1% in the second quarter compared to the first, where he still displayed an increase of 1.3%.

In addition to the sharp slowdown in the German economy, the Gross Domestic Products (GDP), Spanish and Dutch have in fact suffered a similar fate over the same period, rising by only 0.2%, respectively, and 0.1%, amid debt crisis.

Economic growth also slowed in the second quarter in the euro area, 0.2% from 0.8% in the first quarter, according to data released Tuesday by the EU statistics office Eurostat. However, the euro area recorded a trade surplus of 900 million euros in June, after a surplus of 200 million in May.

United States, markets were also disappointed by the figures for housing starts, down 1.5% in July. The number of building permits has meanwhile Contracted 3.2%. However, industrial production increased more than expected in July, 0.9%, according to the Federal Reserve, with the automotive sector and the heat wave that has boosted the use of air conditioners and therefore electricity consumption .Finally, import prices have rebounded from their side, while export declined.

Values ​​to follow

On the corporate side, the news is much thinner. Bank stocks are again suivies.Sous pressure before meeting Sarkozy, Merkel, they recovered late in the session: BNP Paribas lost 0.07% to 37.5 euros, Natixis (-1.64% to 3.063 euros) and AXA (-0.18% to 11.22 euros). Societe Generale gained 1.92% to end 25.275 euros and Credit Agricole advance of 0.68% to 6.781 euros.

GDF Suez (-2.20% to 20.44 euros) is added to the list of preferred values ​​of UBS.

EADS (-0.95% to 21.80 euros): Russian Transaero airline will buy 12 Airbus A320. Qantas has in turn announced the purchase of 110 Airbus A320s and the deferral of delivery of six Airbus A380 jumbo jets.