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Meg Whitman, head of HP for 8 months, is expected to announce the removal of 25,000 to 30,000 jobs worldwide, according to the Wall Street Journal. The group employs around 350,000 people. If the magnitude of the plan may seem surprising in a recipient company, the announcement itself is not really a surprise. After publishing a net income of $ 1.5 billion, down 44%, for a turnover down 7%, to $ 30 billion in the first quarter of its fiscal year, Meg Whitman warned that " difficult years "waiting for the group.

Since it launched the consolidation of two divisions: Personal System Group (computers) and Pinting (print) PPS (personnal and printing system). the boss also said that savings would be achieved, particularly regarding the cost structure in order to encourage industrial investment. The merger of these two divisions should logically lead to job cuts.

If HP still holds its position as world number one PC with 17 Payday Loan for Bad Credit.1% market share (according to Gartner), it is no less rushed. His challenger, Chinese Lenovo, is now only 4 points. Meg Whitman was among the first to point out that Apple had sold more than iPad HP PC in the last quarter of 2011. Now, HP is temporarily out of the race shelves. There should be making a comeback in October with the launch of Windows 8.

If recent weeks, the U.S. giant has highlighted its PC division, they do not neglect it must also continue to invest in future markets. Especially cloud computing and business services. Hence the need to increase efficiency. Meg Whitman explained last week that a "strategy builds on the strengths of the business." She had not said when it was accompanied by a weight loss program.

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In turmoil, PepsiCo faces a turbulent new shareholder. The investment fund Relational Investors, known to oppose the management of companies in which it invests, bought for $ 610 million of shares of the giant drinks and snacks, or 0.6% of the capital.

The activist fund could give voice to advocate a division of PepsiCo. It would be a step backwards for the inventor of Pepsi. Well ahead in the world by Coca-Cola on its core business, he had experienced a boom until the mid-2000s by diversifying successively in chips (Frito-Lay), fruit juices (Tropicana), the cereal (Quaker Oats) or yogurt (Wimm-Bill-Dann).

Officially, the group of Purchase (in NY) is doing well. "We have had constructive meetings with Relational, said Wednesday a spokesman. Our management regularly meets with investors, and Relational is a respected institution. " The co-founder of Relational Investors, Ralph Whitworth, who bought earlier this year 11 million shares of Western Union and 2 million Abercrombie & Fitch, is since last year a director of Hewlett-Packard. He campaigned successfully in several companies (ITT, L-3 Communications Holdings) for the separation of their activities.

8700 jobs lost

He will reach his goals in the world's second largest agri-food? The split is fashionable in the sector. Another giant, Kraft Foods, completes the separation of its international activity of snacking and its historical American brands. Same thing at United Biscuits, in his sweet and salty snacks.

PepsiCo, the specter of a split between drinks, but profitable low growth, and snacks, which are growing faster, is agitated for several months. A portion of the board would have been favorable towards the end of last year, according to U.S. media. Some investors see it as a remedy for the ills of the past four years the group headed by Indra Nooyi, particularly in the United States. By itself, the North American beverage business accounts for one third of overall sales. But in 2011, its activity dropped 1%, reflecting price increases and insufficient marketing investments. For eighteen months, its flagship beverage was relegated to third place behind American Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. These setbacks have led to a standstill since the arrival of the title of CEO in 2006.

If split, the value of the two entities would be greater than the current capitalization, many analysts believe. Such an operation would also build a true enterprise culture in beverages and attract the talent required to develop them.

In early February, Indra Nooyi has dismissed a split, insisting that "the value of PepsiCo was maximized as a single company." The boss of PepsiCo, which predicted a decline of 5% of its profits this year, has opted for a drastic austerity: 8700 job cuts by 2014 and a savings program, 5 billion. Implementation of its plan will be followed by its new shareholder. If it was not successful, Indra Nooyi – the rumor of the departure – could be forced to reconsider the scenario of a split.

In Athens,

In the land of Athena, the political wisdom does not really progress. After the euphoria fueled by thirty years of fiscal profligacy, the hurricane of the economic crisis and its attendant drastic austerity measures have devastated the morale of the Greeks. It is in this context they are called to vote for crucial general elections Sunday, the first since the trusteeship of the country by the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A protest vote is more than ever on the agenda and many experts are worried about a coming political chaos in the country.

The thirty-two contending parties are divided into two camps. On the one hand, the "pro-memorandum," those who voted for and signed the austerity measures imposed on the country in exchange for two loans of 110 and 130 billion euros. Three parties are distinguished in this category: PASOK, Socialist Party headed by Evangelos Venizelos, former finance minister. Despite the seriousness of the situation, he is convinced that Greece is on track and ensures a crisis in the next four years. New Democracy (ND), Conservative Party, whose leader, Antonis Samaras, is leading in the polls, has primarily to renegotiate the terms of the memorandum by betting on the revival and development of the economy. Finally, the Democratic Collaboration Dora Bakoyannis, former Foreign Minister, may see his party not to cross the 3% threshold to enter parliament.

For Giannis Panousis, professor of criminology at the University of Athens, these parties may pay their hypocrisy. "The major parties say they have the solution for overcoming the crisis, while everyone knows that this is not viable. Even before the polls are open, public creditors remind the country that we will have € 11.5 billion of budget savings in the next two months. That means more job losses and new taxes, "he analyzes.

So, the vast majority of candidates appear in the opposite camp, the "anti-memorandum." They denounce the exact figures of sovereign debt, the trusteeship and loss of sovereignty. They rely on the record figures of unemployment and recession to convince the most disadvantaged and the young, depressed by the lack of future. Apart from the Communist Party (KKE), who wants to see Greece leave the European Union as soon as possible, the parties "anti-rigor" consider the place of Greece in the euro area as a given unbeatable. "They can not exclude us, otherwise there will be a domino effect and will be in a very bad position," quips Panagiotaros Ilias, number two Chryssi Avgi, "Golden Dawn" violent far-right group which expected to enter parliament for the first time.

In campaign rally in the Peloponnese, he assured his constituents that in addition to return all illegal immigrants in the country he will veto any legislation introduced to Parliament if they do not defend the interests of the Hellenes. "We do not need these bailouts which in reality are not. Greek debt is sustainable, but we pay the speculations of the great capitalists, "he says. Rhetoric that brings. Many supporters of this group recognize that ideology does not differ greatly from that of the far-left parties, "more patriotic".

Risk of paralysis

"Greece for the Greeks" is a slogan that is also found in the clan Panos Kammenos, leader of the Greeks independent. Surfing also on the crisis and desperation of the Greeks, the former Conservative wants to build on the country's natural resources to repay debt. He admits to not being away from ideas of Syriza, left-wing coalition led by Alexis Tsipras, also rose sharply in the polls.

If Greece is found unable to form a majority government coalition or Sunday, the risk of paralysis is real. "The instability will result when a violent change of political system as a whole and lead very quickly to new elections. The country can not be governed effectively as the situation requires it, "said political analyst Antonis Karakousis. "The question is whether the country can support a political crisis over the economic crisis or whether we will go, as some fear, toward a financial disaster and a danger to the sovereignty of Greece." ……. .

This may especially endanger the European reforms undertaken so far and very controversial in the population. Hence the concern of the country's creditors, which would like the Greeks realize that Greece plays its European future at the ballot box.

Financier, philanthropist, George Soros published by Presses de la Cité The Global Financial Chaos, a book in which he details the relentless chain of events that precipitated the world of the subprime crisis than in the euro area. He shares his solutions for the financial reform and save the single currency.

LE FIGARO. – How do you judge the situation in the euro area?

George Soros. – The crisis is worsening day by day. Politicians have said that it was prematurely terminated, but that is incorrect. The situation is even worse since the beginning of this year certainly intelligent and exceptional measures taken by the ECB has lent € 1,000 billion in three years European banks have helped alleviate these and indirectly support loans States, but they have only to save time. The underlying problems remain. The differences in competitiveness between countries, which have widened when interest rates were converging, remain. Furthermore, the differences between creditor and debtor countries have worsened. One of the most disturbing in the euro area is currently re-nationalization of the debt markets to which we are currently observing. Spanish banks buy debt Spanish and French banks of the French debt, but you see more of French banks to buy Spanish debt. This could potentially blow up the euro. As if we were trying to recreate eggs after making an omelette. It is however not an inevitable process and there is still time to reverse things by taking political decisions really original.

Why?

Europe must establish a real growth policy. We can not escape from a situation of excessive debt just by practicing austerity, because it causes GDP to fall and, ultimately, in nominal terms, the debt burden increases compared to the national wealth. The ultimate risk with too much austerity, it is plunging into a deflationary trap of over-indebtedness, which is the road to disaster. The best way to reduce debt is therefore parallel to the rebalancing of accounts, to maintain GDP growth.

How to sustain this growth? By stimulus measures or structural?

Structural reforms are necessary but not sufficient. We must put money back in growth projects. It is impossible for countries to have exceeded the limits of Maastricht. The only solution is to raise capital throughout Europe.

The rest of the world can he finance this stimulus?

No. If Europe makes the right decisions, they can save themselves only. She has no choice: it is absurd to be financed by the Chinese whose standard of living is one-tenth that of Europeans. How can we ask in these conditions for China to continue to pay our way of life? In addition, we should not always rely on help from the IMF, because the loans from the fund are always compared with other seniors. Mechanically, this degrades the value of other debts contracted by governments and costs more to them, which does not solve the problem of financing the fund. And do not forget that IMF assistance in exchange for drastic savings measures, the country may plunge into a lost decade, as in Latin America of the 1980s.

How can Europe pay her own recovery?

One of the problems of the common currency is that it prevents countries from issuing their own currency and that their obligations are, somehow, in foreign currency. However, we can reverse things a bit, because states have transferred their right of seigniorage – the one to beat the currency – the ECB, which draws 25 billion profit a year. According to independent studies conducted by two economists, Willem Buiter, Citibank, and Huw Piil, Goldman Sachs, the seigniorage represent a capital value from 2000 to 3000 billion euros. We could group them in a special fund to lend to states to finance their raise in exchange for serious budgetary commitments of the latter.

The Germans would they agree to such a policy?

The German people have difficulty understanding why a policy that worked in his case may not necessarily work for all of Europe. Reduce wages and profits to regain competitiveness is an expansionist policy one way he can not play consistently across an entire area. In a closed system, not everyone can be a creditor at the same time. The Bundesbank should understand but it is unfortunately prisoner of his ideology that recognizes the dangers of inflation and prevents him from seeing the risks of deflation. His situation is ambiguous because she feels that the eurozone is threatened. Proof, it is taking steps to limit its losses in case of dissolution of the euro area. This coverage is raising, asking for higher guarantees to other central banks of the Eurosystem in which it lends money, is potentially self-fulfilling.

The euro bonds are they a solution?

I agree with President Sarkozy when he said that the euro bonds may not happen at the end of the process, when better budgetary cooperation is established between the countries.

Bank regulation is necessary?

Yes, more than ever. The crisis is more a banking crisis a fiscal crisis. With the exception of Greece, all other European states experiencing fiscal difficulties have now slipped because of their banks: Ireland has cut its deficit to nationalize its financial institutions and Spain is experiencing tension because its banks suffering from the bursting of the housing bubble.

France can it be attacked by the markets after the second round?

France must prove its ability to quickly boost its economy, taking strong structural measures, but they may not be sufficient. There is a reality in any case in which France can not escape: his difficulties in reforming the place permanently in a weak position against Germany, which is only in charge of Europe at the moment.

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One million dollars per day, or 750,000 euros. Such is the cost of operations by Total to plug the leak on board its platform Elgin, North Sea, said Monday its chief financial officer Patrick de la Chevardière. Added to this bill a loss of $ 1.5 million each day (1.12 million) which corresponds to the cessation of production from fields adjoining the Elgin and Franklin, for a total cost estimated to about 1.9 million euros. These two deposits, located 240 kilometers off the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland, representing 2% of the total hydrocarbon production.

The company was still awaiting the green light Monday from the British authorities to dispatch technicians on the platform, removed a week earlier. Total will begin simultaneously on the one hand, to "kill" the leaking wells at the platform, out of the water, and, secondly, to drill two relief wells Faxless payday loans. If the first operation, "relatively easy", according to Patrick Chevardière, successful, drilling (at least 100 million euros and six months of work) will be useless.

According to Total, gas, mainly methane, disperses quickly in the air. Only 7m3 of condensate (light oil such as gasoline) are currently prevalent in sea Greenpeace, arrived on Monday with a vessel area, intend to verify these statements.

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More and more French people are struggling to pay their electricity bill and gas, warning the energy ombudsman's report 2011 released Tuesday. The independent administrative authority has seen its number of referrals by individuals increased by 14%. Admittedly, this increase is lower than in previous years. But the missing payments have soared by 80% and now represent 15% of all cases handled.

Refunds and consideration received from the Ombudsman have averaged 410 euros for consumers in trouble. If the French have trouble paying their energy bills, this is largely because of the crisis and the boom in energy prices, reports the Energy Ombudsman. The regulated gas prices jumped 25% in two years, those of electricity by 8%.  

Faced with the rise of this "fuel poverty", that is to say, the difficulty of paying their energy bills, the Energy Ombudsman has issued proposals. It notably calls for an extension of the winter break for unpaid breaks. So far, only consumers who have received assistance from the Solidarity Fund for housing can benefit from this protection. "Those who are not entitled to welfare benefits and are unable to pay their bill, the suspension of energy remains real, warns the Ombudsman. It's not right to deprive of light and heat during this period [winter], people of good faith who fail to pay their dues. "

Monopoly of social tariffs

Another proposal is to break the exclusivity of EDF, the incumbent supplier, in the distribution of the social tariff of electricity. "This is a problem for customers of alternative operators who can not access them, except to change supplier and return at EDF, the Ombudsman regrets. In a market open to competition, the monopoly has no purpose. "The Ombudsman welcomed however the automation of the development of social tariffs for the beneficiaries since January 1. So far, only 650,000 households benefited while 2 million are eligible. A million more people should have access through this improvement.

Finally, the Ombudsman would like to broaden the scope of its powers. In 2011, he was unable to grasp that 74% of the 17,973 claims received. For example, "with the continued development of photovoltaic systems in particular, the Ombudsman may also intervene in disputes relating to the connections and purchase contract," the report shows. Finally, the Ombudsman called to continue the education effort directed at consumers. Nearly five years after the liberalization of energy market, only 42% of French people know they can choose their supplier of electricity or gas.

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Galeries Lafayette and Casino are at war over control and recovery of Monoprix, they each own half the capital. Philippe Houze, president of Galeries Lafayette and Monoprix, explains for the first time its views on the subject.

LE FIGARO. – Why have you started the process of selling your stake in Monoprix?

Philippe Houzé. – In March 2011, I proposed Casino to renew our partnership for three years. After my numerous reminders, the group let me know the end of September it could grant me one more year. This proposal is a totally inappropriate. I realized that Casino wanted to settle in Monoprix and consolidate the company to 100% in its accounts, without paying the price. Our group can not agree to see and leave the company he founded and directed the last eighty years. If he wishes to take control, Casino has a purchase option at the price of expertise together with a control premium of 21%. He does not want to exercise it. Under these conditions, we have to consider the sale, but the evaluation not be taken as the exercise of our put option.

How do you explain that your participation Casino evaluates to 700 million euros, when you consider it to 1.95 billion?

Our estimate is based on the uniqueness of Monoprix. Fifteen times Ebitda, is the acquisition value of the Dutch Hema, the company that has the profile most similar to ours. Our multiple is only 11. As for the valuation of Monoprix Casino, it is very worrying. It is based on a McKinsey report that completely destroys Monoprix saying the group is not equipped to cope with the arrival of supermarkets in the city center and the emergence of e-commerce and its textile business not resist. If Casino do believe that Monoprix is ​​only five times its EBITDA, it leaves me president, I will continue to ensure value creation for shareholders.

Why did you refuse to pass on to Jean-Charles Naouri President of Monoprix?

Wednesday, Casino changed the course of the Board in order to begin, less than an hour later, a communication sequence cleverly orchestrated. In fact, Casino resulted in not being able to present a candidate for President of Monoprix and so was fatal to any other solution than my renewal.

But if Jean-Charles Naouri was a candidate, you would have refused

.

Can you imagine the Galeries Lafayette to accept the head of Monoprix a president who does not believe in the future of the company and who would have all the means to redeem us to devalue our participation at lower price?

Is divorce inevitable?

The attitude of Casino reinforces our idea that it is impossible to continue with a partner in total conflict, which promotes an MTP totally degraded. At the annual meeting of its branch patterns, Casino asked the Deputy CEO of Monoprix not to present his strategic plan, though approved by Jean-Charles Naouri … The current situation is not feasible in the long run. It is damaging to Monoprix, its customers and employees. This conflict affects a major Monoprix and its 20,000 employees fully dedicated to the company. If Jean-Charles Naouri does not accept the values ​​and philosophy of Monoprix, does not comply with the specificity of this format, the company will not resist.

Are you ready to negotiate?

We do not seek to negotiate. We want to return to legality, that is to say, enforce the protocol and allow JP Morgan to evaluate independently Monoprix. Casino tries to block this process. I was reappointed for one year as President of Monoprix. The statutes allow me to be extended four more times. I assume all my functions. Our goal is that Monoprix is ​​run by people who believe in the company, its officers, its values, and are determined to make it succeed. Casino will not, by devious means, take control of Monoprix, because the company would be hostile.

Are you still willing to buy out Casino in Monoprix?

Wednesday, Galeries Lafayette reiterated their offer on Feb. 10 at Casino redeem its share to 1.35 billion euros. I'm surprised that this proposal was not presented to the Board of Casino, I'm a member and including Galeries Lafayette are the third largest shareholder. Jean-Charles Naouri assured me that the offer would be discussed at council Monday. We have the means to finance the offer, if accepted.

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A new episode is crucial for Greece plays Monday in Brussels. Finance ministers of the euro area must agree on the second bailout, 130 billion euros. They must also erase the floor on 50% of the debt with private creditors, or 100 billion euros. Crunch time for Athens to meet March 20 to maturity of debt of 14.5 billion.

Representatives of the ECB and finance ministries have called yesterday to advance to the final details. But many European leaders showed their confidence in recent days. Just yesterday, the Austrian finance minister, Maria Fekter, was upbeat about a deal: "For now, we will exactly in that direction." Even if it recognizes that "there will be intense negotiations on control mechanisms. "  

For its part, the Greek government keeps its commitments: Saturday it approved the final plan for additional savings, amounting to 325 million euros (cuts in pensions, lowering the minimum wage), claimed by the Troika EU-ECB-IMF in exchange for the release of funds.

With the deadline approached, the Greeks were again called upon to take to the streets yesterday. But austerity exhausted, they no longer have the heart to manifest. The depredations committed a week earlier in the center of Athens in small groups of anarchists-as the burning of a listed building of the nineteenth century, gave a very bad image of the country. And while some still hoped to then change the course of things, the adoption by government austerity measures makes them feel that much is now played.

Attachment to the euro

Under a blazing sun, only three thousand trade unionists from the private and public had traveled to Parliament, meeting under a banner that proclaimed, in Greek: "The policies we require an effort of national unity but there nation has more than when there is more that of the hungry and destitute! "In the crowd, another banner proclaimed in English:" We are all Greeks, Merkel and Sarkozy are freaks! "(" We are all Greeks, Merkel and Sarkozy are crazy! ").

But the protesters do not represent the whole of Greece. Walking through the rural areas of the Peloponnese, we see that the population has resigned itself to the efforts required by the troika of countries. "People here realize that Euroscepticism is leading nowhere and that the output of the euro would be a disaster for everyone," says Le Figaro Petros Tatoulis, the elected president of the region, who gave up any political affiliation. "It is for us now to invent a new model of development and export our fine Mediterranean products under the brand name of the Peloponnese, which is received worldwide as a premium brand." ….. …

A survey shows that 73% of Greeks are in favor of maintaining in the euro area, although only 49% of them believe the country will succeed in the next two years.

The problem now is what political leadership is responsible for the implementation of austerity measures. Elections are scheduled for April. But according to another survey, the two major parties of former coalition government today (PASOK and New Democracy) would collect a total of only a quarter of the votes, the lion's share going to the extreme left. But leaders of the latter have been careful to make any commitments in writing in respect of the troika.

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Chroniclers weather will give heart to joy. Not only it is cold, but with the wind, "the temperatures experienced" are even lower. The fold is taken: we now no longer communicating indications of the thermometer observed "under cover". It highlights the feelings of bystanders facing the wind. This is obviously more spectacular when it's 0 degrees on the thermometer and the wind blows at 10 km / h, the wind chill is – and it falls 3 ° – 5 ° at a speed of 20 km / h.

This phenomenon that scientists call "wind chill" was discovered in 1940 during an expedition in Antarctica by Paul Siple. But it was popularized there about ten years, when the media, first in the U.S. and Canada, and Europe, have provided consistently figures in their weather reports. Note that this is a physical reality, and not merely a psychological representation: the protective layer of warm air generated by the human body itself at 37 °, must be renewed more frequently that the wind is strong. Perception of cold is very real.

In the economic field also, "feel" of households and between bosses increasingly into play. It even tends to become the main instrument for measuring the economic climate, for convenience of calculation. It is indeed much easier to ask a panel of business owners if their production increased last month to collect their sales activity. The latter procedure requires aggregate car sales, kilograms of tomatoes and air tickets, which is long and delicate.

The services of the European Commission and questioned each month 125,000 businesses and 40,000 consumers in 27 countries of the Union, both on past activity and prospects coming months. These results, expressing the sense of economic actors – soft data, in English – are obtained almost instantaneously. They are often considered more accurate than traditional statistical data on quantitative (hard data). In France, INSEE shows real-time views of households on the labor market, while the Ministry of Labour provides a month late with the number of job seekers.

The medal has its reverse, however. Discrepancies may arise between the vox populi and accounting realities. Upon the introduction of euro notes and coins, there are just ten years, European consumers have moved to a surge in consumer prices by 4% to 5%. The European Central Bank held instead that the drift did not exceed two or three tenths of a point of additional inflation. This discrepancy between official figures and their perception of "real people" led to a series of explanations: consumers are more price sensitive in their everyday purchases, such as baguette, which were most affected by the introduction of the euro, etc..

Policymakers are rightly concerned about how households perceive things. Like the eighteenth century Irish philosopher George Berkeley, they are led to believe that "only what is perceived to exist." When soliciting votes public, which is in the minds of voters has truth value.

The French "are tired of the growing gap between statistics that show continuous progress and growing difficulties they experience in their daily lives", had expressed concern in January 2008 Nicolas Sarkozy. And to bridge this gap between men of art and the general public, he asked Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, both Nobel Prize in economics, to think about other ways to measure economic wealth than in the sacrosanct GDP. Responding to this concern to "humanize" economic indicators, and other INSEE national institutes have set up a "personalized price index": everyone can calculate – on the website of INSEE – its own inflation rate based on its expenses.

This is laudable, but it is also paradoxical. "The statistics were invented to go beyond what people can see themselves and are now under attack because they do not reflect what people perceive of reality!" , according to former Chief Statistician of OECD Enrico Giovannini.

Worse, it became impossible to escape the image of ourselves, constantly updated, we see in the mirror figures. Its redundancy – just check out the long list of indicators days pending publication – main function to supply high-frequency stock markets, which are fond. For individuals we are, the velocity of circulation of this information produces exactly the same effect as the wind on our bodies. It forces us to constantly renew the idea that we have of our situation. This can only be rehashing debilitating. Feeling of resentment, there is one syllable, and not just any.

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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.