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Nearly two in three French (62%) want that France is phasing to operate its nuclear plants. By adding the 15% of the population favored a quick halt French nuclear program, 77% of the French population is now opposed to this energy source. That is what emerges from the last Ifop poll, conducted from June 1 to 3 of 1005 people aged 18 and over, for the Journal du Dimanche. Only 1% of the panel interviewed did not comment. Supporters of a soft stop is at 74% of supporters of the Socialist Party, the Greens 61% and 37% of the UMP.

The German example

The gradual change of mentality of the French would not only result from the shock wave caused by the nuclear disaster in Japan, but also that of the German decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2022.Last Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure from Germany's Green Party, announced his decision to close the 17 German plants, within 10 years.

What might convince a few more French, interviewed after the announcement, the possibility for a developed country to live without this source of energy. Still, the German and French positions are far from comparable, France still produces 73% of its electricity by nuclear power, against 25% in Germany.

Stating his position on this issue, François Hollande, Socialist Party MP and the Corrèze Socialist candidate primary, moved elsewhere, always in the JDD, reduced initially by 75% to 50% dependence on French nuclear. For its part, Europe Ecology-The Greens called for a total abandonment of the atom.Final lesson revealed by the survey on Sunday, if the government is opposed to nuclear stopping, the UMP adhere less to this position, 55% of them sharing the wishes of their fellow citizens. These supporters are nonetheless the most pro-nuclear, with 37% of them advocating the continuation of nuclear program, and construction of new plants.

The state park is also hexagonal become less important to the French. Surprisingly, the hostility to nuclear power is indeed associated with the expression of any concern on the part of the French against nuclear sites. In total, 55% report little or not at all concerned about nuclear power, while only 44% a month ago.

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It's a story that Societe Generale would have preferred to keep to herself. Since the freezing of Libyan assets earlier this year, the French bank has made its discreet yet welcomed funds investments of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), the country's sovereign wealth fund of Muammar Gaddafi. According to a document published by the NGO Global Witness and Le Monde on Thursday, the LIA has investments in three funds of SocGen, now frozen: Soc Gen Europe Medium, Soc Gen CODEIS Strategic Equity Fund, and Soc Gen Cross Roads 5Y Link Notes. This is a set of structured products that allowed Libya to diversify its portfolio.

The case was not even interesting for the French bank that has faced very disappointing returns in 2010.Thus, the value of the three financial products is increasing between the first and second quarters last year, 1.8 billion dollars (1.27 billion euros) to 1.05 billion. The only funds specializing in Europe, Soc Gen Europe Medium, which alone weighed 1 billion dollar saw its value drop by 43% to 498 million.

BNP Paribas, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs …

The French bank is obviously not the only one who sows the seeds of funds from the Libyan regime. The names of several banks are well surface, which another French BNP Paribas, as well as American as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse and Britain's HSBC. In total, these financial institutions managed almost $ 5 billion in assets (3.5 billion euros) over the 55 billion dollars of financial assets of the LIA.Overall, losses collected by these funds would be heavy: their value would be increased from 5 to 3.5 billion dollars last year.

But for NGOs, collected more than the losses is the involvement of these prestigious institution in managing the funds of a scheme which is now discredited defendant. "It is striking to see how many large institutions were ready to do business with the Libyan regime, knowing the potential risk of misuse of state funds for personal use," says Robert Palmer Global Witness, in the columns of the Financial Times.

In his defense, Societe Generale said it acted legally and accurately manage the investments of several state funds in the same way.Remember, the banks and financial institutions held 8.233 billion Libyan dollars (5.84 billion euros) in deposits and loans from French banks to September 30, 2010.

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For several months, the G20 and the IMF, but also Europe, Brazil, China, and rating agencies are urging the U.S. to clean up their deficit and debt dementia. Today, the U.S. federal government has the knife to her throat on Monday, the U.S. debt ceiling should touch her – already noted in January – set at 14.294 billion dollars, from which the U.S. can not borrow more.

In other words, the United States are on the verge of bankruptcy. Given the urgency of the situation, the Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, has given a stay of 30 days to allow Congress to reach agreement with the White House. They have until August 2nd to negotiate a compromise, Republicans in Congress will not agree to vote on raising the debt ceiling until the government has not implemented an austerity budget.The United States shackle in effect three years of deficit exceeding 10% and no concrete and credible program of spending cuts are envisaged. Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of the IMF, the savings plan of 39 billion delivered on April 8 is "insufficient".

Barack Obama has set a goal of reducing the U.S. budget deficit of 4000 billion dollars over the next twelve years. It sets the fiscal deficit to 2.5% of GDP in 2015, and wants it to be achieved by three-quarters of declines in spending.Objectives, but no clear way to reach them: during a visit to Facebook, the president spoke reform fiscalité payday lenders.Sans give too many details, he has to attack the tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, plans to limit military spending and aid to agriculture, and cutting in the health program, yet very popular Medicare.

"The financial equivalent of a nuclear bomb"

What would happen if the U.S. could no longer meet their debt, as was the case for Greece, Ireland, or Portugal? It would be "the financial equivalent of a nuclear bomb ', warns Aaron Kohli, a specialist in Treasury bills at Nomura Securities. The global cataclysm is such that people do not."They must find a solution, they can not leave the financial world explode," he reassured one analyst, who notes that the financial markets show no signs of concern about the ability of U.S. authorities to agree.

David Wyss, chief economist at ratings agency Standard and Poor's, which recently threatened the U.S. triple-A, not only the Treasury "may continue to operate until August (through accounting manipulations, Ed), leaving the time in Congress to agree, but again, in case of emergency, the government "will pass the debt service as a priority."

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After a session in the green Thursday, the New York Stock Exchange began the last day of the week to balance. In early trade on Friday, the Dow Jones was down 0.06% at 12,685 points, the Nasdaq lost 0.32% to 2854 points and the S & P coward 0.11% to 1347 points.

The tensions are still very vivid in the markets for raw materials and oil. The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill to increase oil production in the United States to respond to soaring gasoline prices, despite opposition from the Obama administration to new drilling Wed For its part, China has announced to suspend its exports of diesel and severely restrict its exports of refined products to ensure adequate domestic supply and fight against inflation in fuel prices.Oil prices were higher Friday at the opening in New York, supported by a slight decline in the dollar in a market which is marked by volatility recorded this semaine.Vers 1:20 p.m. GMT, on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) a barrel of light sweet crude for June delivery traded at 99.32 dollars, up 35 cents from the veille.Il still traded above $ 100 just before the opening.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro regained some ground against the dollar on Thursday. About 11:00 am in Paris, the European single currency was worth 1.4316 dollars, against 1.4244 dollars on Thursday night. Yesterday, she had fallen in session at 1.4124 dollars, its lowest level since April 1.

Consumer confidence rises

United States, markets were reassured by inflation contained.The consumer prices in the U.S. rose as expected by 0.4% in April compared to March because of rising food prices and gasoline, according to statistics released Friday by the Labor Department.

Moreover, consumer sentiment recorded a rise to 72.4 in May unexpected vision against 69.8 in April, the index of the University of Michigan. Analysts were waiting to 70.

Yahoo! penalized

The side of values, the Nasdaq Composite is sealed by the fall of Title Yahoo (-5.18% to 16.28 dollars) after the Internet portal said Alibaba Group has reorganized the capital structure of Alipay, one of the leading online payment systems in China, without being notified when it is a shareholder of Alipay.

The earthquake in Japan, which has disrupted production car in the Japanese archipelago, has claimed its place as world number one sector to Toyota, doubled in the first quarter and probably for the year by the American General Motors ( 0.06% to 31.44 dollars) and Germany's Volkswagen. Toyota sold 1.79 million vehicles worldwide between January and March, down 12% year on year.Meanwhile, GM sold 2.22 million cars, and returning, at least for this quarter, the world number one spot he had sold to Toyota in 2008.

For his part, Nvidia (-6.65% to U.S. $ 19.14) reported after the close of Wall Street, for the first quarter of 2011 from a profit down 0.2% to 135 million. The gross margin was 50.4%, a record level. Sales reached $ 962 million against 948 million and 1 billion expected a year ago.For specialists Aurel BGC, "the group is clearly affected by the downturn in PC sales and growth opportunities on the shelf is far from certain … For the current quarter, the Group expects a growth of 4 to 6% of its sales. "

SunPower (-0.89% to 21.19 dollars) achieved during the first quarter 2011 revenues of $ 451 million against 347 million last year and a loss of $ 0.02 per share against a BPA from $ 0.13 a year earlier. For the current quarter, SunPower expects a turnover of 500 to 550 million.

CA Inc. (-8.86% to 22.84 dollars), formerly Computer Associates International) in the fourth quarter of financial year 2010/2011 a turnover of 1.13 billion dollars against 1.17 billion expected and earnings per share of $ 0.48 against $ 0.5 expected.About its prospects, the group expects a growth in turnover of 6% to 8% at constant exchange rates for the year 2011/2012, and GAAP EPS in the range of 1.79 to 1.86 dollar. In addition, the Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of 0.05 dollars per share and a stock repurchase plan of $ 500 million. Last night, losing the title

Nordstrom (-1.64% to 48.37 dollars) for the first quarter sales of 2.32 billion dollars, in line with expectations, and earnings per share of $ 0.65 against $ 0.67 and expected $ 0.52 last year. The board of directors also voted a share repurchase plan of $ 750 million.

The wave of mergers and acquisitions continues. Yum! Brands (+0.28% to 54.88 dollars) has announced the launch of a tender on the Asian restaurant chain Little Sheep at a price of 6.50 Hong Kong dollars per share.

For the second consecutive year, neither the first nor May 8 to do the bridge in 2011! Labor Day and the commemoration of the armistice of 1945 had fallen on Saturdays last year and this time it's a Sunday.

The timing, thus depriving the French of long weekends or days off, he is at least good for growth? "Sure, in theory, the more days worked, the more activity, purchases, consumption, etc.. There is an effect on the raw data, "said Vladimir Passeron, Division Chief of the quarterly to the INSEE. In fact, France will work more during the month of May, which did not include bank holiday week, the production system will run more than a year so classic.

But it will not be visible in the figures for second quarter growth to be published this summer.Because the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies anticipates and smooth the data "in the discipline of working days" and structural effects, says the expert.

Three Saturdays worth a weekday

This correction is not performed when calculating annual growth. Therefore, the sum of the quarterly is not equivalent to the annual accounts! However, it should not be a macroeconomic impact on GDP 2011, relative to GDP 2010. Last year there were 254 days of the week (Monday-Friday) working, there will be only 253 this year. But if the May 1, 8 May 2011 and Christmas fall on a Sunday, the holiday fell on a Saturday in 2010. Gold worked three Saturdays "compensate" a weekday break, says a study by the INSEE.

The timetable "should not impact the annual growth between 2010 and 2011," concludes INSEE.At best, it would have a positive impact of 0.06 percentage point of GDP, at worst a negative point of 0.06. Only the thickness of the line!

Nevertheless, there are years when the holidays can impact less significant. "The growth differential can be up to 1 tenth of a point or more, is Nicolas Bouzou, economist at Asterès. We also know that the years with few working days result in distributional effects across sectors, to the detriment of the industry by example and benefit from tourism. "That will not happen this year.

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In the small world of luxury hotels, it's an earthquake! Following a final meeting Thursday morning, the "jury palace" has unveiled the list of top luxury hotels, a distinction created to emphasize "excellence in French." He did that eight chosen: the Bristol, the Meurice, the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome and the Plaza Athenee in Paris, the Cranberries and Cheval Blanc in Courchevel, Hotel du Palais in Biarritz and the Grand Hotel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Three legendary hotels in Paris does not form part of this selection: the Crillon, but the approach of heavy work, he had not applied, the Ritz, however, candidate, although it also requires a major renovation; Finally and most importantly, the George V, regularly voted the best hotel in the world!

This unexpected finding has created shock and controversy. "I have a bitter taste of victory in the mouth.Especially as the Ritz and the George V are not in the list removes all credibility distinction, "said François Delahaye same, boss of Dorchester including two hotels, Le Meurice and Plaza-Athénée, yet have received the distinction. "For those who know the hotel is unthinkable to consider that the George V is not a palace. The jury must be explained except to discredit the distinction of office, "responded Gabriel Matar, director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels France.

New session in November

"The jury has set the bar very high and the first eight palaces are undeniable, for his part said Christian Mantei, director general of Maison de la France.There will be future sessions in which the hotel just opened may apply, as well as those now under construction. "

The jury judged the candidates on subjective criteria, having verified that they had already met all the objective criteria established by Trump France, the promotion agency of France (room sizes, number of suites, a spa presence , number of employees by customers …).

"All decisions were taken by a majority of the ten members of the jury, said the academician Dominique Fernandez, president of the jury cheap credit report. The Hotel du Palais in Biarritz was unanimous. We visited eleven hotels. The Negresco in Nice with no hot tub, it could not be a candidate. The hotels are excluded, the Ritz and the George V in Paris, Lana in Courchevel, does not fully meet our requirements. But there was about them heated debates.They may represent themselves. Another session is already scheduled for next November. "

"All those who have been recognized fully deserve it," said Hubert Joly, board member and CEO of Carlson. Thursday, the winners also welcomed. "You can be young and palace, welcomed Jauslin Michel, president and CEO of Park Hyatt Paris-Vendome, which opened in 2002, rue de la Paix. "We had the know-how. This distinction allows us now know, on both the Paris and abroad. " "This award gives us more visibility internationally and it will not change our pricing policy, says Séverine Pétilaire, president of the Cranberries in Courchevel, which opened only four months a year. Our average prices are higher than 3500 euros a night.These are the highest in France and among the highest in Europe. "

The number one flunked

If the Ritz declined to comment, the George V, was astonished. "We do not understand. We have no explanation, laments Christopher Norton, General Manager of the hotel. The jury to tell us that we are not up to me puzzling. Our reputation is so solid. For years, we are regularly ranked first hotel in the world. Continuously, we reinvest 6 million euros per year to maintain our palace! "

The George V, owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed and is managed by Canada's Four Seasons, was completely rebuilt between 1997 and 1999. He is currently undertaking the work of "beautification" (carpet, wallpaper and decorating).In January, The Gallivanter's Guide to the George V was ranked number one in Europe and worldwide.

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The year 2010 had already been an exceptional year, even for groups of historic French chemistry, Rhodia and Arkema. But on Thursday morning, the two companies were again positively surprised markets by announcing strong financial results quarterly.

Alternately, Rhodia and Arkema unveiled a sales growth of 28% for the former and 33% for the second, at 1.77 billion and 1.5 billion euros. On both sides, the Guidelines highlight the sustained increase in volume, about 7% to 9%. In an interview with Le Figaro, Thierry Hénaff, CEO of Arkema, confirms that "the global environment is a carrier for chemists", referring in particular to the dynamism of emerging countries. Yet both groups are very active in high-growth countries.

Historically, Rhodia has developed in Latin America, particularly Brazil, and China.In total, emerging economies account for half its turnover. For his part, Arkema has focused on Asia, especially on China. With 20% of sales in the Asian territory, the group has therefore also a growing market. "In Europe and the United States, we see no sign of abating" moderates Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, the CEO of Rhodia, commenting on trends in other markets.

A positive pricing-power

Beyond these sustained volumes, the French chemists have now the choice made in the mid-2000s, to reposition their activities, and evolve their product lines towards products "performance" or "specialty" in very high added value.For example, include bioplastics produced by Arkema, to limit the weight of cars and therefore reduce the energy consumption of automobiles. For its part, Rhodia offers silicas for tires also reduces energy consumption, or compounds of high performance detergent products or cosmetics (shampoos, detergents …)

This positioning of substitutable products hardly makes them less sensitive to economic fluctuations, the chemists called "core" whose activity is based on the sale, in very large tonnages, minimally processed materials.

This choice also allows both groups to move more easily to their customers of price increases, a critical factor in a context of rising prices of intermediate raw materials, used in the manufacture of their compounds.This "pricing-power" allows them to maintain profitability, while according to Thierry Hénaff, "the raw materials we use have increased on average by 30% over the first three months of the year and sometimes up to 50 % for some petroleum derivatives quick payday loan.

Rhodia, this rise affected negatively for about 100 million euros on EBITDA (EBITDA). "But our pricing-power has led to a positive 51 million euros on EBITDA" said Jean-Pierre Clamadieu. In the first three months of the year, EBITDA recurring group reached 283 million euros, up 28% (margin of 16.8%), while at Arkema quarterly EBITDA reached 287 million euros. Having more than doubled in one year, it shows a margin of 16.6%.On both sides, net income reached a record 151 million euros.

Faced with these early indications of financial year, the leaders were rather confident for the rest of the year. Arkema Hénaff Thierry should not give targets for the year before summer, but said that the second quarter will be a continuation of the first, with fiscal 2011 "very likely higher than last year already historic for our group. " Rhodia, the annual target of a recurring EBITDA of one billion euros for 2011 was revised to "more than 1 billion euros."

Positive stock market reactions

At the Paris Bourse, investors applauded the figures above expectations. Arkema clinching the title with 4.60% in mid-session (71.8 euros), bringing its increase to 35% since the beginning of the year.Since the IPO just last 5 years (May 18, 2006), the title has been multiplied by more than 2.

For its part, the title being fed Rhodia very logically from 0.16% to 31.53 euros, the title remaining aligned with the price of the friendly takeover announced in April by the Belgian Solvay at a price of 31 60 euros per share. The offer, which should be open in June, would allow both groups, if successful, to form a new group of about 14 billion euros in turnover, for estimated EBITDA of EUR 2 billion .

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Accor is considering separating from Lenôtre, catering luxury present in thirteen countries with 64 schools. This decision was under review by the two structures for some time, the company said. The transfer of Lenôtre is linked with the change of strategy group, which wants to focus entirely on the hospitality sector, according to a statement released Friday.

Accor believes this project could be beneficial to Lenôtre: according to him, Lenôtre development could be accelerated if the repurchase by a group in its sector.

Already, potential buyers have expressed interest in buying this prestigious culinary group, said Accor, which is careful however to specify the identity and business of the suitors."The bodies representing staff were informed of these discussions and will be consulted when a project is developed more concrete," the statement said without giving further details cash advance payday loan.

Under pressure from some major shareholders, Accor has launched a process of refocusing on the hotel. He has sold its prepaid services, become Endered, sold the business to restaurants in the trains of the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits and sold the walls of a large part of its hotel brands Novotel, Sofitel and Formula 1 keeping only their management.

The announcement of this proposed sale leaves investors indifferent. This morning at 10:30, the title of the Accor Group in effect losing 0.33% to 30.15 euros in a market down 0.32%.

The princely marriage between William and Kate be enough to revive the British economy? Nothing is less certain. Despite the media whirlwind and the important marketing surrounding the event, the positive impact on the business, whether sales of products or benefits for tourism, a sluggish economy will not reverse (drop 0.5% of GDP in the fourth quarter), weighed down by a severe austerity.

It could even have a cons-effect on production, if one believes, the Federation of Small Businesses, because of the eleven days of vacation grant themselves the British, between Easter and the wedding day, holiday. Federation, quoted by Bloomberg, down from 6 billion pounds (6.75 billion euros) loss for the economy, 10 times more than expected revenue, estimated by Dataminor to 620 million pounds.

"It's wishful thinking to imagine that people will feel better or spend more," said Jonathan Far, chief economist at Capital Economics. As bright as it is, the smiling young engaged does not erase the billions of budget cuts, the 350,000 jobs lost in the civil service, tax increases and inflation, growing twice as wages.

Besides, the English showed little passionate marriage payday loans. According to a recent survey, 45% say they do not want the webcast. They prefer to take the opportunity of a great bridge between Easter and the day of the ceremony, to afford a trip abroad. Of the eleven days they are more than 3.5 million to leave British soil, advance tour operators.An exodus for the season that will boost sales by airlines and travel agencies.

"If marriage boost sales this month, it will not be enough to restore consumer confidence," said Stephen Robertson, director general of consortia in the distribution. The industrial morale, anticipating higher prices, has relapsed in April, according to a monthly survey by the Employers' Confederation, the CBI filed Tuesday.

The index measuring the state of order books deteriorated significantly, falling to -11 points against five in March. And evaluating the export orders himself declined to -6 points against five month précédent.La publication on Wednesday of GDP for the first quarter, will be closely watched.Economists expect a slight increase around 0.3%.

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One year after the worst oil spill in the history of the United States, the U.S. Coast Guard denounced the mismanagement of the Deepwater Horizon platform by its owner, Transocean Swiss. In a report of 288 pages, they are pointing the finger "serious gaps in security." Critical parts of the head of the oil wells were not replaced. The electrical system was poorly maintained. And teams on the platform were poorly trained in safety drills.

The report highlights especially the captain of the platform would not have known he had the right to decide to stop the flow of flammable gases. He would have lost precious minutes trying to get permission from his superiors superfluous. When the alarm sounded, the employee service does not know it was for her to initiate the system shutdown.Yet it would have prevented the explosion, according to U.S. Coast Guard.

Transocean defended himself by arguing that the evidence held by the coast guards themselves were against the same conclusions of the report, reports Bloomberg. "They controlled the platform Deepwater Horizon only seven months before the disaster and have certified that the site met all the requirements of U.S. law and international safety regulations," said a spokeswoman in an email to the agency financial reporting.

The report of the Coast Guard comes amid intensifying legal battle between Transocean, owner of the platform Deepwater Horizon and the British oil company BP, which operated. The latter accuses the first of negligence and asks for damages for the harm suffered.The group felt that disaster has so far cost $ 17.7 billion.

Transocean filed a complaint against BP in return Thursday. The contract between the two groups, said the Swiss company, stipulated that BP was, among other things, "take full responsibility, but also defend and indemnify Transocean for any loss, expense, claims, fines, penalties for pollution or contamination (…) related to operations under the contract. "

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