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Schools, colleges, high schools, universities, governments and businesses will be closed ultramajorité Monday. Not because of a strike call would be strongly followed, but due to the National Solidarity Day, established in 2004 – through the elimination of the holiday falling on Whit Monday – by Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

The working day "offered" by the employees was instituted after the heatwave of summer 2003, which caused the deaths of 15,000 elderly and highlighted the extreme isolation of some people. Employers were free to set the terms of agreement by company or branch.The idea is to offset a new tax of 0.3% on the payroll who also hit the capital income and wealth.

Most of the time, a day of paid leave or RTT was sacrificed in exchange for work on Whit Monday.Some companies might choose to "dicked" day of extra work and free: in two half days without a student in Education or seven hours spread over the year at the station.

13 billion in seven years

Before the general disorganization – nobody knew when the Day of Solidarity was falling – and many recriminations trade unions, associations or religious, the Fillon government decided in 2008 to remake the Whit Monday public holiday and therefore not working no fax payday loans.

Since its inception seven years ago, the Day of Solidarity has reported 13 billion collected from public and private employers by the National Solidarity Fund for Autonomy.The annual levy – which will yield 2.31 billion in 2011 – is intended to cover devices cons dependency: Standard ABS and PCH allowances, retirement homes and special schools … It has 60% elderly and 40% for people disabilities.

To finance the care of elderly dependency, it is suggested to establish a new day of solidarity that would yield, according to Roselyne Bachelot, 2 billion more. Others still offer to extend the base's contribution to the professions and retirees who are currently excluded.

The government hopes to facilitate donations between generations. Under the supplementary budget reforming the ISF, he filed an amendment to amend the rules for tax-free cash grants, aimed at children, or failing that, nephews and nieces.

Today, only people aged under 65 years can make a donation to a limit of 31,865 euros per child every six years, provided that the recipient is an adult. Which severely limits the use of this measure introduced in 2007 as part of the TEPA: few were those who could frequently reiterate their giving, while bringing its conditions. Now, if this amendment is passed, the age limit be raised to the donor, until age 80, currently the age limit applies to donations made to the grandchildren.

However, the government plans to extend the period of six to ten years, two tax-free donations guaranteed high risk personal loans. According to Les Echos, the amendment would increase the cost of these donations for the state of about 200,000 euros, while the expenditure had amounted to 190 million euros in 2008.

The tax on estates will also be heavier, to offset the cost incurred by the reform of the ISF. The rates for the last two installments of the tax scale progressive succession on each of five percentage points to 45% maximum. According to the supplementary budget, 1600 heirs should be affected by this weighting, a gain estimated at more than 130 million euros.

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The waltz labels worried the French. Fears about inflation have plagued the household index, which fell two points in March compared to February, is the INSEE. He found the levels of July 2008, at 83 points, well below its long term average (100).

The French duly recorded the rise in inflation is more likely to agree that it has increased in recent weeks (five points). Above all, "their views on future inflation rises sharply (15 points), reaching a level unobserved since July 1995," notes the INSEE.

Inflation expectations, in the words of economists, are largely boosted by soaring gasoline prices, which have a financial impact, but also psychologically very strong on French households. In early March, prices for unleaded 95 have beaten their record for the summer of 2008, averaging 1.50 per liter.

Fears about the decline in employment

Consequently, the French are not optimistic about their prospects for living standards (-3 percentage points from February) no fax payday advances. Similarly, public opinion about their personal future was down 4 points a month. And, logically, they feel that their ability to save will be lower in coming months. Already in 2011, households had to dip into their savings to maintain consumption.

The risk that such pessimism results in a decrease in consumption "remains the main threat hanging over growth prospects for 2011," warns Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas.

Only fears about employment are declining. "Households are much fewer than in February to anticipate an increase in unemployment (-9 points)," INSEE reported. He is 40 points, the same level as the summer of 2008, before the crisis.

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While China has already provided support to European countries struggling with debt problems, such as Spain or Portugal, it could again give them a boost. The central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, said on Friday that "despite difficulties in some European countries, China supports strong to overcome their budgetary difficulties and succeed in their economic recovery."

Moreover, Zhou Xiaochuan said China is "very confident in the euro area and its ability to overcome the crisis. What about European countries in difficulty, the governor said: "We have confidence in their economic prospects." A response to the wave of downgrades by Moody's sovereign these days, that hit Greece and Spain.

China pledged last year to support the euro zone countries face the rising cost of sovereign debt, worsened by U.S. rating agencies. The Spanish daily El Pais had reported in early January that the Chinese government planned to buy six billion euros of debt in Spain. In December, the Portuguese daily Jornal de Negocios wrote that Beijing was ready to buy five billion euros of debt Portuguese. At the end of last year, the chief economist of the bank Natixis, Patrick Artus, had considered buying Chinese Greek debt to several hundred million euros. Beijing has never confirmed any of these amounts.

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The CAC 40, which won in the 4000 points on Monday night, amid record oil prices and gasoline, returns to form on Tuesday: the index 0.67% to 4017.34 wins points mid-term. The DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange ahead of 0.17% to 7173.90 points while the Footise London declined 0.12% over the closing Monday at 5,966.85 points.

Last night, Wall Street has yet suffered during the black gold but this morning, Asian stock markets have evolved around the equilibrium. Tensions in the oil market will settle down when in fact that Nigeria, Kuwait and the UAE will increase their oil production by April to offset higher prices that now exists as Libya comes into civil war with an additional 300,000 barrels per day, according to the Financial Times.This morning, oil prices dropping a bit of ground: a barrel of light sweet crude for April delivery yielded 1.41% to 103.95 dollars and that of Brent North Sea fell by 1.16% to 113.71 dollars.

French growth of 0.8% in first quarter

Side macroeconomic figures on Tuesday to watch: Bank of France said Tuesday forecast growth of 0.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) of France in the first quarter of this year in its monthly business survey. The survey on business climate shows a continued growth of industrial activity in February, but at a slower pace than in January, the indicator remained stable 110.The business climate indicator in services has increased in parallel from one point to 102.

Moreover, the trade deficit widened from France in January, to 5.89 billion euros against 5.60 billion the previous month, seasonally adjusted data, the Customs said Tuesday.

In Germany, it will follow at noon, industrial orders in January (Destatis). No statistics are expected this afternoon from the United States.

On the foreign exchange market, the euro lost it again a little ground against the dollar on Tuesday as investors reaping some profits after a summit in four months yesterday. About 11:00 am in Paris, the euro bought 1.3918 dollars against 1.3971 late Monday.

Scor: net profit up 13%

At the Paris Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning, Michelin took the top ranking (2.51% to 59.19 euros) the Cac 40, followed by Axa (+2.49%).Red side, Alcatel Lucent was down 2.72% on profit taking as well as Capgemini 0.62% and 0.53% of GDF Suez.

The SBF, Scor (-1.69% to 21.43 euros) also suffers profit taking. The reinsurer recorded in 2010 net profit up 13% to 418.0 million euros, above expectations, thanks to a surge in financial products, according to a statement released Tuesday. It is also in talks to buy the U.S. Transamerica Reinsurance, a subsidiary of its Dutch rival Aegon, reports Bloomberg.

Air France-KLM (+0.34% to 11.64 euros) reported on Tuesday morning traffic on a February increase of 4.9% capacity increase of 5.1% annual rate . This brings "a quasi-stable load factor to 77.6%," says the airline in a statement.Passenger numbers rose 5.7% to 58.1 million.

Side values, the oil services group Technip (+0.52% at 71.09 euros) has signed a contract worth around 45 million euros for the Gjoa Field Development in the Norwegian North Sea, he said Tuesday in a statement.

LVMH (+0.75% to 113.80 euros). Bernard Arnault, CEO of LVMH, said that the purchase of Bulgari and the agreement with family shareholders of the Italian jeweler might show interest in the Hermes family of a rapprochement with his band.

To be continued this evening, after-hours trading, the 2010 earnings of Havas and BioMérieux.

So that opens Monday at the Mobile World Congress, high mass annual telecom, Barcelona, major European operators go on the offensive. "The alarm clock rang operators. We now have a clear vision of the challenges faced by our model. We are determined to go on the offensive, "says Stéphane Richard, CEO of France Telecom, Le Figaro.

The "G5", this informal club which meets the five major European operators (Orange, Vodafone, Telefonica, Telecom Italia and Deutsche Telekom), met this morning in Barcelona. First concern is the increasing traffic by 18 on the fixed and mobile networks within four years the network congestion threatens. To avoid saturation, operators have to invest heavily … and fully intend to share the bill with those who are the primary beneficiaries: YouTube, Google and others."For years, compensate operators naturally flows exchanged between them is the system of peering. What they sent about what they were getting compensated. But this system has experienced since the flows are completely unbalanced for two years due to the explosion of video. Some players who are behind the explosion of traffic must be willing to help finance the investments needed to route this traffic, "insists Stephen Richard.

Another concern is the lack of competition in the shops of applications. "Competition in telecom has always been seen by Brussels in terms of infrastructure and networks. Today, there is another reality: the arrival of new players like Google and Apple, "says Stéphane Richard.And example is the Read & Go application, developed by Orange and various publishers, behind Apple to allow on its online store. "This practice is acceptable?" Interrogates Stéphane Richard. It will meet in Brussels.

Netting on 4G

The five major operators should also announce a better coordination on mobile contactless or NFC, with a launch expected this year. "Contactless will bring out new services and our customers. They can use their mobile as a payment card, such as ticketing, such as badges for access to buildings or as a transportation tag. Orange aims NFC 500,000 customers by the end of the year in France and the integration causes many of these new services without contact from the SIM card. The market is ripe now, "says Stéphane Richard.Orange is also announcing today an agreement with Samsung for the upcoming European launch of a new NFC-enabled mobile.

The CEO of France Telecom is very proactive on the fourth generation of mobile, "it is inevitable that changes to the 4G. Orange is ready to participate in the tender in France. What bothers me is neither the timing nor the principle of a high reserve price (the government wants to recover 2 billion of licenses to be issued in France in the summer, Ed), but problem is to increase the stress on operators when they are asked to invest heavily. Operators will face a fourth operator in a mature market, "he says.

And the beautiful game operator to point the proliferation of taxes, the latest being the recovery of VAT."In crude, we had a lot of termination, but this represents a net lost few customers. Because the vast majority of customers who cancel a subscription at Orange resume here. In any case, those who still thought that there was insufficient competition in the market were able to verify the bitterness of the fight, "says Stéphane Richard.

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Better than an official statement, an absence confirmed on Friday the Berlin waving speculation since Wednesday. The head of the Bundesbank, Axel Weber, was omitted from the Economic and Financial Advisory Franco-German gathering in Berlin, the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble and his French counterpart, Christine Lagarde.

Since announcing his candidacy to the surprise withdrawal of the European Central Bank (ECB), which has overtaken Angela Merkel, the media do not broadcast in unison more than a single image: that of a man sweating big drops … As if the events of recent days had revealed a personality nerves too fragile to guide the euro out of the storm.

Axel Weber was called on Friday afternoon at another appointment, at the Chancellery in the presence of the Minister of Finance. It was for the Chancellor to push him toward the exit as quickly as possible.The president of the German central bank will leave office April 30, for "personal reasons". "His successor will be announced during next week," says a statement from the Chancellor very dry, which contains no shorthand praising the work of the President of the Bundesbank.

Jens Weidmann, 42, economic adviser to the Chancellor, who defends, as Weber, a monetary policy ultrarigoureuse, is the favorite to succeed him as "Buba".

Weber announced Tuesday night at his colleagues in the Executive Board of the Bundesbank, he renounced his ambitions to the ECB.He lamented a lack of clear support from the Chancellor in recent months, while his candidacy aroused opposition from several countries including France because of its monetary conservatism.

Liberals pledge to

For Berlin, put this former professor of economics at the helm of the ECB, was to guarantee the stability of the euro and thank you without a fight against inflation, which remains for the Germans absolute evil since the Great Depression of 1923. Within the coalition government, the appointment of Weber allowed to give pledges to liberal FDP and temper their opposition to an enlargement of the European financial stabilization (FESF). Now, Merkel may be forced to be even more intransigent on the issue of deficits to satisfy his allies in the FDP."This is a severe blow to Angela Merkel and a disavowal with respect to its European policy, has accused the leader of the opposition Social Democrats in the Bundestag, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Merkel now finds itself extremely impoverished. "Germany has little money makers with the right profile" to take the reins of the ECB, the daily economic Handelsblat t. The name of Klaus Regling, president of FESF, is often cited, but he has no experience of central banking. He's chief economist Juergen Stark also the ECB, but his candidacy would raise legal problems because he is a member of the Executive Board of the ECB.Friday, at the end of the economic council, Schäuble said that Berlin had never insisted that there be a German candidate for the presidency of the ECB …

Berlin could be forced to support the president of the Central Bank of Luxembourg, Yves Mersch, or the Bank of Finland, Erkki Liikanen, to bar the way to the Italian, Mario Draghi, a former Goldman Sachs. For his part, Weber saw that the media already succeeding Joseph Ackermann, the head of Deutsche Bank, could be forced to review its ambitions. The tenors of the CDU and FDP "advise" the biggest German private bank hiring Weber, considered "unstable."For its part, the opposition called for a "waiting period" of three years before the former president of the central bank can take the direction of a private bank that was responsible for overseeing.

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The "riots" in Algeria have made their first victims. According to a first official toll announced by the Interior Minister, two people died and 300 policemen were injured during the four days of violence.

A 32 year old man died Friday during riots in Bou Smail, a small town located 50 km west of Algiers, in clashes with police, medical sources said Saturday. Abdelfattah Akriche reportedly died after a tear gas grenade in the face. His body was transported to the morgue in the town of Qolea at about twenty kilometers from Algiers.

The newspaper El Khabar announced earlier Saturday that a young man of 18 years, Azzedine Lebza, was shot and killed the day before in Ain Lahdjel in the region of M'Sila, 300 km southeast of Algiers.He died instantly while the police tried to repel protesters who managed to enter by force inside the post office and the sub-prefecture, the newspaper said. Three of his comrades were also injured in the incident.

Show Riots in Algeria on a larger map

An interministerial council planned this Saturday

In Annaba, more than 600 km west of Algiers, 17 people were also injured, including three policemen by stone-throwing demonstrators, according to civil defense. One of three policemen wounded in the head is in a serious condition.

The clashes between young protesters and security forces resumed Friday in Algeria, including Algiers and Oran, and extended in the east and in Kabylia, despite appeals for calm from the authorities and several imams.In the capital, on Friday afternoon in the neighborhood of Belouizdad (Belcourt), groups of youths clashed with stones and glass bottles of police deployed en masse and heavily armed. The police clashed with protesters by making use of water cannons and tear gas.

For more than a week, small groups of young people complain around the country what they call their "bad manners", either because of employment-more than 20% of youth are unemployed or lack- housing. The authorities went out of their silence Friday: Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports Djiar Hashemi called on young protesters to "engage in a peaceful manner."Violence "never results in either Algeria or elsewhere, and that our young people know," he said during a visit to Constantine, east of Algiers.

An Inter-Ministerial Council is scheduled this Saturday to discuss ways to curb soaring prices of commodities, the source for a week of riots in the country, including violent protests Thursday.

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The year 2010 was a good surprise for the French car manufacturers. "With the dual effect of scrapping and a beginning of recovery of the economy after the crisis of 2008-2009, sales of vehicles in France are expected to reach 2.2 million units this year," says Guillaume Josselin, marketing director of Renault France. The manufacturer (including Dacia) would clinch a market share of about 28%, up two points from the previous year. "Our products fit very well at the request of customers who take advantage of the scrapping," he says. Another reason for the success of Renault this year: the low-cost Dacia brand."She has made more than 100,000 sales in France in 2010, an impressive performance for a brand that is known only for five years on the French market."

For his part, PSA Peugeot Citroen has revised its forecast for the European market on the rise during the year. "In early 2010, we expected a sales decline of 9% for the year, and we now expect a decline of 5%, it is argued from the manufacturer, who admits that the device of the scrappage has supported its activities this year. But not only. "All brands, Peugeot and Citroën is to say, have focused on innovation, keeping pace with new model launches during the crisis," said the group. "This allowed us to increase our market share in Europe." SAP expects a market share of 14.5% in Europe in 2010, against 13.8% in 2009 and 13.6% in 2008.

In early 2009, 80% of the market was supported by a help system, such as scrapping. Stopping this device is intended to December 31, 2010 (regarding the taking of control) in France. According to the Ministry of Industry, 600,000 have been paid bonuses in 2010, for a total of more than 510 million euros. In Germany, where scrapping was stopped in September 2009 once the budget allocated to this device has been passed, car sales have collapsed, noted the research firm Economic PrimeView. They had reached 2.4 million units in mid-December, against 3.2 million in the same period last year cash advance flexible payments. "The end of the scrapping of course be a backlash in the French market, but we stay calm," says marketing director of Renault France, which highlights the record orders expected in December."Nearly 300,000 cars of all brands should be controlled, is unheard of in France."

Environment "always difficult"

For 2011, analysts at Societe Generale CIB anticipate a decrease of 2.3% of the French automobile market, after falling 7.5% in 2010. "The environment is always difficult," says PSA Peugeot Citroen, which does not freeze its plans for new models in 2011. A context that raises concerns within the government, which has moved from possible serial failures among subcontractors in the automotive industry in the coming months. In a letter in late October, the Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde was addressed to the prefects, so that they stand ready to deploy quickly public support schemes.OEMs do not yet feel really concerned by the decision of scrapping and its expected impact on registrations in France.

"2010 will be a record year in terms of world production since the beginning of automotive history," says one at Plastic Omnium, which includes the production of 71 million cars worldwide this year and similar activity in 2011. Even optimism at Faurecia, which "found no decrease in activity in 2010 across the group" and said that France represents about 20% of its turnover. Third-quarter sales Faurecia jumped from 11.5% at constant scope and exchange, "primarily through Asia and North America, where the market has rebounded strongly" .The CEO of Valeo, meanwhile, recently said he would not rule revise upward its objectives in 2011 revenue and operating margin, "the group's profitability in registering strong progress against the objectives of the strategic plan presented in the first quarter of 2010. "

A Peugeot dealer in Lille, December 27, 2010. Photo credits: Philippe Huygens / AFP

Stock markets close an American with no direction on Friday. The Dow Jones was down 0.06% to 11,491.90 points, while the Nasdaq gained 0.21% to 2642.97 points and the S & P 500 is 0.08% to 1243.91 points. Wall Street took a breather after closing Thursday at its highest level in two years through a series of statistics smiling bode well in this season.

After mixed accounts for FedEx, the encouraging figures of employment, but more importantly, an index of manufacturing activity from the Philadelphia Fed up sharply, the Dow Jones closed up 0.36% at 11,499 points . Investors, however moderate their passions, while concerns over the European countries of their debts patients remained alive. Leaders of euro zone met indeed.After Greece and Ireland, whose rating has been downgraded from 5 notches by Moody's on Thursday, Spain and Portugal remain threatened. Moody's also warned it might lower the rating again in Greece.

Reduced macroeconomic agenda

On the front of the macroeconomic news, the composite index of U.S. economic indicators released Friday by the Conference Board rose, as expected, by 1.1% in November, slightly less than expected by analysts.

Blackstone, Oracle, RIM and Toreador to a

On the corporate side, the U.S. investment fund Blackstone Group (+0.37% to 13.46 dollars) has reached an agreement to restructure around seven billion dollars of debt related to the purchase in 2007 of real estate group Equity Office Properties Trust , said Friday the Wall Street Journal.This agreement provides for a rescheduling of the debt until 2014, instead of 2012 previously, the newspaper said, citing sources close to the negotiations.

The software publisher professionnelsOracle (3 cash advances pay day loan.94% to 31.46 dollars) unveiled the results above expectations. In the second quarter, which ended in late November, the group net profit up 28% to $ 1.87 billion, or 37 cents per share. Excluding items, earnings per share were 51 cents, or 5 cents better than consensus Thomson Reuters. Turnover rose 47% to $ 8.6 billion through consolidation of Sun Microsystems. Wall Street was 8.34 billion dollars.

The Canadian Research In Motion (1.62% to 60.20 U.S. dollars) Thursday reported a quarterly profit above expectations thanks to Torch model Blackberry, competitor to Apple's iPhone.RIM reported net earnings up 45% for its third quarter to 911.1 million dollars. The turnover amounted to 5.49 billion. RIM said to have delivered 14.2 million BlackBerry for the quarter and have garnered 5.1 million net new subscribers. In after-hours trading in the U.S., the value gained 3.4% to 61.25 dollars after finishing up 0.1% to 59.24 dollars on the Nasdaq.

The Japanese group Fujitsu computer equipment (-0.62% to 33.74 dollars) has also announced it would develop with Boeing (0.98% to 65.03 dollars) a system of electronic tagging of aircraft to reduce the maintenance costs of fleets.The two companies plan to start their process in the first quarter of 2012, for aircraft manufactured by Boeing but also by other aircraft manufacturers, said Friday the Japanese firm in a statement.

A note on Friday, finally arriving in Paris deToreador Resources, (-1.90% at 15.01 dollars), a group of American exploration and production of oil and gas traded on the Nasdaq. There was a marked increase in its first day of listing on the Paris Bourse. Late afternoon, the title and earned 1.45% to 11.86 euros.