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• What are they? Rating agencies are tasked, in theory, to assess independently the risk of bankruptcy or non payment of an economic issuing debt securities such as bonds. Clearly, they inform investors of their risk if they lend themselves to such corporation or such State. They each have a rating scale ranging from AAA (triple A) to CCC.

The score is after work for analyzing economic and financial figures and results from a collective decision of the agency's analysts. This is an opinion, say the agencies, not a recommendation to buy or sell a security or a share of a company.

• The impact of the notes. Rating, reflecting the risk of bankruptcy of a company or a state, however, has taken a very important rated entities and investors.For states and businesses alike, a note degraded resulting in an increase in interest rates. So when they want to borrow, it costs more.

Investors should in turn may sell certain debt securities to meet internal and financial regulations. A portfolio manager consists of obligations and will maintain a balance between built-risky securities and less risky. If a portion of its securities, such as Greek bonds, for example, is degraded, it will have to part for not only its portfolio becomes too risky.

• Who owns the agency? Moody's is an American company listed and independently owned up to 13% by billionaire Warren Buffett. Fitch is majority owned by French financial company Fimalac, founded by Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere and 20% of the group Hearst.Standard & Poor's is owned by U.S. publisher McGraw-Hill Companies.

• Who pays? "Typically, a rating agency is paid by the entities who want to receive a note or those that use the note" on a subscription basis, says Standard & Poor's. 2009 according to the scale of the latter for the United States, a large company must pay at least $ 70,000 at the beginning of the rating process, then a subscription of "surveillance" amounting to about half the original amount cash advances pay day loan. Each time it will issue the debt markets, it will perform in addition to a commission of 0.045% of the transaction. The amounts are similar in Europe.

Today, about 90% of revenue comes from credit rating agencies rated entities, is Norbert Gaillard, in his book "The rating agencies' published in The Discovery.

• Conflicts of interest.The crisis "subprime" mortgages at risk, has highlighted the limitations of the current agencies. Paid by companies that want to be noted, agencies are sometimes tempted to assign a higher rating than actually deserved to win a contract to the detriment of its other two competitors.

A former analyst at Moody's, Mark Froeb, has launched scathing attacks against his former employer before the Commission of Inquiry on the financial crisis in the U.S. Senate. "When I left Moody's (2008, Ed), the worst fear of one analyst was not necessarily something that would jeopardize the market share of Moody's, to cause harm to its sales ( …) and losing his job accordingly, "he complained. However, an analyst should only concern "to contribute to a rating that would be false."

• Agencies very profitable.With the increasing complexity of financial markets, the agencies argue that it is becoming increasingly expensive to analyze the risk of failure of economic actors. Therefore, in the 70's, they began to charge companies to notaient.

This business model provides a very high cost to agencies. Moody's expects an operating margin (operating profit to net sales) of between 38% and 40% in 2011. Standard & Poor's 43% in the first quarter of 2011 alone and Fitch 58% for the year 2010/2011 shifted.

Once published Tuesday, the opinion of the Advisory Council pensions, the decree formalizing the transition to 41.5 years of contributions from the 1955 cohort could be taken quickly. CNAV request, to inform as soon as its nationals. The beneficiaries of the "long career" born in 1955 are, in fact, likely to retire on January 1.

The Ministry of Labour does not seem to see any objection, saying anyway have little choice: "The law is written Fillon very imperative low interest rate personal loans. Things mechanically apply, depending on life expectancy, "an official analysis.PS and unions denounced the prospect of a longer contribution period: CGT sees a decline in disguise of pensions, the CFDT talking about additional victims of the reform of 2010.

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The Paris Bourse is expected to remain on the path to higher Friday morning after a nice session already saved up last night having completed 40 leCac an increase of 1.48% to 3892.21 points. The Greek situation reassured the financial world yesterday, as the Greek Parliament finally adopted the unpopular austerity plan, paving the way for the release of a next tranche of aid from the European Union and the Fund IMF. The euro has risen, moving at more than $ 1.45 this morning.

If no statistical significance is expected today, investors will monitor the U.S., where the issue of debt escalates. One report indicates that U.S. lawmakers should agree within three weeks on raising the debt ceiling, or the country will default.Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the Treasury, would resign.

The figures in the automotive market

The Committee of French Automobile Manufacturers (CCFA) will release figures this morning the car market for the month of June and the first half.

Renault breaks the price of his Renault Twingo, faced with falling sales, will sell for the first time one of his vehicles, the little Twingo at a price lower than the Logan, the model input range of its Romanian subsidiary Dacia, according to La Tribune.

PSA is increasing in India The automaker is expected to invest 620 million euros in building its future manufacturing site in India, according to Les Echos. PSA will implement this facility in the state of Tamil Nadu, south of the country.

EDF EN signs a big contract

EDF.EDF Energies Nouvelles, a subsidiary of French group dedicated to renewable energy, has signed with the Danish Vestas Wind Systems for the use of wind turbines in Europe and the United States. The contract could provide the French operator up to 2000 megawatts over the period 2012-2014. The transaction amount was not disclosed.

LVMH.Philippe Pascal, who led for ten years, watches and jewelry division of LVMH, has been appointed adviser to Bernard Arnault, CEO of the world's number one luxury.

Areva said Thursday that the strategy developed since the creation of nuclear group by Anne Lauvergeon was a "success" and that his replacement did not involve a change of course.

EADS said Thursday the success of the acquisition, through its subsidiary Eurocopter, the Canadian aerospace supplier Vector Aerospace, 98.32% of shares were made to the offer made in late May.

TF1 announced Thursday to be in negotiations to become the sole shareholder of Metro France, the eponymous owner of the free newspaper which claims 2.4 million daily readers.

Carrefour has signed an agreement with Pixmania, the specialist in consumer electronics, to catch up in online sales of non-food.

Bénéteau sailboats world's leading manufacturer, said that sales in the first nine months of fiscal year 2010-2011 and the level of its order book allowed him to confirm its objective of annual turnover of 920 million euros.

BioAlliance announced Friday the launch of a capital increase of EUR 16.6 million to accelerate development of its portfolio of orphan drugs in oncology, particularly Livatag.

At least fifteen days of its entry into force, the "Google tax" does not ultimately see the day. This is the conclusion of a battle of several months, after the Senate's budget rapporteur Philippe Marini (UMP) withdrew his amendment yesterday to tax by 1 July up to 1%, advertising revenues business generated by online advertising. Adopted at the end of last year by the Senate as part of the proposed budget law for 2011, it was later removed when the collective review on first reading by the National Assembly. With the withdrawal of the amendment Marini, the restoration of this measure is therefore definitely thrown to the wayside.

Illustrating the arguments in favor of setting up the device, the centrist President of the Committee on Finance, Jean Arthuis regretted that choice. "Google does not pay taxes in countries where there is profit.Attention, so does the return to balance public finances and respect for our trajectory, "he said Tuesday. This tax, incorrectly called "Google", companies are taxed advertisers and not portals, would bring a little more than 20 million to state coffers. Several players saw this device the way to avoid tax evasion of income generated in France by Internet groups domiciled in other countries. For example, advertisers of Google domiciled in Ireland, escaped to the French tax.

Disappointments for other organizations, who hoped, through this measure, access to new resources to finance the creation free business cards. This is the case of the Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers (SACD), which campaigns since 2007 for the introduction of this tax, hoping of course to be part of the beneficiaries.

Taxation envisaged at European level

Relief on the contrary side of the digital players, for which such tax could hinder the development of a growing industry. The recent National Council of Digital (CNN) had indeed heard his opposition to the project. For its part, the Association of Community Internet Services (ASIC) in a statement welcomed the choice of the Senate "to preserve the French digital economy," avoiding "the potentially heavy burden on the shoulders of the few French companies, penalizing especially small and very small. "A relayed spoke about Senator Catherine Morin-Desailly, who denounced a tax against-productive: "It would be paid by advertisers, not by the large international groups, Google, Facebook, which were located in countries with attractive tax" has She stated Tuesday.

Remains that the taxation of Internet giants is not totally abandoned. Budget Minister Baroin invoked for the possibility to reflect on actions at EU level. "The government has pledged to establish conditions for a European standard for a tax on a broad base, without waiting for the G20," he developed Tuesday. An argument inadmissible under Jean Arthuis, for whom total absence of tax harmonization in Europe would only bury the project.

Manageable or unbearable? Greek debt is the largest in the euro area relative to the size of the country. It represents almost one and a half times its gross domestic product. For the moment, Greece is on life support of the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). But the aid of EUR 110 billion will be repaid from 2013.

Some, like the IMF, argued that Greece has the means to cope. However, many economists doubt the ability of the Mediterranean country to face the wall of reimbursements that will be overcome in two years. She will need to find 60.9 billion euros in 2013 and 78.4 billion next year and 85 billion in 2015, calculated the International Monetary Fund.

Privatization chain

To finance its debt, Greece has pledged to privatize public enterprises and to sell state assets to the tune of 50 billion euros by 2015. Also to ease the bill for 2015, the EU agreed to extend the duration of its loans from 3 years to 7.5 years. According to analysts at Societe Generale, it could mean that Athens has nothing to repay to the EU by 2017.

In the United Kingdom, the austerity spared any sector, not even the cellar of Her Majesty's Government, which provides for eighty years banquets and official functions. "I seriously considered deleting the cellar, but all indications are that we will save taxpayers by preserving and reforming it in order to finance the purchases of sales of some raw targeted," said Secretary State for Foreign Affairs, Henry Bellingham, charged with managing the cellar official.

"Sales of targeted stocks of high value" will save half a million pounds – 571 000 – in five years. The cellar of 38,000 bottles British government account, whose value is estimated at one million euros.

Earlier this year, the head of state went to Mayotte in anticipation of the creation of the 101st French department. For the 186,000 inhabitants of the island, the promise became a reality this Thursday, March 31.

If 2010 has prepared the process of departmentalization, Mayotte has a long way to go. The economic and social challenges are enormous. Economic First, because the island is in a difficult situation. The written conditions of the Institut d'émission des overseas (IEDOM, relay Overseas Bank of France), published recently, last year was particularly weak in all sectors (including agriculture, construction, trade). The labor market continued to deteriorate, consumption fell, as imports.In short, Mayotte had a year 2010 "morose" and, apart from a little less poor prospects in tourism, "in 2011 gave no indication of genuine improvement", said the new director of the IEDOM, Nicolas de Seze.

Development Fund

Social challenges then, as the island is facing significant migration flows. The proportion of foreigners, mostly from other islands of the Comoros – who come to find work, join relatives, to qualify for the schooling of their children or for treatment – from 15% in the early 1990s to nearly 41% in 2007, fell within the central bank in a previous study savings account payday advance.The vast majority would be illegal.

The cost of illegal immigration has been estimated in a Senate report from 2008 to 32.4 million euros for national education and 30 million for health services – more than 3.3 million on the fight against this immigration (police, gendarmerie …). Excluding the cost of moonlighting.

New French department, Mayotte "will benefit from development funds relatively large," recalls Will there be IEDOM. Another issue will then arise: "The ability to use knowledge. The real problem is there. We need a real project management for projects, it will take time. "There must then be the private sector take over public investment. Not a small feat in a country where, today, produce is more expensive than importing "…

The most powerful earthquake which claimed the North-eastern Japan early this morning has an impact on the Japanese economy. Before long, the Nikkei has literally collapsed, the yen has fallen and the country is, for now paralyzed.

In fact, air transport and railways have stopped Friday in much of Japan. Traffic was stopped in the major airport of the archipelago, at Narita, in the Tokyo area, where services were checking the status of airport runways. Shinkansen express trains were immediately arrested throughout the northeast of the archipelago, and highways in the Tokyo area closed a few minutes after the earthquake.

Similarly, the markets, the response is immediate. The Japanese currency fell against all the eight major currencies.The Japanese currency is thus dropped to a low of two weeks against the dollar at 83.30 yen to the dollar and 114.98 yen per euro after issuing a first warning to the tsunami.

The index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the Nikkei 225, has accelerated its losses late in the session. The benchmark index of the place of Japan and ended lower by 1.72%

It must be said that the disaster – which worsens progressively transmitted information has been particularly violent. The quake had a magnitude of 8.8 at 6:46. A scale rarely observed. Waves of 4.2 meters swept the Pacific Coast. Japanese TV shows and soon after the earthquake has made "many injured".

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The Irish vote is also a warning to Europe. By giving more than 36% of the votes of the opposition Fine Gael in parliamentary elections on Friday, voters clearly endorsed the government that had negotiated the bailout with the EU and the IMF. The ruling party had won just over 17% of the votes. The future prime minister, Enda Kenny, has already announced he intends to immediately renegotiate the terms "punitive" of the device. For Europeans, the case falls ill while looming in March, a marathon of negotiations critical to the future of the euro area.

"We will act on it next week," promised Enda Kenny, who considers "bad for Ireland and for Europe" the bailout of 85 billion euros signed in late November. The future prime minister wants to broach the subject on Friday in Helsinki at a meeting of conservative leaders of the EU.With two requests: to lower the rates "punitive" loan, fixed at 5.8% and involving banks, making them bear a larger share of losses.

European side, the rhetoric still print campaign promises was greeted with caution. "The Commission will continue to support Ireland" in the implementation of its austerity program, "which is essential" to the country's economy, said Sunday the spokesman on economic issues, Amadeu Altafaj. Before the elections, Brussels had suggested that there might be a little leeway for adjustments after 2011.A lower interest rate can not be excluded, but Dublin will probably make concessions on its corporate tax rate, seen as fiscal dumping elsewhere in Europe.

Fears for the other weak links

The Irish case puts the euro area in front of his responsibilities on the eve of a series of summits that bring together Heads of State and Government (11 and 24 March) and Finance Ministers (14 and probably 21 March) low fee payday loans. It is to decide on remedies for the debt crisis, first by raising the ceiling of the Rescue Fund (FESF) to assist countries in serious financial difficulties, and partly by tightening governance . Germany has much to impose his views on fiscal discipline.But his range of proposals, unveiled a month ago, was recently welcomed by its partners.

This bodes ill for the magnitude of the final result, even though the euro area sees risks reappear after a brief lull. Between record high oil prices and market concerns, Portugal was in the front line. The fear of another recession pushed its lending rates to astronomical levels (7.579% Friday, a record since the country's entry into the euro area). Investors are already convinced that Lisbon will shortly call on European rescue mechanism – such as Ireland and Greece before him.A perspective that revives fears for the other weak links in the eurozone, Spain in mind.

On Wednesday, the Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, will be received by Angela Merkel in Berlin to discuss the support fund – and how countries' having problems with their sovereign debt, such as Portugal "could best use of the devices financial assistance.

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Last year, the mobile phone market was above all marked by soaring sales of smartphones, up 72%. They now account for 19% of the 1.6 billion handsets sold worldwide. A share that will grow and could reach 70% within two to three years.

Nokia, whose difficulties are no secret to anyone, is still the market leader, with another 28.6% market share (against 36.4% in 2009). "I do not see Nokia losing its global leadership in the short term, Le Figaro said Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner. The group however is constantly facing new challenges. Especially the "white boxes" these little Chinese brands that have long served the limits of legality and now have a storefront.Micromax carve cruppers or G5 with Nokia in India, Africa, or Russia and Ukraine and of course, China!

Samsung continues to position itself as a challenger to Nokia in emerging markets and entry level. Its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S was sold about 10 million units in the last quarter, making it a very serious competitor to the iPhone. But Apple continues to benefit from "the strength of the attractiveness of its brand," said Carolina Milanesi. A change in the pricing of Apple, although unlikely, could be accompanied by a new boom in sales cash advance loan no fax. And even without that, Apple and RIM (BlackBerry) now rank ahead of Sony Ericsson and Motorola.

The challenge of operating systems

The symbol is strong in the fourth quarter of 2010, Symbian, Nokia has lost its place as the operating system's biggest selling world in favor of Android from Google.On the whole year, the OS remains the Finnish front, with 37.6% market share, a position very fragile in view of recent sales. "Even if the group is preparing to make drastic choices. It should not however abandon Symbian for Android. In contrast, in the high end, the platform could be Google's preferred solution to the house, Meego. " Globally, Carolina Milanesi estimated 5 or 6 operating systems to coexist, with three or four major players by region. The diversity of solutions is needed to face the width of an offer which starts at $ 20 to finish at $ 900.

Finally, the radius of disappointments Windows Phone figure 7 that despite significant marketing resources in place was not up to the expectations of the market. In the fourth quarter, it sold only 1.4 million phones in Windows 7.