Personal Finance News & Advice

The U.S. stock markets have closed lower Monday, with the Dow Jones falling below 13,000 points, the fears aroused by the European debt and doubts about the capabilities of the Old Continent overcome this challenge prompting investors to take the least risk.

Distrust of operators has also been fueled by the resignation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte after the failure of budget negotiations with the Freedom Party (PPV).

The announcement of a contraction in the services sector in the euro area has further accentuated the volatility of investors. 

Declining order books and continued downsizing has affected both manufacturing and services, showed the first results of monthly surveys from Markit purchasing managers (PMI), published Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average American 30 lost 0.78%, 102.09 points to 12,927.17, the Standard & Poor's 500 benchmark index fund managers, has yielded 0.84%, 11.59 points to 1,366.94 and the Nasdaq, heavily weighted technology has abandoned 1.0%, 30.00 points, to 2,970.45.

"We are in a period during which the market seems to want to consolidate the gains of the last two quarters and we go from top to bottom and from bottom to top," said Hank Smith of Haverford Trust. 

"It becomes obvious that the eurozone is in recession and it drains a lot of concerns. To end the debt problem, it is necessary for growth, and we did not yet arrived. "

Values, note-against the performance of Wal-Mart, which ended down 4.65% after the publication of media reports that the distributor has stifled an investigation into suspicions of corruption against its subsidiary.

Much lower, also, there are Kellogg (-6.1%), sanctioned after saying it could lower its profit forecast.

The one, who runs short of personal cards often face losses in the form of loss of new business orders. Running out of business cards is the worst situation one can get in the commercial world.

The union's general secretary was speaking on Tuesday. He eventually wants to see the executives of the CGT before making its preference among the 16 persons nominated. Contrary to expectation, Bernard Thibault has not indicated its choice from the Tuesday before the executive committee of the CGT, but it presented a "progress report".

The general secretary Bernard Thibault of the CGT announced Tuesday that the AFP will continue consultation with executives of the union until May 25 before expressing his choice to succeed him as head of the plant.  

Contrary to expectation, Bernard Thibault has not indicated its choice from the Tuesday before the executive committee of the CGT, but it presented a "progress report" on the consultation, which began more than two months and should lead before Confederal Committee (NAC, the parliament of the CGT) of 30 and 31 that will decide the name of the successor. From this initial consultation, it appears that "a majority" of executives want a woman to take the reins of the central and "one half" of those who have expressed the wish that the future leader "is derived from the private".

At this point "16 names" have been advanced by executives consulted among which are those of Eric Aubin, from the private, Nadine Prigent Naton and Agnes, two governing board members of the union, he said. Part of the executives consulted defined a profile but without giving names. Bernard Thibault and denies reports that Eric Aubin had collected a clear majority on its name. The Secretary General will continue its consultation on the way between 9 and 24 May in departmental federations and unions. At a meeting of the Executive Board on May 25, "I give my opinion," he said.

For now, said Bernard Thibault, secretary general of the 51 departmental unions (of 95), 23 patterns Federations (32) and 48 members of the Executive Board and Financial (of 61) were expressed, either verbally or writing to the Secretary General.

In January, Bernard Thibault announced his decision not to seek re-election at the 50th Congress of the plant in March 2013 in Toulouse, opening the proceedings of his estate. He had a novel approach-launched a "consultation" with the bosses of departmental federations and unions to achieve "a proposal that can accommodate the broadest consensus possible."

The turnover of traders was down 15% year on year, due to the economic crisis. A small village in Greece

The turnover of Greek merchants was down 15% for parties of Orthodox Easter, the most important of the year, which will be held Sunday and announce themselves as "the most frugal of the decade," their union said Friday.

"It appears certain, from our data, that the Greeks are forced to spend the Easter the most frugal of the last decade due to the economic crisis and the weakening of household disposable income," says the National Confederation of Commerce Greek (EEM) in a statement. "The sales market Easter rotates annually around $ 5 billion (3.78 billion euros)", but he will fall in 2012 that $ 4.5 billion (3 billion euros) said the statement of the EEM.  

This is reflected in a 15% decline in turnover of retail trade and 10% of sales of food and drink for the first two weeks of April. Sales at clothing stores and shoes, this is traditional for children on the occasion of these festivals, show a decline from 18 to 21%. These shops specially dedicated to decorating Easter whose windows are full of candles and colored eggs, are down 12% to 15%.

This decline has been halted, however, the source said, by lower prices by 10 to 12% of the flagship products of these festivals, such as lamb cooked on a spit usually eaten on Sunday with family or friends, in a country Orthodox Christian over 90%.

Citing the restructuring of its operations, the Japanese electronics giant announced a workforce reduction. Sony will reduce its workforce by 10,000 people worldwide by the end of the year, due to the restructuring of several activities.

10,000 posts in less. The Japanese electronics giant Sony will reduce its workforce worldwide by the end of the year, due to the restructuring of several activities, said Monday the Japanese Nikkei business daily. This decrease corresponds to about 6% of total staff employed by Sony in late March 2011, 168,200 employees.

At a roundtable a few weeks ago, the new CEO of Sony, Kazuo Hirai, had indicated that he was to be expected of such decisions, given the need to restate the group which fears a loss annual net 220 billion yen (over $ 2 billion) and an operating deficit of 95 billion yen (900 million) for the year ended March 31.

Half of the positions being reduced in Japan and abroad will result from the transfer of operations, said the Nikkei, the rest resulting in particular from the need to reduce fixed costs. Sony recently decided to divest a subsidiary of chemical manufacturer of adhesives and films and optical disks. The transfer is expected during the last quarter of 2012.

The group is also trying to consolidate its small and medium size liquid crystal displays (LCD) with those of his fellow Hitachi and Toshiba in a joint venture in order to fight more effectively against Asian rivals.

Kazuo Hirai has also set a goal out of the red in two years the flagship TVs, a deficit for years and currently deep restructuring. In this context, Sony has already sold its 50% stake in the joint venture S-LDD founded with her South Korean rival Samsung Electronics. He now wants to thoroughly review its supply chain and associated cost structure. A press conference on the group's strategy for next year is scheduled Thursday, April 12.

Sony had already suffered severely as a result of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, while eliminating more than 16,000 jobs worldwide and closing several factories to delegate more tasks to subcontractors.

Its competitors and compatriots Panasonic and Sharp are also forced to rethink their product lines and operating modes to adapt to a competitive environment increasingly fierce, with a deteriorating economic environment and the outbreak of the Japanese currency.

Back to the recession in the euro area, concerns over Spain, stopping fear of monetary easing in the U.S. … A series of bad news the markets into Wednesday. Paris lost nearly 3%. A screen broadcasts stock information in Shenyang, China, Aug. 10, 2011.

The bulk of the crisis is behind us? Investors are not so sure. The Paris Bourse fell nearly 3% Wednesday, penalized, as all European markets, the failure of a bond issue and Spanish fears of a return to recession in the euro area.

The CAC 40 has only widen its losses throughout the session to close on a decline of 2.74% to 3313.47 points in a given volume of trade, a sign of the nervousness of investors, from 4.074 billion euros. On other European financial centers, Frankfurt has given 2.84%, 2.30% London. For its part, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 2.54%.

"While the United States, the Federal Reserve considers the economic recovery strong enough to prevent a new program of monetary easing, the situation in Europe is much more difficult as argued by the European Central Bank," said Baradez Alexander, an analyst at Saxo Bank.

Mario Draghi, the chairman of the Mint, said it was "premature" stop the anti-crisis measures in place to cope with the financial crisis. Neither the level of inflation, whose prospects are "anchored" or economic status or the high rate of unemployment in the eurozone, do begin this withdrawal, he said.

In this context, the ECB decided, not surprisingly, to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 1%, its lowest level ever. But "it has dampened hopes of investors who expected any new support measures given the weak economy," lamented Mr. Baradez.

But distrust was also put on the other side of the Atlantic. In New York, the Dow Jones yielded 1.17% and the Nasdaq 1.42% at mid-afternoon. U.S. investors are disappointed by showing the likely absence of a third wave of monetary easing in the United States. And even more worried that Europe too.

The private activity has continued to contract in March in the euro area, reflecting a return to recession in the first quarter, according to a second estimate of Wednesday's PMI purchasing managers. However, large disparities remain national: Italy and Spain are firmly entrenched in a recession in March. In Germany, growth slows and displays its lowest level in three months and in France, business retreats for the first time in four months.

The Spanish case also weighed on trade after the failure of a bond issue that has made borrowing rates soaring. Given the very difficult economic situation of the country, "investors are skeptical that Madrid can meet its deficit target to 5.3% of GDP this year," said Duarte Caldas IG Markets.

Overseas, the slowdown in hiring in the private sector in March was just played on the trend, stakeholders still waiting with some optimism the official report on employment on Friday. The increased activity in services in the U.S. slowed in March, but it is still the 27th consecutive month of expansion in the sector, given that the threshold of 50 points marks the boundary between growth and contraction activity.

All values ​​of the CAC 40 finished in the red. The cyclical industry, the most susceptible to cyclical, has paid a heavy price to concerns about growth in Europe. Peugeot has lost 5.82% to 10.77 euros, Lafarge 4.97% to 33.73 euros and Renault 4.46% to 37.26 euros.

Enhanced lending capacity of bailout funds in the euro area would reassure markets, which are not persuaded that the debt crisis is over and fear of further declines in ratings, estimates Klaus Regling, who heads the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).

"More money would reassure markets, wrongly or rightly, large numbers subside," said Regling, in an interview published Sunday by the German magazine Focus.

Finance ministers of the euro area (Eurogroup) will meet in Copenhagen on 30 and 31 March to decide whether to increase the lending capacity of the bailout mechanism euro area.

That of the EFSF is 500 billion euros. 

Der Spiegel reported on its side that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, strongly opposed to increased firepower of European aid mechanism, is currently changing his opinion, con frequency of pressure from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to Spiegel, Merkel and Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble agreed that the EFSF and its successor the European Stability Mechanism (MES), could both be operational during a transitional period. 

Two possibilities are being studied: group the 500 billion euros of MES with 200 billion euros of EFSF already set aside for Greece, Portugal and Ireland; combine EFSF and MY ability to reach a loan of 940 billion euros.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Finance would not comment on the Spiegel article but said, about the Eurogroup meeting at the end of the month: "Discussions are continuing but we were hopeful that a solution will materialize at the Copenhagen meeting, which satisfies everyone. "

'The bailouts did not cost a penny to Germany. The idea that money is lost forever is false, they are ready, to be repaid, "argues his side Regling, adding that Germany has benefited from the crisis in the euro area, to the extent that borrowing costs have fallen

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PSA Peugeot-Citroëna announced Friday that he was studying with General Motors, as part of their alliance, the feasibility of developments on common platforms for large segments of small sedans and minivans.

The French carmaker also announced in a statement issued at the end of a European Works Council, the offset of 7 months of the industrialization phase of the DCT gearbox whose production is envisaged on the site of Valenciennes.

"During this period, it was decided to explore cheaper ways including those offered by the alliance with GM to allow the group to have a box that kind, "said PSA. 

The suspension of a proposed C-segment car – compact type – provided on the site of Madrid is also confirmed.

PSA also said in a statement it was studying GM with the launch of a program of small cars for emerging markets, with a first potential application in Latin America , and co-development of a platform for small cars with low CO2 emissions.

European shares widen their losses Tuesday mid-session, and Wall Street should also open in downturn, fears of an economic slowdown in China and Europe, prompting investors to reduce their risk exposure.

In Paris, around 12:30 pm, the CAC 40 lost 1.48% (51.77 points) to 3435 points. London yields 1.00% and Frankfurt was down 1.43%. The pan-European FTSEurofirst index yields 1.29% to 1,066 points, its lowest in a week.

The values ​​of the automobile are among the largest declines. The European sector index losing 2.5%, weighed down primarily by PSA Peugeot Citroen.

PSA loses more than 4.4% in the Paris Stock Exchange after the announcement of the terms of the capital increase of a billion launched after its alliance with General Motors. The French group also announced it would not pay a dividend this year.

Traders also cited a market rumor that the Greek debt restructuring will not occur until next week. Athens has denied any extension of time debt exchange, planned for Thursday, but it is unclear what level of participation in this proceeding, which should enable ; Greece to delete some 100 billion euros of debt as part of its second aid package of 130 billion euros.

Monday, Athens had expressed its willingness to force private creditors to take losses on their debt as Greek, saying the agreed discount of 53.5% on face value of their shares was the best offer they can expect.

Contracts held for less than 8 years will be subject to the schedule of income tax, which varies from 5.5% to 14%, 30% or 41% currently as tax brackets, even 45% and 75 % if the PS introduced two additional rate. Only new contracts will be affected. The PS candidate for president, Francois Hollande, said Monday night on TF1's intention to tax at 75% rvenus greater than one million euros per year.

Francois Hollande has no plans to change the terms of taxation of life insurance contracts held for more than eight years, said Thursday told AFP Michel Sapin, in charge of the presidential project of the socialist candidate for president . "Francois Hollande is keen to apply the principle of fair taxation is that capital income should be taxed as labor income," said Michel Sapin.  

"But this principle must be adapted to the specificity of each individual investment and savings tools. Regarding life insurance, it seems legitimate when that savings tool is used for short term – less than 8 years – that the principle is implemented in full, "he said. In other words, that the interests of these investments are subject to the schedule of income tax, which varies from 5.5% to 14%, 30% or 41% depending on the current tax brackets, even 45% and 75% if the PS introduced two additional rate. This would only affect new contracts, said Michel Sapin.

Currently, investors have every incentive to keep their life insurance contract for at least 8 years holding period from which the taxation of this investment is softer at 7.5%. Withdraw before four years of detention is accompanied by a tax of 35%, which drops to 15% between 4 and 8 years. "Beyond 8 years, this is a long-term savings, which is useful in many French and helpful in financing the French economy, and given this fact, Francois Hollande is not proposing changing taxation methods, "said Michel Sapin.

That is to say that beyond eight years of detention, interest will continue to be taxed at 7.5% for all taxable persons and that the abatement (4,600 euros per person) will be retained . These statements contradict those made Tuesday by Michel Sapin in a newspaper article on the internet latribune.fr. The member of the Indre indicated there while "life insurance is subject to the scale of income tax" without differentiating between short and long term. "We do not expect to maintain reductions exempting the result of these investments", he had continued

. These words, synonymous with hardening of the taxation of life insurance, had been badly received by the insurers, who saw an attack on this placement adopted by 17 million French households. The socialist candidate also wants "the share of saving life dedicated to business financing is increased," said Michel Sapin. "The purpose of Francois Hollande is that the proportion be increased in order to mobilize more savings in support of this re-industrialization and for development of SMEs and SMIs," and that "in connection with the professionals life insurance, "he said.

General Motors is in discussions at an advanced stage to take a small stake in Peugeot as part of their proposed strategic alliance in Europe, said on Monday close to the matter.

It is likely that GM would take a stake of less than 5% in the first place and a deal could be announced in the coming days, sources added, however, warn that there is not yet and agreed that the talks could unravel.

GM has declined to comment. A Peugeot spokesman did not respond immediately to messages and calls for comment.