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The bank denies a report in the daily Libération, which amounts to 25 billion euros the amount of toxic loans granted to local authorities. Dexia release accused of selling to local governments 25 billion euros of toxic loans.

Dexia bank said Wednesday as "unacceptable" an article published by Libération on toxic loans sold by such bank to local communities. The newspaper, citing "a confidential document to Dexia," the amount of loans taken out toxic amounts to 25 billion euros. "Erroneous and truncated data have been used for this article that calls into question the competence and integrity of Dexia employees and elected officials and administrative officers of local authorities, which is unacceptable," said the bank in a statement."Not only the challenges but Dexia reviews all legal consequences to give to defend the interests of its employees and its customers," she adds.

According to the bank, "the article likens improperly structured credits to 'toxic loans' and reported that fanciful figures do not reflect reality." According to Liberation, 5500 local governments and public institutions have signed French toxic loans between 1995 and 2009. The bank contends in particular that "it is totally unfounded and irresponsible to suggest that 'thousands of French municipalities are bankrupt because of the structured credit underwritten by Dexia".Dexia also disputes the number of the additional cost of these loans valued at 3.9 billion euros, "unfounded" and denied as having "captured the towns."

"At the initiative of local communities"

Loans "were made in response to tenders issued on the initiative of local authorities who asked explicitly, often accompanied by external consulting firms," ​​said she. The toxic loans are considered more speculative and riskier to the family of structured products. These have varying degrees of risk on a scale of 1 to 5. The toxic loans represent the highest risk, rated 5.They are based on variable interest rates, indexed values ​​as highly volatile exchange rate fluctuations, differences in interest rates or a barrel of oil, which can decrease or increase in significant proportions and impossible to master.

For its part, the Royal Commission on toxic debt, created in June, entered the heart of the matter by addressing the situation of Saint-Etienne, a city whose mayor, Maurice Vincent, was one of the first to denounce the dangers of such financial products. "The Audit Office estimates that one hundred the number of communities affected by toxic chemicals," recalled Maurice Vincent before the commission. "For my part I consider that there should be 200 if we take into account hospitals and housing associations."Maurice Vincent also reminded the court ranged between 7 and 12 billion euros the amount of toxic loans, a total stock of 160 billion euros.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 1.76% Thursday, away from a lower-end two and a half hit the previous day as investors to buy back the securities after reassurances from France and Germany, who felt that the place of Greece is well within the euro area.

The Nikkei gained 150.29 points to 8,668.86 points and the Topix, broader, took 10.07 points (1.36%) to 751.76 points.

The support shown to Greece was interpreted by investors as a positive sign for a resolution of the debt crisis in the euro area.

The market participants also welcomed the statements by the European Commission said it would shortly put forward proposals for the introduction of euro bonds.

Values, title Elpida Memory has closed up 5.03%. The third global manufacturer of memory chips has announced the relocation of part of its production in Taiwan and production of new generations of chips.

Too much debt, too wasteful, too slow to respond: Air France-KLM combines all disabilities quick to unscrew a share price while the sharp deterioration in global economic outlook threatens the goal of positive operating result in 2011, analysts say.

The action of the second European airline in terms of turnover has dropped almost two times more than the German Lufthansa in January and also largely underperformed IAG, an entity formed by the merger of British Airways and Spanish Iberia.

The market capitalization of the Franco-Dutch and passed below two billion euros, or 30 times less than that of the luxury group LVMH.

"This simply reflects the fact that they underperform their peers on all fronts: their performance is weakest in terms of revenue, cost and profit", says Penelope Butcher, an analyst at Morgan Stanley.

And in case of relapse of the economy in recession, Air France-KLM could be particularly vulnerable, analysts said, recalling that the crisis of 2008-2009 had ended for the company by an operating loss of an abyssal , 3 billion euros for the year ended in March 2010.

"It was by far the worst financial performance of all European airlines that we follow", said Neil Glynn, an analyst at Credit Suisse."This raised fears in the market they are less well equipped than their peers to meet in 2012 to a new recession – or even a weaker economic conditions."

The action was trading at 6.637 euros on Friday morning, after a descent into hell almost continuously since its last peak at about 38 euros in May 2007.Since January 24, when the first listing of IAG, the action Air France KLM fell 51% against 27% for Lufthansa and 39% for IAG.

Since the beginning of the year, as well accuse the worst performance of the SBF 120 index.

Too expensive

European company the more cyclical, Air France-KLM should be penalized more than others by economic conditions, its operating leverage is stronger and higher fixed costs than its competitors, said Loic Sabatier, an analyst at Cheuvreux.

"It is calibrated for growth than others, but less for the downturns," said he."In addition she was a little less aggressive than its competitors in terms of cost reductions in recent years."

The Achilles heel of Air France-KLM, which the French state owns 15.7% stake and employees 9.8%, are its costs.According to data published by groups from January to June, the costs of personnel, his first job in operating expenses, amounted to some 32% of its turnover, against 24% for Lufthansa and 25% for IAG.

Found a parade through the management of Air France, to avoid a too brutal confrontation with the unions, was to launch a project basis in the provinces, with medium-haul flights from Marseille from early October, before Nice, Toulouse and Bordeaux in the spring of 2012, with the ambition to reduce operational costs by 15%.

But the project was presented to great fanfare a year ago, leaving plenty of time to companies "low cost" EasyJet and Ryanair to position.

"This is the shining example of the time they need to implement significant structural changes in costs, which are all the more necessary that the environment is very uncertain in terms of revenues," said Neil Glynn, Credit Suisse.

While an official of the airline industry recently told Reuters noted "a flutter" at Air France-KLM, Penelope Butcher, Morgan Stanley, denounced the chronic lack of responsiveness of the Franco-Dutch.

"That's what I do not clear right now: why do they not more proactive measures for existing problems rather than worrying about their strategy over several years?" she asks, referring to multi-year project "Embark" introduced in late 2010.

DEBT Abyssal

European company most affected by the "Arab Spring," Air France-KLM has hardly changed its flight schedule to destinations such as Egypt and Tunisia.

"Why take that risk, why not move planes to other destinations?" Asks Penelope Butcher."Flying planes that are not full-weighs heavily on the revenues and costs."

Air France-KLM, which now hold exercises in the calendar year, merely the end of July provided a positive operating result in 2011, when he had to exceed 28 million before the year 2010 pro forma .

With the worsening financial crisis in early August, the very prospect of a positive operating result seems out of reach. Neil Glynn believes that Air France-KLM will not only loss this year but next year.

"At the moment, I do not think they necessarily need to postpone deliveries, sell assets or raise capital," said he."But if we have a 'double dip', so I think it's a very strong probability."

For Air France-KLM has entered the new area of ​​financial turmoil with a very damaged balance sheet. June 30, net debt reached the level of abyssal 6.04 billion euros, against 1.4 billion for Lufthansa and 480 million for IAG.As for its debt ratio, it amounts to 0.92 – 0.50 against 0.42 for Lufthansa and for IAG.

Things are not likely to make do with the mega-command of a hundred long-haul Boeing and Airbus expected shortly.

"If you are concerned about aspects debt and leverage, which seems the case of Europe, they are also the worst on this point," said Penelope Butcher (Morgan Stanley).

Contacted by Reuters via the press, the company officials have not responded to our requests for interview.

The growth of trade in goods between the major economies slowed sharply in the second quarter, mainly because of a brake brutal imports from China, show statistics released Wednesday by the OECD.

Total imports in the G7 and the "Brics" (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grew by only 1.1% over the period April to June compared to January-March quarter, during which they had increased by 10.1%.

Export growth has followed a similar trend although markedly, falling to 1.9% against 7.7% in the first quarter.

The only Chinese imports (17% of the total considered) were up 0.7% from one quarter to another, the lowest since early 2009, which contrasts sharply with the increase of 11.1% recorded the first three months of the year.

This movement is partly due to efforts by the Chinese authorities to curb domestic demand and prevent overheating.

Exports from the Republic are divided along the front, rising 10.0% after 2.9%. This double movement resulted in a sharp increase in Chinese trade surplus at $ 54.8 billion, says the OECD.

This trend continued in July, China's exports registering a new record despite new tensions related to the debt crisis in the eurozone and signs of slowing U.S. economy.But Beijing was concerned about increasing threats to recent external demand.

United States, imports have also slowed, to rise from 11.1% to 3.0% while exports amounted to 5.6% to 2.6%.

In total, import growth slowed in all G7 countries and the BRICS with the exception of Brazil, where they rose by 11.2% (against 5.7% in the first quarter).

Wall Street opened sharply lower Thursday, weighed down by fears of contagion from the crisis of European debt to U.S. banks and the threat of a relapse of the economy after the disappointing figures on the employment front United States.

In early trade, the Dow gave 2.45% (281.13 points) to 11,129.73 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 broad, abandoned 2.51% (30.72 points) to 1163.17 points while the Nasdaq composite market lost 3.22% (80.29 points) to 2430.32 points.

Facing the room nervously, the New York Stock Exchange NYSE and Amex Cash Markets announced shortly before the bell they would invoke Rule 48, which allows information to suspend the course to ensure a smooth opening.This rule is sought only when there is a risk of extreme market volatility.

The macroeconomic picture was further clouded Thursday after jobless claims in the U.S. rose more than expected last week to 408,000, while economists surveyed had forecast 400,000.

In addition, Morgan Stanley lowered its growth forecasts for the global economy for the years 2011 and 2012, the revision is stronger for developed countries.

Wall Street is also hit by concerns surrounding the U.S. banking sector.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York accentuated his investigations on the U.S. subsidiaries of major European banks, fearing that the debt crisis in Europe will be transmitted to the U.S. economy through them.

Around 1:35 p.m. GMT, the S & P financials unscrewing of 3.51%, while the KBW bank index fell 3.3%.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley posted declines of between 3.33% and 6.43%.

In this context aversion to risky assets, gold hit a new record of 1,817.90 dollars an ounce.

Job creation in France has exceeded expectations in the second quarter, confirming an upturn that has not prevented the rise in the number of job seekers in June and could prevent the marked decline in unemployment expected by the government this year .

With 68,300 jobs created, wage employment for non-agricultural market sectors increased by 0.4% in the second quarter compared to the first, as estimated by "flash" released Friday by the INSEE and Dares.

This figure is higher than the 58,200 jobs created in the first quarter in these areas and forecasting at INSEE for the second quarter was 47,000.

In one year, payroll employment grew by 1.3% with 210,600 jobs created.

"This increase in job creation is a positive signal about the vitality of the real economy," said the Minister of Labour and Employment, Xavier Bertrand, in a statement.

The Ministry states that this increase was the strongest since the first quarter of 2007 and emphasizes the mobilization "total" government employment.

Xavier Bertrand hopes to reduce unemployment below 9% in late 2011 despite the increase in 33,600 (1.3%) in June the number of job seekers in Category A. At 2,720,400, the numbers in this category have never been so high since December 2010.

The unemployment rate as defined in International Labour Office (ILO) was 9.2% in France at the end of the first quarter.The second quarter results will be published on September 1 by INSEE.

According to Eurostat figures, which uses a different methodology, the unemployment rate was 9.7% in France in late June against an average of 9.9% in the euro area and 9.4% in the European Union.

In the second quarter, the services sector created 57,200 new jobs, including 7,500 in the interim, the statistics released Friday show.

Meanwhile, the construction shows 4500 new posts, confirming the tentative rebound began earlier this year.

The industry has in turn created 6,600 jobs after the first quarter of 1300.

The basic monthly salary rose by 0.6% over the period April to June, as the basic hourly wage worker.

In one year, the basic monthly salary and base hourly wage workers show increases of 2.2% and 2.1%, says the Dares, slightly above the current level of inflation (1.9 % yoy in July excluding tobacco).

Very quickly, most places of the Old Continent are ironed into the red in the expectation of the crucial meeting of the Fed. The trading floor in Frankfurt

The major European stock markets rebounded Tuesday at the opening as they were expected down sharply in early trade in the wake of the Asian markets, down with the fear of relapse into recession in the U.S. economy. Paris rebounded strongly over 2% in early trade. Very quickly, however, the trend has reversed the decline in oil prices on the global economic slowdown leading financial centers in negative territory.

Yo yo

At 9:39, the CAC 40 index lost 1.3% to 3084.68 points after pressing the threshold of 3100 points, the benchmark index of the Paris and preparing to sign its twelfth session consecutive decline.The London Stock Exchange lost 1.68% and 1.77% in Frankfurt. Eurostoxx 50 indices pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 and receding 2.03% and respectively 2.09%.

A barrel of U.S. crude drops 1.9% to 79.77 dollars.

The asitiatiques limit their losses

For their part, Asian markets limited their losses, after opening a free fall as leaders and central bankers are mobilizing to try to calm the markets, distressed by the specter of a new crisis.

After plunging in early trading – the Seoul stock exchange has lost up to 10% – Asian stock markets limited their losses, even managing to ironing Sydney in the green, with a "bargain hunting" which sees investors advantage of low prices to buy.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the sovereign rating on Friday the United States, culminating a week of panic in financial markets alarmed by the scale of public debts and a slowing global economy.

Sign of the deep concern of world leaders, they have stepped up phone calls Friday and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called a meeting of G7 finance ministers.

Markets are less and less confidence in Spain and Italy to honor their debts and the scenario of a domino effect in the euro area continues to unfold.The fear of tipping the U.S. into recession has also fueled the drop in global financial markets, who lost 2500 billion in one week.

After the close of Wall Street, the United States for the first time lost their precious AAA.Sovereign debt is now rated AA + by rating agency Standard & Poor's, which raises the specter of a further deterioration in a year.

This decision, rather expected, reflecting the deteriorating global economic climate and could have implications on the status of reserve currency the U.S. dollar.

China asks in a comment to Xinhua news agency that the international community to reflect a new reserve currency, "stable and secure."

Beijing, the first creditor of the United States, attacks in this dispatch to the U.S. government, demanding that it "faces the problem of structural debt."

BERLUSCONI TRANSFERS

The impact on the financial markets Monday may be minimal because this degradation is not unexpected but the consequences for long-term status of the United States and the dollar will be much more important.

"The global system must now adapt to the many implications and uncertainties induced by the loss, once unthinkable, the American Aaa," said Mohamed El-Erian, the investment company Pacific Investment Management.

This new development in the debt crisis increases the pressure on governments.In its analysis, S & P said the deterioration by the lack of fiscal consolidation plan adopted by Congress and the failure of leading Democrats and Republicans to govern together.

European markets also expect a rapid and effective government too indebted to their liking.

After Greece, Ireland and Portugal, investors fear that it is the turn of Italy and Spain, third and fourth economies in the euro area, have to seek a rescue.

Silvio Berlusconi bowed to international pressure by promising to accelerate the implementation of austerity measures and social reforms.

CALLS FOR COORDINATION

Source familiar with the matter, it is stated that the European Central Bank (ECB) has requested that the Italian government agrees to return to a balanced budget by 2013 instead of 2014, before buying Italian bonds and liberate Rome of market pressure.

Thursday, investors did not appreciate that the ECB does not buy Spanish and Italian bonds, limited to the sovereign Irish and Portuguese, while the yield of securities issued by Rome and Madrid exceeded 6%.

Two days later, it seems that it was a maneuver to push Silvio Berlusconi to act.

"In principle, we can say that the ECB could start to buy bonds if Spain and Italy (both countries) made an extra effort in terms of fiscal and structural reforms," ​​said a senior official told Reuters the euro area.

Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo, a Spanish member of the Governing Council of the ECB, said he expected new government announcements on August 19.

China and Japan, the two largest foreign creditors of the United States, called for international cooperation, joined by the European Union.

"The international policy coordination across the G7 and the G20 is crucial," said the Commissioner of Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, who interrupted his vacation to return to Brussels.

Silvio Berlusconi announced a G7 finance ministers "in the next few days" but his spokesman later explained that this was simply a desire to Rome and it was not yet agreed with the other member countries.

Britain, also affected by the volatility of markets, called "a concerted international effort" to avoid another global financial crisis, three years after the collapse of U.S. bank Lehman Brothers.

Boeing announced Wednesday the end of the flight program certification 747-8 Freighter cargo version of the last variation of the successful four-engine Boeing.

Since its first flight in February 2010, the 747-8 Freighter has performed more than 1200 flights and 3400 hours spent in the air.

"We are in the run-up to delivery to our customers," said Elizabeth Lund in a statement, Boeing vice president in charge of the program 747.

The first 747-8 Freighter will be delivered to Cargolux in September, once the device has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Boeing has received 76 orders for the freighter, the unit list price of $ 319 million.This device is the freighter version of the 747-8 Intercontinental to transport passengers.

Valeo has reached its best first half net profit for 13 years and confirmed its 2011 targets of production and margins, cost control eclipsing the impact of the tsunami in Japan and higher raw material prices.

The automotive supplier achieved in the first half of the year a turnover of 5.33 billion euros, up 11% as reported and 13% at constant perimeter and constant exchange rates, and operating margin of € 345 million, a rate of 6.5% (+0.4 point).

Net income, Group share, rose 30% over the period to 218 million euros, its highest level in a first half since 1998.

"This improvement results from the continuing effort to reduce administrative costs, 6% through the introduction of our new organization," said the CEO of Valeo, Jacques Aschenbroich, during a teleconference.

Arrived at the head of the OEM in 2009, he has committed a simplification of the structure of the group and focus on its four core businesses.

Jacques Aschenbroich found that disruption of the Japanese industry after the tsunami that struck the archipelago in March were reduced by approximately 90 million euros turnover in the first half of the group, and reduced by 20-30 million operating margin.

"A recovery in activity in Japan is now expected in the summer, and the more general, if we can not exclude minor disturbances on the supply chain, they should not impact the global automotive production in the third quarter, "he added.

ORDERS RECORDS

As part of its strategy to achieve 30% of its sales in Asia by 2015, Valeo in February the acquisition of the specialist Japanese Niles steering wheel for $ 286 million, much dam activist fund Pardus for whom the appreciation of the group's share price is not forthcoming.

Despite the tsunami, which reduced by 31% in the first half of automobile production in Japan and led the entire Asian production (-3%), the specialist systems microhybrid "stop & start" and driver assistance (radars and cameras) has confirmed its forecast for 2011 production and margins.

He said he was "confident" in the event of an increase in world production of about 5% throughout 2011, and armed with a record order intake to 7.7 billion euros, an increase of 18% over the year, it has maintained its goal of an operating margin slightly higher than 6.4% in 2010.

The group had operated in that year a significant recovery in profitability since 2009, his margin was only 1.8%.

The Valeo shares closed Wednesday down 2.99% to 44.33 euros, giving a market capitalization of around 3.6 billion euros. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has gained nearly 8%, after rising by more than 73% throughout 2010.