News – Business & Economi

Facebook knows the title of early febrile Friday on the Nasdaq, the title having erased its gains in early trade, falling to its IPO price before going up .

The title began more than 11% above its IPO price, reaching a high of 45 dollars, according to Reuters data, before losing ground and return to its IPO price, 38 dollars.

The transaction enabled the world's first social network to raise $ 18.4 billion (14.4 billion euros) and to be valued at $ 104 billion, more than Hewlett-Packard and Starbucks combined. 

After a delay in its quotation that fueled the impatience of traders and commentators around the world, the title began in Facebook stock at 1530 GMT at 42.05 dollars.

The group's headquarters in Silicon Valley and the applause of his employees, the founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, 28, rang the bell to mark the debut of Exchange community site for 900 million users.

Outside the offices of the company thronged reporters and photographers. Above their heads, even a helicopter had been sent by U.S. television on the occasion of the IPO, the largest history of American technology stocks.

"A jump of 15% to 20% is about as possible," thought Tim Loughran, a finance professor at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, before the start of trading .

Some investors believe the stock could gain 30% or more, on Friday despite persistent questions about the actual ability of Facebook to generate sustainable profits.

After just one hour of trading, Pivotal Research Group already recommended to sell the security. 

"The market is currently valuing Facebook as an asset less risky than Google, which we believe is absolutely not the case," said Brian Wieser, one of the firm's analysts in a research note .

The average of analysts' estimates compiled by Morningstar predicts a closing price Friday of $ 50.

At 16:30 GMT, gained 9.53% to 41.62 dollars.

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Wall Street has ended in the red Wednesday after a volatile session, thus showing its fourth consecutive decline and its sixth in seven meetings, the concerns raised by the debt crisis of the euro area continued to haunt investors.

The Dow Jones Industrial 30 yielded 0.26%, or 33.45 points, to 12,598.55. The S & P-500, wider, lost 5.86 points, or 0.44%, to 1324.80. The Nasdaq Composite fell on its side of 19.72 points (-0.68%) to 2,874.04.

Although Germany has tried to calm things down on Greece, saying she wanted to stabilize the country in the eurozone, the European Central Bank (ECB) has renewed concerns in said to have ceased to provide liquidity to certain Greek banks due to their under-capitalization.

The Greek authorities have in turn reported massive withdrawals made by the citizens of their bank accounts because of economic and political uncertainties. 

The questions about the future of Greece and possible implications for the euro area a country's output of the Economic and Monetary Union weighed on equity markets in recent weeks, with an S & P 500 has lost some 5.5% since late March.

The fact that, according to the minutes of its last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the Federal Reserve remains open to new measures to support the economy has little impact on sentiment of market participants.

These have not benefited from more macroeconomic indicators rather positive, with one hand a higher-than-expected housing starts in April and the other , a stronger than expected rebound in industrial production. 

As for values, General Electric took 3.268% to 19.00 dollars after the division of financial conglomerate has received permission to resume the transfer of part of its profits to its parent.

GE Capital provides and to pay a special dividend of $ 4.5 billion in General Electric during the year.

The title J.C. Penney has plunged 19.72% to 26.75 dollars, its biggest daily drop in percentage terms since 1987, a day after the distributor has suspended payment of a dividend and announced results showing that its transformation implementation has more impact than expected on its activity.

Also in the distribution sector, the title has pros Target 0.44% to 55.32 dollars after the group specialized in low-cost stores raised its annual forecast .

Facebook will increase by almost a quarter the size of its IPO and could now raise up to $ 16 billion (12.6 billion euros), the strong investor demand obscuring the dice ; beats on long-term profitability of the social network.

GDP in the euro area has stagnated in the first quarter after falling 0.3% last quarter. But the performance of different countries are very different.

Based on preliminary estimates released Tuesday by the European office of statistics to Eurostat, the euro area recorded no growth (0.0%) during the first three months of the year, after a decline in GDP of 0.3 % last quarter. This figure, better than expected by analysts (-0.2%), allows the euro area narrowly escaped the recession, which is recognized when GDP shrinks for two consecutive quarters. But mostly he hides significant disparities between countries in the euro area: while Germany saw its GDP grow by 0.5%, exceeding all expectations, thanks to exports and consumption, France experienced no growth (0%) and Italy sank into recession (-0.8%).

The Netherlands has also experienced poor performance (-0.2%). As for Greece, she recorded a fall in GDP of 6.2% in the first quarter, according to preliminary official estimate.

These differences show that "the region remains highly dependent on Germany," said Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics. "A big thank you to progress better than expected German GDP," added Martin Van Vliet of Ing.  

Figures released Tuesday should at least contribute to the debate on growth in Europe, a topic that has emerged slowly while facing austerity, especially under the leadership of French President Francois Hollande.

The latter reiterated its position on the issue during his inauguration speech Tuesday morning at the Elysee Palace. "To our partners, I will propose a new pact that will combine the necessary reduction of public debt with the necessary stimulus," he said. "To overcome the crisis that afflicts it," he said, "Europe needs projects, it needs solidarity, it needs for growth."

The subject should be central to its discussions on Tuesday afternoon in Berlin with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the main advocate of fiscal discipline in Europe, who reluctantly welcomed his proposal to add a growth component in the European budgetary treaty. How to revive European growth will also constitute the main theme of the dinner which will bring together European leaders in Brussels on May 23

The Italian leader, Mario Monti, proposed last week to "unite people of good will" to ensure that it is "compatible" with fiscal consolidation. He is scheduled to meet Tuesday in Brussels with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, whose proposals for growth (increased resources for the European Investment Bank, finance major European projects, tax on financial transactions , better use of EU funds) are widely shared by Mr. Holland.

European leaders will anyway have to be proactive to defy predictions of analysts. To Martin Van Vliet, there is "no evidence of strong and sustained economic rebound on the horizon for the euro area".

As for Howard Archer, IHS Global Insight, thinks that "a contraction of GDP will likely be on the menu in the second quarter." Although a gradual return to growth is expected later this year, "a further escalation of the debt crisis, not counting an output of Greece (the euro area), could derail the expected recovery," puts cautioned Mr. Van Vliet.

Already facing a bleak economic environment, banks must now confront a French real estate market in full contraction, marked by a sharp slowdown in mortgage lending in France during the first quarter.

According to data from the Observatory CSA-Credit Housing, real estate loan production fell by 26.1% during the first quarter, with a dip of 35% on the month of January 2012 . Between early January and late March, the fall is larger, down 30.8%.

"The improvement observed in autumn 2011, aftermath of demand expectations of late 2011, was not enough to reverse the recessive market and weighed heavily on the month of January 2012, "note the analysts of the Observatory in its quarterly survey released Thursday.

"The market downturn has become a true reality," they continue.

The quarterly results of French banks, released Thursday and Friday, continues the trend. In recent years, rising real estate loans had helped to swell the volume of lending to the economy, especially during the financial crisis after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

"During the crisis period in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the housing credit has been a growth engine for retail banking in France," said Christophe Nijdam, an analyst at AlphaValue . "It was the engine and it was welcome, because of other activities such as retail banking abroad, were very, trè s disappointing. "

"But this year, instead of having a GNP (net banking, Ed) with growth rates of 3% to 5%, we could have a no-growth or GNP is decreasing "he says.

IMPACT ON THE MARGINS

Societe Generale said Thursday that net profit down 20% in the first quarter, has reported a decline of 26.2% of production mortgages in France between January and March.

Crédit Agricole d'Ile de France, which also released its results, the housing loans fell by 16.6% during the first quarter. 

For its part, BNP Paribas speaks of "a continued deceleration of home loans", without giving precise figures for the production of home loans in France.

The rating agency Standard & Poor's expects a contraction of about 20% to 30% of the flow of new loans in France this year. It also anticipates a decline of 15% of property prices in 2012 and 2013.

"French banks should not be significantly affected by the decline in house prices that we anticipate in our economic forecasts," said S & P.

The agency said the contraction of the flow of new credit this year "could weigh on banks' interest margin, although this negative volume effect would be partly offset by increased levels of these new credits. "

At nearly $ 120 million, a version of "Scream" by Edvard Munch became a work of art the most expensive ever sold at auction. Sale by the businessman Norwegian Petter Olsen, identity is unknown to the buyer. The sale of the Munch allowed Sotheby's to beat its previous record for an evening auction of impressionist and modern art.

A version of "Scream", the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, was sold Wednesday night for 119.92 million dollars in New York, becoming a work of art the most expensive ever sold at auction. The sale in the crowd of Sotheby's lasted only 12 minutes, sometimes climbing the auction of more than 10 million in one minute. In an electric atmosphere, seven buyers were hotly contested this work lighthouse, which was estimated at 80 million.  

The pastel made in 1895 and representing a man shouting, hands on ears, bloody sky background in Oslo, was the only one of four versions of "The Scream" still owned by an individual. The sale ended to loud applause, while the auctioneer Tobias Meyer announced a "world record". No detail was given on the buyer, in the center of much discussion after the sale, but the seller, businessman Norwegian Petter Olsen, said he was "very happy" to have become man such a record, at a brief press conference.

Between 1893 and 1910, Munch, expressionist painter (1863-1944) had made four versions of this table over the years become a symbol of universal anxiety. Wednesday night that sold during the sale of impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's for 70 years belonged to the family Olsen, Petter Olsen holding his father Thomas, neighbor, friend and protector of Munch. She had the particularity to include, in red letters inscribed on the frame of light wood, the poem that inspired this work among the best known in the world.

The other three versions of the table belong to the Munch Museum in Oslo (2) and the National Gallery in Oslo (1). Welcoming a "historic evening", Simon Shaw, head of Impressionist and modern art at Sotheby's, emphasized the universality of "Scream", the "key to the modern consciousness". The painting, which was the subject of countless books, films and studies, and has been declining over the years on mugs, calendars, t-shirts and other objects of daily life, is "one of the few images that transcend the art and history to reach the international conscience, "he stressed before the sale.

Only eight works had previously exceeded $ 80 million at an auction, and none had reached 100 million under the hammer, which was the case for Munch. The world record was previously held by Picasso, "Nu au Plateau sculptor", sold $ 106.4 million (with fees) in May 2010 at Christie's in New York. In his diary, January 22, 1892, Munch had explained his inspiration for "The Scream": "I was walking on a path with two friends. The sun was setting. Suddenly the sky turned blood red. I stopped, exhausted, I'm leaning on a fence, there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and city. My friends have continued, and I just stood there, trembling with fear. I sensed an infinite scream passing through the universe "

. Wednesday evening, Petter Olsen gave his own interpretation of a work" remain a major force in (his) life "." The Scream shows the scary moment for me where man realizes his impact on nature and irreversible changes that he initiated, making this planet more inhabitable, " he said, paying tribute to the vision "prescient" by Munch. With the revenues from the sale, he planned to build a new museum dedicated to the artist in Norway

.. The sale of the Munch ……. allowed Sotheby's to beat its previous record for an evening auction of impressionist and modern art, which was 286.2 million dollars, and dated from 1990. Wednesday night, the sales of 65 of the 76 proposed lots totaled 330.56 million dollars.

European shares closed Wednesday up sharply, the results found solid companies' published eclipsing concerns about the debt crisis in the eurozone.

The CAC 40 index, which had ended with a gain of 2.29% Tuesday, ended up 2.02% to 3233.46 points.

The Frankfurt Stock Exchange rose 1.73%, that of Madrid by 1.7% while the London market (0.16%) suffered from the recession back to the UK economy .

In this context, cyclicals and financials were particularly popular, pan-European Stoxx index of bank earning 1.86% in the provisional closure and the auto 3 , 05%, fastest growing sector in Europe.

STMicroelectronics has reported late Monday a first-quarter loss that it attributed to a downturn in sales in the segment of products for mobile phones and the impact of a decision Justice.

Net loss for the first quarter totaled $ 176 million or $ 0.20 per share, against a net loss of $ 0.01 in the fourth quarter 2011 and net income of $ 0.19 per diluted share in first quarter 2011.

An arbitration STMicroelectronics forced to pay nearly $ 59 million to NXP Semiconductors.

The turnover is meanwhile stood at 2.02 billion dollars, representing a sequential decline of 8%. 

"The losses in the segment of products for cell phones (Wireless) have once again weighed on our quarterly results," said CEO of the leading European manufacturer of semiconductors, Bozotti.

For the second quarter 2012, the Company expects an increase in turnover of about 7.5% over the first quarter, plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Gross margin for the second quarter should be around 34.4%, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points.

STMicroelectronics fell sharply Monday on the Paris Stock Exchange after the announcement of an intensified restructuring of its subsidiary, ST-Ericsson.

The Spanish Minister of Economy admitted on Monday that the country had fallen into recession for the second time since 2009, as investors demanded higher yields to buy debt securities the country.

Official figures on gross domestic product (GDP) of the Spanish first quarter of 2012 will not be published before April 30. The Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, however, said that the Spanish economy should be in the first quarter contraction similar to the last quarter of 2011, which was 0.3 % over the third quarter.

Two successive quarters of declining GDP correspond to the technical definition of recession, which was widely anticipated in Spain.

According to the minister, who gave an interview to El Mundo, the decline will however not as serious as feared.

"If you had asked me this question two months ago, I would have thought the first quarter of 2012 would have been much worse than the last quarter of last year. But this does not happen, "said Luis de Guindos

" For now, I see a first quarter like the last quarter of last year. "

These words fall in line with other recent statements by government members, suggesting Spain is in recession again

. The rightwing government of Mariano Rajoy has committed to undertake significant budget cuts. But, the markets, there is concern growing that the recession makes it impossible to goals of deficits and that Spain should seek international assistance in one form or another, to ; like Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

Yields of Spanish debt to ten years have passed Monday morning above 6% for the first time since the beginning of the year, while the Spanish CDS reached new records.

CRISIS MODE

"We returned a crisis mode," said Lyn Graham Taylor, a specialist rates to Rabobank. "It seems increasingly likely that Spain would have to resort to some form of rescue. If there is no intervention (ECB), there will be no ceiling to Spanish yields . They will just keep climbing. "

The Spanish economy is in contraction or stagnation since the bursting of the real estate to ; re in 2008. While housing prices are still falling, the survival of some banks and the new government's ability to control its finances are subject to debate.

The Popular Party (PP), which won elections in November against the Socialists in place, has taken a number of measures to reduce the deficit Spanish, one of the highest the euro area.

But confidence in the ability of President Mariano Rajoy of the Government to work within budgetary limits of the euro area was tested when the head Government has unilaterally lowered the deficit target in 2012 beginning in March, which was strongly up the risk premium on Spanish debt. 

The Minister of Economy also said that the government would take further measures to help small and medium enterprises solvent to obtain credit from banks.

Moreover, the government could get involved in finances too spendthrift regions as early as May, said on Monday with the government.

If Spain has largely missed its target deficit for 2011 is largely due to the expense of regions. The 17 Spanish autonomous regions must reduce its public deficit to 1.5% of GDP in 2012, against 2.9% last year.

A law is being voted in parliament to give the central government the power to punish regions that did not comply with the objectives of deficit narrowed.

The Spanish government announced Monday that he wanted to save ten billion euros in the areas of health and education.

"We need to cut unnecessary costs, streamline the sectors that do not work well, because if we do not, we can not guarantee the viability of the system," said Minister of Economy, Luis de Guindos, invited the SER radio.

The government of Mariano Rajoy last week presented a draft budget for 2012 includes € 27 billion reduction in public spending as part of a reorganization plan intended to bring the public deficit to 5.3% of GDP against 8.5% last year.

Expected savings on health and education in addition to this effort. 

The Spanish health system, shared between central government and executives of the 17 autonomous regions, is a debt of 15 billion euros.

According to Luis de Guindos, one of the lines of inquiry could focus on free public health services offered to the Spaniards, whatever their income.

"We need to open the debate, both within the central government in the regions, on whether health should be free for someone earning 100,000 euros (per year)", said the minister. 

In terms of education, Spanish media report that the government would consider a lower number of teachers, that would offset an increase in the number of students per class , and higher tuition fees in universities.

The Popular Party (PP) Mariano Rajoy, who has an absolute majority in Parliament, also controls eleven of the 17 autonomous regions.

A 10.8% of the workforce, the unemployment rate in the euro area in February reached its highest level in fifteen years. An employment agency in Malaga. Spain has an unemployment rate above 20%

This is a direct consequence of the crisis and the lack of growth. The unemployment rate in the euro area in February reached its highest level in fifteen years, to 10.8% of the workforce, according to data Monday from the EU statistics office, Eurostat.

According to Eurostat calculations, 17,130,000 people were unemployed in February in the euro area, or 162,000 more than the previous month. This level ever since the creation of the euro area exceeds forecasts of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires who had forecast an unemployment rate of 10.7% in February, as the previous month.

This is the tenth consecutive month in which unemployment has reached or exceeded the threshold of 10% in the euro area. Result: the euro zone now has 1.476 million more people unemployed than a year earlier.

Throughout the European Union (EU), the unemployment rate rose to 10.2% in February against 10.1% in January. This is also setting a record, said Eurostat. Once again, Spain is the bad boy of the EU with an unemployment rate of 23.6% followed by Greece with 21% (where the latest data refer to December), Portugal (15%) and Ireland (14.7%). In Italy, unemployment reached a record high of 9.3% in February.  

In contrast, the unemployment rate the lowest were recorded in Austria (4.2%), Netherlands (4.9%), Luxembourg (5.2%) and Germany (5.7%) .