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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.

The 2013 draft budget, which aims to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP, is assured of a majority in the Dutch Parliament after the agreement between the two parties in the outgoing coalition and the three opposition parties, said Thursday news agency ANP.

"My party has given me the green light to the plan that we discussed," said Sybrand van Thursday Haersma Buma, leader of the Christian Democrats in the lower house of Parliament .

Stef Blok, leader of the parliamentary Liberal, has also announced that its base had agreed, as the three opposition parties, Democrats 66, Christian Union VertGauche and, depending on the television channel NOS. 

The ruling coalition broke out during the weekend due to the inability to agree on conservation measures designed to meet the reduction targets budget deficit ; silence as part of the European Union.

The government has sought to obtain a circumstantial majority in Parliament to pass his economic plan before Monday, when it is supposed to present in Brussels.

Discussions were held with the two parties forming the government (the Liberals and Christian Democrats), with three opposition parties (Democrats 66, and the Union VertGauche Christian) and with perhaps one or two other courses. 

With the support of all three opposition parties, the government will have a majority of 77 seats out of 150 in the lower house of Parliament.

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.

Incumbent President warns that Europe is still recovering and that if France relaxed its efforts to reduce the deficit, it would suffer the same fate as Spain. During a meeting place de la Concorde in Paris, Sunday, April 15, Nicolas Sarkozy called for the ECB to support European growth.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday that there was "more likely to collapse of the euro", but that Europe was "recovering", warning that any "loosening" in the reduction of deficits would convey to France "the fate of Spain."

"The risk of implosion of the euro no longer exists, but Europe is recovering, it is a reality and we have no room for error," the president said on RTL candidate. According to him, "the minute we let up the pressure on spending cuts, deficit reduction, debt, France experienced the fate of Spain."

"France has raised 8 billion before yesterday (Wednesday, ed) to finance its debt. It did so in a historically low, below 3%. Spain, at the same minute, borrows to finance its debt, twice the price of France. The same causes produce the same effects, "he said.

"During the 2007 campaign, Ségolène Royal, PS candidate, praised the example of Spain, and Mr. Holland was received" during the election campaign "by one Prime Minister (Jose Luis Rodriguez) Zapatero," former Spanish Prime Minister, Socialist. "I do not know if the Spanish example is still relevant," he added.

European shares were down mid-session after the award by Germany of 4.2 billion euros Schatz two years accompanied by a return to a record low 0.14% highlighting investors' appetite for stocks considered less risky and persistent concerns about certain sovereign debt in the euro area.

In Paris the CAC 40 was down 1.41% (-47.86 points) to 3,244.65 points at 10:50 GMT. In Frankfurt, the DAX yields 0.78% and London, the FTSE drops 0.35%. The pan-European index Stoxx 50 was down 1.19%.

The index futures point to a New York opening of Wall Street down.

In Europe, the sector suffers utilities Iberdrola clearances especially after the sale of a stake of 3.69% by ACS. The mining sector benefited from the publication by BHP Billiton of a quarterly activity report showing a drop in production of iron ore lower than feared by analysts. The sector index Stoxx Europe 600 commodity earns 0.87%.

Values, the British retailer Tesco, which has announced plans to spend one billion pounds (1.2 billion) to overhaul its operations in Britain to regain market share and reconnect with sales growth, gaining 0.4%.

The world number two home appliances Electrolux sells more than 4% in after announcing a 16.7% decline in shipments to the North-im Rican for its six major product categories.

ASML is the title back in the same proportions as the world leader in machinery engravings of semiconductors declined to disclose its prospects of orders on the occasion of the publication of its quarterly results .

Wall Street opened Friday declined amid concerns related to persistent budgetary situation of Spain and slowing growth in China.

In early trade, the Dow Jones dropped 0.46% to 12,890.00 points. The Standard & Poor's, wider, yielding 0.47% to 1,379.40 while the Nasdaq composite retreated 0.48% to 2725.50.

Performance of public debt to 10 years Spain has exceeded 5.9% after the publication by the ECB shows that Spanish banks have been steadily increasing their borrowing at the ECB in March.

Moreover, the gross domestic product (GDP) of China rose 8.1% annual rate in the first quarter, the lowest figure recorded in nearly three years.

"The number of Chinese GDP is weaker than expected while anyone had used it as pretext to rise yesterday," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist for Miller Tabak & Co. 

Bank stocks are also oriented downward despite better than expected results published by JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo.

Both titles lose respectively 1.18% and 1.88%.

Google also declined, its quarterly earnings above the consensus being overshadowed by a further deterioration in the profitability of its advertising links. The action gives up 2.8%.

The Bank of England (BoE) kept no surprise Thursday its key rate to 0.5%, its level since March 2009, and left unchanged the amount of its program of asset purchases, while the multiply signs heralding a return to growth of the UK economy.

All economists polled by Reuters had expected the central bank does not increase its program of "quantitative easing" (QE) beyond the 325 billion pounds (394 billion euros ) previously announced.

Recent indicators, including the latest PMI figures released this week, seemed to reflect a rebound in activity after the contraction of the last quarter of 2011. 

But British manufacturing output posted its biggest drop in nearly a year in February (-1.0%), taking forecasters against the foot.

Industrial production, wider, however, remained on an upward trend, which should be sufficient to ensure an increase in gross domestic product in the first quarter after the contraction experienced in late 2011.

Economists now monitor the evolution of inflation, still above the 2% target of the central bank and that it could announce an extension of buyback program securities.

In the U.S., the paychecks of the largest companies grew only by 1.4 during the past year against 11% in 2010, according to a study published by the Wall Street Journal. According to the firm Hay Group, the remuneration of the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, is estimated at $ 378 million in 2011.

The remuneration of top managers in the U.S. rose 1.4% in 2011 against an increase of 11% in 2010, according to partial results of a study released Monday by the Wall Street Journal. "Despite a sizeable increase in earnings and business income, earnings of 65 bosses in office for at least two years rose by only 1.4%" in 2011, says the U.S. daily.

The Wall Street Journal explains the stagnation in the bond of increasingly close relationship between compensation and employers' business performance, because of the "monitoring" of shareholders and the "pressure" the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ). The SEC, the U.S. federal agency to regulate financial markets, calls for "more details" on how companies pay their executives, which complicates the payment of bonuses by adjusting in-year objectives, explains daily.

The partial study, conducted by management consulting firm Hay Group, based at the moment of 75 U.S. companies, whose net income grew 17% in 2011. The full study, which involves 300 companies, will be published "later this spring," announces the Wall Street Journal. According to preliminary results, the median earnings of bosses is 9.4 million in 2011, against $ 9.3 million according to comprehensive study of 2010.

The remuneration of the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, is estimated at $ 378 million in 2011. That of the boss of media group Viacom, Philippe Dauman, who dominated the rankings in 2010 with a salary estimated at $ 84.3 million, is 42 million in 2011.

The Bundesbank (Buba) German has used much of its profits in 2011 to strengthen its protective mattress and its president warned Tuesday the European Central Bank (ECB) against a decision excessive risk in its rules for granting loans to banks.

The German central bank considered it prudent to increase reserves while increasing concerns about the bill that the issuing institutions in the euro zone will have to pay under rescue the European banking system.

The ECB has helped to avoid a credit crunch by injecting in the space of two months 1,000 billion euros in the area banks, through loans and rates 3 years reduced, and by relaxing its criteria for acceptance of collateral. 

The chairman of the Buba Jens Weidmann said he was concerned about the risks to the balance sheet of the ECB and national central banks of the Eurosystem, arguing that risk-taking should be lowered e, for instance by raising the quality of the collateral required for banks wishing to finance with the ECB.

But even if the Bundesbank's balance sheet reflects this concern, Jens Weidmann did not call for an immediate withdrawal of bank support.

"But that does not mean that all measures of crises must be lifted immediately, rather, it means that we, as a central bank, thinking against their abil re to organize the withdrawal of these measures."

One who is also a member of the Governing Council of the ECB played down his differences with the president of the institution in Frankfurt Mario Draghi in monetary policy. He stressed that he did not feel isolated within the council and had a good working relationship with the Italian

. "I do not feel isolated in the Governing Council of the ECB because I see that the arguments that I or others put forward are discussed "said Jens Weidmann at a press conference on the occasion of the presentation of annual results of the Buba

…. ….. He added that there was no predefined camps at voting time on the board. Last week, Mario Draghi also said that the Bundesbank was not isolated within the ECB.

The benefit of the Buba fell to 643 million euros in 2011, against 2.2 billion euros in 2010, due to an increase of 4.1 billion euros of provisions related to credit risk, foreign exchange, gold and other prices, against an increase of 1.6 billion euros the previous year.

"The main reason for the decrease in earnings is higher provisions for risk," said its president.

"The counterparty risk in repurchase program bonds and refinancing operations rose perceptibly due to higher volumes and the high degree of risk," added ; Jens Weidmann.

The deficit of state budget has decreased by 0.9 billion euros in January over one year to 12.5 billion through the sale of 4G mobile frequencies. View of the Ministry of Economy and Finance at Bercy.

The deficit of state budget has decreased by 0.9 billion euros in January over one year to 12.5 billion euros, thanks to the windfall of allocating 4G mobile frequencies, said Friday the Budget Ministry. The state expenditure were however up to 31 January from a year earlier, but this progression, "consistent with the prediction," is due to "an increase in the rate of recognition" earlier this year, ensures Bercy in a statement.

Expenses (general budget and levies on revenue) reached the end of January € 32.8 billion against 26.3 billion the same date of 2011, the departments' management in 2012 to start faster. " According to the ministry, "the expenditure has not been late and has already reached its cruising speed", and so do not see a skid. As for revenue (net of refunds and rebates), they improve to 23.4 billion against 20.5 billion at January 31, 2011. The net tax revenues are up as expected from one year to another, almost 8%, particularly with regard to corporation tax (33.6%).