News – Business & Economi

Most members of the Federal Reserve have lowered their growth forecasts at the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Fed FOMC minutes showed 22 and June 23 on Wednesday.

They also felt they should be prepared to take further steps to support the economy if economic conditions continue to deteriorate.

"Drawing the consequences of changes in the financial context, most participants have slightly lowered their forecasts for growth," the minutes show.

"The Committee will consider whether to adopt more supportive measures if the weather deteriorates."

Meanwhile, the Fed will continue to evaluate the methods currently available to it to drain a huge volume of loans it has injected into the financial system, says the U.S. central bank.

The Fed officials have lowered their growth forecasts for 20,110 to a range between 3% and 3.5%, whereas it previously predicted a rise in gross domestic product from 3.2% to 3.7% in May last.

The Federal Reserve expects the unemployment rate between 9.2% and 9.5% in the fourth quarter, more or less what it provided in its previous estimates.

The reflections of the Fed have weighed on the Treasury bill yield to thirty years, investors anticipating a continuation of interest rates at current levels until at least the end of the year.

"This suggests that rates will stay low for long enough and, if necessary, the Fed will try to invent new ways to support the economy," said Ward McCarthy, chief economist at Jefferies & Co.

The general tone adopted by the Fed is tinged with caution, the Fed merely saying that the recovery is underway.

It reiterated its promise to keep interest rates at a level close to zero for an extended period.

France Telecom announced that it aims, through its new development plan over five years, 300 million customers by 2015 on all its markets, against 200 million today.

The telecoms group said in a statement it was also planning to hire 10,000 employees in France over the period 2010-2012.

The measures provided for in the new "social contract" of the group in France, intended to respond to the discomfort shown by a series of suicides of his employees, an envelope of 900 million euros over the same period, excluding the expected savings on the program part-time senior citizens and attrition.

"The group's ambition is to return as a spirit of conquest in international development, based on an acquisition policy unchanged, in which no operation 'transforming' is considered.

In emerging markets, it is particularly expected to double revenue within 5 years, has also informed the company.

France Telecom has also reaffirmed that "the conquest of networks" was "its core business."By 2015, it plans to invest two billion euros in the deployment of fiber optics in France, which ensure coverage of 40% of homes and being present in all parts of city by 2012, and all departments by 2015 (including three overseas departments).

The group reiterated its forecast of generation eight billion euros in organic cash flow per year in 2010 and 2011.

European shares ended Friday in a disorganized but the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index displays eighth consecutive day of gains.

The Paris Bourse closed on a very slight increase from 0.11% to 3687.21 points on Friday, again its eighth consecutive increase, and shows a gain of 3.770% for the week. In ten days, the CAC 40 bounced 10%.

The index of key European values close to him as a fourth consecutive week of gains, with a gain of 2.53% in five meetings, in a context of a rebound in world stock markets.

The MSCI World Index shows indeed ninth consecutive day of gains.Investors are showing some renewed risk appetite, encouraged by the successful auction of debt on the eve of Spanish and French and European Union decision to extend the "stress tests" to European industry as a whole.

As for European values, the bank has supported the ongoing titles Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and UBS gaining 1.72% and 6.06%.

The title has sold BP 0.63%, after Moody's lowered by three levels of the credit rating of the oil company, which also seek to borrow seven billion dollars to seven banks.

STMicroelectronics announced Wednesday that the federal district court in New York confirmed the arbitration in his favor in February 2009 against Credit Suisse for more than 431 million dollars (322 million) including interest.

The maker of semiconductors said this new court decision confirmed "the validity of an arbitration decision made unanimously in his favor by the FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in February 2009.

"The decision of the federal district court in New York rejected the motion of Credit Suisse to set aside the arbitration award, announced the Franco-Italian in a statement.

The U.S. court has "also given the right to request STMicroelectronics to obtain confirmation of the arbitration decision and order Credit Suisse to pay the company the balance of the amount due," says he.

Based on this decision, STMicro will receive about $ 354 million, which includes about 23 million dollars in interest to date, in addition to nearly 75 million received last December from the sale of a part of the obligations ARS (Auction Rate Securities).

Around 1135, under the STM, which was briefly stimulated by this information came around previous levels (2.09% to 7.05 euro).

STMicroelectronics has launched action against Credit Suisse for the reimbursement of the amount he deemed "unduly invested" in bonds risky ARS, contrary to his instructions.

The Franco-Italian chip, headquartered in Geneva, had given more than 450 million dollars to the Swiss institution with a mandate to invest the money in safe securities.

In February 2009, Credit Suisse had been sentenced by a New York court over $ 406 million dollars of electronic components for fraud.

According to the ruling last month, the money had been invested in the market for "subprime" and then lost.

This decision was highly anticipated because it could encourage other groups suffering from mismanagement to imitate STMicroelectronics.

Roche has also filed a complaint for the same reasons last October against Credit Suisse before a New York court.

The Swiss bank had invested 545 million dollars in securities to financial risk on behalf of pharmaceutical, despite her having asked to make investments safe.