International Headlines and Stories

"The Awards of the Asia-Pacific mixed

"Wall Street falls into the red

After closure of Wall Street without trend Monday, European stock markets are heading into the red Tuesday. In Paris the CAC 40 yielded 1.06% at 4000.05 points, in London, the FTSE-100 lost 0.71% to 5498.71 points and in Frankfurt the Dax concedes 1.61% to 5943 points.

The Central Bank of China has announced two measures to try to curb the overheating of the economy: raising the reserve requirement ratio for banks and rising interest rates on treasury bills to one year.

On Tuesday, the Bank of France issued at 8:30 its monthly business survey for the month of December: the gross domestic product (GDP) of France is expected to grow 0.5% in the fourth quarter of 2009.For the full year 2009, the government expects a drop in GDP of 2.25%.

Fifteen minutes later, the Budget Ministry said the budget deficit of the French state has widened to a record 143.3 billion euros on 30 November, against 66.6 billion a year earlier, and is expected throughout 2009 slightly below 140 billion.

Yesterday after the close of U.S. markets, the g aught aluminum Alcoa has announced a return to the red in the fourth quarter with a net loss of $ 277 million, widening its losses to $ 1.151 billion in 2009.In the series of American publications yesterday, Electronic Arts announced that it raised its forecast for losses in 2009-2010.

In an interview with Le Figaro, Christine Lagarde, economy minister, justified the measure "exceptional" tax on the bonus, resulting in a bill for the banks of around 360 million euros.

Across the Atlantic trade for November will be highlighted at 14h30.

As for currencies, the euro begun to rise again against the dollar Tuesday after the rebound of the single European currency yesterday. The euro gained 0.09% to 1.4526 dollar. The oil in turn is sharply down. The barrel of Brent North Sea crude for February delivery lost 1.70% to 70.67 dollars per barrel "Texas Light Crude (WTI) traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange for the same maturity, nibbles 1 53% at 81.61 dollars.

The detailed values to follow.

Beijing celebrates this anniversary fanfare since late November. An exhibition devoted to the achievements of Macao since the handover was opened December 11 in Beijing by Chinese President Hu Jintao. "Macau has grown tremendously during the last decade," he told the Chinese press. Development supported by the central government of China, he said.

Macau and China signed in 2003 a trade agreement (the CSIO), strengthened several times since. This agreement facilitates the access of goods and services macanas to mainland China. The trade has more than tripled between 1999 and 2008, reaching $ 2.91 billion last year.According to a report released December 16 by the Ministry of Commerce of China, mainland China was the third largest investor in Macao in late September, after the United States and the European Union, a non-financial direct investment of 623 million dollars.

Jubilation in the city of Macau, just after the handover ceremony. Photo credits: AFP

Danger on the accounts of the Association for the management of the guarantee scheme of employee claims, AGS. This organization employer advance loans to businesses, where backup, reorganization or liquidation, are no longer enough cash to pay the salaries of their employees, their benefits or even dismissal. In twelve months from October 2008 to end September 2009, the advances made by the AGS soared 47.9% to just under 2 billion euros. The number of beneficiaries has increased from 42.5% to just under 300 000 people.

"The strong growth of our business stems completely from the crisis justifies Météyé Thierry, the director of the delegation Unedic-AGS.We had to manage since the beginning of large media files such as the Camif. The caseload of over 100 employees and is also up sharply: 175 between the early and end of October, against 140 for all 2008 and 120 in 2007. Conversely, the amount of debts recovered caps (when business conditions recovered or recovering the amounts advanced on assets sold in liquidation). In one year, they have barely exceeded 600 million, a decrease of 3.7%. "The recoveries are increasingly difficult to operate," notes Thierry Météyé.

Given the imbalance, the SFA has decided to increase again by 0.1 point premium rate business in early October, to move it to 0.4% of payroll.This would double the rate in six months, exceeding the 700 million currently collected! "This represents a significant increase for businesses, recognizes Thierry Météyé. But it was necessary to meet rising demands in advance. "

Deficit of 215 million

Result, the AGS has a deficit of around 215 million euros. The agency hopes to fill with increasing revenue contribution in early 2010, with an increase in rates and stabilization of recovery levels.

Another note of hope: the decline of almost 40% in the third quarter of 2009 the number of collective proceedings opened. "The trend is particularly pronounced in September," said the SFA. Ditto on the number of backup procedures requiring the intervention of the SFA. In one quarter, they fell almost 20%."We're in a phase of stability," said Thierry Météyé.

"To wage increases in 2010

"Half of the executives were increased in 2008