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All hands to fight on the front of internet tablets. The Apple iPad, with more than 3 million copies sold in three months, is envious. For telecom groups, the return is that the cons-attack. And Orange is already in line. According to Les Echos, the telecoms operator feeds a very ambitious project at the beginning of school year: to "democratize" the market shelves.

How? With the launch by the end of the year signed a tablet Orange, whose price should be less exposed to 250 euros. This tablet 3G, equipped with the Android operating system from Google, would be manufactured by a "large Asian manufacturer," according to Les Echos.

The newspaper said that the tablet packages are bound to always study, but they would probably be closer to those keys that the 3G model chosen for the iPad.That is to say in the form of subscriptions with over-flow, rather than charging by the day, the volume of data. With a subscription package, the price of the tablet and Orange could fall under 100 euros, according to Les Echos. In comparison, the 3G model iPad the cheapest sells 599 euros.

"Several projects under consideration"

Reacting to this information, Orange said that "on the shelves, several projects are under consideration, particularly in France." The group also recalled that Stéphane Richard, its chief executive, had already said that Orange "would develop in the tablets by commercializing iPad". He had met the boss of Apple, Steve Jobs, last May.

For Orange, "sign is a way to regain control against the manufacturers," says the business daily. Because the foolishness of the shelf is only beginning.

Harvest new tablets

Even before the launch of the iPad last April, some blue chips have already announced their intention of cutting cruppers to Apple, including HP, Sony or Asus. By Christmas, a new crop of magic slates is expected. After HTC, Samsung, Motorola and Sony Ericsson, LG and Toshiba will launch their own shelves, also equipped with the system Android. Other players will join the fray in 2011, as Acer.

To win in this new balance of power, Orange must do better than the first time. Indeed, the operator has already attempted a breakthrough on the market shelves, there are more than a year, by launching a small portable screen and multifunction: the Tabbee. A product that has not really taken off.

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Acquisition appetite GDF SUEZ does not dry up. The group chaired by Gerard Mestrallet formalized fortnight ago the takeover of Britain's International Power. This nearly 20 billion euros making it the second largest electricity producer in the world.

This does not prevent targeting a wide range of assets in the energy sector. In Poland in particular, where GDF SUEZ already developing the largest biomass plant in the world with a capacity of 200 megawatts. The group intends to seize tricolor maximum opportunities in this key country in Central Europe. This Friday, however, he was left out of the race for the privatization of the producer and distributor of electricity Polish Energa, estimated 8 billion zlotys (2 billion euros).The Polish Treasury, which has sold 83% of Energa, announced he had chosen for further negotiations between the Czech and Polish groups EMP has Energeticky Prumyslovy Holding.

However, GDF Suez is in the running for the redemption of the third group of the country's electricity, Enea. Currently owned 60% by the Polish Treasury and 19% by the Swedish Vattenfall, Enea is listed at 51% for a price that could reach around 1.2 billion euros, according to Polish daily Parkiet. It provides 20% of electricity in Poland and supplies 2.3 million homes.

Faced with financial

The Polish Treasury, which had suffered an initial setback in 2009 when the only bidder, German RWE, had withdrawn its proposal, would have received this time five bids.These persons, in addition to GDF Suez, would appear EDF, Iberdrola of Spain, Italian Enel and Polish Kulczyk.

In Germany, GDF Suez is very interested in gas storage sites, sold by ExxonMobil and Shell oil companies, reported Friday a close group. The energy giant would face in the battle for assets valued at one billion euros in financial sector competitors. The infrastructure management subsidiaries of Deutsche Bank, Axa and Prudential are also candidates. Germany, third largest market in terms of GDF Suez supplies gas, is the second largest source of storage for this resource. The energy company it already has 600 million cubic meters (m3) of storage, and it would, if he can buy the two sites Uelsen Harsefeld and northwest of the country, its total capacity to about 1.5 billion m3.But France, with 10 billion cubic meters, will remain by far, its first storage area for gas.

The proposed acquisitions are still the order of the day, recalled yesterday a spokesman for GDF Suez. The merger with International Power, mainly funded by transfer of assets, slightly affects the budget of 10 billion investment that the group has set for 2010. And in the first half, investments, acquisitions and development operations or industrial maintenance, were $ 5.5 billion.

Subtracting the transfers of assets in parallel, GDF Suez had yet to end June with a bonanza of 7 billion euros to invest.

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The downward trend is continuing. After a decline of 1.2% in June and 11.5% in May, new car registrations in France fell 12.9% in July to 169,804 units, according to the Committee of French Automobile ( CCFA). A comparable number of working days, the decline in sales stood at 8.7%. The month of July had 21 days this year, against 22 last year.

"This is indeed great car scrapping begins to decrease," said a spokesman for the CCFA to Reuters. "But we have a slow decline, not an effect to the German, which is rather positive," he added. In Germany the first European car market, the scrappage has indeed been deleted from the exhaustion of the envelope at the start. The relapse was rapid.The German market has declined from 32.3% to 289,259 cars registered in June

In France, the government has opted for a gradual withdrawal of aid device. The scrapping bonus of 1,000 euros last year, was reduced to 700 euro from 1 January and 500 euros July 1.

Dacia and Volkswagen in good shape

While Volkswagen (11.9%) and Dacia (% 47.5) drew their game well, all the other major brands have lost ground on the French car market last month. Sales only French brands, which have benefited most from the demand created by the aid fell by 15.4% in July, while those of foreign brands fell 9.9%.

In the duel Franco-French, PSA Peugeot Citroen has suffered more than its competitor Renault.Its sales have faltered by 15% (-17% to -13.3% for Citroën and Peugeot), while those of the Renault group fell 7.6%. A victory in sham, because largely due to the strong performance of low-cost Dacia brand. The brand with the diamond, it has seen its sales eroded by 15.9%, despite the accession of the Mégane range to the highest step of the podium families of best-selling cars in France last month.

In the first seven months of 2010, registrations in France stand still up 2.8% in raw data to 1,382,240 units, and 2.1% in comparable number of working days, compared to the same period of 2009. For all of 2010, the CCFA expected to registrations of about two million new vehicles in France.

Back to a market more 'normal'

"We are now back to a more normal market, with a second part of the year is traditionally the weakest. Except this time, the end of the year will be much worse with the unfavorable base effect in late 2009, "says its spokesman.

In Spain, the Association of Automotive Manufacturers ANFAC does not show as serene. Registrations of new cars in Spain fell 24.1% in July over a year, a setback after ten consecutive months of increases, "she said Monday. In total, 82,167 new cars were sold in July, against 121,483 a month earlier and 108,221 in July 2009. On Thursday, the Association had sounded the alarm, suggesting a 50% drop in auto sales in July. She even called for "an urgent meeting with Minister of Industry to study the proposals and possible solutions to this serious situation."

Outside Europe, other markets automotive show excellent health. Japan has announced on Monday registrations up 15% for the month of July. In the first seven months of the year, the Japs bought 2,054,094 new cars, or 28.9% more than the previous year.

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"A phone call to serve," says UFC-Que Choisir. And when he "suffers indeed an antenna problem," he has little chance of getting favors from the influential consumer association. "While Apple has not fixed the problem other than offering a hull, we can not recommend the terminal," she decided, in an article published Tuesday on the Internet. Consumer Reports, its equivalent in the United States, had reached the same conclusions in early July.

Since then, responses have poured on specialized sites, questioning the UFC-Que Choisir on the accuracy of its benchmarks and its independence. Asked by lefigaro.fr, the Consumers' Association said that its tests are not conducted internally, but "by independent laboratories, according to strict protocols."It'sa huge investment, which requires very expensive equipment," explains Camille Gruhier, author of the article, which boasts one of the "strongest battery of tests" of the press.

So this device as the iPhone has faced four. "In the best case, the sensitivity of the device is better than previous versions," admits Vincent Erpelding, engineering project manager in the UFC-Que Choisir. But a sharp drop in sensitivity of average conditions for receipt, Edge and 3G has been "recognized and quantified, since the phone is held by the left flank around a small black border, his weak point .For this reason, the phone will no longer star in sensitivity in the test published in September in the magazine of the association, and will be decommissioned behind all its competitors.

"We have warned the consumer"

In his defense, however, since Apple says that two weeks all smartphones are affected by a problem identical reception. But other phones, hand-held around their antennas, are much better than the iPhone 4. To ensure this result, the UFC-Que Choisir has tested two other handsets, the Nokia N85 and the iPhone 3G in similar conditions. The numerical results show each time a "small fall" of sensitivity in contact with the antenna, but not in the same proportions as the iPhone 4.

For now, the consumers association has not tested the new phone from Apple by surrounding it with a shell, or by varying the power of the network.Additional tests should be published on the Internet. Apple says the problem arises more in areas where coverage is poor, and would be resolved by adding a protective cover. "The network in Europe is much more successful than the United States. The problems and the risk of making calls will be far fewer, "said Camille Gruhier.

If the UFC-Que Choisir concedes qualities in the iPhone four, including ergonomics, picture and sound, it claims to be in her role does not recommend to his readers. "The choices we made the choice to downgrade is a warning to consumers. You can not tell people that the iPhone is fabulous four, while in some circumstances, they may see their dropped calls, "argues Camille Gruhier. "I do not think that our ranking will drop Apple's sales, but have warned consumers," she concludes.

This is one of the largest employee share plans in recent years. GDF Suez, which offered about 200,000 employees worldwide to receive shares of the group, welcomed the success of the operation. Nearly one third of employees (over 67,000) have said "yes", for a total of 25 million shares and 535 million euros. Exceeding the ceiling set by the board (almost 500 million). "Few groups are engaged in transactions of this magnitude," said Sami Toutounji, partner at Shearman & Sterling, except for example, recently EDF, which has far exceeded this amount, or Axa who approach regularly.

The staff of GDF Suez will thus receive 1.1% stake in Arcelor. Turnout was highest in France, Belgium, Italy and Germany.Outside Europe, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and the United States recorded the most sales Payday Loan for Bad Credit.

The employees of GDF Suez could buy shares at a discount of 20% over the past 20 trading days. Is 19.78 euros per share. The firm abounded these subscriptions, offering titles such as 10 to 10 purchased, subscribed for 50 or 20. Employees could also prefer to invest with no discount, but with a guarantee on invested capital (and insurance to recover at least their implementation) and performance-indexed monthly changes in stock price. Both formulas have been as successful as the other one.

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As usual, Alcoa starts the ball results in the United States. And the least we can say is that it starts well. For the second quarter, the U.S. producer Alcoa aluminum in the green came back in the second quarter, with net income of $ 136 million, against a loss of $ 454 million a year earlier, and praised the "prospects excellent.

The turnover reached 5.187 billion dollars, well above the 5.02 billion forecast underlying the market.

Consumption of aluminum prospects up

"The growth of our revenues and our earnings due to higher volumes of end markets and gains from our productivity program," said CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said in a statement issued after-hours trade .He added: "The outlook for Alcoa and the aluminum are excellent.

The group also said it had received during the period April to June, in addition to higher volumes and productivity improvements, favorable currency effects and a reduction of energy costs, which more than offset a slight reduction in selling prices.

"Given this improvement in final demand, we are raising our projection of consumption of aluminum 10 to 12% this year" in the world, "he concluded.

At the New York Stock Exchange, Alcoa has lost the action Monday at the close 0.64% to 10.87 dollars in a market up 0.18%.

This is the most reassuring news announced by the U.S. authorities for more than two months. According to Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen American to oversee cleanup operations in the Gulf of Mexico, BP should be able to contain 100% the gap in the well from which oil flows to by Monday. A new funnel, bigger than previous ones, is currently installed by the British oil.

This funnel, called "Top Hat Number 10", should recover up to 80,000 barrels of oil per day (12.7 million liters), against 25,000 now. The authorities are optimistic that based on their assessments, the well lost more than 60,000 barrels per day. The previous dome will be first removed. A large quantity of oil escape so well for 48 hours.But once the new funnel posed, the results will be immediate, promises Thad Allen.

Since April 20, the day of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon platform off the coast of Louisiana, BP has increased its attempts to clogging, all unsuccessful.

No stop before August

BP was more cautious in its forecasts. Bob Dudley, responsible for managing the disaster, spoke of another scenario where difficulties in installing the new funnel could delay the time from Monday to Thursday.

But authorities are confident: "We have the climate we need," said Thad Allen. The admiral, however, required to calm the enthusiasm that followed the announcement. "I used the word 'contain' and not 'stop'," he commented.According to him, the well would not be closed as well as two-pass will not be completed free instant credit score. These wells, dug deep to inject cement and mud, should not be installed until mid-August. Once the leak stopped, the extensive cleaning and restoration of the ratings will continue.

Anadarko does not pay

On this last point, BP was again struck Friday denied Anadarko Petroleum. The company, which owns 25% of wells responsible for the spill, said she would not pay the $ 272 million that BP is asking her to cover their share of cleanup costs, according to U.S. law known pollution.

On June 18, the tension was raised a notch between the two partners lorsqu'Anadarko stated that the explosion of April 20 on the platform Deepwater Horizon, "was preventable and was a direct result of decisions and actions BP unthinking.

In another e-mail sent Friday, a spokesman for Anadarko, John Christiansen, however, felt that his group remained "committed to working in good faith with BP to reach a satisfactory resolution."

BP is now awaiting the response of Mitsui, which owns 10% of the wells. The British oil giant is claiming $ 112 million for cleanup costs.The company has not yet made its position.

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Bernard Arnault regain its leadership among the rich. After having given way in 2008 to boss Gerard Mulliez Auchan, the boss of LVMH prances again tops the ranking of richest people in France, published Wednesday by the weekly magazine Challenges.

Arnault's fortune amounted to 22.7 billion euros, against 19 billion for Mulliez. Among the top three also included Liliane Bettencourt, whose name is now mentioned more as the protagonist of a politico-financial series and its maintenance in the third-largest fortunes in France.

"2010, the year of the crisis for the rich"

Despite the context of crisis, the profits of the rich have increased compared to 2008 payday loan lenders.According to the study, the total capital assets of the 500 largest French professionals has increased by 25% in one year, from 194 to 241 billion euros. That figure remains below the record level of 2007 (280 billion euros). The weight of the 500 largest fortunes in the French economy has also declined from 17% of gross domestic product (GDP) three years ago to 12.4% today.

Several indicators suggest that 2010 will be "the year of the crisis" for the rich, notes the weekly. In one year, the title LVMH has indeed jumped 40%, like that of L'Oreal.

Public debt has continued to become heavy in the first quarter. It was late March, to 1.5355 trillion euros, representing 80.3% of gross domestic product (GDP), against approximately 78% in late 2009, according to Insee. This represents an increase of 46.5 billion compared to December.

The government debt and social security have contributed to this increase, details the National Institute of Statistics. "The contribution of the State debt rose by 43.4 billion

in the first quarter, it is essential for its long-term marketable debt, "said INSEE. Clearly, these are the bonds issued to finance the state debt have widened.

The debt of Social Security, it has increased by 8.6 billion.In contrast, "local government is désendettent (- 2.8 billion) at a rate comparable to the first quarters of previous years," notes the INSEE.

The fault in the recovery plan

Bercy said in a statement that "increasing the debt on the recent past is linked to political recovery after the crisis." The government now wants to reverse the trend. The government should submit a detailed savings plan of 10 billion euros at the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

François Fillon had lifted one end of the sail June 12 in terms of deficit reduction. It is to find 100 billion in savings over three years to reduce the deficit to 3% of GDP, against 7.5% in 2009. But the VAT increase to 5.5% on food, mentioned by the Minister of Budget Sunday, seems to have been abandoned.

This was both a first and a dress rehearsal. In six years of Socialist government, the unions had never called for a national strike in Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. But since the mobilization of officials Tuesday, the divorce between the executive and the two largest trade unions – Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) and CGU – is officially consummated.

Pressed by their bases, the unions had no choice but to break with Zapatero. That, of course, the single most dramatic deficit reduction plan that set fire to the powder: falling wages in the public service, 5% on average in the month of June, arouses indignation public employees. But the unions' own admission, is the absence of any consultation that infuriates most."We do not even ask for the withdrawal of the measure," says Julio Lacuerda, the Secretary General of the Federation of utilities UGT. The unions are aware that these decisions will be implemented. The austerity plan is required by markets, the European Union and … by the United States, including the president himself, Barack Obama, called Zapatero Payday advance low fee.

A war of figures

Therefore, the event serves as a test of officials for each game. The first testing their strength before calling, "if necessary", a general strike. The executive, for its part, gauge the discontent before announcing new measures unpopular. First, the reform of the labor market, to be unveiled June 16 Meanwhile, everyone engaged in a war of numbers.For unions, 75% of staff were on strike Tuesday. The government says they were only 11%.

Above all, workers' representatives refuse to be the only ones to pay. "Why do we keep our troops in Afghanistan? Why do we continue to offer 900 million euros in tax subsidies to the Catholic Church? "Interrogates Julio Lacuerda. While Zapatero announced the creation of a new tax on the rich and inspired by the French TFR. But according to his own statements, "99.99%" of the Spaniards should escape.

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