Germany was sought on all sides Friday to find a solution to the crisis of the euro which extends dangerously threatening the most stable countries in the area, with a visit by British Prime Minister in Berlin and a call from Japan to act. European shares opened lower in the wake of Wall Street the day before and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, also sharply lower at the close Friday (-1.23%). "Markets should be penalized again by fears about the contagion of the crisis of sovereign debt," analysts have estimated the Saxo Bank.Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses steadfastly calls to relax the policy of the ECB to let him play the role of lender of last resort to the Europeans the most indebted. According to many economists, this calm speculation about the debt of European countries, which are dangerously increase the cost of borrowing. But it is considered unthinkable in Germany, viscerally attached to the independence of the European Central Bank, for fear of inflation. By receiving early afternoon British Prime Minister David Cameron supports greater involvement of the ECB, Merkel should renew his calls for fiscal discipline and structural reforms in the countries affected by the crisis.

If we add also the data from Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, the decline was slightly less marked, to -1.4%.

Over the period from January to October, registrations show a decline of 1.2% over the same period in 2010 (-0.9% with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) to 11,126,000 units.

In Germany, the number of registered vehicles rose 0.6% in October compared to last year (9.8% over 10 months), while in France, sales were up 2.4% Last month, a slight increase of 0.4% over 10 months to 1.829 million units.

The number one European car Volkswagen rose by 3.7% of sales in October, all brands, while the runner, French PSA Peugeot Citroen, saw his fall by 6.4% the month last.

For its part, Renault has declined by 2.3% in October and Fiat a drop of 10.3%.

Originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, a decisive meeting of the board of the group was delayed until Sunday to give negotiators more time.

Belgian Prime Minister in charge of current affairs, Yves Leterme held talks in the morning by telephone with the head of the French government said on around him, while advisors from both countries met in Paris.

The finance ministers of both countries, Baroin and Didier Reynders, should discuss the matter later in the day, sources said in Brussels, which could take an inter-Belgian.

No comments could be reached immediately on the case in Paris.

The rating agency Moody's has increased pressure on the Belgian camp Friday night: it has placed the sovereign rating of Aa1 by explaining kingdom under surveillance will include assessing the costs and liabilities that the state could play in supporting Dexia.

The dismantling of the group could indeed go through a nationalization of the Belgian branch, Dexia Bank Belgium (DBB), which specializes in bank deposits.

One solution put forward in recent days by the interim government in Brussels but which opposed the three Belgian regions, which owns 5.7% of the group and who wish to retain a role in financing local governments.

Both sides, however, are closer to a compromise in recent hours, officials said a source familiar with the matter.

The Belgian daily L'Echo reported previously that the nationalization of DBB may be followed by a holding areas at a future capital increase of DBB.

LOAD difficult to allocate

The Echo adds, however, that the track of a redemption of DBB by a foreign bank is being considered and said that several institutions have expressed interest, including Deutsche Bank, Rabobank, Crédit Mutuel and BBVA.

Another key point of discussion: the distribution of the financial burden of dismantling between Belgium and France, whose participation combined with that of the Caisse des Depots (CDC) is around 25%.

Yves Leterme and Didier Reynders warned Thursday the French government that Belgium would not only burden.

The two countries should agree on such funding guarantees to provide for the financing necessary for the liquidation phase of a bond portfolio valued at 95 billion euros.

According to L'Echo, France keen to maintain its AAA rating, "defends a 60/40 split or 65/35" instead of the theoretical equilibrium 50-50 on the basis of the current distribution of capital."Belgium is not hostile," the daily.

Friday, François Fillon announced that the Deposit would release three billion euros to finance the French local authorities until a new entity formed by the Deposit and Consignment Office (CDC) and the Postal Bank takes over Dexia.

Before the board of directors of Dexia, Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace has received the Director General of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde. It did not comment after the meeting.

The French president is scheduled to visit Sunday in Berlin for talks and a working dinner with Chancellor Angela Merkel before the summit of the euro area of ​​17 and 18 October and the G20 in Cannes on 3 and 4 November.A bilateral meeting during which the larger issue of the recapitalization of banks in Europe should be addressed.

For the presidency of the last Board of Governors of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet, however, disappointed part of the market hoping the announcement of a rate cut by the end of the year as the economy slows and the Bank of England injected 75 billion for his part in pounds sterling (86 billion euros) in cash.

The CAC 40 index ended up 3.41% to 3075.37 points, following a rebound of 4.33%.Other major European markets, London was up 3.71%, 3.15% Frankfurt and Milan to 3.55%. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 index rose 3.18%.

"While the speech of Jean-Claude Trichet has disappointed some investors but remains on a positive note and not only to the ECB to intervene to improve the current situation," said Bertrand Lamielle, Director of Management mandated at B * capital.

INVESTORS MORE OPTIMISTIC

"Some had anticipated a rate cut and an increase in the size of EFSF (European Financial Stability), it was not the case.But we must remember that the mandate of the ECB is not the same as the Fed, and that it focuses only on inflation, which is why it has kept its rates unchanged, "he adds .

As before, the cyclical and financial stocks helped support the trend. The automotive sector grew by 4.3% and the construction of 4.04%.

Stoxx index of European banks has provided 4.18% and 5.08% of the insurers, the European Commission has announced that it would propose a coordinated action to recapitalize banks.

However, Dexia has also marked the session, the title having been suspended in the afternoon at the request of the Belgian authorities when he fell over 17%.Belgian regulators have indicated they wanted more details on the ongoing negotiations on the takeover of the Luxembourg subsidiary of Dexia in Luxembourg.

Except for the difficulties faced by the Franco-Belgian bank, investors want more optimistic about the European situation, as illustrated by the award of Spanish debt carried at rates much lower than this summer when the fears were strong to see the country contaminated by the debt crisis in the eurozone.

The yield on government bonds to 10 years is Spanish and dropped below 5% in session before recovering to 5.01% against 5.092% at the close Wednesday, while the Bund yield the same maturity is 1 , 95%, against 1.84% yesterday and nearly 1.72% on Tuesday.

Similarly, the euro was up 0.64% against the greenback at 1.3422 dollar.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that the growth of gross domestic product (GDP) German would be "closer to 3% than 2.5%" this year. This statement comes as concerns about the impact of cooling of the global economy on the German economy, heavily dependent on exports, are more vivid. The official growth forecast of Berlin is 2.6% since April, but throughout the summer German leaders, in unison with most economists, have dangled a much stronger growth , 3% or more.

The new crisis in the financial markets and the turmoil in the euro area, however, have changed the situation.Growth forecasts in the world and the euro area have been revised down recently, including the European Central Bank (ECB) and Thursday by the European Commission. German GDP growth in the second quarter is also emerged well below expectations, to a meager 0.1%.

Renowned research institute, the IfW in Kiel, said Tuesday that Germany was "on the brink of recession," and projected a GDP growth of 2.8% this year and 0.8% only the next year. But Merkel's comments suggest that Berlin could still revise up its official forecast, which should be adjusted in October.

The Dutch group, owner of the first supermarket chain in the Netherlands (Albert Heijn) while achieving 60% of its sales in the U.S. market, complete its share buyback program of one billion euros by March 2012, six months earlier than expected so.

Ahold, which has cash of over $ 2 billion, said the schedule change does not signal the abandonment of his hopes for acquisitions and has announced plans to export its format from the supermarket next year in Germany and possibly Belgium.

Around 8:15 GMT, Ahold lost 3.57% to 8.04 euros the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, while the Stoxx European retail sector yielded only 0.09%.

Operating earnings excluding items of the group fell 21% in the second quarter to 275 million euros, less than 309 million euros expected according to Reuters.

The weak dollar and restructuring costs have contributed to this including poor performance, said the group, which operates nearly three.000 stores in 12 countries.

In a context of rising fuel prices, stagnant wages and fear of an economic downturn, retailers have struggled to pass on price increases to consumers in Europe and America.

The Belgian group Delhaize, which also carries the bulk of its sales in the United States, also missed the consensus in the second quarter. The sales of Ahold, slightly better than expected, fell 3.5% to 6.87 billion euros.Market share increased in the United States and the Netherlands.

However, the turnover number of store in the United States was up 1.2% excluding fuel and the operating margin stood at 4.1%, slightly lower progressions that expected.

In contrast to the Netherlands, sales and operating margin, respectively up 2.6% and 6.2%, in line with expectations.

If they speak of "historic" or "serious decision", they caution that it is not a surprise.

"This is the first country" AAA "to lose the top rating. It's not a big surprise given what has happened in recent days. S & P had prepared the ground for a breakdown of the note states United, "said Nicolas Forest, head of rates strategy at Dexia Asset Management.

"Even if it was half expected, it is a serious decision.The impact will be far reaching, "said Ciaran O'Hagan, rates strategist at Societe Generale who fears that we have opened a" Pandora's box ".

He said the decision will affect somewhat the "risk-free" (government bonds), "but the response will focus on the highest risk assets, including shares and agencies (including Freddie Mac Fannie Mae, Ed) directly guaranteed by the federal government. "

Nicolas Forest also expects initially a slight tension on U.S. rates and a more violent reaction on risky assets, including equities.

SHIP

For two weeks, the sovereign debt crises on both sides of the Atlantic and the economic downturn much stronger than expected, particularly in the United States, were plunging stock markets and interest rates propel fragile states the euro area to prohibitive levels.

Meanwhile, countries that have the best signatures, such as the United States, Germany and France, have seen their rates drop significantly.

"In recent weeks despite threats of debt, U.S. rates have never been so low, a sign of investor confidence," said Nicolas Forest.

Ciaran O'Hagan for, "the Treasuries (bonds, Ed) U.S. will remain a reference (benchmark)."

"It's a ship that takes time to tack," he said, adding that the stock of marketable debt U.S., excluding treasury bills (TBills) amounted to 17.234 billion dollars.

It removes the immediate possibility that other countries rated "AAA", including France, also lose the top rating.

Both strategies underscores the need to assess the decision of S & P over the long term, that is, the ability of the U.S. government to adopt a credible plan for financial recovery in the face of faltering growth.

Ciaran O'Hagan asks the other what will the large portfolios of investors required to have a certain proportion of securities rated "AAA".

The world of microprocessors has published a turnover of 13.1 billion dollars (9.2 billion), representing an increase of 22% over the previous year.Analysts were expecting a turnover of 12.83 billion dollars, according to Thomson Reuters consensus I / B / E / S.

This is a record turnover for the group, for the fifth consecutive quarter.

The non-GAAP net income totaled up 10% to $ 3.2 billion, or EPS of 59 cents against 51 cents expected.

The group also plans a turnover of about $ 14 billion in the third quarter, against $ 13.5 billion expected by analysts.

"The results of T2 and T3 are forecast for much higher expectations.Under a quarter where no one thought he could again achieve these results, Intel has once again raised the challenge, "said Patrick Wang, an analyst at Evercore Partners.

The title sells on its gains in after-hours trading, falling 0.2% after taking 1.65%%.

A meeting to present the activity took place last Tuesday in the presence of most major banks could finance the operation, the newspaper said.

"The process has not formally begun, the decision is open, but all lights are green," according to one close to the deal quoted by Les Echos.

According to sources, the newspaper continues, "the memo with information assets in detail, will be sent to applicants in late July.And if PPR decided to launch the process, it will begin formally in September. "

Asked to comment on the report, a spokesman for PPR said that "the process of selling Redcats is continuing on schedule."

In 2009, PPR announced its intention to sell Redcats and Fnac to refocus its business on luxury.

The group commissioned a few months ago the bank Rothschild & Cie to drive the sale of Redcats, which at this stage, attracts mainly investment funds.

The names of Carlyle, Permira, BC Partners and TPG, which is allied with PAI, are discussed. CVC, Cinven and Bain were also cited as well as more specialized funds in assets in turnaround as Apollo.

Casino CEO, Jean-Charles Naouri, said a senior official of the Brazilian government that he would defend the right of the French retailer to increase its stake in Pao de Acucar in June 2012, written O Estado de S.Paulo, citing sources familiar with the situation.

Naouri accuses Abilio Diniz, president of Pao de Acucar and his partner in the dispenser, having secretly negotiated a merger with Carrefour without consent, contrary to his opinion a shareholders' agreement signed in 2005.

Casino has launched arbitration proceedings against two Diniz during the past month.

Naouri also said Luciano Coutinho, the president of the state development bank BNDES, the Casino was "the best partner possible" and that he had never interfered in the management of Pao de Acucar, giving any Diniz latitude to establish its strategy, writes Estado.

BNDES reported last week that it would not mobilize the $ 2.4 billion it had promised for the merger between Grupo Pao de Acucar and Carrefour, unless Casino gives its green light.

Diniz and Casino each hold 50% of the voting rights of the holding Wilkes, which in turn owns 66% of the voting rights of Pao de Acucar.

Wilkes shareholders are scheduled to meet Aug. 2 to discuss the proposed merger.