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The rapid increase of the debt crisis in the euro area threatens the credit ratings of all European states, warned Sunday the U.S. rating agency Moody's. Moody's in New York.

In a "special comment" on European countries published Sunday, Moody's says it still considers that the euro area will maintain its unity without any fault as that of Greece, but notes that even this' scenario 'positive' carries consequences very negative for the notes "of European countries. The U.S. rating agency, recently warned that France could lose its "triple A" allowing it to borrow at favorable rates in the markets, and clearly indicates that no country, even among those considered most solids, such as the Netherlands, Austria, Finland or Germany, is immune to a lowering of note.

Other countries may need help

While countries such as Italy and Hungary have more and more difficult to obtain financing at rates viable markets, Moody's wrote that "the political momentum to implement an effective solution to the crisis could n ' be found after a series of shocks, which could lead more countries to be deprived of access to funding markets for an extended period. " The agency is referring to countries like Ireland, Greece, Portugal or Hungary, which have benefited from one or more financial rescue from the European Union or the International Monetary Fund. She said other countries may need to use this kind of solution if the EU fails to quickly find an adequate response to the crisis, these countries would then most likely lowered their rating to that of a investment "speculative."

Cash lenders will loan anything from a couple of hundred dollars to around $1500, which generally must be paid back in full, along with the interest, within two to four weeks.

Exchanges in the euro area have closed down sharply Friday, with the G20 summit concluded its work without any major decision, and especially without a concrete solution to the debt crisis in the eurozone.

In Paris the CAC-40 lost 2.25% to 3123.55 points. For the week, it yields 6.72%. The other major European markets also ended down: London and Frankfurt lost 0.33% 2.72%. Of the European indices, Eurofirst 300 finally lost 1.02%.

The Wall Street players show the same skepticism, resulting in losses of more than 1% for the three major Dow Jones, S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, despite the employment statistics rather positive.

"The G20 has not entered into by major decisions. It was a big problem with Italy," says one vendor."There is no visibility," he said, adding that the new EU stability "is not forthcoming."

Alexandre Le Drogoff, technical analyst at Aurel BGC, said the "bear market" comes back and that "the current decline in prices should lead to lower annual test" (2693 for the CAC 40, 1935 for the Eurostoxx 50).

The euro transplanted nose against the dollar and appears on course to acknowledge its biggest weekly loss since mid-September, traders in the largest remaining uncertainty about the bailout of Greece in preparation for the vote of confidence.

The Bund future was up, taking advantage of the lack of commitment of the G20 countries on strengthening the participation EFSF, especially after the statements of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The German Government has almost halved its growth forecast for next year, reduced to 1% against 1.8% auparavan.

After several economic research institutes, the German government has significantly revised down its growth forecast for next year, noting the slowdown in the economy under the weight of the financial crisis in Europe. Berlin now expects growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1% in 2012, nearly half its previous estimate of 1.8%, said Wednesday sources close to the government. This forecast should be formalized Thursday by the Ministry of Economy.

The reduction comes as no surprise. Signs of a slowdown in the dynamics have increased recently. The latest business survey, the ZEW, which measures the expectations of analysts and institutional investors, reached Tuesday its lowest level since December 2008.The Ministry of Economy considered himself last week that the risks had "significantly increased" for the first European economy, strong exports. Germany suffers from weaker growth in its European partners, which absorb 60% of its exports.

The main economic research institutes predicted the country in their autumn report, which is the basis for forecasts of Berlin, a decline in GDP in the fourth quarter 2011, followed by stabilization at a low level. The export will not contribute to growth next year, they warned.

Strong last year after the terrible recession of 2009, German growth has largely continued this year and should reach 2.9%, putting Germany in the forefront of Europe.

German manufacturers of cars, machine tools and chemicals filled their order books since last year, and "the companies still much to do to fulfill their orders," Analysis Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING, "this time, they are much better prepared to face a crisis of Lehman type ". The recession following the collapse of U.S. investment bank in 2008 had occurred in a phase of over-capacity of German industry, breaking net momentum.

In the area of ​​machine tools, high of about one million employees and a major exporter, the production growth should slow markedly course next year, warned Tuesday the federation VDMA, but at 4%, remain fully is honorable.

The sequence of events for the German economy, that is "an anchor of stability and growth in Europe" in the words of its Minister of Economy, will very much depend on the outcome of the debt crisis.

EU leaders promise solutions in the coming weeks, and the business press them to do so. But if the remedies proposed were not sufficient to stem the crisis, "the German economy would be penalized more than expected, and would fall into recession," predicted institutes last week. The export collapse, consumer confidence, yet relatively untouched because of a strong labor market, would be reached, and the banking crisis handicap investment, according to worst-case scenario.

The Health Minister urged to sign the mutual agreement on the reimbursement of excess fees by the end of the week, in which case the government "take responsibility". The Minister of Labour and Health Xavier Bertrand

The Health Minister Xavier Bertrand on Tuesday reaffirmed that if by the end of the week did not sign the mutual agreement on the reimbursement of excess fees in certain specialties, parliamentary and government "take responsibility". "I prefer appeasement rather than confrontation," assured the minister of LCI considering that "it is the interest of patients that we take care in an organized and excess fees in certain medical specialties ".

According to Xavier Bertrand, mutual initially had agreed to the project and "bang, because there was the tax on contracts managers, they tell us no.""We need that before the end of the week, there is a meeting to see if it's yes or no, and if yes, when," he said. Without mutual agreement, "the government and parliament take their responsibilities." "We need a clear agreement," he said.

The medical convention signed in July between GPs and health insurance provides for an optional area in which said tariff would fall practitioners who agree to limit their fees, conditional relief from their charges.Les additional reimbursement to patients overruns capped nationally.

They have until September 30 to sign the agreement but they want to continue the discussions, including consideration of regional disparities in rates charged by practitioners.Mutuals are also unhappy with the increase in the tax on their contracts, health caring and responsible decision in the austerity plan.

The Greek authorities have promised Sunday drastic measures to avoid non-payment of debt interest payments and get the next tranche of international aid, but have not announced anything new.

George Papandreou, head of government, gave up a visit to the United States to chair a cabinet meeting on the eve of a crucial deadline for the release of this new installment.

His finance minister Evangelos Venizelos will present Monday, as part of a teleconference, the plan of fiscal consolidation to inspectors of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which will decide whether to release the eight billion euros, of which Athens will be needed in October.

After the Council of Ministers, Evangelos Venizelos stressed the need for budgetary targets for 2011 and 2012, and the deficit next year.

"I want to avoid a default.To stabilize the situation, to remain in the euro area (…), we must make strategic decisions, "he said without further detail.

The government will meet again after his meeting with the inspectors to detail the measures adopted.

Fault of payment of that portion of eight billion euros, Greece is insolvent next month.

This week, the government blamed the widening deficit in a recession stronger than expected and decided to impose a new property tax which he expects around two billion euros per year.

The "troika" formed by the inspectors of the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank (ECB) may, however, that this tax does not change the situation and really requires more information on how the government intends to do it to correct the public accounts.

"The troika believes that the recently announced property tax alone will not bridge the budget deficit and pushed for conservation measures, downsizing and wage in the public sector," said a senior Greek.

OPPOSITION wants to renegotiate

International donors are also concerned about the lack of political consensus on how to implement out of the crisis.The conservative New Democracy, spurred by a growing popular discontent after two years of austerity, propose them, measures to boost growth.

Their leader Antonis Samaras called Saturday for early elections, saying that the path followed so far produced no results despite the sacrifices required of the population.

"A renegotiation with our donors to stimulate the economy is a condition to get out of this crisis," he said Sunday at a news conference.

The Socialist Party of George Papandreou has a majority in parliament, but internal differences associated with radical protests against the austerity could lead to early elections, say some observers.

In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, the German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble considers that Greece must have a clear mind about his future in the euro area.

"Belonging to a currency union is an opportunity but also a heavy burden. The measures to align its very difficult and the Greeks must decide whether to bear this burden," he said.

"No one should kid ourselves: without a positive assessment by the troika of the commitments of Greece, the next installment will be paid.So the Greeks must have numbers proving that they stick to the plan. "

His French counterpart Francois Baroin recalled his part that the plan of aid to Greece was a loan, not a gift, save for the euro.

"The observers are in place, they continue their work.Greece knows what she has to do it we have said, she has commitments, she has duties vis-à-vis its creditors, it has the requirement to provide answers. "

In the meantime, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini writes Athens plans to make the country's banks credit guarantees of up to about thirty billion to enable them to access the emergency stop of the central bank.

Excluded from the interbank market, Greek banks have become dependent on the ECB for their refinancing, borrowing in its operations in the money market, in exchange for guarantees in the form of sovereign bonds and other assets.

Steve Jobs, Apple's iconic chief, resigned from his position as general manager, said Wednesday night the Apple brand.

On sick leave since January, Steve Jobs has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Apple and Tim Cook replaces the position of CEO.

"I always said if I ever came to not being able to perform my duties and obligations as CEO of Apple, I'd be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come" he wrote in his letter of resignation.

For many analysts, the resignation of Steve Jobs, predictable long-standing, should not prevent the group from Cupertino to continue on the path he laid out, marked by timed out.A new iPhone could also be marketed in September and the third version of the iPad tablet in 2012.

"I would say to investors not to panic and stay calm. Is the right thing to do. Steve Cook is president and CEO," responded Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial.

At 56, Steve Jobs has survived pancreatic cancer and was on sick leave since Jan. 17.

He was briefly interrupted in March when, emaciated, he came to present the new version of the tablet from Apple, the iPad.Steve Jobs was then photographed at a meal with President Barack Obama.

Since sick leave, Tim Cook held the position of CEO on an interim basis.

Steve Jobs spent all day Wednesday at the headquarters of his company in Silicon Valley, officials said a source close to Apple.

He met with the board and his closest collaborators and intends to play an active role in his new role, they added.

"Investors are very comfortable with Tim Cook, even if Jobs was the engine of innovation.Tim has shown that Apple could totally outperform when he was CEO of Apple, "said Shannon Cross, analyst at Cross Research.

Trading in Apple stock was suspended in electronic transactions. By 2300 GMT, it was indicated down 7%.

Preferred placement of French, has seen its Livret A collection rise sharply in July before raising his salary and in a context of concern related to the debt crisis, show figures released Tuesday by the Deposit and Consignment Office.

The collection of this tax-free booklet, identified more than 60 million copies by the end of 2010 the Bank of France, reached 2.07 billion euros last month, the highest figure for 11 months.

Its total assets has reached 207.5 billion euros.

The Handbook of Sustainable Development (LDD, former Codevi) has meanwhile seen its cash flows turn positive again, to 0.28 billion, after two months of outflows.

The pay rate of the Livret A is passed on 1 August from 2.0% to 2.25% under the rules in force since 1986 which provide an adjustment for changes in money market rates and inflation .

The previous increase, already a quarter of a point on February 1, had boosted the collection in January and February.

With these increases in pay, which keep it above the level of inflation, combined with the trend, observed since the 2008 crisis, friendly and non-risk liquid investments, including at the expense life insurance.

The Livret A have increased by 12.14 billion euros since the beginning of this year, an increase that exceeds already seven months, that of the whole of 2010 (10.1 billion). The collection of life insurance has decreased by 11% along the first half, to 69.3 billion euros, according to statistics from the French Federation of Insurance Companies (FFSA).

Eurobonds are not the answer to the debt crisis in the euro area, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

"The Eurobonds are quite the wrong answer to the crisis of the moment," she said in an interview with the ZDF channel that is being broadcast on Sunday."They would lead us to a union of debt and not a union of stability."

The issuance of Eurobonds ("Eurobonds") would cost billions of euros in Germany each year, according to calculations by the German Ministry of Finance quoted by the weekly Der Spiegel.

"The first year it would mean 2.5 billion euros of interest in addition to the budget (Finance Minister) Wolfgang Schäuble and the second year costs would be twice as high," wrote Der Spiegel in extracts of its survey sent to the press.

After ten years the total cost would be 20 to 25 billion euros, according to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance.

Schäuble said for his part personally prepared to transfer sovereignty to Brussels to ensure the stability of the euro area over the long term but added that the euro area itself was not prepared for this eventuality.

"As a person, Wolfgang Schäuble would be ready (to delegate sovereignty to Brussels).The idea of ​​a European finance minister I have no problem, "he said in an interview published Sunday by the Welt am Sonntag.

"But as finance minister I say that it is our duty to solve problems here and now, and that as soon as possible based on existing contracts."

This idea of ​​a European finance minister is particularly recommended by the chief executive of Commerzbank Martin Blessing, in an interview with Welt am Sonntag.

"With the introduction of a fiscal union, Brussels must have the right to return of budgetary powers to countries that do not respect the rules, and to levy its own taxes and create a joint body to issue bonds," he said.

France and Germany are adamantly opposed to the idea of ​​issuing bonds on behalf of the entire euro area, as advocated many market professionals to put an end to the crisis of European sovereign debt .

"Most member states are not quite ready to accept the necessary limitations on national sovereignty, but believe me, it's a problem we can solve," he told the minister.

Schäuble will meet Finance Minister Baroin Tuesday at 8:00 GMT to discuss including the harmonization of corporate tax and the introduction of a tax on financial transactions.

He said Saturday that the countries of the euro area could issue Eurobonds scaffold as if they had a prior fiscal policy and common taxation or they could create inflation and destabilize the region.

France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will restrict speculative this practice for 15 days, to combat rumors that destabilize current market. The practice of selling découvetr is accused of precipitating the fall of the most fragile, and aggravate instability in the financial markets.

France, Italy, Spain and Belgium will restrict short selling, a practice speculative complex to combat the "false rumors" that destabilize financial markets, announced Thursday the ESMA, the European financial regulator . In France, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has decided to ban short selling of eleven financial stocks for two weeks, told AFP its president, Jean-Pierre Jouyet. The nature of the measures in other European countries has not been specified by the ESMA.

Fighting rumors

These decisions were made when most financial stocks suffer French since Wednesday scares, which have their share price plunge in markets already nervous. "We deal in various European countries to rumors that are unfounded," noted the president of the AMF, in which "we wanted to test the French Resistance." "These rumors can amount to market abuse," said Mr Jouyet, taking the term by which the MFA refers to price manipulation and insider trading. "This is our answer, as it is always very determined and it will deal with anyone who wants to test us," he said in announcing the ban on short selling of financial stocks for 15 days.

Sell ​​an asset which does not own …

Short sales are speculative mechanism of borrowing an asset which we think the price will fall and sell it, hoping to pocket a large difference when it will have to buy to make it to the lender. Thus, a share sold short while rating 10 euros, and as she bought is only worth 8 euros, the author refers to the operation of a gain of 2 euros. This practice is risky, is accused of precipitating the fall of the most fragile, and aggravate instability in the financial markets. ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) said in a statement that Italy, Spain and Belgium had also decided to take steps to restrict short selling.

The stock market authorities of these countries "have made it to restrict the benefits that can be derived by spreading false rumors," said the ESMA, which may not prohibit short selling of government securities with the consent of national regulator of the country concerned. Since Wednesday, most financial stocks French are the target markets of scare stories, and suffered severe tumbles, over 10% for some. These rumors were strongly denied by the institutions concerned, especially BNP Paribas and Societe Generale and the Banque de France and the AMF.

After heavy falls Wednesday, Societe Generale rebounded 3.70% to close Thursday, Crédit Agricole and BNP Paribas 5.14% to 0.31%. "It is possible for us to open an investigation into the case of Société Générale", as requested by the bank, said Jouyet.Short selling of financial stocks had already been banned in several countries during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. For Christian Parisot, chief economist at Aurel BGC, it is not clear that this type of measure to solve all the problems. "It may limit a little movement, but there are other techniques" to speculate on the decline, he says. "So it's not a panacea for all." For the president of the AMF, "we have ways of monitoring important today but it is clear that they must be further strengthened throughout Europe and it should be considered a pooling of resources at European level" .

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced Sunday that it would "actively implement" its bond buyback program to try to stem the debt crisis that has shaken the euro area and threatens to spread to the Spanish economy and Italian.

A few hours to a day ahead of key markets, the European financial institution has not specified which countries will be affected by the takeover of debt but every indication that this may be of obligations of Spain and Italy.

In a statement issued after a conference call late Sunday, the ECB urged Rome to Madrid and set up as quickly as possible measures of fiscal consolidation recently announced by both countries to try to reassure markets .

"On the basis of these estimates that the ECB will implement an active program of redemption of bonds," wrote the ECB.

The absence of bond buyback of Italy and Spain by the ECB to ease prices has been particularly punished by the markets that have seen the sign of internal divisions harmful.

Markets expect the ECB to see begin on Monday the purchase of government bonds in both countries to stabilize their prices.Interest rates in Italy and Spain in recent days jumped to their highest levels in 14 years.

BERLIN AND PARIS PRESS

In a joint statement issued Sunday a few hours before the end of the meeting of the ECB, the French president and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that "a rapid implementation and complete the measures announced is essential to restore market confidence ".

According to South Korea, a conference call Sunday morning brought together financial officials of the G20, which groups the world's major economies, to discuss the situation caused by tension on the debt in the euro area and lower by Standard & Poor's sovereign rating of the United States.

UK source, the G7 finance ministers are likely to have a conference call Sunday night.

"It is very likely that the telephone meeting of G7 Finance Ministers is taking place later tonight," the source told Reuters, saying that it expected to start from 21:00 GMT, before the open financial markets.

The G20 and the European Central Bank have been active behind the scenes to assess the consequences of the debt crisis on both sides of the Atlantic, shaking financial markets and fears of a relapse of Western countries into recession .

After heavy turbulence in global financial markets, which have lost about 2.500 billion dollars over the past week, European and American leaders find themselves again forced to reassure investors about the ability and determination of their countries to reduce deficits and public debts.

PANIC IN THE GULF AND ISRAEL

Saudi Stock Exchange, the largest in the Arab world, has faltered on Saturday, falling from 5.5% to a low of five months before showing a small increase of 0.08% at the end of Sunday.

But it was in Tel Aviv that the decline was most pronounced with a fall of 6.99% recorded by the TA-25 index in Israel.The TA-100, wider, has meanwhile shrunk by 7.2%.

This is to prevent these events happening again Monday in Tokyo, then in Europe and the United States, as G7 finance ministers were also to contact Sunday.

In his statement released Sunday evening, the ECB considers "fundamental" that governments are ready to activate the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) on the secondary market when the implementation in the European countries to the agreement of July 21 has been performed.

An extension of the crisis in Italy or Spain, after the bailouts granted to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, in the eyes of observers would require a strong increase in lending capacity of EFSF, equipped for time of 440 billion euros.

Quoted by the weekly Der Spiegel, the German government experts doubt that Italy could be re-floated by the EFSF even if the fund saw its capacity threefold, because the needs of Rome are in their too great.

United States, the lowering of the sovereign rating has been denounced by the Treasury, which held that the rating agency "forgot" 2000 billion in budget savings in its calculations.

In Washington, an economic adviser to the White House deplored the decision by S & P to degrade the rating of U.S. debt from AAA to AA +, which could ultimately affect all markets by increasing the cost of borrowing and undermining the prospect of sustainable recovery.

Asian allies of the United States, Japan and South Korea have renewed their confidence in U.S. Treasury bills, may lose value.