Hot Economic News Releases

Ebay announced Friday that the Court of Appeal of Paris asked to pay LVMH 33 million euros in the American group in the context of infringement case between the two companies.

The online auction site had been sentenced in June 2008 by the Commercial Court of Paris to pay a total of 38.6 million euros to repair luxury group for dissemination and distribution of counterfeit perfume out of approved circuit.

Ebay does not detail the decision of the Court of Appeal but the Chief Executive in France, Yohan Ruso, said in a statement that the injunction against the U.S. group has been "reduced in scope" .

LVMH believes his side that "the principle of responsibility, this decision confirms the decision of 30 June 2008 by the Commercial Court of Paris.

The group emphasizes that the Court condemns eBay to pay $ 5.7 million in damages and interest and open "the possibility for applicants to hire additional remedies in foreign courts for compensation for damage suffered in their territories.

The Commercial Court had held late June 2008 that eBay had committed "serious misconduct by failing in its obligations to ensure that its activities do not generate illegal acts."

Despite the appeal of eBay, the court ordered the provisional enforcement of financial sanctions.

It was the first trial of this magnitude on the sale of branded products on the internet. The court had held at first instance that the auction site could not hide behind the fact that he was only putting in connecting buyers and sellers.

Before LVMH, Hermes also had won a ruling against eBay but for a sum much smaller. The site had been convicted by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Troyes to pay 20,000 euros in damages to luxury goods group in the Rue St. Honore.

Commercial judges had sanctioned the sale of counterfeit goods from eBay imitation leather goods from Louis Vuitton and Dior Couture clothing.They had also sanctioned the sale of authentic fragrances and cosmetics brands Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy and Guerlain, on the ground that LVMH had not chosen this diffuser.

Boeing released a quarterly earnings above expectations but down from last year due to lower deliveries of aircraft.

The U.S. group, world number two sector behind Airbus (EADS) has achieved in second quarter net earnings of $ 787 million, or $ 1.06 per share, against 998 million ($ 1.41 per share) a year earlier.

Financial analysts had expected a profit of $ 1.01 per share according to Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S.

The quarterly revenue fell 9% year on year to 15.6 billion dollars.

Sales of the division of civil aviation has dropped 12% to $ 7.4 billion aircraft deliveries declined by 9%.Boeing Commercial Airplaines recorded 88 orders for the quarter and 20 cancellations.

The backlog stood at 3,304 civil aircraft late June, for a value of 252 billion dollars.

The turnover of the defense business has declined in parallel from 8% to $ 8 billion, mainly due to lower volumes in the Network & Space Systems branch.

Net sales of Boeing Capital has dropped 3% to 162 million.

Weak retail sales in France since the beginning of the year raises concerns for household consumption, but without calling into question the prospect of a mild acceleration of growth in the second quarter.

INSEE said on Friday down 1.4% of household spending on manufactured goods in June after an increase (revised) 0.6% in May, which was only the second of the year.

Throughout the second quarter, they fell 0.9% after falling 1.9% in January-March.

Purchases of manufactured goods only represent about a fifth of consumer spending on goods and services, including food, a statistic that is much less volatile and released only on a quarterly basis.

Household consumption has stagnated in the first quarter and is still waiting INSEE stalled in second quarter net sales to be known on August 13 during the initial results of the national accounts.

Some economists, like Dominique Barbet from BNP Paribas, now does not preclude a decline in household consumption, which would be a first since the second quarter of 2008.

But, he says, the strength of industrial production and exports expected to "save" the growth in the second quarter, it expects to 0.4% or 0.5% after the meager 0.1% the first three months of the year.

"That said, the outlook is still quite weak and not with this level of consumption we can expect 1.5 to 2.0% growth per year," he adds.

Bercy, it remains serene by estimating it would take a 0.3% or more of household consumption to speak stall."Nothing like on the radar", make sure there in the entourage of the Minister of Economy Christine Lagarde.

CONCERN FOR THE FUTURE

Regarding industrial production, it was not until August 10 to hear the numbers of the second quarter, but May's increase (+1.7% and +0.5% for the only manufacturing) was a good omen.

Already, the quarterly business survey released Friday by INSEE showed that the request to industry has made significant progress on these three months, but prospects are less favorable then.

"We had a sort of dichotomy between demand indicators that are not extraordinary, except perhaps for export, and offer those who are supported, as shown by surveys from INSEE" observes Dominique Barbet

He added: "The concern is more for the future."

Nick Kojucharov, Europe economist at Goldman Sachs, the link between low spending on manufactured goods and consumer confidence, which has faltered significantly since the beginning of the year.

"That does not mean that the recovery derailed in France – surveys and industrial production are trending up – but that French consumers, who strongly supported the request at the beginning of the recovery, now is the key" says he.

Down nine points since January, the consumer confidence indicator calculated by INSEE has stabilized at -39 in July, its lowest level since May 2009.

The decline in household spending in June is in large part to the launch late summer sales, June 30 instead of June 25 in 2009.

This contemplates an upward correction in July, but only temporarily according to economists.And anyway, "the fact that consumers have stopped buying clothes from three months to wait for the summer sales is not really what we might call a positive signal to private consumption, observes Olivier Gasnier of Societe Generale.

The high level of unemployment, worries about tax and the evolution of the purchasing power of households should continue to curb consumption, he adds.

If the support of replenishment orders and exports fades at the same time, the prospect of slower growth in the third quarter will be inevitable, confirming the slow recovery.

In its last forecast in June, Insee expecting 0.4% growth in the third and fourth quarter, after +0.5% in April-June, a pace sufficient to meet the government target of 1.4% on year.

The European Union announces it will appeal the conviction of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on subsidies provided to Airbus.

Airbus and Boeing accuse several years to receive public funding they deem illegitimate.

On 30 June, a panel of WTO experts found some illegal European subsidies provided to Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, giving due in part to a U.S. complaint filed in 2004.

The appeal against this decision the EU will be filed before a special meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body of WTO, says a source close to the case.

The meeting, which started at 10:00, was convened at the request of the United States in the adoption of the June decision by the panel of experts, which would have forced the EU to end in 90 days to grant British, German and Spanish on the A380.

"This issue is too important to allow misinterpretations Group of Experts (DSB) without challenge," the EU trade commissioner Karel de Gucht, in a statement.

The call of the EU must be treated within 90 days, according to WTO rules.

In the day Wednesday, a lawyer for Boeing reported confidence in Boeing regarding this procedure.

"We are confident about the outcome of this appeal, as we were when the U.S. had opened the proceedings," said Robert Novick, a member of the firm WilmerHale.

"We are confident that the outcome of this appeal will be known by the end of the year."

A complaint against the European American aid mechanisms to Boeing would be decided on July 16, but the decision has been postponed to mid-September.

Louis Welsh, CEO of EADS, has held this postponement unfair.

Industrial production increased in the U.S. in June, against all expectations, above-normal seasonal temperatures have boosted the use of air conditioning and therefore the production of electricity, official statistics show the Federal Reserve.

Production was up 0.1% in June while economists and analysts polled by Reuters had forecast an average decline of 0.1%.

The May figure was confirmed at 1.3%.

For the second quarter as a whole, industrial production has emerged up 6.6% yoy, lower than the 7.0% increase recorded during the first three months of the year.

The production sector of utilities rose 2.7%, higher than the Fed said the sharp rise in the use of air conditioning.

Manufacturing output fell for its 0.4%.

The utilization of production capacity has remained stable at 74.1%, but remains below 6.5 points to its average over the period 1972-2009.

The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring these statistics to assess the possible inflationary pressures, which could affect its monetary policy.

The death of U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd could lead to a postponement until mid-July of the final adoption of the draft law reforming financial regulation in the United States, forcing the Democrats to seek further support.

The future of the bill now depends on the decision of a handful of senators after the death Monday of Robert Byrd, at the age of 92 years, denying the Democrats a voice in favor of the 60 needed to deprive Republicans delayed by a battle of adopting the text amendments.

The Democrats could expect that the governor of West Virginia named interim successor to Robert Byrd, but the appointment could take several weeks.

To ensure some additional support, the Democrats may have to change the text.

"If they need to review the bill and make concessions to secure additional votes (…), the text will emerge strengthened, not weakened," warns Barbara Roper, who heads an advocacy organization of consumers.

This bill, which President Barack Obama made one of his priorities, would launch a reform of financial regulation unprecedented since the 1930s.

The text aims to cut without a ban, the risky activities of banks, to establish a new process of liquidation for companies in financial difficulty, or to impose a tax credit on the largest financial groups, on larger groups to finance reform.

The House of Representatives should adopt the text Tuesday or Wednesday. But before being submitted to the presidential signature, originally scheduled on July 4, the text must also be approved by the Senate.However, due to the death of Robert Byrd, the Senate could defer their decision on July 12, after a week of leave, said a legislative assistant.

"We expect that this overhaul of banking legislation wins approval in U.S. House of Representatives, but the situation is complicated in the Senate," admits Brian Gardner, a political analyst for investment firm Keefe Bruyette & Woods.

THE MARKETS IN WAITING

If the vote of the law should dispel the uncertainties surrounding the bank stocks, the implementation of the text still has many question marks, analysts said Goldman Sachs.

Among outstanding issues is the appointments that the U.S. president should proceed, including the new head of the agency responsible for regulating mortgages, credit cards and other financial products.

Some clauses of the text should weigh on profits and growth of the largest banks, but have been relaxed during negotiations between representatives and senators, after a marathon negotiating session last 21 hours that ended Friday in the dawn.

For now, Democrats are thus seeking to support their cause some moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe, and Senators Scott Brown, supported the text but rather reluctant to introduce a tax credit.

It aims to prevent the bill strikes the U.S. public finance more.However, according to the Congressional Budget Office, an independent monitoring and evaluation of public accounts, expenses related to the reform in ten years, estimated at $ 26.9 billion, should be offset by as much revenue.

The vote Democratic senators Russ Feingold and Maria Cantwell, who voted against it last month, claiming it was not sufficiently binding, should also be courted.

Russ Feingold, however, already assured Monday that he would not change his opinion. Maria Cantwell for studying the issue and it still has not yet decided, said a spokesman.

U.S. President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed Saturday to say that nothing positive would come out for the damage to the oil company BP reported a member of the British delegation.

The two leaders met in Toronto on the sidelines of the meeting of the G20 countries.

On Friday, the head of the new British government had requested more clarity on the costs that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico exposed the British oil company.

Action BP fell Friday to its lowest level in fourteen years since the accident last April 20 on the platform Deepwater Horizon, the company's market capitalization has shrunk by $ 100 billion.

The British employers as well as pension funds and other shareholder groups have called for Cameron to take BP's defense against criticism of Obama as being too severe.

The subject has been discussed by Cameron during a bilateral meeting Saturday, the first of the two men since the leader of the Conservative Party succeeded last month in Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street.

"Both agreed that nothing good would come out of the damage to BP, reported a member of the UK delegation."Both agreed that BP would meet its obligations to plug the leak, clean it and pay the costs of legitimate compensation," he added.

BP said they paid $ 2.35 billion since the beginning of this oil spill is unprecedented in the history of the United States.

The company also announced the creation of a special fund of 20 billion dollars expected to cover the costs of the environmental and economic disaster.

BP, formerly British company essentially is now a company whose capital is split into two main groups: 40% of its shareholders are based in Britain and 40% also in the United States.

The European aerospace group EADS expects its sales in 2010 could be higher than expected due to the decline of the euro on foreign exchange markets, as its chief financial officer.

In an interview published in the Financial Times Deutschland, Hans Peter Ring said that the coverage measures taken by the exchange company will have an impact on revenue projections from 2012.

"But it seems that this will be different about our income because we have more volatility. Therefore, our revenues could be better than what was previously expected," he said.

In its projections for 2010, EADS expects stable results over the previous year based on an exchange rate of $ 1.40 per euro.The single European currency fell back to about $ 1.20.

In the long term, said Sunday the chairman of the board of EADS Bodo Übber in the Welt am Sonntag, a weak euro is favorable to the company as it produces in the euro area (and therefore pays a large portion of its costs euro) and its sales are mainly denominated in dollars.