News & Financial Advice

The month is September is historically the less buoyant year for Wall Street.And this year, economic indicators expected during the first days of the month will put the nerves of investors challenged at risk to initiate a new downtrend.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost nearly 13% since April, gradually accumulating as disappointing economic indicators which have fueled fears of "double dip" relapse into recession after the 2008 crisis -2009.

But the benchmark index of the place New York has so far found strong support around the threshold of 1,040 points, while penetration of the support triggering a wave of purchases.

The Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reassured the markets at least temporarily, saying Friday that the Fed was ready to act if the economic situation deteriorates. But indicators coming days may revive concern.

"The indicators tend to be consistently to be below expectations," said Nick Kalivas, equity analyst for MF Global."I think that these indicators will trigger new sales next week."

Monthly statistics of the labor market expected Friday should show that 99,000 jobs have been destroyed in August, partly due to the end of temporary contracts linked to the decennial census, while job creation in the private sector should not exceed 42,000.

Until then, the ISM index of purchasing managers in industry and services will probably reflected a further slowdown in business growth.

The S & P 500 tested the threshold of 1040 points on two occasions during the past week but each time he finished the day up.This media has systematically encouraged buyers to return to the market over the past 10 months the index has not marked down so only once and briefly, in July.

DOMINATES THE SHORT TERM

The S & P 500, primary references many managers and analysts, finished Friday at 1064.59 points. If he drove the support of 1,040, it could fall in the range of 1010-1020 points.On the upside, he ran into resistance from its 14-day average at 1076.65, which limits its potential for recovery.

In the options market, this situation encourages the purchase of "put" on the S & P 500, which entitles the holders to sell futures on the index at a price fixed in advance.

"The overall feeling of investors in the options market has become very skeptical, purchases could go beyond the call buyers," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical analyst for Schaeffer's Investment.

The ratio "was able to call" used to measure changes in the general sentiment of the market, stood at 0.61 on Thursday, against 0.59 in average over the last 21 meetings.

Beyond the technical factors, investors will also monitor the statements of managers of major companies such as General Electric and Boeing at the conference "Global Industrials Unplugged" organized by Morgan Stanley.

On Friday, the semiconductor giant Intel cut its revenue forecast for the current quarter. Investors have largely ignored this warning, the Intel action ending the day up, but new estimates of this type could undermine the morale of the market.

Faced with such a combination of risk factors, many investors may take their time before returning to the market.Especially since September is historically the worst month for the three major indexes on Wall Street.

The wait will be promoted in the coming days by the prospect of a weekend of three days with the celebration of Labor Day Monday, September 6.

For Scott Marcouiller, head of technical strategy at Wells Fargo Advisors, a "rally" seems unlikely in the current context.

Arkema plans to double its EBITDA this year after a second quarter marked by record sales amid robust demand in Asia and recovery in North America.

The chemist has done on the previous quarter sales of 1.6 billion euros, up 38%.At constant perimeter, sales rose 27%.

It's his best performance since its IPO in May 2006.

"The level of first half performance allows us to review our annual target of strong EBITDA to rise, which should exceed 600 million euros (…) approximately double the EBITDA reached in 2009," said the CEO of Arkema, Thierry Le Henaff, in a statement.

In the second quarter, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came out to 241 million euros, more than tripling the profit for the period of 2009 and similar growth of 76% over the first three months year.

Arkema has posted a net profit group share of 119 million euros in the quarter, while it had a loss of 114 million a year earlier.

The Arkema share closed Monday at 34.985 euros, giving a market capitalization of around two billion euros. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has taken more than 30% after more than doubled in value over the whole of 2009.

Laurent-Perrier announces increase of 17.3% of its turnover in the first quarter of fiscal 2010-2011, the group enjoying champagne strong exports to the United Kingdom, the United States, the Germany and Asia.

The turnover in Q1 (April 1-June 30) reached 36.8 million euros against 31.4 million a year earlier.

The export sales have reached 69.5% of sales of the brand, a gain of 6.7 points compared to first quarter of last year.

"If it confirms the recovery in demand, growth in volumes in the first quarter should not be extrapolated over the whole year," the company said in a statement, adding nevertheless that the price / mix should gradually recover in coming quarters.

The group generates a significant portion of its revenues in the third quarter (October-December), corresponding to the festive season to season.

The results of the first half ended September 30, 2010 will be published on 1 December 2010.

The stock has increased by 24.4% since the beginning of the year, after declining 8.5% in 2009. It has a market capitalization of 400 million euros.

The Spanish bank Banesto publishes an interim result down 6.8% due to the recognition of a higher amount of provisions for bad debts, which impacted the margins of the establishment.

The Spanish bank has registered a net profit of 381.7 million euros, while analysts polled by Reuters had expected 376 million euros.

Banesto, majority owned by Spanish bank Santander and the first to publish its interim results, said it recorded $ 85 million of exceptional provisions.

The ratio of Banesto related bad loans to total loans stood at 3.48% against 3.12% at end-March, while analysts at Citi said they expect that this ratio reaches a peak during the year 2011.

The net interest income, or about what a bank earns on loans decreased costs related to its deposit, rose 0.5% to 863.6 million euros against 855 million expected by analysts.

Around 7:15 GMT, gaining 0.8%, while the Stoxx index comprising the major European banking stocks was virtually unchanged at the same moment (-0.05%).

The Italian group Fiat said on Friday it would invest 700 million euros to produce the Panda Pomigliano, near Naples, while the range of small cars was previously produced in Poland.

The decision to relocate production in Italy of the best-selling small car in Europe was a time appear uncertain because only 62% of factory workers in Naples had voted in favor.

Fiat has finally decided to pursue his project after meeting with various unions have accepted this decision with the exception of Fiom, who said he would act in court for infringement of the rights of employees under the new conditions.

The government of Silvio Berlusconi welcomed the announcement of Fiat.

Fiat's investment in Naples – the group plans to invest about 8 billion euros worldwide by 2011 – is expected to boost employment in Italy and contribute to economic growth.

Action Fiat was up 1.4% to 8.84 euros in late afternoon.

European shares move up on Thursday morning, boosted by the continued rebound in bank stocks, as investors are increasingly likely to believe that the results of stress tests will be less catastrophic than they feared.

The bank also boosted by a change of opinion on the sector by Credit Suisse, which went to "balance line" cons "underperformance" before.

Around 9:50, the pan-European index STOXX Europe 600 Banks gained 1.76%.

In Paris, Dexia gained 3.92%, 3.42% Natixis, BNP Paribas 2.93%, 3.13% Societe Generale and Credit Agricole 1.10%.

The trend is also positive for banks in the rest of Europe.

Barclays rose as 3.72% and 1.11% of Santander Intesa 1.81%.

Sales at department stores conducted between last Wednesday, the first day of sales, and next Saturday are up 10-17% in Paris and about 6% in the province over the same period of 2009, told Reuters Claude Boulle, Chairman of the Union of the great trade center (UCV).

This period, during which traders are allowed to sell at a loss, will end Aug. 3.

"We are surprised by such enthusiasm," said Claude Boulle, who gives the rain, precipitation related to the timing of sales compared with the academic pace and demands of tourists, especially from emerging countries like Asians or Brazilians.

Claude Boulle, however, refuses "to be triumphalist" for now because, he says, should not at this very good start followed by a drop in purchases after July 15.

"The balances are played on a shorter and shorter," he observes.

As every year, the discounts offered in the department stores were included in 30 and 50% and new markdowns could be proposed "if there are still things to sell," added Claude Boulle.

The TCU brings together nearly nine billion euros in turnover with 600 stores in 300 cities in France, such as Galeries Lafayette, Printemps or C & A.