News & Financial Advice

U.S. President Barack Obama will announce throughout the week a series of economic measures aimed at improving the U.S. employment market but also to limit losses Democrats in the midterm elections on November 2.

Barack Obama, whose economic policy difficult to convince the Americans, will use his media appearances to give the tone of the campaign in the fall.

During his travels, the head of the White House should send a simple message to the crisis, the Democrats have limited the damage and generated economic growth.

Barack Obama should make these points during a first step Milkauwee in Wisconsin on Monday, the celebrations of Labor Day, which will kick off informal campaign.

The speech scheduled later Wednesday in Cleveland, Ohio, will be more concrete. It was in this same town as Republican John Boehner, a member of the House of Representatives, recently urged the president to sack his team in charge of economic issues.

According to officials of the U.S. administration, Barack Obama should ask Congress to make permanent the tax credit for research to companies.The Bush proposal could cost 100 billion dollars over ten years. It will be financed by the abolition of other tax loopholes enjoyed by businesses.

Other issues can be raised by the Head of State could include a temporary tax exemption on wages, extending the tax cuts for the middle class, or the increase of allocations to infrastructure and clean energy.

RESUMPTION THREATENED?

The U.S. administration tries somehow to solve the problem of employment and lower unemployment desperately stagnant at 9.6%.Another challenge, stimulate a weak economy struggling to emerge definitively from the recession.

Laura Tyson, professor of economics at the University of California, and from the president's economic advisers, said that targeted measures on employment should be the priority in the current environment.

"We all need to take measures that target the employment. Currently, the deficit is not a crucial problem," she said Sunday on CBS."The economy slows and turns to the lack of work are the major problems (…) We really need to examine our priorities and focus on creating jobs."

But already, the White House has warned it would take patience.

'It took years to generate these economic difficulties, and it will take more time to fully repair the damage ", said communications director of the White House, Dan Pfeiffer. "There is no quick fix.And anyone who tries to pretend that one exists is not honest with the American people. "

The mid-term election promises undoubtedly distressing for the Democrats, many analysts believed it could lose control of the House of Representatives but also the Senate. Such a scenario would complicate the task of President Obama to impose certain files, such as that of climate legislation.

Wheat prices on the Chicago market gained nearly 8% in plenary on Thursday, near their highest level in two years, following the announcement by Russia to stop its exports of cereals.

The current drought in Russia, one of the worst in the history of the country, devastated crops in several regions, which causes several days a soaring wheat prices on international markets.

Investors are afraid that pressure on this market over the coming months in the absence of a major world exporters.

FAO, United Nations Organization for Food and Agriculture, on Wednesday reduced about 4%, or 25 million tonnes, its forecast for world wheat crop for 2010.

If it considers that the offer is sufficient for now, she warned that "if the drought in the Russian Federation continues, this could pose problems for winter crops in this country, with potentially serious implications for deliveries World wheat in 2011 and 2012.

The benchmark price of wheat in Chicago jumped 82% since June 9

On Thursday, panic buying of investment funds and traders on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) also focused on corn and soybeans, which gained 2.6% and 0.8%.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday the suspension of exports of cereals and processed agricultural products between August 15 and December 31, a decision that applies to contracts already signed.

He has confirmed information previously reported by Russian news agency Interfax, which had triggered the wave of purchases.

"The announcement of Putin panicked everyone (…).Nobody knows how far we could go, "said Paul Haugen, Vice-president of Newedge USA.

At midday in the U.S., the futures contract on wheat for September delivery gained 60 cents, its highest increase allowed to 785.75 cents, the highest level these last 23 months by the maturity nearest market.

DISTORTIONS

"I would not be surprised if it took 60 or 70 cents extra, even more during the next session," said Joe Bedore, the brokerage firm FC Stone in Chicago.

Kazakhstan, another major wheat producer in the Black Sea basin, said anticipating a fall of 35% of its harvest and study by the end of a request from Moscow to reduce its own exports.

International trading giant Cargill said he expected that such trade barriers distort the global wheat market.

In the European market Euronext, the benchmark November contract on wheat milling peaked Thursday at 236 euros before ending the session at 223.25, up 6.8% on the day.It was up nearly 60% since late June

Wheat has not yet regained its record levels of 2008, when prices in Chicago had exceeded 13.30 dollars a bushel, boosted by fears of a global food crisis.

Some analysts also believe that the current increase is overstated, noting the high level of global supply after two consecutive years of record crops.

The absence of Russian wheat in the coming months could also benefit other major exporters, U.S. or Europe.

"A Case of Russian exports would distribute maps of the international wheat market," said one European trader."This would open up enormous opportunities for new sales in Western Europe and the United States."

But the rise in food prices may be exaggerated, says a French professional, for whom the market is driven by purely financial factors.

"When the market (Chicago) won a dollar in four days, not for fundamental reasons," said he. "The decline, if it occurs, will be equally severe."

Manutan announced Friday that its sales had increased 9.3% in third quarter 2009-2010 to 132.9 million euros, the group has enjoyed an upturn in all regions of Europe where it is present.

Of the first nine months of the year offset, net sales rose 0.2% on a constant basis and 18.7%, taking into particular account the integration of Local Businesses Camif, acquired in March last.

"The end of the first nine months of activity marks the return to growth in aggregate group," commented Manutan in a statement, without giving targets for the current year.

The Paris Bourse, as all European markets ended down sharply on Thursday following the publication of a series of disappointing U.S. indicators, confirming the interruption of a long sequence of increase initiated the day before.

The CAC 40 index finished down 1.41% at 3581.82 points, after playing a note on irregular closely during most of the session. The index had already paused Wednesday (-0.13%), having won more than 9% in six sessions of consecutive increase.

London fell by 0.8% and Frankfurt 0.97%.As for the European indices, the EuroStoxx 50 yielded 1.35% and 1.14% Eurofirst 300.

'Investors are still worried about the slowdown in the United States, and after the recent good performance of markets, profit-taking seem necessary given that the risks are always present ", says Claudia Panseri, chief strategist at SG CIB .

Falling producer prices and the index of the New York Fed has cooled the enthusiasm of investors even though they had enthusiastically welcomed the results published by JPMorgan.

Similarly, producer prices have fallen more sharply than expected in June and the condition index of industrial activity were sharply down in July.

After cutting their losses in early afternoon following the publication of excellent results by JP Morgan, the banks are heavily impact the market.

Dexia largest decline of ACC, ended down 5.12% to 3.243 euros, Crédit Agricole of 3.26% to 9.287 euros and BNP Paribas 4.01% to 48.705 euros.

The values "dollar" have suffered bad news on growth overseas as the U.S. currency.

In the aerospace sector, EADS lost 4.86% to 16.550 euros and 4.59% at Saffron 20.800 euros. In the area of semiconductors, STMicroelectronics has yielded 2.08% to 6.776 euros and 8.063 to 4.91% Soitec euros.The euro is trading at 1.2906 / 08 1.2738 dollars against the previous day.

U.S. light crude lost $ 1.05 per share to 75.99 dollars a barrel.