Germany, France and Italy, met Thursday in Strasbourg (east), expressed their determination to secure the future of the euro, if necessary by amending the European treaties, but without affecting the independence of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The three largest economies in the euro area are determined to "do everything to support and ensure the sustainability of the euro," said the French president told reporters at the end of the tripartite summit.

Mr."We all three indicated that respect for the independence of this institution, it was not to request positive or negative" to the ECB for its part has assured the French President.

Several French officials, including Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Thursday morning, however, have called for the ECB to play "a role" to save the euro area. This role would be to buy massive debt of the countries most vulnerable to stem the continued rise in rates on government bonds of several euro area countries, which penalizes their already fragile budgets. This rate increase, a sign of the distrust of the market against the euro area, is now affecting countries like France.

"We are all three very much aware of the seriousness of the situation," said

"This announcement is likely to penalize the performance of the banking sector, given the uncertainty it generates on the implementation of the Europe Agreement on Greek debt," say analysts at Natixis.

Lionel Garden, head of institutional sales at Assya Capital, believes that "the post-summit rally seems definitely over."

"Pandora's box"

"When U.S. investors will wake up, they will not like what they see. The referendum is a bad idea that falls at the wrong time. This is a big disappointment as the market hoped for unity within the euro area.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was to participate Wednesday in a crucial European summit bears the overwhelming support of the Bundestag but conditional to negotiate a strengthening of the European Relief Fund (EFSF). German MPs had to vote at midday on a "motion" filed by the government majority and the opposition, a mission order for Mrs. Merkel.

Without going into technical details, two pages of this motion pose prohibited: no way to load even more the European Central Bank, making it taste too many Germans. And not about to spend more than 211 billion euros already pledged.Before the vote, the Chancellor still had to speak before the lower house. "It will be a long day," warned the early morning spokesman Steffen Seibert, via Twitter. "We will send a strong signal for Europe", promised Wednesday to television the secretary general of the party Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel, Hermann Grohe.

"It is fitting that on such important issues the opposition (…) renounces the tactical game fan", it was bliss. In fact, the conservative chancellor for European affairs has a "grand coalition", which gathers around its own most conservative / liberal of the two main opposition parties SPD (Social Democrats) and Greens. The mission statement drafted by all parties, with the exception of the radical left "Die Linke", should be adopted by an overwhelming majority of 620 MPs.On 29 September already, when he acted for the Bundestag to ratify a first capacity building of EFSF, this "holy alliance" was played.

This massive vote of support will not prevent commentators to have dissenting voices in the majority, to see if Merkel was able to win without the votes of the opposition. He needs 311 votes for this account in his own camp. "Merkel needs the magic 311 votes to go heads up in Brussels," commented Wednesday Der Spiegel in its Internet edition. Otherwise, the Bundestag to hands-free Merkel to leverage the lending capacity of EFSF (440 billion), based on two options: to fund a "credit insurance" states in difficulty, and seek external funding, such as emerging markets.

Members recognize that with this strategy, "the risk of loss can be changed" they do not want to put more money on the table, but are willing to lose the already committed. This vote confirms the increasingly important role taken by the German parliament in the European political game, to the dismay of some partners in Germany. The Constitutional Court has recently strengthened the powers of the Bundestag, by requiring the green light for decisions involving public funds in support schemes in Europe.

This is not without boondoggles: Friday, the Assembly had decided to confine the discussion of the EFSF its Committee on Budgetary Affairs. Before you turn around Monday and to convene a plenary session. "We are treading unknown territory" with respect to working with the Bundestag, Merkel agreed Tuesday, trying to recall the division of roles."These are different tasks: a government that conducts international negotiations, and the concern for parliamentary support the widest possible," she said.

Acerbic, columnist of the daily Handelsblatt stated that "the government (had) not thought about the time arrangements for informing the parliament." And parliamentarians did not realize that their new power is synonymous with extra work, "he said.

A special board is scheduled Monday morning and is expected to endorse the departure of Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, blamed for the results considered bad and bad relations with the President of the Board Jean-Cyril Spinetta.

This move was expected. "I think the end of this suspense but it is close to the company itself to decide," said Transportation Minister Thierry Mariani Wednesday, describing the arrival of Alexander Juniac of "true-false suspense ".

The French state owns 16% stake in the airline.

The Bank of France reiterated Monday its forecast of growth of 0.1% of the French economy in the third quarter, based on the results of its latest monthly business survey.

In September, "industrial activity has remained stable, the contraction in the automotive and manufacturing equipment was offset by the increase observed in the food industry and some sectors of production of consumer goods" said she.

The Bank of France said that the forecasts of business leaders expect a continuation of the stability of industrial activity in the coming months. Services could, in turn, suffer from a slowdown in activity.

Thursday, INSEE had indicated anticipate GDP growth of 0.3% for the third quarter, a more optimistic prediction than the Bank of France.But the institute expects a stagnation in activity over the last three months of the year highlighting the sharp deterioration in the economic climate in the euro area during the summer.

The indicator of business climate in France has lost eight points between July and September to $ 97 in its long-term average of 100.

INSEE also announced Monday that industrial production rose by 0.5% in August while economists polled by Reuters on average expected a contraction of 1%.

"It's always good to take.PMI surveys suggest already predict a decline in output, which shows that this sector should not escape the impact of slower global growth and lower domestic demand against a background of escalating crisis debt in the euro area ", says Joost Beaumont, economist at ABN Amro.

Markit PMI surveys among purchasing managers have shown last week a contraction of manufacturing and for services, the lowest growth for two years.

The only support activity at year end could then once again to come from household consumption, unless the sovereign debt crisis incentive for consumers to save more.

According to Insee, the saving rate of French households has reached 17% in the second quarter, its highest level since the third quarter of 2009.

Vice Minister of Finance had previously Oikonomou Pantelis said the discussions were over, but for the most part, the sources who have direct knowledge of the case, they are far from it.

"The talks are not over," said a senior official told Reuters.The Delegation of the troika (EU, IMF, European Central Bank) is still examining the accounts and budget reforms required for the payment of aid to eight billion euros.

The Greek government admitted Sunday he would miss this year and next the deficit targets that were assigned by its international donors.He also announced new austerity measures to try to reduce the budget deficit next year.

Athens anticipates a deficit of 8.5% of GDP in 2011, while the EU and the IMF wanted 7.6% more, and 6.8% in 2012 to a target of 6.5%.

The draft budget for 2012 Greek assumes a GDP contraction of 2.5% this year, after -5.5% this year.Under this project, Government debt was 172.1% of GDP in 2012 from 161.8% in 2011.

Finance ministers of the euro zone (Eurogroup) met on Monday and it is likely they will do even more pressure on the Greek government to implement a more resolute reforms planned by the international bailouts.

The second plan, set in July, includes in particular the private sector is participating in a plan to exchange debt at a discount.Athens wants at least 90% of the creditors participating in the project goes forward.

"Greece is bankrupt"

Given the risk of contagion to other countries Greece in the euro zone, Italy and Spain in particular, several countries in the euro area have already passed an extension of the powers of the European Financial Stability (EFSF ).

But increasing financial resources, budgeted at 440 billion euros, is not an option for countries such as Germany in particular.

In fact, Christian Noyer, Governor of the Banque de France and member of the Governing Council of the ECB, it is unrealistic to think that we can increase this allocation, but the principle of multiplication is to remember.

"It would be unrealistic to expect an increase in the EFSF himself personally but I am open to any device to leverage existing commitments to provide greater capacity to respond," he said.

The United States and the financial markets, which continue to anticipate a failure to Greece, urged the euro area to consider how to give the EFSF greater ability to respond without injection of new money, for a leverage.

The principle would be to use the funds as collateral for loans from other agencies.The EFSF could for example provide guarantees to the European Central Bank (ECB) when it acquires the Sovereign Debt.

In the meantime, it is the deepest skepticism prevailing in the markets about the ability of Europeans to stem the crisis in Greece, especially after the latest financial reports of the country.

European stock markets posted a decline of 1.75% and the index of banking in particular was down 2.87%, the segment loss the biggest market for now.

The spread between Italian 10-year paper and his German counterpart widened to 380 basis points and it is the same for the same term paper in Spanish, to 337 basis points.

Germany itself is not immune to the slump environment.The five-year CDS were up six basis points record of 118 basis points, according to Markit.

Michael Fuchs, vice president of the coalition CDU / CSU to power in Germany, the case is heard: Greece is indeed bankrupt. "There is probably no alternative for us to accept a deletion of at least 50% of its debt," he states.

The Dow Jones Industrial 30 yielded 2.49%, or 283.82 points at 11,124.84. The S & P-500, wider, lost 35.33 points, or 2.94%, to 1166.76.The Nasdaq Composite fell on its side of 52.05 points (-2.01%) to 2538.19.

As expected, the Fed announced it would buy Treasury bonds maturing long to bring down interest rates in the long term, but especially the phrase "significant downside risks weighing on the economic outlook" that caught the attention of market participants.

"This comment on the prospects – and I do not, moreover, why it is a surprise – was an attachment point for market participants," said Stephen Massoc, managing director at Wedbush Morgan.

The Fed will buy, by the end of June 2012, 400 billion of Treasury bonds with maturities ranging from six to 30 years.During this period, it will give an equivalent amount of bonds maturing in three years and under.

This action, to put pressure on interest rates in the long run is similar to that conducted in the 60's and so called "Operation Twist".

Stressing that economic growth would remain weak, the Federal Reserve that kept interest rates at between 0% and 0.25%, confirmed that these rates remain exceptionally low until mid-2013.

The index values ​​involving transportation, considered a measure of economic health, has plunged 5.27%.

The fund bank also sensitive to economic conditions, was also affected by the decision of Moody's downgrade of Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup on the ground that the Federal government may be reluctant to rush to the aid of large banking institutions difficulty.

The title of Bank of America fell 7.5% to 6.38 dollars, that of Wells Fargo 3.9% to 23.71 dollars and action Citigroup lost 5.2% to 25.52 dollars, the index KBW banking shares fell 5.5%.

The technology sector was one of the few in the green, the action Hewlett-Packard gaining 6.6% to 23.96 dollars after a source said the board planned to replace the CEO Leo Apotheker after less than a year of service.

Oracle has gained 4.2% to 29.54 dollars after reporting quarterly forecasts Tuesday night than expected.

Rumors that Moody's had placed the sovereign rating on negative watch Italian Aa2 June 17, could reduce an imminent, also weighed on French banks.

The CAC 40, which had jumped ahead of 3.27% on Thursday and spent most of the session in the green, was down 0.48% to 3031.08 points after three sessions of up to row. Since the beginning of the week, it took 1.9%.Elsewhere in Europe, Frankfurt and London took 1.18% 0.58% while the pan-European Eurofirst 300 index gained 061%.

Rumors that Germany would have postponed discussions on the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSF) also weighed on bank stocks.

Among the French banks, BNP Paribas lost 7.56% to 28.195 euros and Credit Agricole, which leaves the EuroStoxx 50 Monday, 10.97% to 4.917 euros.Natixis, which is outside the CAC 40 Monday, gave up 4.41% to 2.387 euros.

The week was marked by renewed optimism about the willingness of political and monetary authorities to engage in concerted action to contain the crisis of the euro.

The announcement Thursday afternoon by the major central banks of their intention to cooperate to ensure dollar liquidity of European banks had largely confirmed the return to cautious optimism.

"Everybody was worried, thinking that the politicians were not on red alert, and this week we learned that they were.This was the real positive surprise, "said Franz Wenzel, head of investment strategy at Axa Investment Management.

"The market does not expect necessarily a revolution that would change the scenario for the future, but is reassured to see that central banks are there to do what is necessary," he said.

However, this does not solve the central problem of the euro area, the crisis of sovereign debt, noted speakers, who do not expect a resolution of the Greek question at the meeting of finance ministers the Eurogroup in Wroclaw, Poland.

The market remains divided between those who believe in the rescue of Greece and those who think it will not be able to meet the requirements for better management of public finances, said a Paris-based dealer action.

Patrice Pérois, sales trader at Kepler Capital Markets, said that the meeting was disrupted by purely technical factors, with the expiration of futures and options on stock indices and the restructuring and re-weighting of the three indices: Euro Stoxx 50, Stoxx 600 and CAC 40.

The performance of the German government bond (Bund) is relaxed to 10 years of seven basis points to 1.86% while the euro weakened against the greenback and traded around the 1.3780 dollar against 1.38% on Thursday.

2011 is the year the trade deficit lights will beat his sorry record. The trade imbalance is expected to reach 75 billion euros this year, said Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Pierre Lellouche, at a hearing Tuesday afternoon before the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, Les Echos reported . The record for 2008 (56.5 billion) is preparing to be sprayed.

Pierre Lellouche mentions "two mitigating circumstances": the rising cost of energy bills due to soaring oil prices and the overvaluation of the euro. But these two factors n 'explain that the half the deterioration in the trade deficit.We must recognize that the capacity of France to export is failing. "The basic issue is that of the competitiveness of our businesses," laments Pierre Lellouche.

The consumer prices in France rose 0.5% in August on a month, after falling 0.4% in July, and were appreciated by 2.2% year on year, said Tuesday the Institute National Statistics (INSEE). The increase in August mainly due to the end of summer sales but also reflects the higher cost of services related to tourism, these increases are offset by a decline, also seasonal, fresh produce prices and prices of services health, INSEE said. The energy prices have also increased, both for the electricity, slightly, for petroleum products.

Excluding tobacco index is up 0.5% in August 2011 (+2.2% yoy).Prices of manufactured goods rose 1.6%, with 9.8% for clothing and shoes. Price increases also linked to the end balances were also found on furniture and furnishings (+3.3%) and leather goods and travel goods (+4.1%).

Conversely, promotions are behind the falling prices of new cars (-1.7%). The food prices fell slightly (-0.2%), decreased primarily due to lower seasonal prices of fresh products (-3.6%). Excluding fresh food, the food prices rose 0.4%, after rising 0.5% in July.

Rising energy prices

Seasonally as well, prices of services were up in August (0.1%).Price increases continued on holiday accommodation (12.0%) and package holidays (+4.4%), air transport (+1.5%) and restaurants (0, 2%). On the other hand and also how seasonal prices of hotels including pensions fell (-0.8%) as those of doctors (-0.4%) and dentists (-2.0%). Tariff reductions were recorded in the telecommunication services (-0.2%) and on health insurance (-5.2%).

The energy prices have instead increased (0.4%) after a stable in July. In one year, they increased by 11.9%. In August, electricity prices rose by 1.4% and prices of oil products edged up 0.1% (+15.5% yoy).