A jacket, an electric heater and a good soup. In this period of extreme cold, households equip themselves, and the delight of some traders.

Heating and soup go hand

"The heaters are selling very well right now," said a spokesperson for the brand Boulanger, who expects to sell three times more this week than last week. Thursday, electricity consumption was close to its peak absolute, the French setting up their electric heaters.

Sales of these soups should be greater than 16% this week that they would have been usual with temperatures (5-6 degrees on average), the company provides Metnext, a subsidiary of Météo France. The expected impact is 8.5% for stocks, 8% for soluble coffee, 8% for the chocolate powder and 4.5% for the chocolate tablet. "These products will also benefit from the winter next week," he told AFP Cedric Flecher, consultant Metnext.

The ingredients used to concoct homemade soups, such as leeks, carrots, onions or potatoes, will also benefit, he said, but in supermarkets where they do not freeze, as the open-air markets, where they can be damaged on the shelves. "These conditions lead to changes in diet," added Thierry Desouches, spokesman for U. System "We are back to product a little more invigorating, hot drinks, soups, meat, cooked, products that take the body."

However, consumers may be less tempted to go to the shops to keep warm at home, drawing on their stocks of canned or frozen.

The boots are hot

"There should be a trend to fewer trips to the supermarket. But when it's cold like this, people need calories, with products such as starches, pasta, potatoes. And still fresh such as yogurt, "says Flecher.

"So the races are going to be, but people will focus their shopping in one location, often in large shopping centers rather than in small stores downtown," he said. Textile side, the cold should benefit winter items that had previously suffered a very mild winter. "On this end of period balances, in a extremely cold weather, we expect a very positive impact that will sell for the series easily," says Arrow.

For example, the site selling shoes Sarenza recorded this week "historical peaks" of sales of fur boots and après-ski. "Until now, with mild temperatures, you could dress like in October. But from -5 to -8 degrees, if you have a coat a little short, go buy one soon," noted M . Desouches. "It also benefits the accessories like gloves and hats." "It is rather positive, it can sell the jackets we have not sold the previous week," said Jean-Marc Genis, president of the Federation of brands of clothing (FEH, chains).

"There is no rush," said Bertrand Morvan, president of the National Federation of the clothing (FNH, independent), but the cold "can sell stocks that might have been difficult to sell. " In contrast, the new summer collections "are struggling to leave."

The leader of New Democracy, one of the three member parties of the coalition government of Lucas Papademos, reiterated that his word was enough and that a written guarantee was unnecessary.

But European leaders fear that political parties are reluctant to implement unpopular reforms before the elections on February 19.

Samaras has already announced its intention to obtain an absolute majority at the polls to renegotiate the terms of the plan for European support.

"With regard to the discussion I had with the troika and the specific issue written guarantees, I would have said my position," said the Conservative leader after the interview.

"THERE WILL BE A SOLUTION"

By refusing to sign the document submitted by the troika, the economist would jeopardize the payment of the next tranche of aid. Creditors are willing to block eight billion euros needed to Athens to avoid default next month.

Political analysts believe, however, a compromise that allows both sides to save face will be found.

"One way or another, there will be a way around the problem.

Wolfgang Schäuble told the German weekly Focus that Italy would be able to overcome its difficulties, resulting from a crisis of confidence in the markets.

"The economic data are not real bad. You just deal with the problems (…) These can be solved by Italy herself.What Rome has to overcome is nothing compared to the mountain to be climbed Greece, "he argues.

Although Europe has a Stability and Growth supposed to intervene much earlier, it is necessary that members act more in the EU, said Schäuble.

"The pressure of the crisis has effects that would not be possible otherwise (…) greater the crisis, the greater the need for change, he says.

At 311.7 million euros, sales of the group recorded organic growth of 8.8%, Orpea said in a statement.

"The dynamics related to both France and abroad, including the continued rise of Belgium and Italy," said Yves Le Masne, CEO of Orpea, quoted in this release.

It says that the group confirmed "with serenity, its goal of a turnover of 1,230 million euros (27.5%) accompanied by sustained profitability" for the full year 2011 .

The government does not expand the new tax on soda beverages containing sweeteners such as the National Assembly proposes to finance the lower cost of agricultural labor, said Thursday the budget minister Valérie Pécresse. Asked by Canal + on the position of the State in this new provision added by the Finance Committee of the Assembly on Wednesday, the spokesman of the government remained unclear. "It is the wishes of the parliament, we will discuss. But it will be to finance the lower cost of agricultural labor," she was merely responding.The aim is to "enable our farmers to sell their products to the same price as Germany and Spain," said Valérie Pécresse.

For about half the tax, revised help reduce the cost of ongoing work in the agricultural sector, which suffers from a lack of competitiveness against many of its competitors such as Germany, Spain or Italy. The rest will include health insurance. Initially, this tax on soft drinks would bring 120 million euros and should not apply to beverages with artificial sweeteners.

The new tax on soft drinks has doubled and extended to beverages containing sweeteners Wednesday in the Committee on Finance of the Assembly, it should yield more than double, or 250 million euros.The surplus revenue to the state expected from the doubling must be used to finance a reduction in the cost of agricultural labor, said a UMP Amendment / New Centre approved in committee in the review of the draft budget 2012.

6.22 euros per hectolitre

Initially, the tax on soft drinks would bring 120 million euros and should not apply to beverages with artificial sweeteners. But "these drinks, which are not basic necessities, benefit from the reduced VAT rate. They must be able to handle the additional load generated by this new contribution," said Michel Diefenbacher (UMP) in a sub-amendment.

Currently, the wine is subject to VAT of 19.6%, while water and soft drinks are taxed at 5.5%.The rate of contribution of soft drinks will be increased to 6.22 euros per hectolitre will be increased from the beginning of 2013, to January 1 of each year, at a rate equal to inflation (excluding tobacco) of the preliminary last year. Sought by the AFP, the National Association of Food Industries (Ania) was not immediately available for comment Wednesday night the decision to expand the tax soda products with sweeteners. The Government will reduce in 2012 to 210 million payroll taxes on permanent farms in order to "improve competitiveness", Nicolas Sarkozy announced Tuesday.

In addition € 130 million from the tax on soft drinks, the exemption of social contributions of farmers on permanent employment will be funded by 80 million euros from a reduction of a tax on heating oil for professional use.The domestic consumption tax (TIC) of heating oil used as diesel fuel for professional use will be increased from 5.66 to 7.20 euros per hectolitre, as a New Centre-UMP amendment also passed Wednesday. Finally, the cost of a farm worker is expected to fall to one euro per hour, as repeatedly promised the Minister of Agriculture, Bruno Le Maire.

The announcement of the creation of the tax, 24 August, as part of the austerity plan Fillon, had angered the industry, outraged that the government justify this contribution in the fight against obesity. The French subsidiary Coca-Cola had even threatened to suspend an investment of 17 million euros in one of its plants, in the Bouches-du-Rhone, before turning back to the outcry from politicians.

"It is fundamental that there is a policy coordination between countries to weather the current international situation," said Brazilian President Rousseff after meeting officials of the European Council and Commission in Brussels.

"The absence of effective regulation of the financial system is causing the problem," she said.

The economy dominated an annual summit that normally relations in trade and investment.The inability of the EU to find an effective parry to his debt problems upset Brasilia, Washington and Beijing, while market confidence is affected by fears of a global recession.

The leaders of both parties were critical financial regulation more effective in preventing future crises and to prevent national economic problems will spread to other countries or regions.

"We need to overhaul the global financial architecture in order to avoid financial crises in the future," said Herman Van Rompuy later, European Council President, representatives of business circles in Europe and Brazil.

GROWTH, advocates Rousseff

The EU leaders, who will meet this month before the G20 summit scheduled for November in Cannes (France), will have a more united front against economic hardship, said Van Rompuy.

"A strong and coordinated action is necessary to prevent the global economy falls into recession. The EU and Brazil will cooperate closely to prevent this from happening at the G20 summit in Cannes, he added.We must cooperate more on trade and exchange rates. "

Dilma Rousseff, whose country has itself gone through a debt crisis in the 1980s before re-emerge as a major economic power, said that "holders of tax adjustments recession" made when Brazil had problems of debt, had aggravated his stagnation.

"We can end the crisis by stimulating economic growth," she said on the occasion of his first visit to the EU as president.

The EU is the largest trading partner of Brazil, and European investments in this country represent more than all of those of the Union in China, India and Russia.

Brazil wants greater involvement of the EU's leading industries such as telecommunications, oil extraction and refining. For its part, the EU hopes to benefit from a Brazilian economy that recorded last year a growth rate of 7.5%, its fastest in 24 years.

However, discussions on a free trade agreement between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur, dominated by Brazil and Argentina, are deadlocked.

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.

At 9:36, the CAC 40 index advances 2.79% at 2939.25 points after taking 1.75% Monday, with a volatility index down 4.31% to 47.81 points.

According to the U.S. television network CNBC, which cited a European financial responsibility, a special fund could be created through the European Investment Bank to issue bonds and purchase of European sovereign debt.Bonds could also serve as collateral for the ECB, CNBC added.

Austria's Ewald Nowotny, a member of the Governing Council of the ECB, for its part, said at a conference at Harvard University, an increase in the size of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) was likely but would probably not as important as what some people expect, "not the order of a thousand billion" euros.

The "rally" bear markets are more violent, says Frederic Buzare, head of equity management at Dexia Asset Management, which has 85 billion euros of assets under management.The rebound will not last if investors do not get clear action plan to resolve the crisis, he added.

In this type of policy-driven market, it's all about the risk premium. The valuation ratios are no longer relevant, adds the manager.We spend more time reading the statements of leaders (political) to study the balance sheets of companies, he says.

For his part, U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday night that the crisis of European debt was "afraid the world" and that European leaders attacked the problem but not as quickly as needed.

Other major European markets, the London Stock Exchange gained 2.1%, the Frankfurt 3.2% and 2.6% in Milan, while the pan-European index STOXX 50 wins almost 3%.

Bank stocks are still at the top of increases in the CAC 40, with a gain of more than 9% for BNP Paribas, over 8% for Societe Generale and more than 7% for Credit Agricole. Axa takes 7.8%.The index of banks in Europe advance 3.5% /

But all sectors benefiting from the rebound on Tuesday, including cyclic, with a rebound of 4.5% of the index motor and 4.1% of commodities that had posted the weakest performance yesterday.

A barrel of U.S. light crude rose 2.6% to 82.29 dollars and Brent from 1.2% to 105.22 dollars, causing the oil companies and related industries in its wake.

The performance of the German government bond (Bund) and 10 years is around 1.9% against 1.8% the day before closing, while the euro is stable against the greenback around 1.3530 dollar.

Introduction of competition, changes in schedules, increased work on the tracks … The coming months will be decisive for the station. To cope, the railway company decided to beef up its commercial and services. And it aims to establish a "contract of confidence" with its customers. Will this work? Give us your opinion.

Map 12-30 years

The group announced the extension of the card 12-25 years, 12-30 years is a map. From September 28 until the end of the year, SNCF pushes the age of youth.The launch on the occasion of 30 years of TGV, which will be celebrated on Saturday, allowing the station to make a real test for a possible final implementation, according to information entrusted to the AFP a source close the file. Information that the station denied this time. Only 400,000 copies of this limited edition of the card will be sold to the public.

"It is through the revealing of the SNCF," said Thierry Sarnez, managing director of the association of consumer and user CLCV. "It sets up shots, which complicate even more marketing offers. A new service is created and disappears after three months. How can the user find it," he says. "This is an interesting measure. But why be limited to 400,000 copies? Is completely discriminatory.Only those who have purchased the benefit from faster "adds Michel Pottier, president of the Avuc, association of users of railway.

The station is also in the process of setting up a system of financial compensation for passengers traveling standing or sitting in the hallway when they took a TGV overbooked.

Readability prices and schedules

Some measures will be implemented to improve the readability of hours. The controllers are equipped with such smart phones, enabling them to respond more readily to customer questions. It also strengthens its offer of support for children only from 4 to 14 who will also be open on weekends plus school holidays.

In terms of prices, the railway company also announced changes. In 2012, it can freely adjust its prices according to the attendance lines.Faced with fears of an increase in these rates, the group is adamant: "The SNCF does not seek to raise prices, and believes that such a development has no place." Two concrete measures are emerging in this context: the removal of periods 'peak' and 'normal', and the establishment of a flexible schedule. "Indeed, the station will undertake to sell a certain percentage of tickets" at a price lower than the reference rate (2nd class full fare, without giving further clarification for now.

It also wants to move towards greater clarity on prices. On the back of tickets, the website or guides, minimum and maximum prices for the same journey, will be shown, so that the client has a clearer view of pricing. "We need more transparency. This is the median price must be indicated.And why not show, for example, tariffs on screens in stations, "asks Thierry Sarnez." Today, the person who wants to travel by train never know what it will pay, "laments Michael Pottier.

According to AFP, the station also plans to limit the number of different rates for the same journey. "It would be perfect. According to one of our surveys, it happens that prices are 20 for the same car. This abnormal" deplores the managing director of CLCV.

A revolution schedules

These efforts at transparency are even more pressing that the group is preparing for a revolution of his times. Over 80% of them should change. "It's an upheaval as great as the changeover to the euro," said Guillaume Pepy SNCF president at a recent seminar. And he added that "it never happened" to change so many times at once.Indeed, on average, only 30% are changed in one go.

"The SNCF has ensured, in this context forced the new organization, to provide the best possible offer to customers." provide a statement. The group intends to propose a "more robust, and limiting delays. On the TGV, it promises many places during peak hours to 9-10 hours on arrival at Paris, and from 17h in the evening , opportunities to combine its travel, the day or half day of opening hours on weekends, or an improvement of connections between TGV and TER.

SNCF jusitife this "revolution" with the launch of the Paris-Rhin-Rhone (which in turn has implications for other lines), or the multitude of planned work on the network. "There's four years of work with high-dose mile modernization projects each year," said Mr.Pepy, who had already called for "understanding and patience" of users and the "general interest".

But the schedule change also reflects the timing of development, the principle is to operate trains on the same line at regular hours. For example every hour or every two hours, the same trains serving the same stops succeed in a given station at regular time intervals. SNCF wants to spend the percentage of train subject to this requirement from 8 to 16%.

Of long distance bus station to the study

Finally, the station has not only eyes fixed on the rail. The group could in fact engage in passenger transport by bus over long distances to compete with Eurolines, which opened this summer selling his first six interregional links in France. According to Thierry Sarnez, it would be "an admission of failure.SNCF admit that its own trains are not competitive. It begins with a few bus lines … Then it can develop. "However, Mr Pepy ensure that rail remains the 'backbone' of the group."

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.