Fuel consumption begins to decline

The specter of 2008, marked by a significant decline in fuel consumption reporting the recession in the industrialized countries, is he trying to re-emerge? The figures for the month of February – during which oil prices have been propelled to the top – will not be released until next week. But signs of a change in driver behavior are already there. These signs, especially those that are full split – or "little full," between 10 and 15 euros – evidenced by several operators. The phenomenon is not new, as noted in Total, but it now tends to intensify. There is also the increased use of carpooling.Frédéric Mazzella, president of covoiturage cash advances pay day loan.fr – the main market player, with some 960,000 members – referred to a traffic increase of 16% over the last three weeks: "Every day, between 60,000 and 80,000 people log on site, with a balanced ratio of about three passengers for a driver. "Frederic Mazzella take the example of a Paris-Lyon motorway, which currently costs about 90 euros (60 euros plus 30 euros for fuel toll): "The driver will be able to recover all variable costs, however, fixed costs, beginning with the depreciation of the vehicle, remain in her care."

Threshold effect

The French remain faithful to traditional media

Click on the thumbnail to enlarge the graphic.

The French are increasingly "médiavores, and traditional media continue to offer a great resistance to the inexorable rise of digital media. According to the annual study "Media in Life" performed by Médiamétrie, on the habits of media consumption, the number of daily contacts on average during the week with different media is increasing. In 2008, the average French person was 38.6 contacts per day with media. Today there are 41. It is the consumption of the Internet by young people who boosts attendance of the media. Now, 56% of French people aged 13 and older use the Web as against 44% in 2008."But so far, do not overlook the increased use of new media more traditional television, radio, print or film," said Jamila Yahia Messaoud, director of media center behavior and ad hoc Médiamétrie. If the mainstream media see their practice to stabilize, is that their scope for growth is low: 99% of the population are already in contact with them.

Consumer qualitative

The study also confirms that more Médiamétrie you get older, we develop a more assiduous traditional media. This year, the institute was interested especially in case of "emancipated youth" under 30 years who recently left the family home. Very large consumers of media, these young total daily average of 11.5 contacts with television, radio with 9.5 and 9.1 with the Internet.These specialists use of multiple media. At the same time, "youth at home 'under 25 years show respectively 9.9 contacts with the small screen, 6.1 and 6.6 with the radio with the Internet. "In young emancipated, consumption is more qualitative since come back more in a single day," Jamila analysis Yahia Messaoud. "Interestingly, she notes, these two populations engaged in the same proportions Internet, since it brings together seven out of 10 during the day." These are adolescents between 13 and 17 years, always at home, who are most addicted to digital. They have 19 contacts per day with the Internet, a video game or a mobile cons 21 contacts with the traditional television, radio or press.

For telephone use, the study shows that the more we grow, the less one uses his mobile.Those under 25 are in contact daily with 9.1 times their mobile when emancipated youth are only 6.2 times. These tend to use the landline which is free as part of triple play. Same phenomenon for the game, when young people leave home, they play less: only 15% of them practice the game against 30% for the youngest. "However, the study said, the practice of music and video is the same" whether you are young or a little less.

SNCF line repaired vandalized, trains leave

At the critical moment of crossover holiday in February, about 30,000 passengers were affected by an act of vandalism on a line in the Alps, the SNCF said. "A malicious act has been committed so far (…) near Albertville. Cables were severed with a saw, seriously disrupting traffic in the Tarentaise valley, "SNCF said in a statement.

The railway line was repaired vandalized at 18h, allowing trains stuck between Bourg-Saint-Maurice Chambery and recovering gradually, said the station and the prefecture of Savoy. "The trains leave the circulation is restored," said the chief of staff of the Prefect of Savoy, Xavier Idier.Shortly before 19h, no more train was stuck in the Tarentaise valley, but 400 to 500 passengers were still in the station of Albertville, 400 to 500 in one of Moutiers, and from 1000 to 1500 passengers waiting to leave Bourg-Saint Maurice. "The incident is closed," confirmed a spokeswoman for regional station, explains that the movement was "slowly" resumed.

"Sabotage"

"Being a weekend announced long as particularly responsible, SNCF deplores and strongly condemns this new act of malice, which resembles a form of sabotage."A term by the Minister of Transport Thierry Mariani: "If it turns out to sabotage it, I hope that justice will be exemplary rigor, because tens of thousands of passengers, dozens of thousands of families will undergo five hours, six hours, seven hours late because of some thugs, "he said.

"An investigation is underway," said SNCF. "Three cables, signal and power were cut" in the morning on-line Chambery Bourg-Saint-Maurice, extremely busy this time of return and departure on vacation, said a spokeswoman for the Regional SNCF. In early afternoon, repairs were still ongoing. The return to normalcy is not expected until the evening.

A period of very heavy traffic

"Until 13:30, twenty trains were affected.The problem is that we are in times of high traffic, "she said. Delays of between three and five hours are expected. The incident occurred in full crossover vacationers and skiers of different areas of school holidays.

"My TER was to leave at 11 am from Bourg-Saint-Maurice left with thirty minutes late. The train was then locked one hour, "says an AFP journalist stuck in a train to Lyon, with no information on the time that his train will arrive. "The TER is full. All vacationers who are descended from Tignes and other stations are mounted in Bourg-Saint-Maurice. There are plenty of people who will miss their connecting flight to Paris or Toulon …», he concludes philosophically.

SNCF evokes an act of vandalism, not theft.Society is increasingly faced with flight cables, particularly copper, which have doubled with the soaring prices, causing delays for trains. In September 2010, SNCF counted forty flights per week cable and assessed his damages at several million euros.

More information about delays here.

(With AFP)

ALSO READ:

"Rhone-Alps: traffic jams holidays

"The SNCF, the main victim of metal theft

Fiat will invest 20 billion euros in Italy

It is time for calm in Italy. The automaker Fiat has confirmed that Saturday's willingness to invest 20 billion euros into the country, the government said in a statement following a meeting between the president and managing director of Fiat, John Elkann and Sergio Marchionne , and Silvio Berlusconi.

Fiat has "confirmed the government's intention to pursue development objectives of the group, which forecast an increase of production in this country of 650,000 to 1.4 million cars a year, a goal supported by an investment of about $ 20 billion euros, "the statement said.The government was ready for its part, to help Fiat to develop in "the best conditions for competitiveness."

The meeting, also attended the Italian ministers of Economy and Industry, and officials of the Piedmont where the headquarters of the manufacturer, was intended to calm the anxiety provoked by the statements of the Sergio Marchionne about a possible tie-Chrysler Fiat. "Fiat and Chrysler? In the next two or three years we can see a single entity. It could be based here in the U.S., "he had launched in last weekend during a visit to San Francisco.

Headquarters, the debate could resurface in 2014

Fiat now owns 25% stake in Chrysler and the two partners hope to produce 6 million vehicles in 2014, against less than 4 million now installment payday loans.The possibility of a merger had already been considered. But the evocation of a head office based in the United States has created a chill in Italy, forcing the CEO of the manufacturer to return immediately to his remarks. By phone, he assured the Minister Maurizio Sacconi of Labor that no transfer of headquarters was expected "either today or tomorrow." He reiterated that the hypotheses only referred to "possible future scenarios."

To dispel any misunderstanding, the Fiat management has, however, of clarifying strategies with government and local authorities on Saturday. "All the controversies are now closed," then found Paolo Romani, the Minister of Industry. "Fiat is a big multinational that grows in the world but still with a heart of Italy." The mayor of Turin Sergio Chiamparino, was more cautious.He said Fiat had confirmed its "Italian character" but "in a changing dynamic that requires daily work to ensure that this does not change." In fact, as the president of the province of Turin, Antonio Saitta, the conditions that the city remains the headquarters of the group "will be discussed in 2014."

(With AFP)

ALSO READ:

"The Fiat-Chrysler merger puts Italy in turmoil

"Fiat splits to achieve its ambitions

Samsung builds its world domination

Despite a decline in fourth quarter, Samsung shows an annual profit up 40% in 2010 to 16,150 billion won (10.6 billion) with sales up 13.5% over 101 billion euros. Korean displays an insolent net margin of 10.4%, against 7.2% in 2009. The cash of 14.7 billion euros it also leaves the field to fund its various expansion plans.

Samsung bringing a growth of 40% of the market of mobile telephony this year, to nearly 1.4 billion phones sold worldwide, with a marked acceleration in demand for Smartphone. Korean has much advantage of this craze and put on a doubling in sales of smartphones this year. The good performance of the S Galaxy, its flagship Android-powered smartphone to maximize the incentive cash advance loan no fax.With 10 million copies sold in one semester, it represents one third of iPhone sales. The tablet group, the Galaxy Tab, also honorable debut on the market.

Good behavior screens

The Korean has nevertheless been affected by falling prices of components (memory and LCD panels) for the computing market and television. But he believes that a low has probably been reached. And to expect a recovery or stabilization of prices. Supply difficulties encountered by some manufacturers and a rebound in commodity prices are likely to contribute to relief of rates. In addition, Samsung will expand its range of TV screens to meet the growing demand for LCDs, especially in the entry level.

Home Savings Plan renovated from March 1

In 2011, many rules are changing in real estate. Besides the introduction of a new zero-interest loan and a Scellier recast the terms of the Plan Epargne Logement (PEL) will be upgraded from 1 March. The decree on the reform of the financial investment has been popular previously published this Tuesday morning in the Journal Officiel. The stated objective of the Ministry of Economy is to "modernize and enhance its attractiveness for the consumer, mainly by boosting its earnings.

With a salary remained unchanged at 2.5% since 2003 and access to mortgage rates higher than the market, the ELP was losing ground among investors since 2004. However, this investment allows them to be a personal contribution to a property purchase, according to its original purpose to promote homeownership.It also represents an important financial resource for banks, which contributes to the funding of loans. According to the statement released Tuesday by Christine Lagarde, outstanding ELP now represents 23% of mortgages. Yet this investment is in decline since 2005.

A higher rate of 0.4 points on average

The method of calculating the remuneration of the ELP will be changed for all accounts opened from 1 March bad credit payday advance. Previously set by the government, the applicable rate will now be recalculated each year based on market interest rates. A floor rate, at 2.5%, gives an advantage compared to PEL savings accounts for which no minimum payment is expected."With the proposed formula rate ELP would have been higher each year on average from 0.4 points to what he has been over the last ten years," argues Christine Lagarde said in a statement.

In contrast, mortgage rates which gives access ELP is not lowered, and will remain unchanged at 4.2% minimum. A rate higher than those charged by banks currently, the average granted last November for a 15-year loan amounting to 3.22%, a historic low. But the government expects the next rate hike to reinforce the advantage of the ELP. Another pitfall for the consumer: the taxation of investment will be slightly hardened, with a collection of social contributions made each year, when he intervened before the end of ten years. A tax system "more legible to the consumer," according to Christine Lagarde.

Snow: London wants a law to pay at airports

The tone rises in the UK, after several days of chaos during which the air traffic was paralyzed at London's Heathrow Airport. The British government wants to introduce new legislation which will impose heavy fines at airports where passenger travel were severely affected before Christmas, "said Transport Minister Philip Hammond The Sunday Times.

"There should be a financial penalty for failure of service," said the minister Sunday newspaper. Therefore, he advocated the adoption of new laws that would give more powers to regulators, such as civil aviation authority (CAA). The latter took the view not be able to impose a fine at Heathrow, the busiest airport in Europe, in the current legislative framework.For Philip Hammond, it is "unacceptable" that the operator of Heathrow, the group under Spanish capital BAA is not punished.

Tens of millions of pounds

"We should give greater importance to passenger satisfaction and performance of airports," said Transport Minister, citing the penalties of tens of millions of pounds. According to the British press, the fine could reach 63 million pounds (74 million), representing 7% of airport charges. BAA announced Thursday the launch of an external investigation into the chaos caused by snow, while traffic was slowly returning to normal.Thousands of stranded travelers spent several nights in the terminals of Heathrow on the floor waiting for their flight.

BAA said on Sunday "welcomed" the idea of new legislation "to improve the situation of passengers at British airports." "We will, of course, our full part in discussions about government disruptions due to bad weather this year and we will make public the results of our own investigation, "said a spokeswoman.

British Prime Minister David Cameron had said on Tuesday "frustrated" that it is necessary that long to improve the situation in the London airport same day payday loans. Under fire from critics, the CEO of BAA, Colin Matthews, had indicated he would forgo his bonus this year to year."We had a crisis, I am responsible," he said in an interview given to Sky News video. In 2009, Colin Matthews hit a bonus of 944,000 pounds (1.11 million).

A "Snow Plan" insufficient

In a survey of the conditions that led to the paralysis of traffic at Heathrow, The Sunday Telegraph says "Snow Plan" provided by the London airport did not give sufficient resources to fight against heavy weather and this, while that the government had asked the operators since last summer to revise and strengthen it. Heathrow has not been the only airport to suffer interruptions of traffic across the Channel. Scottish airports Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as other London airports (Gatwick, Luton and City) have also been affected.

In France, where the air traffic returned to normal at Paris on Saturday, the Minister of Transportation and Ecology Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, called an "inspection visit" about the lack of glycol, liquid defrosting. The initial findings will be made January 10. For the European Commission, the disturbances that have occurred in the major European airports in recent weeks are "unacceptable." Transport Commissioner, Siim Kallas, discussed the possible establishment of a "minimum service" airports in the European Union.

(With agencies)

ALSO READ:

"Great Britain: survey after the chaos at Heathrow

"Roissy: inspection mission on the lack of glycol

"Airports: Brussels wants a minimum service

The bosses of the CAC 40 were paid 14% less in 2009

Like every year, Proxinvest publishes its figures, highly anticipated, the compensation of executives of major French companies. Data that still raise debates about the value of work: on average, bosses (CEOs) of the CAC 40 have received a total remuneration (fixed and variable pay, stock options and shares) which in 2009 amounted to some 3.1 million euros. "This is 211 times the minimum wage, compared Pierre-Henri Leroy, the director general of the cabinet.On the SBF 120 (the index of the Bourse de Paris which has the 120 largest companies listed), the average $ 2.1 million.

The study emphasizes that Proxinvest for CEOs of the CAC 40, the average total compensation down 14% (-20% at constant sample) with a stable center, this after two years of declining average higher by 25% in 2008 and 17% in 2007, while the other leaders of the SBF 120 have seen them, their earnings eroded by 14% in 2009 after already 17% decline in 2008 payday advances. "This reflects some of these exemplary patterns" said Pierre-Henri Leroy.

Where does this new downturn? It is primarily the part that weighs shareholder: staffing options and restricted stock was reduced by an average of 46%.The share of wages fixed, variable, and "incidental" in the total amount received by the CEOs are still reinforces the CAC 40: 54% in 2007 to 6% in 2008 and 76% for 2009, and to the SBF 120 (excluding CAC 40) of 56% in 2007 to 64% in 2008 and 72% in 2009.

Carlos Ghosn in the crosshairs

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault has reached over 8 million euros. Photo credits: MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP

The "revolution" Eric Cantona is emulated

Some 38,000 members to the group entitled "On 7 December, we will all withdraw our money from banks" should meet on Tuesday to call for the former footballer. The buzz created by Eric Cantona was even echoed in several European countries like the United Kingdom, where the former football remains an icon – the one that the English nickname "King Eric" was voted player of the century "of English club Manchester United.

Calling Cantona echoed in Europe

Nearly 9000 members in the Facebook "Revolution! 12/07 Let's go there everybody to Withdraw Our Money "(Révolution! the 7 / 12 Let's all pull our money together) say they will empty their accounts. Italy is not far behind with the same number of volontaires.Dans the same time, the video interview of Eric Cantona, was translated into 20 languages on YouTube.

Some try to revive the idea of former footballer while the shade.Thus, MEP Pascal Canfin Ecology of Europe-the Greens and the group "Save the rich" announced Monday they launched a website "jechangedebanque.org" intended to transfer "money from our banks are most harmful to those most commendable. "Among these financial institutions "commendable", the collective and the member cited the Postal Bank, Credit Cooperative and the New Economy fellowship (Nef).

Contrary to the appeal of the former football star Eric Cantona to withdraw their money from banks, MEP, Member of the Commission on Economic and Monetary Affairs, and the collective view in a statement that "this transition collective" does "is not the collapse of the system that it is not clear to whom it would benefit" but "clearly raises the question of regaining control of finance."

"Banks are useful to finance the economy"

For them, "not all banks are created equal and that our money is invested in financial institutions is not a bad thing" because "banks are useful in financing the economy.But some of them have now diverted their function and use of the economy instead of serving, "they wrote, referring to BNP Paribas, Societe Generale or Credit Agricole. Long remained silent on the subject, the banks have finally complained earlier this month, the initiative of the former football star, like some BNP Paribas considering it "insécuritaire. As for the Minister of Economy and Finance, Christine Lagarde, she asked Eric Cantona to stay in his place.

Pascal Canfin and the collective "Save the rich 'call for" responsible drinking "."We prefer that our savings are managed by banks that invest the savings locally, did not participate in the financial casino, refuse to be present in the havens and pay bonuses indecent," they conclude.

Finally, they remind individuals that emptying his bank account is not in a click. For this, we must prevent its establishment in good time. They thus suggest they switch banks. Almost any of the 40,000 agencies that consider the entire French banking network agrees to issue more than 2,000 euros to a customer if it did not warn of his coming beforehand, and as long as their accounts credited with the corresponding amount.

(With AFP)

ALSO READ:

"The revolution according to Cantona

"It will not affect the taxes"

Following in the footsteps of the Economy Minister, Christine Lagarde, Minister of Budget, Baroin said on Europe 1 radio on Monday that the tax would be at the heart of government action for the 18 months of the quinquennium. "We are working on convergence with the German tax system and we want to initiate a broad discussion about taxes in general with a dual purpose, that tax reform is seen as fair by everyone and that it is a tool for development economy. The work that lies ahead is the creation of employment, that investment, "said the minister.

Asked about the possibility of increasing the tax burden, Baroin is adamant: "All the discussions that took place in the National Assembly on these issues are very clear. The government line is do not touch the tax, "he said.It ensures that neither corporation tax nor income tax, nor VAT, the CSG and CRDS will suffer an increase.

Baroin ensures that the government has the means to act

Budget Minister says the government will nevertheless means of its action, especially on social issues. "The issue is not money but of method, organization and timing." According to him, a country that spends 56% of its national wealth to sustain its action "has something to do."He also welcomed the effort will be made next year to reduce the deficit of the country: "Next year, we made a historic deficit reduction: Never in history we will have reduced the deficit 40% in a single year. "

Baroin appointed spokesman of the government reshuffle at the Sunday evening, also said that the new government reflects "perfectly sensitivity of construction, the founding pact of the UMP and the political landscape that will in fact condition the 18 months to help the country to win an election. " According to him, "this term is dominated by a global crisis that has brought down our recipes (…) and requires both to continue the movement that was prompted in 2007 and at the same time has shown that the country is left in good order.The trial will focus on the French mandate Nicolas Sarkozy will be on a single question: Did he or not handled the crisis. "

ALSO READ:

"Taxation German inspiration for Sarkozy

"Lagarde: a" revolutionary "government

"Lagarde-Baroin, a duo that will have to find the right tone