Manipulation. The word has been uttered by Andrew Cuomo, the Minister of Justice of the State of New York. The latter accused Bank of America (BofA), the largest bank in the United States, having committed a "huge fraud" during the merger with Merrill Lynch. He said the former BofA CEO Kenneth Lewis and his former chief financial officer Joe Price, while two continued, would have deliberately hidden the huge losses at Merrill Lynch for a massive federal assistance.

This "arrogant maneuver" after Andrew Cuomo, would have allowed BofA to validate the merger by the shareholders. Once the transaction is approved, the management of Bank of America has made public the statement of loss and "manipulated the federal government to save the deal with billions of taxpayer dollars, claiming falsely that it would cease the agreement without assistance.

The bank responded by saying "disappointed" and said its leaders had always been "good faith". The respective lawyers of Kenneth Lewis and Joe Price state that the accusations are baseless.

150 million dollars in penalties

In addition to these criticisms, the SEC, the gendarme of the Exchange in the United States, announced Thursday that the agreement to settle other lawsuits related to the acquisition of Merrill Lynch now amounted to 150 million cash advance payday loan . The first agreement concluded in August 2009 set out the penalties owed by Bank of America to 33 million.

The SEC alleges that BofA for hiding its shareholders having authorized its future subsidiary Merrill Lynch $ 3.6 billion in bonuses despite losses of the latter in 2008.

The new deal announced Thursday provides for further measures to strengthen the bank's procedures, including the stipulation that shareholders will now have their say on remuneration of the management team. It must still be approved by Judge Jed Rakoff, who had refused last summer how the first agreement.

The SEC also announced that the proceeds of the fine will be distributed to shareholders penalized by the actions of the bank.

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Optimism has assembled at the meeting on Monday is no longer valid. It is now time for hesitation. At half past one in the opening, the Dow Jones future is at equilibrium: 0.02% at 10,137 points, the Nasdaq future is 0.20% at 1802 points and the S & P fell by 0.10% to 1092 points. The wait looming for this meeting due to a series of bad news from Asia. Firstly, several Chinese banks have decided to suspend their loan in January, reviving fears of a credit crunch in the country. Then, Standard & Poor's Tuesday placed under "negative outlook" rating of the long-term debt of Japan, thereby indicating that it plans to lower it.This decision concerns the recovery of markets for public finance states that have spent heavily to fight the global economic crisis.

In Europe and Asia this morning, the mood is rather low point. Attention and caution are in order before a series of published statistics.

Before opening, 15 hours, U.S. investors will know the price index S & P real estate. At 16 hours, the Federal Housing Finance Agency will publish its house price index. At the same time, markets will see the index of consumer confidence and investors.

Apple supervised

The value to follow today is Apple. The group of Steve Jobs announced Monday night for its first quarter of fiscal year 2009-2010 a quarterly revenue 15.68 billion, up 32% over one year and a quarterly profit of 3 38 billion dollars.After Market Monday, the title had yet eroded as 0.82%, investors preferring to wait until Wednesday and the presentation of the latest creation of the group (probably a touch pad) before deciding. They are also disappointed by the performance of the iPhone which has sold 8.7 million copies against the 9 million expected. On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Apple to $ 250, same for JPMorgan ($ 240) and Barclays (265 dollars).

Yahoo! will also be monitored. The Internet giant releases its annual results after market payday loans . Google the title should also react.

DuPont has announced a profit of $ 441 million in the fourth quarter against a loss of 629 million a year later.Brought back in action, this equates to earnings of $ 0.48, well above the $ 0.41 expected by the market.

Verizon Communications has announced a net loss of $ 653 million in the fourth quarter against a profit of 1.24 billion a year earlier. The group affected by the cost to attract new customers, however, having seduced announces 2.2 million mobile wireless customers in the quarter, a figure that exceeds the expectations of Wall Street.

Travelers reported, before market, with net earnings up sharply from 60% to 1.285 billion in the fourth quarter. Brought back in action, this is equivalent to 2.12 dollars, above the $ 1.49 expected by analysts.The turnover reached 5.188 billion dollars over the period, down 4% yoy.

Delta Airlines, world's largest airline, announced on Tuesday a net loss of $ 25 million in the fourth quarter, down sharply compared to the 1.438 billion recorded a year earlier. Revenues rose 1% to 6.805 billion dollars, but less than the 6.86 billion expected by analysts.

Texas Instruments has released Exchange Monday after a profit of $ 655 million in the fourth quarter, better than expected by analysts. Side prediction, said the group receiving a high demand on all markets.STMicroelectronics, which publishes its results after the stock market should react in the fuolée.

Johnson & Johnson has announced a net profit in the fourth quarter above expectations at 2.2 billion dollars.

Amgen reported late Monday as forecasts in line with expectations for 2010 earnings per share excluding exceptional items, of $ 1.05 per track while analysts had forecast $ 1.12 on average.

VMware has announced that its 2010 revenues could increase by 21% to 26% after an increase of 8% in 2009 and reported quarterly earnings well above expectations.

All the big names in the electronics world is found in Las Vegas. All except Apple, which looks January 27 to make a revolutionary new listing, which may take competitors by surprise.

Since late 2009, it seems clear that the firm will make an apple Internet Tablet to be called islation. The announcement will take place in late January, because Apple has rented a conference room in San Francisco. But the date of its Internet Tablet, which would have a multi-touch screen 25 to 28 centimeters diagonally, is only scheduled for the second quarter of 2010. Indeed, one of the subcontractors Taiwanese Apple said establishing a production of screens and aluminum chassis which should start next month. "It will not take long to assemble the different elements.But output in the second quarter is what we envision, "said an anonymous source to Reuters.

It seems that islation, including a video circulated on the Internet is the answer to Apple's digital media books. It is the first color. This could lead to the creation of a new department of sales on the iTunes website.

Competitors eclipsed

But it would be difficult to know now than to give this one new activity. The new product Apple should allow you to download applications, listening to music, watching movies, into a true entertainment product while traveling. It would be more appropriate than the iPod touch and iPhone, whose screen is too small (9 cm) to qualify for comfortable vision. Islation with the Cupertino company remains true to its business model winner.It sells very expensive and a revolutionary product takes the services market (music, video, books …) that are downloaded on this product. Exits to sell these services at very low prices. Consequently, when Apple makes money, the service providers do not share the crumbs.

This ad may overshadow those of its competitors have made in Las Vegas. Last week, new Internet Tablet, which is a kind of PC without a keyboard but with a multi-touch screen, were presented by almost all PC makers. Among them, the Chinese Lenovo freed from Intel and Microsoft opted for the chips Qualcomm U.S., of Britain's ARM and a Linux operating system. But these are, after all, only computers that are trying to rise from their ashes. Five years ago, a first wave of Tablet PCs had appeared before dying for lack of customers.

Who will succeed Philippe Séguin as its first president in the Court of Auditors? For now, the Dean of Presidents of the Chamber of the Court of Auditors, Alain Pichon, 64, automatically ensures the Acting Senior Chairperson of the institution. The choice of his successor, returned to the Elysee. The Head of State must choose a person internally. Meanwhile, several questions arise, including that around the next hearing solemn Kids are back. Who will preside in effect?

The Court of Auditors has seven bedrooms consist of a Chairman of Board of Advisors masters, counselors, auditors, rapporteurs and experts. Each room is assigned areas of responsibility.

The first president, appointed by decree of the Cabinet is a magistrate irremovable.He divides the powers of the Court between the seven rooms hereby schedule the work of the Court. He addressed the ministers and presidents of organizations controlled by the deliberate observation rooms, communicate to Parliament the reports that were requested and published reports that the Court decided the publication.

Philippe Séguin has to give the Court any influence

Philippe Séguin was appointed July 21, 2004. He succeeded Francois Logerot member since 2005 Committee to honor the bicentennial of the Court of Auditors. Since taking office in 2004, Philippe Séguin has strengthened the influence of the Court. The former president of the National Assembly had given a mission: to give the Court a true institutional and political role. The reports are chained, the advice has taken on a different scale, including greater media coverage.Strong messages but have not really been heard by the government.

For five years, the Court of Auditors has repeatedly expressed its serious concern when the debt of the French state, the explosion of government spending, the necessity of fighting the deficit Security sociale.Sans forget spending the Elysee screened.

But Philippe Séguin was also set in motion the reform of the Court of Auditors. He wanted to abolish the 22 regional chambers of accounts for the group in some rooms interregional. The former president also believes that the rooms are not dispersed the critical size needed for optimal functioning.

He hopes to coordinate control policy at national level: currently, the rooms are autonomous and define their own control programs.

A project which at the time was presented as a "back hand" by his opponents.

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The carbon tax is passed to the door Tuesday censured by the Constitutional Council. The government promised to submit within three weeks, a new mechanism. Anyway, the series of texts budget voted in recent weeks Finance Act 2010, Act funding Social Security, supplementary budget for 2009 includes several other measures affecting the taxation of households this year. Here are the key.

• Ceiling overall tax loopholes

For income received in 2010, a taxpayer may not reduce their income tax using the tax loopholes (working from home, child care, grants to associations, Scellier …) beyond an amount equal 20 000 plus 8% of its taxable income. Introduced in late 2008, the overall ceiling was far more generous, to 25 000 plus 10% of income.Taxpayers who use the niches Dom-Tom, Scellier, or devices for tourist homes have a respite: they have signed an investment commitment before December 31, 2009, they escaped the drop in overall ceiling .

• Act Scellier

The reduction of income tax, taxpayers enjoyed buying a new home for rent under certain conditions, remains at the same level as in 2009 – representing 25% of the purchase price – for homes purchased in 2010 that they meet or not the standard "building low-power" (BBC). The "greening" starts from 2011 for non-BBC dwellings, the tax cut to 15% next year and 10% in 2012. For homes BBC, it remains at 25% in 2011 and then fell to 20% in 2012.The Scellier disappears at December 31, 2012.

For new housing, the loan rate zero (PTZ) was doubled in 2009 and will continue until June 30, 2009. Photo credits: Pascal SITTLER / REA

Yves Rocher French entrepreneur who founded the brand of beauty products that bears his name, died Saturday in Paris, Lariboisière Hospital. He was 79 years.

Born April 7, 1930 at The Gacilly, a village of Morbihan which he was the mayor (various right) for forty-six years, from 1962 to 2008, Yves Rocher has played the card environmentalist before his time. Having passed through small ads in "Ici Paris" ointment hemorrhoids cons including a Breton healer gave him formula, he founded the famous brand of cosmetics in 1959, supporting its development on the choice of "beauty through plants' and refusing any synthetic product.

In 1965, Yves Rocher is launching a "Green Beauty", now translated into over twenty languages. Focusing initially on sale at a distance, it opens three years later the first store. The following year, he sets up shop in Belgium.After leaving the reins of his business to his son Didier in 1992, he took control in January 1995 after the accidental death of the latter.

"A French industrialist," according to Nicolas Sarkozy

Present in about thirty countries, the Yves Rocher Group achieves a turnover of 2 billion euros, placing it in 18th place worldwide in this sector. Its turnover is three times larger than The Body Shop, its direct competitor bought in 2006 by L'Oreal. Claiming to be "financially healthy, profitable, low debt, despite recent social movements, the group employs over 15,000 people, has nearly 2,000 stores and boasts over 40 million customers.

Saturday, President Nicolas Sarkozy paid tribute to "a French industrialist, inventor of the cosmetics made from plant products and a pioneer of the mail.Yves Rocher, adds a statement of the Presidency, "had managed to build step by step a group serving the beauty of women, invested in the development of sustainable employment and environmental protection, particularly through the Yves Rocher Foundation-Institut de France. "

As the situation worsens indebted French, Crédit Municipal de Paris offers a new personal loan that will follow the fluctuations of the budget of a borrower. "This loan applies for the first time consumer credit adapts to clients' lives that evolves over time," explains the Figaro.fr Emmanuel Bouriez, Director General of Crédit Municipal de Paris. The institution with a social means product support vulnerable people, particularly those that feed on a new project but who have already contracted one or more revolving loans. This new offset their loan reduces the amount of monthly payments when their incomes fall and to revise upwards if they were to increase.To sum borrowed less than 20,000 euros, no guarantee is requested to the borrower and ultimately, the loan will cost "up to three times cheaper" than a revolving credit "classical" says Crédit Municipal de Paris . Proposed by many specialized credit institutions, revolving funds are to make available to the consumer a sum of money on a particular account permanently but whose interest rates very high, usually ranging from 16 to 22%. The phrase "Reducto-flex" as proposed in January by Crédit Municipal de Paris, will match the interest rate personal loans, a rate between 6% and 7%.

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The National Association for Business Economics released its monthly survey on Monday on the state of the U.S. economy in 2010. The real GDP growth should reach them by 2.9% next year, compared with the 2.6% suggested in the previous survey.

"The real GDP growth should be sufficient to rebuild the lost ground during the recession and ensure that the production reaches a record high by the end of 2010," NABE said in a statement.

For the year, the group of economists expects a decline of 2.4% of GDP (against 2.5% previously) and an unemployment rate expected to remain above the 10 threshold % between the fourth quarter 2009 and second quarter 2010.

Since December 2007 and the beginning of the recession that the United States came out, the economy has destroyed 7.3 million jobs, the unemployment rate rising above the symbolic 10% (10.2% precisely) of the workforce in October, the highest since 26 years and a half.

"United States: economic indicators continue to improve

This is the first assessment scales introduced by the radio in the fall. Médiamétrie released Wednesday morning its survey 126 000 Radio for the month of September-October 2009. He confirmed the number one place to RTL, which has nevertheless decreased by 0.4 point to 11.8% of total audience.

But it's really the battle for second place that seems to organize. France Inter, who had claimed the second step to NRJ end of last season, confirmed its position to 10.2% of total audience. First musical France, NRJ now meets 10% of total audience (0.4 points). Declining for several surveys, the station has improved its hearing on the morning, confided in September, Nikos Aliagas. Behind her, Europe is 1 in ambush. Radio generalist group Lagardere rose 0.2 points to 9.7% of total audience.Only 176 000 listeners still separate from the third radio France.

But the largest gains accrue to the general RMC and France Bleu, which rose by 0.6 point to 6.5% reach and 0.7 points to 6.9% of total audience.

The real surprises are in store on the side of music. Long condemned by listening on digital platforms like Deezer, stations that have chosen specific themes are likely to have stabilized or improved their hearing. Fun Radio, specializing in dance, and gaining 0.4 points to 7.2% of the audience, Skyrock, rap station and R'nB, nothing dropped 7.6% of its audience. The musical adult NRJ, Cherie FM (+0.4), Nostalgia (-0.1) and Rire et Chansons (0.5) also take their pin gameOnly the style pop-rock has not yet managed to transform the test: RTL 2 fell by 0.4 points, Virgin Radio (Lagardère) dropped 1.2 points.

It only took five months to Daniel Button to return to the economic scene. After his resignation from his position as President of Societe Generale in late April in a particularly tense atmosphere marked by the Kerviel affair and the scandal of stock options, the former tax inspector has launched his own consulting firm based The newspaper Les Echos.

With a capital inmate in full by its founder, the consulting company "European vocation" has already concluded a first contract with the investment bank Rothschild & Cie in Europe, outside France, according to Les Echos.

This transaction has been facilitated by the proximity between Daniel Bouton and Francois Henrot, head of Rothschild, which had supported its counterpart particularly during periods of controversy as the former director of Societe Generale had been through.