Caterpillar reported Monday a record turnover and a 44% jump in profit in the third quarter, well above analysts' expectations.
With demand strong, the world's largest earth-moving machinery and equipment for the mining industry posted net earnings of $ 1.14 billion, or $ 1.71 per share, against 792 million, or 1.22 dollar per share, a year earlier.Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I / B / E / S on average expected $ 1.54 per share.
In pre-market, the title earned 3% after these announcements.
The turnover stood at 15.72 billion dollars between July and September, up 41%, the group called a record, as the market anticipated 15.03 billion dollars.
For all of 2011, Caterpillar said he expected sales to about $ 58 billion, including its recent acquisition of Bacyrus, whereas previously anticipated sales of between 56 and 58 billion.
Earnings per share are now expected to 6.75 dollars for the year, on top of an initial forecast range from 6.25 to 6.75 dollars.
For 2012, Caterpillar expects its sales climbed 10% to 20%.
The U.S. economy continued to grow at a slow pace in September, but prospects appear dim, believes the Federal Reserve in its "beige book" on Wednesday.
"The economy as a whole has continued to grow in September, although many districts described the pace of growth as" modest "or" low "and contacts have generally found a weakening outlook," says the Fed This situation report.
Wall Street and oil prices went up in free fall as a result of this paper while the price of Treasuries rose.
The memo on the economy the Fed is based on data collected before October 7 and deals with all the economic conditions in the 12 Fed districts, which cover the entire United States.
According to the Beige Book, consumer spending rose slightly in most districts, thanks to the automotive industry and tourism.
There was also an increase in business investment, particularly in construction and mining.
While a number of districts have experienced some recovery in construction activity, "the general conditions of real estate – residential as commercial – are still depressed."
Also according to the survey, several districts noted that many retailers are reluctant to build up stocks despite the approach of the holiday season, reflecting a decline in consumer confidence.
This holiday season – which runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas – is at least half the annual turnover of many stores.
Interviewed on CNBC, the president of the Boston Fed Eric Rosengren said the Fed may have to increase support measures if the U.S. economy weakened further or if it was affected by a new shock.
European leaders are putting added pressure on banks to force them to recapitalize and enable them to withstand greater losses than expected on the sovereign debt of the most fragile countries in the euro area.
While being held in Paris the meeting of G20 Finance Friday and Saturday, the market hopes to see political leaders overcome their differences to meet a debt crisis that threatens the stability of the euro area and the strength of the European banking system.
"For now, investors give them the benefit of the doubt," said Patrick Moonen, strategist at ING Investment Management, in a note entitled "Good luck to political leaders."
Pending the outcome of the meeting of finance ministers and central bankers of the G20, the surveillance by Fitch notes several banks – including Barclays, BNP Paribas, Credit Agricole, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank or Societe Generale – show the difficulties faced by banks today.Difficulties that have driven the last weekend the French-Belgian Dexia decommissioning.
In exchange, the banks Friday was the only sector to finish down in Europe (-0.59%).
The President of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated Friday that several European banks needed to be recapitalized.
The crucial step remains the European Council of 23 October at which Germany and France will unveil their proposals for overcoming the crisis. Both countries said they already sealed their agreements without specifying its content.
"We have never been so close to a solution (to the debt crisis, Ed). But this is not done," warns David Thebault, head of quantitative trading at Global Equities."There is concern that the market takes it badly if there is no announcement of precise and detailed plan on October 23 and November 3 (G20 Cannes, Ed).I remain cautious. "
The Franco-German proposals will include a bank recapitalization and strengthening the response capacity of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF).
SIX MONTHS to recapitalize
In preparation for the European Council, the European Banking Authority (EBA) provides a new set of stress tests of the banking sector.
Stricter than the previous year this time should include a valuation of sovereign debt, particularly that of Greece, at market value, and the EBA should require banks a minimum capital ratio "hard" ("core tier one") of 9% and not only by 7%.
According to European sources, the weakest banks will then have six months to build up their capital.
"The only real justification for recapitalization would be to reassure the markets," said Laurent Quignon, head of economics at BNP Paribas bank.
"But in terms of economic fundamentals, there is no more reason than all the banks are recapitalized today than yesterday."
According to Goldman Sachs, at least 50 out of 91 European banks could fail the new stress tests, indicating a need for 139 billion euros in fresh capital.
The terms of a bank recapitalization on the Old Continent will be the subject of intense negotiations from Monday, said President of the Eurogroup.
"LESS DIVIDENDS, BONUS UNDER"
The French government has already said that the State was ready to help banks, but for now it emphasizes the strengthening of capital by private capital, unlike what was done in 2008 and 2009 under the plan to help French banks after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
"Banks will have to recapitalize on the basis of their results by distributing less dividends and less bonus," said Friday morning the Minister of Economy Baroin, Europe 1.
"If they can not, they will do in the markets.If markets are not sufficient, they will find partners and, ultimately limit, there will be an opportunity for European coordination. "
"For France, I want to say that I am confident in the ability of our banks to raise their profits and all means at their disposal to strengthen their capital base," added the Prime Minister Francois Fillon, in the afternoon during the parliamentary days of the UMP.
In line with the German position, France has already ruled out recourse to EFSF to recapitalize its banks.
"Policies must resolve the dilemma between the private shareholders of banks that do not want to hear about dilution and the market which requires recapitalization," said Christophe Nijdam, an analyst at AlphaValue.
"The calls for recapitalization by the European authorities can be cons-productive to the extent that they contribute to fuel concern for all banks," warns Laurent Quignon, at BNP Paribas. "What can paradoxically make raising capital more difficult for institutions that need it."
Deutsche Bank, which would need to raise 9 billion euros according to sources, has made it clear that it would avoid any forced recapitalization.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou would consider the possibility of consulting the Greeks on solutions to overcome the debt crisis, says the Greek press. The abandonment of the euro would be an option. Athens has denied this information. The Temple of Zeus in Athens.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou would explore the possibility to consult the public in a referendum on how best to tackle the debt crisis, or remaining in the euro area, either by abandoning the single currency, a Greek daily said Tuesday.The Prime Minister would be based on a favorable outcome for the euro to continue its drastic austerity policies applied at the request of the creditors of the country, the euro area and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the daily Kathimerini said, Citing "sources" unidentified.
A text of the bill was under development, understands the everyday., No confirmation could be obtained from official sources on Tuesday morning. The Greek Ministry of Finance on Tuesday denied that information. "It makes no sense," said a source at the Ministry of Finance told AFP. Given the scale of protests in Greece last spring, Mr.Papandreou announced June 19 the holding of a referendum in the fall to concentrate on "the great changes that the government aims for the country", including political reforms as the functioning of parliament, the electoral system as well as an overhaul of the judicial system.
According to opinion polls, the Greeks have lost confidence in their political and judicial system, which has never been able to stem the endemic corruption in the country. The information on a proposed referendum on the euro are published at the time the Minister of Finance negotiates fiercely with the troika of the country's creditors seeking the implementation of austerity measures decided in July (fewer staff, reducing public expenditure) before paying the next $ 8 billion euros of the loan in May 2010 to avoid bankruptcy the country.
Difficult decisions must be taken to avoid non-payment of debt interest and keep Greece in the euro area, said Sunday the Greek finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, after a cabinet meeting.
"We must fully meet the fiscal targets for 2011 and 2012," he told reporters.
Government members have spent their device review on the eve of a conference call with the inspectors of the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will meet again then he said without disclosing further measures austerity.
Wall Street opened up Friday, contrary to what foreshadowed the future, which indicated a first down and then open with little variation.
Some thought that profit-taking would arise from the opening given the gains accumulated in four sessions. If the opening movement continues, the S & P 500 is on track louse save his best week since early July.
For now, he earns 0.5% to 1215.33. The Dow Jones ahead by 0.5% to 11,488.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index is 0.3% to 2615.08.
Fellows prepare for the publication of the index of consumer confidence published by the University of Michigan. It is intended to 56.5 against 55.7 in August.
Boeing gained 1% to 64.98 dollars.Air France-KLM announced plan to order 110 aircraft divided equally between Airbus and the American manufacturer.
Yahoo takes 1.5% to 15.11 dollars. According to the media, the private equity fund Silver Lake is considering an offer.
Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a decline in the index to -26 points. The barometer and exceeds the level of January 2009, where he was at -31 points, and is close to the depths it reached in the second half of 2008. In July of that year he had marked -63.9 points and -63 points in October. Far supported by a robust economy, the monthly indicator has been the backlash in August concerns about growth, which slowed sharply in Germany in the second quarter.
German gross domestic product (GDP) grew by only 0.1% in the first quarter, said last week the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). In the euro zone, GDP rose by only 0.2% from April to JuneThe fear of a recession in the United States, with the downgrade of the sovereign debt of the country by Standard & Poor's, also made the financial community more pessimistic, according to the Zew in a statement.
"The skepticism already expressed by financial professionals for the future development of the economy has amplified dramatically," said Wolfgang Franz, president of the institute, in a statement. Their assessment of the current economic situation in Germany "is certainly positive, but it is much worse than the previous month," he adds. It stood at 53.5 points against 87.5 points expected by the consensus of Dow Jones Newswires and after 90.6 points in July.
This deterioration of the index "was to wait," said Thilo Heidrich, Postbank. But the magnitude of the fall surprised economists."This is a response to fears of recession in the U.S. combined with the debt crisis in the eurozone," said Christian Ott, an analyst at Natixis. Jennifer McKeown of Capital Economics, the barometer "suggests that the worst may be yet to come."
The reaction in financial circles is "exaggerated," said Mr. Ott the contrary. "Foreign trade, less dynamic, will be offset by very strong domestic economy," he says, referring to the large investment of German companies and the positive outlook for consumer spending. "The most likely scenario is a pause in growth through the end of the year," his colleague Judge Christian Schulz, Berenberg Bank, a recession are "less likely". Mr. Schulz said that this survey was conducted in market turmoil in early August, when fears of an economic downturn seized markets."Surveys such as the Ifo (to be published Thursday, ed), the business climate, are more indicative of current developments," said Ralph Solveen for its part of Commerzbank.
Oil prices had closed up Wednesday issued after the announcement that the United States had reduced their inventories last week.
The September contract on Brent crude has ended up 4.0%, or 4.11 dollars to 106.68 dollars.
Previously on the Nymex, the contract on September U.S. crude (WTI) had ended with a gain of 3.59 dollars, or 4.53% to 82.89 dollars a barrel.
The Governing Council of the ECB, meeting Sunday, decided to intervene decisively in the markets deal with the debt crisis that has shaken the euro area, a source said on Sunday monetary euro area.
The conference of Governors has carefully studied the situation in Italy and Spain, and noted the Franco-German press, said on the same source.
The ECB "will act significantly on markets and react significantly and united," reported the source.A statement from the ECB should be released shortly, she added.
The European Central Bank was to hold a conference call Sunday on the outstanding issue of possible purchases of debt securities Spanish or Italian, the rates jumped to their highest levels in 14 years.
In a statement released earlier Sunday, Paris and Berlin have affirmed the commitment of Europe to implement rapid reform EFSF decided July 21, encouraged Italy and Spain to act, and stressed the importance of the role of the ECB, a few hours before the opening of Asian markets.
The joint statement of the French Presidency and the German Chancellor, however, evokes not the situation of the United States, including the deterioration in the sovereign rating by S & P is another point of tension over the burning.
S & P has taken a decision resounding Friday: leave the first world power of the inner circle of the most reliable borrowers. Now the United States are nothing more than "AA +". To reduce the deficit, U.S. President Barack Obama largely agrees to cut public spending, including social, but demand for part-against higher taxes for the wealthy.
The rating agency Standard and Poor's lowered the rating Friday on the public debt of the United States, deprived of their "AAA" for the first time in history, citing the "political risks" facing the challenges of the deficit budget. S & P said in a statement it had lowered the rating a notch, the best possible, to bring it to "AA +".It also downgraded the outlook to "negative", which means that Standard and Poor's believes that the next time the note will change, it is to be lowered again.
It justified its decision with "political risks" to see the country taking insufficient measures against its budget deficit. For her, the political debate on these issues is not up to the problems caused by a debt of more than 14,500 billion. "The plan for balancing the budget on which Congress and the Executive have recently agreed is insufficient compared to what, in our view, would be needed to stabilize the dynamics in the medium term public debt" , said the agency, citing the law known as "control the budget" passed Tuesday.
The United States were rated "AAA" by Standard and Poor's since the creation of this agency in 1941.They remain in the other two major agencies, Moody's Dean (since 1917) and Fitch Ratings. The U.S. government has accused S & P based its decision on serious errors in calculations. "An appraisal contains an error of 2.000 billion dollars speaks for itself," he told a press spokesman for the Treasury Department. U.S. media said the government had severely challenged the projections of analysts of the agency after reviewing the findings of S & P. In vain.
The pitch was not easy to be taken to a U.S. agency."They have downgraded a bunch of European countries, and Europeans were bent on rating agencies: why you lower your bill and not the U.S.?" Fell on the Bloomberg TV channel economist Nouriel Roubini, who became famous for his dark predictions.
The loss of this seal of excellence is expected brutal impact on the financial markets, difficult to imagine right now. The U.S. Treasury is an undisputed reference: a standard cost of money, usually an instrument of "collateral" (guarantee) in a variety of transactions, and a refuge for investors in troubled times. "Uncertainty about the impact on the market is high," said recently the investment bank Goldman Sachs, exploring the potential consequences.The lowering of this note should indeed force investors to reassess risk widespread.
Standard and Poor's warned in April that it was considering lowering, given the persistently high budget deficit and rising public debt. The unfolding conflict of budget debates in the coming months, which culminated Tuesday in extremis on raising the legal limit of public debt, had only compare this perspective. John Chambers, President of the Evaluation Committee of S & P, said Friday on CNN that Washington could have prevented the lowering of the notes within the ceiling earlier. He said the responsibilities were shared by the Administration and Obama, but also to "the previous administration."
The first political reaction in Washington have shown just block pointed to by S & P.Mitt Romney, candidate for the Republican primary, has called the downgrade of American "latest victim of the failure of Obama's economic" and the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives as "a consequence of control spending in Washington in recent decades. " The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid, has instead called for "a balanced approach to deficit reduction," with spending cuts but also increases targeted taxes, it rejected the Republicans, under pressure ultra-conservative "tea party", in the recent discussions on the dates.
The S & P announcement came as the markets had closed for the weekend, but initial reactions are mixed from Asia.The Japan, the second holder of U.S. debt world, assured that his confidence in the U.S. Treasury and its strategy of purchasing these bonds were unchanged. France "with complete confidence in the strength of the U.S. economy," said Saturday told AFP the Minister of Economy Baroin. But China, by far the largest creditor of the world the United States, found that it was "now all rights to require the United States they are addressing their structural problem of debt."
The United States had their public finances sealed by the harsh recession that crossed their economy from late 2007 to mid-2009. Since then, economic growth has returned, but they are not able to restore the health of their public finances.According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, they should acknowledge this year, with about 9% of GDP, the highest budget deficit of the G20 countries, except Japan. It is sixteen countries rated "AAA" by Standard and Poor's, four of the G7: Germany, Canada, France and Great Britain.
