Wal-Mart is no stranger to litigation. The last internal investigation by the world's largest distributor could well become a new folder in the long term. In a document submitted to the U.S. stock market authority and revealed Friday, the group admitted that the corruption scandal that it faces is not only its Mexican subsidiary. The case was initiated by an article in The New York Times on April 22, which stated that Wal-Mart had concealed having used the large-scale corruption to grow in Mexico.

Fines, injunctions, orders of suspension …

The board of directors of Wal-Mart seeks in particular to determine if the group has broken the law on foreign bribery (Foreign Corrupt Practices Act). "Although the company does not currently believe that these problems can have a significant negative impact on its operations, given the uncertainties inherent in such situations, the company can provide no assurance that these problems will not have to substantial impact on its activities in the future, "admits Walmart. The retailer believes it can be of "one or more lawsuits on this issue", which could result in "judgments, settlement agreements, fines, injunctions, orders termination, sentencing and other criminal penalties."

"The complaints of shareholders could result in judgments against its directors and current and former officials named in these proceedings," he says. One of the key executives of Wal-Mart, Eduardo Castro-Wright, is particularly targeted because he led the rapid expansion of the teaching in Mexico and would have paid $ 24 million in bribes, kickbacks to local officials. Thursday, Wal-Mart announced a net profit of $ 3.7 billion in the first quarter, up 10% thanks to higher sales in Brazil, the UK and also in Mexico.

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The Lakers star ball changes. After the pumpkin orange basketball, he moved to the little white ball in baseball. Playmaker of the "Dream Team" of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, but the Los Angeles Lakers is the large-figurehead of a consortium that will spend the equivalent of 1.6 billion euro to regain bankrupt club of Los Angeles Dodgers. This colossal sum excludes the famous "Dodger Stadium" for which the new team of "Magic" Johnson will pay 150 million dollars more. A misery.

The fate of the Dodgers was sealed last summer, when the league baseball has refused to accept the increase in TV rights which would have reached three billion dollars between the Fox and the California Club in Los Angeles. In fact, one of the leaders League Baseball feared that this small fortune to go replenish the accounts of the controversial businessman, Frank McCourt, owner of the Dodgers so far faxless cash advance. The amount proposed by the band Jordan is the highest ever paid for the acquisition of a "franchise".

Specificity of the North American professional sports, a franchise is a team that can be sold and "moved" from one city to another. However Magic Johnson will not be President. This position will be assigned to Stan Kasten, who led the franchise of the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. The Californian giant known for his business acumen comes again at the right time: the Dodgers show a good record with 16 wins sport for seven defeats. This is not the first time a basketball player is interested in baseball. The great Michael Jordan had tried-sporting – this discipline in a minor league. The star of the Chicago Bulls was also a teammate of Magic Johnson in the "Dream Team" Olympic. The fine line between the two sports.

Two types of life insurance contracts. The life insurance policy and monosupport linked life insurance contract.

The life insurance policy monosupport is backed by one or more funds in Euros. These are financial products such as government bonds or Treasury bills. Also, the life insurance contract does monosupport in principle no risk: investments are safe and guaranteed capital.

The linked life insurance contract is backed by one or more funds in Euros as well as units of account. These are financial products such as shares in property companies or units or shares of collective investment in transferable securities (mutual fund units). Also, the linked life insurance policy may pose risks vary depending on the arbitrage between the different units of account.

Monosupport life insurance: the risk of bankruptcy of the insurer

Regarding the life insurance contract monosupport, the main risk is the failure of the insurer. Although this risk of failure is extremely rare, the European sovereign debt crisis helps to strengthen it. While some European countries were to fail and therefore not to honor their commitments vis-à-vis their creditors, it could affect insurers exposed to the debt of these countries.

However, if the insurer were to fail, the capital is partially protected by a guarantee fund which allows a maximum coverage of € 70,000 per insured. Regarding risks, it is necessary to clearly identify the insurer's life insurance policy that you subscribed. Indeed, it may be different from the distributor.

Linked life insurance: market fluctuations

The linked life insurance contract is exposed to the risk that the life insurance contract monosupport but also a risk associated with units of account. Indeed, the value of these markets may vary in large proportions. There is therefore no guarantee for the investment.

Limit the risks to life insurance

To limit the risks of life insurance, it is available for purchase life insurance policies from different insurers. Thus, in case of bankruptcy of an insurer, your investments are only partially affected. The guarantee ceiling of € 70,000 provided for contracts of life insurance is per insured and all contracts. Multiply insurers therefore does not increase the overall ceiling of guarantee.

Contractual mechanisms also exist to limit losses on contracts multichannel. This is particularly the case for the stop-loss, from a certain level of loss, to transfer the capital to support less risky.

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The clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz (H & M) has, once again, makes investors wince and smile fashionistas. The chain has indeed saw its stock fall by 4% in session Thursday after yet displayed, for the first quarter, sales growth (+13%), to 3.14 billion euros and net income up ( 4.6%), 310 million, but below analysts' expectations. Its gross margin was down 2% year on year, to 55.8%.

H & M defends itself by arguing that its margins were impacted by higher production costs, including cotton and the wages in Asia, the group chose the least possible impact on prices offered to customers. Profitability has also been undermined by "long-term investments to expand our total supply," said the boss, Karl-Johan Persson, including "a completely new chain of stores" for 2013.

H & M intends to repeat the international success and very "profitable" for its first upscale brand, called COS (Collection of Style as) and launched 5 years ago. His second string, which will be launched to conquer major cities worldwide, will be even more upscale, but will remain open: "This brand will be positioned on a separate segment higher price than COS while offering the best price for each item" , said a spokesman.

A team dedicated to new concepts

If Spanish Zara (Inditex Group) dominates H & M and Gap others in terms of responsiveness to trends, however, Swedish wants to keep one step ahead in the "masstige", this complex cocktail of "mass- market "and" prestige ". Number of creators and signed lines for H & M, including Versace Marni recently.

Last stunt of the Swedish chain: at the London BAFTA ceremony, the "Caesars" British, Michelle Williams seemed dressed in haute couture. The actress, who plays Marilyn Monroe in the film, was actually a golden corset and organic cotton skirt and satin back crepe designer H & M. A similar holding will be sold soon to clients of the Swedish chain. Similarly, parades American stars on the red carpet in the middle of Oscar season, H & M has convinced celebrities to wear dresses of his online "Exclusive Conscious", which models will, in April, sold in a selection of 100 stores, in its new and larger collection "H & M Conscious."

In the world of fashion, the new concept of future H & M has not totally surprised: not long ago, a famous fashion designer Scandinavian Behnaz Aram, was hired by H & M to strengthen its teams dedicated to " new concepts. " A discreet but strategic cell that has already developed three brands: Cos, and Monki Day Weekend, and H & M Home.

Like SOC, which will open its first store outside Europe, Hong Kong, the new chain H & M will be a strong argument to fight against Zara and its upscale brand Massimo Dutti, especially on emerging market savvy luxury.

No turnaround but no collapse either. Dissemination of the mainstream press has eroded again in 2011, an average of 2.26%, a decrease of similar magnitude in 2010, according to figures presented Thursday by the OJD, the body diffusion control of the press. According to the Observatory, the French have bought a total of just over 4 billion copies last year.

All families press record a slowdown in sales. If the decline is marked for magazines (-3.11%), it remains contained to the regional daily press (-2.28%) and the national daily press (-1.36%). Among the dailies, Francedemeure West title with the highest circulation (748,213 copies in France paid broadcast). Le Figaro (321,101 copies) and The World (292,062 copies) dominate nationally. Erosion is strongest for Sunday newspapers (-4%) and regional weeklies (-4.4%).

Among the major categories of magazines, newspapers television (TV Magazine, TV Z, Tele 7 Jours …), which represents 40.6% of volumes of magazines, fell by 3.3% between 2010 and 2011. This withdrawal explains to a large extent the magnitude of the decline of all magazines. The women, who had risen in 2010, this time displayed a drop of 2%. Hardest hit the tabloids, which had peaked between 2006 and 2008, accelerating its reflux of 4.6%. Only general news headlines (Paris Match, Le Figaro Magazine …) and news (Le Nouvel Observateur, L'Express …) take their game well, limiting their respective decreases of 0.55% and 0.76%.

Accessibility problem

In smaller classes, lower often exceeds 3%. The sporting press (Team Mag, France Football …) fell by 7.6%, the business press (Capital Challenges …) and the press room (Maxi Cuisine, Regal …) of 4.6% and children's press ( Scrooge Super Giant, Le Journal de Mickey …) 5%. Down sharply, the press photo-film-video-music (First, … Studio Ciné Live) fell by almost 8%. Among the most affected families, the computer press (14%) male and the press (27%) due to the shutdown of securities. However, the press auto-moto and one dedicated to science exhibit good resistance.

For Bartement Patrick, CEO of OJD, it is relative sector crisis. "The spread has declined 20% in five years, 500 million copies in less, he says. But this decline is entirely due to lower sales copy, that is to say, in kiosks and newsagents electronic check payday advance. For subscription sales remained stable, thanks to the portage. "The evidence, he said that the problem facing the press is the first of its distribution network. "When the press is available, the press is selling," says Patrick Bartement. The ongoing restructuring of NMPP, the first distributor of the press in France, is in this sense crucial if the sector is the trend.

More than 35 million readers a day

The French are big consumers of news. This is the main teaching of the first One study, presented Thursday at the 22nd Observatory of the press of OJD. One meets for the first time all the families of press in a single audience measurement, using the same methodology. Every day in France, more than 35 million people read at least one press title, 69% aged 15 and older. Better: they are 97% to pick up a newspaper in hand each month.

On average, 7.1 French read different titles: 1.4 and 5.7 daily magazines. Very fond of magazines, they skim regularly as TV news, but especially securities interests in the world of women, health, cooking, celebrities and family, not to mention the news, the titles "pictures" and economic or home-decor and garden.

Daily newspapers, logically, shorter life spans. At 8 am, 20% of readers of this press have already covered their favorite track. They are 70% at midday. In the family of magazines, weekly newspapers are read for 2.6 days, three days monthly and bimonthly (every two months) 3.4 days. The handling of securities, that is to say the number of times the reader reads the newspaper, reaching 6 to 7 times for magazines, against just over 2.5 for both national and regional newspapers, and 1.6 times for free daily.

All these reading habits are enriched by the rise of digital. The new study incorporates these new forms of reading, which increase the power of writing. One particular reveals that Internet users are also strong supporters of the press, with an average of 7.3 titles read.

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Sell, not sell? The sale of Flammarion stirred microcosm of the French edition, while officially opens the 32nd Book Fair. That same Friday, the board of the Italian Rizzoli Corriere della Sera (RCS), owner of the prestigious, will meet in Milan to validate and formalize its 2011 accounts – or not – the sale of its publishing subsidiary , which weighs more than a third of its business books and two-thirds of operating profit of the division. A nugget with Italian giant RCS Mediagroup, which owns the daily Corriere della Sera and El Mundo, could sell to reduce debt.

Currently, only Gallimard and Editions Albin Michel have formally submitted applications. However, Editis-Media Holdings, Europe's leading BD (Dargaud, Dupuis, Le Lombard …), the British HarperCollins (NewsCorp) and investment funds may be interested. The case is also closely monitored by the Strategic Investment Fund (ISF), which plans to support other investors. For the latter, the idea would be to find a French solution, which advocates or Albin Michel Gallimard, and dismisses a priori Editis, which belongs to the Spanish Planeta. "Gallimard can go alone," says a banker. The ties that bind the current patron of Flammarion, Teresa CREMISI, Antoine Gallimard, she was the editorial director from 1989 to 2005, could weigh in the decision. But the two groups each have a distribution tool. Albin Michel, who does not seem more complementary Flammarion.

The house founded in 1876 by Ernest Flammarion is one of the champions of the French edition, behind Hachette Livre, Editis, Media-Participations and La Martiniere-Le Seuil, but at Gallimard free 3-in-1 credit report. In 2010, the group Flammarion, publisher of the Prix Goncourt Michel Houellebecq and sells 36 million pounds per year, achieved a turnover of 278 million euros (219 million excluding distribution), against 241 million for the Gallimard Group (Denoël, Mercure de France …). He has nice assets, as Casterman (Tintin), and displays a nice profit, with an EBITDA of approximately € 30 million.

Numerical uncertainty

Everything to play. The sale could take months, hoping RCS Mediagroup remove between 220 and 300 million euros of the operation entrusted to the Italian bank Mediobanca, which itself owns nearly 14% of RCS. In 2000, the Italian group had taken control of Flammarion by paying about $ 160 million. The difficulty is to develop an activity whose visibility is parasitized by the development of digital books. While the share of sales of e-books is still marginal, in the order of 2 to 3% of market value, according to Livres Hebdo. But sales of reading lights, which took off in late 2011, shook the area. The book publisher Harlequin romance of France, 50% owned subsidiary of Hachette Livre and a lot of direct sales, and expects to achieve 15% of its business in the digital within two years. 3000 of its securities should be downloadable in late 2012.

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On 13 February the share price of the Apple brand has surpassed for the first time the symbolic $ 500. Fifteen days later, its market capitalization crossed the threshold of $ 500 billion. Apple is now the most expensive company in the world. In ten years, the firm value has been multiplied by 55. One who placed $ 10,000 on Apple in 2002 could now buy a Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park! Rising Will it continue? Y does a bubble on the title Apple? After such a stock market boom, the question is quite clear. Innovation capacity of the group is not infinite and the other smartphone manufacturers and electronics do not remain idle. The concentration of income of the company around two flagship products, the iPhone and the iPad, is also a point of fragility. Apple is not immune to a hiccup, but for now, investors are on a cloud and continue to flock to the title. Here are seven reasons that make them love Apple.

The best growth

Since 2007, the release of the iPhone, the firm at the apple has increased its turnover by more than four. During the last quarter of 2011, which includes Christmas sales, it jumped 64.8%. A recent study by the U.S. bank JPMorgan activity including projections through 2013 show that sales of Apple might, in seven years, advancing an average of 37% per year. Conclusion of the analyst, one must have in its portfolio: Apple is growing five times faster than the finest examples of American technology, such as Google, Amazon, Dell, Cisco and Microsoft.

Profitability is a dream

The firm at the apple generated in the previous year ended September 24, 2011 net income of $ 25.9 billion, which corresponds to a net margin of 23.9%, worthy of a luxury group LVMH like. During the last quarter of 2011, the group went higher with a profit of 13 billion, with net margin to a record 28.2%. Analysts at Societe Generale are waiting for the current year a net profit of nearly $ 43 billion, one of the highest ever achieved by a private company. Unusually, sales growth is not done at the expense of profitability. According to a study by the U.S. bank JPMorgan, the manufacturer of the iPhone could end the year with a gross margin of 43.1%, one of the best ratios of Wall Street.

A value "still" very wise

Unlike technology companies of the 2000s, which dealt in stock several dozen times the amount of their turnover without a penny of profit, Apple remains poorly valued. At current, the stock pays less than 10.5 times expected profits for the current year, while on Nasdaq, the market for technology stocks in New York, shares are traded on the basis of more 15 times earnings estimates for the current year. Better, up 40% of its shares would place it in the average American coast. UBS analysts are betting on a net income of $ 48 billion in 2014. In other words, the title is paid 8.5 times estimated profits in three years. It is therefore one of the values ​​cheap Nasdaq.

A global business

Apple has the advantage of not depend on any particular geographical area for sales. The group is present on all continents, which puts him immune to geopolitical risks. During the last quarter, the group realized $ 17 billion of sales in the U.S., which remains its largest market. Europe is second with 11.2 billion. Asia and the rest of emerging countries represent $ 13.8 billion. A tremendous reservoir of growth for years to come. Do not spoil, the allocation of profits by geographical areas shows that it is in emerging countries margins are the strongest.

Considerable reserves

The $ 100 billion of cash available to the firm are fantasizing analysts. With that kind of money, anything is possible. Unless the madness: the management of the group remains true to its creed: "The cash we do not burn your pockets." This does not prevent investors dreaming of a share repurchase program that would magnify their gains.

A fabless model

Apple does not have a factory. The assembly of its products is fully contracted. This organizational model is praised by analysts. The efficiency of its supply chain is cited as a model, including by some competitors. Fabless, no fixed costs. But it could also be the Achilles heel of the firm, thank you for the goodwill of its suppliers (some of which are also competitors) or a scandal over working conditions at these sites.

The art of customer loyalty

Apple has created around its products a world that feeds on itself. A development model formidable since purchase almost automatically generates another. Apple has never sold as many Macs that since he launched the iPad. Customers are real fans of the brand. The business model also relies on the sale of associated services such as music and video (iTunes has generated 1.7 billion revenue over the previous quarter). The group has just opened a new market with its system of data storage remote icloud, already endorsed by 85 million people.

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Morality has finance can be made up. After the controversy and the outcry raised by a fund speculating on death, Deutsche Bank was forced to backtrack. The German bank will thus not resuscitate the dead was betting on which one of its hedge fund but housing investors who subscribed to this fund morbid! To end the controversy, Deutsche Bank offers in effect reimburse 100% of investors wishing to withdraw funds from the "Kompass Life 3" which is about 200 million euros.

The operation of this investment vehicle looks like yet to be mistaken for that of life in real estate. The fund's returns depend on the effect of life expectancy of a panel of 500 Americans anonymous and voluntary. The principle is deadly simple: more people die prematurely candidates, plus fund earnings are high. Conversely if the deaths are slow, the bank won gains

.

The fund, which now has about 10,000 investors, mostly small carriers based in Germany, may soon sign his death warrant no fax payday loan. In fact, however, the fund created in 2007 recently prompted an outcry in Germany when Deutsche Bank wanted to boost the fund in promoting it. The German public has discovered with amazement the investment principles of the fund and called for her killing.

Ethical issue or profitability?

An investor has complained that he particularly agreed with this hedge fund without knowing its function. The mediator of the German private banks (BdB) has taken up the matter: he acknowledged that this financial product could hardly be "consistent with our values ​​especially in the area of ​​the inviolability of human dignity" , reported in early February the weekly Der Spiegel.

But ethics to the limit. In fact, some carriers would have complained more of poor returns on the funds, 3% per year between 2009 and 2011, that his departure from the moral …

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Earn 30% on the price of his house, the idea is tempting. On this particular promise Mikit that has built its success. This specialist buildings "ready-to-end", that is to say that the interior (walls, electrical, plumbing, stairs …) must be fully implemented by buyers, attracted many buyers to the property.

Source: Mikit