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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Decidedly, this championship spares nothing to Olympique de Marseille. After a disappointing season sportingly (OM is currently 10th in the league), players of the club will play their final game next Sunday of the season against Sochaux with a misspelling in the back! That is the conclusion yesterday after the presentation of the shirt "Third" of the OEM Adidas club, created by singer Akhenaten – leader of the rap group IAM-1990s – and the Argentine sculptor Pablo Reinoso. A tunic dedicated to the European Cup with the distinction of being reversible: when you turn the black jersey, it turns orange.

"The grammatical rule is not obvious"

Orange, it is thus that the error happens. Worms designed by the rapper star of Marseille have a spelling mistake. They are found enrolled in upper back: "And our hearts are orange, as are the waves at sunset." But the word "orange" is not consistent when used as an adjective. This is the case here. This departure from the French language cover only one of three new models, and is invisible to a spectator from the stands. It must indeed look very closely intertwined worms to distinguish this "s" too. "We assume that fault, reacted Emmanuelle Gaye, spokeswoman for Adidas. This grammatical rule is not obvious and, I imagine, was not known to all French. "He added:" As in any international company, the production line is long between the designer and the head of product no credit check payday loans. We are looking where the error occurred. Most surprising is that the first prototypes did not include error. "

Already on sale

Still, this error is a problem, the shirts have already been sold in shops of the club. "From the moment the product is not defective, it remains for sale, says Emmanuelle Gaye. We are considering how to rectify the error. "At Adidas, an estimated" tens of thousands "tunics with the misspelling, knowing that the OM annually sells 400,000 jerseys

. ..

Already mocked by fans for its color, away from the traditional blue and white Om, this shirt could thus see his popularity decline even further. What threatens the sales potential of these tunics. At 90 euros a basic version, some fans will likely require a perfect model. Unless an effect "collector", which would encourage them to rush on jerseys-like limited edition … "It is unclear what impact this will fault on our sales, concludes Emmanuelle Gaye. But the jersey is a favorite with players and supporters. "

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New blow for Spain and for the entire euro area. Standard & Poor's lowered the rating by two notches to the Spanish sovereign debt to "BBB +" against "A", despite high levels of austerity measures put in place. The fourth largest economy in the euro area is thus relegated to medium quality transmitter able to meet its obligations adequately, but his bill could still plummet since the rating agency maintains a negative outlook on the country.

The U.S. agency is concerned because new fiscal slippages related to weaknesses in the financial sector, real Achilles heel of Spain. The state could indeed be forced to bail out its banks again, who continue to pay the price of the bursting of the housing bubble. A scenario in which S & P assigns a "growing probability". The results of Santander at half mast, the first bank in the euro area, illustrate these difficulties: the benefit of the institution has tumbled nearly a quarter, weighed down by heavy supplies.

Moreover, the further deterioration of the S & P takes into account the contraction of the Spanish economy, which will not be without consequences on the country's budget. "We think the risks are most important in terms of budgetary performance and flexibility, as well as the burden of sovereign debt, especially due to new contingencies that could materialize in the government's record" , the agency said.

The Spanish Government criticizes the decision of the rating agency, which he did not consider the reforms announced since December. The question is what the market reaction. Earlier this week, Spain and Italy were forced to borrow at very high rates.

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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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The Little Shop Becquerel Center is nestled in the popular district of Tokyo Ueno, in the shadow of one of the countless train lines overhead. Since December, people in Tokyo may be measuring the radioactivity of their products, self-service.

Two tables out of sight of prying neighbors are reserved for customers who place their sample into a kind of pressure cooker. In twenty minutes, the gamma spectrometer German brand Berthold gives the result in becquerels per kilogram. Then simply compare the standards posted on the wall.

The thirty daily customers sometimes bring unusual objects, such a degree rescued from a house in the region of Fukushima to see if it can be kept safe, Kazuki tells Kibuchi, the young employee in a blue apron. Most often, customers are farmers who measure the radioactivity of their rice. Kibuchi Kazuki assures its primary goal is not to make profit but to serve the public. Given the investment in the spectrometers, to 3990 yen (37 euros) the measurement session, he just said beneficiary make quick cash.

Geiger counter as a gift

In the bustling Akihabara, famous among others for his little flea market of electronic components, Yasuyo Shibata has turned to his advantage the bad wind came from Fukushima. At the entrance to his electronics store sits a display with more than a dozen models of Geiger counters. Customers prefer the entry-level to 7000 yen (about 65 euros), but can opt for the Belarusian model to 48,000 yen (Belarus was the country most affected by Chernobyl fallout) to 600,000 yen a spectrometer which is a measure of food in five minutes.  

This growing market has stimulated competition and driven prices down. "The clientele is mostly women, notes Yasuyo Shibata, mothers worried. Often customers buy a device to give to parents living near Fukushima. "A present trend.

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Car sales in the U.S. reached their highest level in four years last month. Nearly 1.15 million vehicles were sold, 15.7% higher than February last year, according to figures from Autodata firm. The latter states that annualized seasonally adjusted, this represents 15.1 million vehicles. The most since February 2008!

While gasoline prices rose 10% in February compared with January, the fuel efficient cars are spared Thurs Toyota, for example, recorded better results than expected with sales up 12.4%, with an increase of 52% for the Prius and 60% for all of its hybrid models of all brands. Figures from other Japanese manufacturers are also very well oriented: Honda saw its sales rise 12.3% to 110,157 units and Nissan from 15.5% to 106,731 vehicles.

For his part, General Motors, which has just completed an agreement with the French PSA, recorded 1.1% growth in sales year on year to 209,306 vehicles. This figure exceeds expectations, while leaders of the global market leader company provide a good year in 2012. The Chevrolet brand door activity, while sales of its big Cadillac erode by 27%. Ford sales up 14% year on year, reaching 179,119 units, with a doubling of sales for the Focus. Those of Chrysler, the number three in the U.S. market, even soar by 40%, to 133,521 vehicles. The group controlled by Italy's Fiat said it is the 23rd consecutive month of sales, with a growth rate exceeding 20% ​​for nine consecutive months.

Market shares redistributed Chrysler start, GM back

With the surge in sales, the Chrysler brand has seen its U.S. market share grow to 11.3% against 9.6% last year. Conversely, that of General Motors declined to 18.2% against 20.8% a year earlier, as Ford has eroded to 15.5% against 15.7%, while Toyota was down to 13 , 9% against 14.3%, while Honda was down 9.6% against 9.9% and Nissan remained stable at 9.3%, according to data from Autodata.

Common to all manufacturers: their optimism for the coming year. Besides the economic upturn, they emphasize the need for replacement of vehicles in which the average age is high.

"If gasoline prices continue to rise, people will perhaps reduce their discretionary spending, but if employment improves, they will need to buy cars to work," noted Jenny Lin, Ford economist. For his part, Don Johnson, GM, concludes: "We do not believe that short-term fluctuations in gasoline prices will stop rising sales of GM and the industry in a better position that three years ago. "

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The call of the employees of ArcelorMittal Florange seems to have been heard. Moving in Aytré, in Charente-Maritime, Nicolas Sarkozy has defended Site metallurgy currently stopped. "I do not want Florange die. Of course there is the crisis, less demand for steel, but we will make sure Florange reopens. " The Head of State said that he spoke this morning with leaders of ArcelorMittal. "We will have the opportunity to speak," he added.

Florange employees, who have promised to become the "nightmare" of the government in its presidential campaign around the "Made in France", began on Monday to put their threat into execution. Responding to the call of an Inter CFDT, CGT, FO and CFE-CGC, 100 to 200 metalworkers occupied the offices of the factory management, including the closure will be extended in the second quarter.

Now, "the direction is laid off. We will remain in these offices as the blast furnaces of the plant will not restart "hammered Edward Martin, representative of the CFDT. That "candidates" for president "who claim to love plants undertake to ensure the survival of the site," he said, promising "at least one action a week until May 6." "The state has saved the Lejaby. It must intervene for us, "added Walter Broccoli, head FO.

"Management made us realize that, barring a miracle, this closure would last all year," says Edward Martin. ArcelorMittal, which has recently decided to finalize its steel plant in Liege (Belgium) and an "indefinite" that of Madrid, Lorraine ensures that the closure is only temporary, as the group has stated Eric Besson, Minister of Industry, last week fast cash advance.

The tool breaks down

But unions fear that the closure becomes final. A number of clues in this direction. "A blast furnace is designed to run continuously, otherwise it deteriorates," said an industry expert.

At Florange, investment maintenance of two blast furnaces, closed since June and October, have been reduced. "There is nothing for a month and a half" notes François Pagano, CFE-CGC delegate. Result, "the cold, some pipes broke," laments Edward Martin. Moreover, "the founders began to be reclassified in the group. Leaders do not take it otherwise if they had close Florange, "he says.

The recovery of orders was not considered sufficient to restart the plant. "Shipments are now much better than the fourth quarter of 2011, but we are still far volumes 2006, 2007 and 2008," said Aditya Mittal, chief financial officer, during the presentation of group results, taking as excellent year comparison.  

Closing Florange would be consistent with the group's strategy to focus on very large production units in coastline at Dunkirk and Fos-sur-mer, or Bremen, Germany.

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The challenge is to "transform the success of the DS3," said Frederic Banzet, the CEO of the brand. The small city chic, launched in March 2010, has already passed to 135,000 copies, which is "way above the targets set," he says. The brand has even encroached on the beds of the Mini, DS3 by selling 56,400 in the first nine months of the year in Europe, against 122,000 for the range of pocket BMW free online credit report.In addition, the DS4, launched in late May, recorded nearly 30,000 orders.

Particular victim of the price war in Europe, because manufacturing costs are higher than those of its rivals, who have relocated further to the east-PSA seeks to increase its profitability with higher-end models. The DS3 is sold as 1 500 to 2 000 euros more than C3, manufactured on the same platform.

Bet more difficult

But for the DS5, the bar is far higher. Citroën is legitimate because if the segment of small and compact cars, which account for most of its volume, is much less the case with that of larger cars, where the previous launch high-end, that of C6, ended in failure.

This announcement comes on the day of the arrival of the electric Kangoo ZE Renault 371 concessions across France.From 2014, the Renault plant in Flins will be responsible for producing a model developed by the diamond brand. The Kangoo ZE is itself made since the beginning of the month at Maubeuge. Full range of electric Renault will be produced in France and Spain. The issue is important for plants and employees French and Spanish. But also for the company, which spent 4 billion euros, with its partner Nissan on electric projects.

Today, the market remains small. Since last year, Peugeot-Citroen (PSA) sells Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero electric, designed and produced by Japan's Mitsubishi. And less than 1000 copies have been registered by individuals since the beginning of the year.