Is it time to play Lowe's?

 The closing of nine Rona stores in Quebec has caused a lot of ink to flow lately. Signal of low interest for Quebec? No more, no less than elsewhere. Business decision, which may, however, signal that something is afoot at Lowe's.

The restructuring announced in early November comes as Marvin Ellison took over the helm of the American company a few months ago. The former boss of JC Penney (and above all responsible for Home Depot's American stores between 2002 and 2014) completely overhauled Lowe's management structure with the aim of making the hardware store more efficient, both in terms of costs and sales.

News of the restructuring comes as the company's stock is down nearly 25% from its September peak, and back to the same level as a year ago.

Hence the question in the title as to a possible investment opportunity.

The impact of closures

Let's look first at the impact of the restructuring on Lowe's profitability.

The company is closing 51 locations in North America: 20 in the United States and 27 in Canada. As a percentage of stores, it's about 1% of US stores and 10% of Canadian stores. In terms of floor area, we are talking about 1.5% and 3% respectively.

The aim is essentially to close what is not profitable or what is not very profitable in an attempt to direct sales to other existing establishments and increase their profitability.

Telsey Advisory Group estimates that the impact of the restructuring should make it possible to eliminate the losses of a certain number of establishments, losses which it estimates at 34 million dollars or the equivalent of 0.03 $ per share. The house hardly believes in a significant gain in sales thanks to the closures, competitors often having closer establishments. But UBS sees one and believes the deal will ultimately (after severance and liquidations pass) add US$0.07 to earnings per share.

Regardless of the scenario, one will find that this is not a major restructuring, as management's earnings outlook for 2018 (excluding extraordinary charges) is around US$5.10-5.20 per share. .

We would not rule out other potential closures in the future, but, given the relative marginality of the gains obtained by this first movement (which is generally the easiest), something tells us that the next savings will undoubtedly be sought elsewhere. Suppliers, sharpen your pencils... Eyes are mostly on cycle and rates. If the title is under pressure in recent weeks, it is mainly due to fears about the current economic cycle and rising interest rates.

Does the market see the end of the cycle prematurely? This is the question recently asked by the team of analyst Brian Nagel, from Oppenheimer. She thinks so.

Oppenheimer first notes that housing market data is mixed, but still strong. Sales of existing homes rose 1.4% from September to October, but are down 5.1% from a year ago.

In contrast, sales of new homes have only retreated for two months since the start of the year. Home prices also continue to climb, up 6% at mid-year, according to the semi-annual S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Consumer confidence is also at an all-time high among members of the National Association of Home Builders.

Secondly, argues Oppenheimer, this is not the first time that interest rate hikes have raised questions, but their impact is not necessarily harmful.

Between June 1994 and June 1995, the Fed's key rate rose from 3% to 6%. The stock had fallen 2% over the period. Between May 1999 and December 2000, the key rate had risen from 4.75% to 6.50%. This time there was some shock, the title dropping 14%. Between May 2004 and August 2007, the rates rose from 1% to 5.25%. Over the period the title of Lowe's had taken 16%.

The above, argues Mr. Nagel, rather tends to show that securities tend to perform well even if the interest rate environment is bullish. He specifies that it is only at the end of an upward cycle that hardware stocks tend to fall.

White House seeks a successor to replace Ben Bernanke

The White House is looking for a successor to President of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, because it is not expected that it remains at his post at the end of his term, which ends in January, reported Thursday 27 June the Wall Street Journal.

Although Bernanke has never said publicly if he wished to remain at the head of the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, is currently developing a list of possible candidates for this position, with the with officials from the White House, said the business daily, citing sources familiar with the matter. Advisers to President Barack Obama has already raised the issue with elected Senate, which must confirm the appointment of the new head of the Fed.

The future of Mr. Bernanke been much speculation since Obama said in mid-June that the Fed chairman had made "outstanding" work, but it was "already stayed longer in this position he wanted and he was supposed to stay. "

Deemed university recognized specialist crisis of the 1930s, Bernanke, 59, had been appointed to succeed Alan Greenspan as head of the Fed in 2006 by President George W. Bush before being confirmed for a second term in 2010 by Barack Obama.

Even if he left the head of the central bank, the 14th president of the Fed remain a member of its Board of Governors until January 2020. The Vice-President of the Fed, Janet Yellen, is actuates ...

The Paris Stock Market ends above 3700 items

The Paris Stock Market closed sharply higher Wednesday (2.09%) in a reassured by the words of the President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Mario Draghi and chose to ignore the macroeconomic indicators in the U.S. market and France.

The CAC 40 index took 76.22 points 3726.04 points slightly over 3700 points in a moderate trade volume of € 3.1 billion. The day before, he had won 1.51%.

Other European markets, Frankfurt gained 1.66%, London 1.04%. Furthermore, the Eurostoxx took 2.34%.

After a brief stint in the red at the opening, the Paris stock exchange continued in the green. The trend continued with the positive opening on Wall Street.

The market has responded well to what he considers to be a "fairly positive" from the ECB President Mario Draghi speech says Andrea Tueni, an analyst at Saxo Bank.

Mr. Draghi defended Wednesday before French parliamentary committees, the mandate and work of the Mint, recalling once again that the accommodative monetary policy of the ECB would continue "as long as necessary."

In addition, investors welcomed the indicator morale of German consumers, which continues to grow, says Ishaq Siddiqi, strategist at ETX Capital.

The markets, however, "ignored" the downward revision by the U.S. government's estimate of economic growth in the United States, said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.

They did the same with the confirmation of the recession in France in the first quarter, he said.

Markets "perhaps we are witnessing a recovery," says Tueni, investors finally deciding to take into account the positive figures published yesterday on the U.S. economy.

With these factors considered reassuring, plus the continuation of share buybacks on the cheap after the sell of last week, says the broker CMC Markets.

However, the environment remains volatile, investors have been heckled by the possibility of a slowdown in U.S. monetary policy, raised by the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke last week.

On the values ​​front, the Eurotunnel Group has distinguished sharply higher (8.41% to 5.66 euros), straightening up after declining last week. Citi has also begun monitoring the title to purchase.

Silic and FDR ended up, gaining 5.82% respectively to 83.50 euros and 3.83% to 58.60 euros. The property sector is in its buoyant thanks to an increase in the recommendation of UBS the largest of them, Unibail Rodamco (3.43% to 176.35 euros) together.

Carrefour took 2.78% to 20.7 euros. Societe Generale began its monitoring value, "hold".

Financial rose: Societe Generale gained 3.52% to 27.65 euros, BNP Paribas 2.72% to 42.43 euros and Credit Agricole 3.46% to 6.64 euros. Axa rose 1.89% to 15.1 euros.

The values ​​of the luxury which had declined last week sector rallied. Kering took 3.02% to 155 euros, LVMH 2.62% to 125.2 euros.

Among the cuts, Alcatel-Lucent has lost 2.73% to 1.32 euro, 1.96% Solvay to 102.75 euros.

Hologram. Industries jumped 19.13% to 35 euros for the resumption of trading to match proposed by the founder Hugues Souparis group will launch a tender offer to buy out minority interests prices.

Paris stock market is expected to open up slightly in the wake of the rise in Asian markets

The Paris stock market is expected to open up slightly in the wake of the rise in Asian markets. Caution remain rigorous two days of making money from the Fed. France Telecom and the aviation sector will be in the front line with the Board of Directors of Orange and the opening of the Paris Air Show.

The slight decline in the last two sessions should continue to start opening, but caution should remain up to the eve of a two-day meeting of the Monetary Policy Council of the Fed. Asian markets were upbeat this morning, the Nikkei 225 for Tokyo Stock Exchange ended with a gain of 2.73%, supported by buying cheaply on defensive stocks and large exporters, who have benefited from the decline in the yen against the dollar. Some traders believe that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke will attempt to calm the markets by saying that if a slower pace of asset purchases is still valid, it should take place gradually. Investors monitor France Telecom at the Board of Directors to decide on whether or not to Stéphane Richard at the head of the group. The aviation sector is also in the news when the Paris Air Show opens its doors today. Also note the G8 Summit in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, which will focus in particular on the fight against tax havens. Finally, France will award early afternoon Treasury bills at three months, six months and one year. Around 8:30, the June futures contract on Cac 40 index gaining 14.5 points 3816.

At the macroeconomic level, Eurostat will publish the 11:00 trade figures for the euro area in April and the index of the cost of labor in the first quarter. Two U.S. statistics on the program of the afternoon: the Empire State index of the New York Fed's activity for the month of June at 14:30 and the NAHB confidence index for real estate developers and builders the same month at 16:00.

France Telecom. Representatives of the State Board of Orange vote for maintaining Stéphane Richard, indicted under the Tapie, the CEO of the incumbent, François Hollande announced Sunday. The state owns 27% of France Telecom.

EADS. Airbus is on track to double its profit by 2015 through improved efficiency and management redesigned said CEO Bregier the Wall Street Journal. In addition, the U.S. leasing giant International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) is expected to announce in the Paris Air Show, which begins on Monday an order for 50 Airbus A320neo contract represents $ 5 billion at list prices, says Reuters citing industry sources. The Bloomberg believes his side that the British company leasing Doric Asset Finance is preparing to order 10 A380 very large holders representing a value of more than $ 4 billion.

Technip reiterated its targets for 2013 despite the second profit warning issued by Saipem in less than five months. The Italian oil services group, the European leader in the sector, now expects a net loss of 300 to 350 million this year. Technip announced in late April target an increase of 11% to 16% of its sales and current operating margins close to 15% in the Subsea division and between 6% and 7% in the Offshore.

Eutelsat and U.S. fund KKR should participate in the first round of bidding for the acquisition of Optus, the Australian subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications, said Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter.

Finally, Bull has been selected by the Directorate General of Armaments to achieve the fighting in 2016 Scorpion equip all ground forces information system. The contract value is approximately EUR 40 million net of tax.

Scholarships for students are unfair: you must remove the social criteria

The middle classes are the first victims of the threshold effect of direct state aid, linked to social criteria, which are themselves based on parental income. Families who are on the other side of the threshold are private for a few euros difference. Too low, they are insufficient to fund the total cost of educating a student which includes registration and cost of living, more and more high. Finally, poorly conditioned academic results, these scholarships are disincentives to the effort.

Whereby the change? The purse for all: universal, consistent and paid over the term of undergraduate and graduate students, it is a benefit not subject to tax, half of which is backed by a government loan, which will be refunded to zero once the young inserted in the labor market.

Incentive because conditional on academic achievement, it is combined with additional scholarships of excellence linked academic achievement and material needs. The scholarship is for a student as income. The scholarship is awarded for six years in all, but in case of failure, repetition of more than one year, for example, it is suspended.

Stock markets fear a monetary withdrawal

The stock markets were especially worried this week as the World Bank - taking over the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - has revised downward its global growth forecast for 2013, particularly in China. The economic environment is becoming darker, stock investors continue to feel some discomfort with the intoxication of the peaks, and fold.

Their excitement is fueled by another fear: that the fuel that fed the rise in prices - massive liquidity provided by central banks - is not available as long as expected. Some traders speculate indeed a tightening of financial asset purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed).

DOW JONES NASDAQ DOWN

On Monday, Standard & Poor's had very little Wall Street by announcing the withdrawal of its negative outlook on the U.S. sovereign rating. The important thing is not there, but the support of the Fed - which meets on June 18 of the Monetary Policy Committee - and the future budget negotiations in Congress. For the week, the Dow yielded 1.17% and the Nasdaq, high values ​​of technology, followed the same path, losing 1.32%.

In Europe, uncertainty about monetary policy and the hearings of the German Constitutional Court on the mechanism of redemption of government bonds (WTO) - announced by the European Central Bank, but has not yet used - weighed on banking stocks: Intesa Sanpaolo, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale and BBVA are among the ten largest weekly declines in the Euro Stoxx 50, together - in particular - the luxury giant LVMH, affected by concerns over growth Asia and emerging countries. The large cap index in the euro area has lost 2.08% this week to 2 667.32 points.

CAC, DAX AND IN BERNE FOOTSIE

In Paris, the CAC 40 was down - 1.74% (3 805.16 points) - as the DAX in Frankfurt (- 1.54% to 8 127.96 points). The "cyclical" values ​​of the two countries - sensitive business trends - have registered a decrease, such as Lafarge and Heidelberg Cement. In London, the FTSE was also down (- 1.62% to 6 308.26 points).

Tokyo, entered a bear market after May 22, the date when the Nikkei peaked at 15 627.26 points was watched closely this week. On Monday, the market rebounded sharply, clinching 4.94% after the announcement of the revised figure of Japanese growth in the first quarter (+4.1% YoY, instead of 3.5% in the first estimate), which gave credibility to the recovery policy launched this fall by the Abe government, called "Abenomics".

Between October 2012 and May 2013, the Japanese stock market rose by nearly 80%. "In a market that basically stagnant for two decades, the performance is outstanding, and probably exaggerated. Predominantly American hedge funds, have taken to the extreme by buying the index at the same time they sold the yen on the futures markets, "explain market economists at BNP Paribas, in a note published on June 14 Since late May, however, "the unwinding of positions led to a sharp correction, as well as on the foreign exchange market than on actions," say the analysts.

LANDING NIKKEI

On Thursday, the Nikkei has plunged 6.35% again: investors felt that the Bank of Japan, which did not offer new support measures, was not aggressive enough. In the end, the Nikkei index fell 1.48% over the week to 12 686.52 points. Landing Nikkei said that the monetary policy, "if she can do a lot, is not a miracle," summarize the BNP Paribas economists. Yet it is to the Fed all eyes will remain turned next week.

Cafom: confirms its target of annual sales

Cafom publishes an annual turnover of 187.3 million euros in the first nine months of fiscal 2010-2011, a 7% rebound.

 The company specializes in household goods in overseas and selling furniture on the Internet in France stated that "the traditional distribution business overseas continues to live at the rate of local consumption fragile and irregular ".

 Thus, at the end of December, on a comparable basis, sales increased 1% to 148.9 million euros.

 Sales of business e-commerce, they rose 40% to 38.4 million euros, after the first nine months of the year.

 Cafom confirms its target of annual turnover of 240 million euros.