But he must render to Caesar what belongs to him

A fragile illusion is sometimes preferable to the unpleasant truths. The surprise, Deutsche Bank yesterday published quarterly accounts in the Green, where investors projected a loss of a few hundreds of millions of euros. The first German bank even had no need to hide the strings of the Tower of sleight to transform a loss before tax of EUR 1 billion in a profit of 414 million so that the Fellowship applause of both hands. Avoid, through the lifting of accounting standards, a massively dilutive capital increase is sufficient to the happiness of shareholders too pleased to find under the single sword of Damocles of a decline in the dividend. The Bank will almost certainly not the only one in Europe to resort to this artifice to reduce the impact of impairments due to the crisis in the third quarter, of 40. But he must render to Caesar what belongs to him. The opening of the hypocritical bankers ball could not return to a Frankfurt place less secure than the streets of Naples, where a Porsche, acting more surely than one of these "grasshoppers Fund" and decried by the German political class, mowed impunity several billion euros on the back of the dealers.

Found time

At a time where Alcatel is preparing to sell his share of the capital of Thales, ex-Thomson CSF, can remember one of the many aphorisms of Auguste Detoeuf, who was the boss in the 1930s and published under the name of Barenton confectioner. According to him, "the Board of Directors is one of the most distinguished of his time." It was particularly these last ten years a terribly effective method to let apathy decline a French champion and ruin its shareholders. In ten years, the value of the title fell from 40 to 2 euros and approached the last few days the infamous status of "penny stock". But the past let us raze. The market full of hope appears wish, which was yesterday leap the action up to 20 on the announcement of a seventh consecutive quarter of losses, but, for once, without "profit warning". Ben Verwaayen, the new boss, seems to have understood the magnitude of the task. There is urgency to act because while Alcatel was wandering, Chinese Huaweï, its main competitor, with a leap in technology and commercial offers that impressed the operators took places which will be difficult to dislodge the. French has the cash and engineers. Finally, it must use it wisely.

The two worlds of Unilever

It takes everything to make a world. If European consumer Unilever products giant broke its objectives of growth in the third quarter and increased its forecast for the year, it is clear through Asia and Africa. Sales of its soups, teas, cosmetics and detergents on these two emerging continents have effect increased by 15.7. Six times more than in Europe where the rise in price of 4.3 only offset half of the fall in sales volume, number of consumers turning to brands when the large brands prices too. With a turnover European 2.4 only, Unilever is half less although Nestlé and Danone, which increased their marketing spend to support their sales. Which relativizes the interests of its policy of spending braking, which has reduced the cost of 0.5 but has improved his margin of 0.3. The breeze that blast in the South and East has certainly allowed an overall increase of the turnover of 8.3 which justifies a posteriori, the withdrawal began in the United States with the assignment of sauces and a laundry. But that the train continues to advance at the same pace, it that the relay of the emerging countries keep momentum, while the contraction of growth seems to touch all the continents.