Continue reading Sarkozy Reportedly Threatened to Pull France out of Euro-Zone

Sarkozy Reportedly Threatened to Pull France out of Euro-Zone originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 May 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jose Manuel Barroso, EU President, said he would ban speculative derivatives trades outright. CDS trading is a $40 trillion dollar global market which insures corporate and government debt.

Continue reading EU Considers Ban on Credit Default Swaps

EU Considers Ban on Credit Default Swaps originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said he would follow the U.K. and impose a one-off tax on bonus payouts by banks operating in France.

The tax would be levied on bonus payouts above 27,000 euros. Paris's move is in line with Britain's tax on payouts above 25,000 pounds.

Both leaders issued a statement saying: "It is clear that the action must be taken at a global level. No territory can be expected to or be able to act on their own."

Continue reading France follows the U.K. to impose tax on bank bonuses

France follows the U.K. to impose tax on bank bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Europe's euro stance may not remain laissez-faire

Europe's euro stance may not remain laissez-faire originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

For 16 years I worked directly with French and British portfolio managers advising them on their U.S. stock portfolios. I visited Paris and London on more than 225 separate trips during that period. My mother was born and raised in France, her father, a captain in the French army was killed in World War II. My own father was educated at a French medical school and I had the privilege of spending several summers as a youth in Southern France. Through all this, I learned to adore the country and in another, sense feel sorry for it.

The French way of life is truly embodied in the joie de vivre. The work ethic in France has always been "do your job, but no more," and forget overtime work -- its not the money, its the infringement on free time. A person starts a new job and is instantly granted 5-6 weeks of vacation. The French medical and pension system is among the most generous in the world. My own mother worked exactly for three months in a temporary agency in 1954, left for the United States with my dad, a newly minted physician. She became an American citizen, and yet when she turned 65, she was informed that she qualified for a French pension. She was flabbergasted to learn that the French government was depositing $175 per month in her American checking account . She did not earn a cumulative total of $175 in her three-month temp career! When she inquired she was told that "you are entitled! You were born here!" She felt so guilty that her monthly deposit was immediately given to charity.

The months of July and August are renown for the French vacance -- vacation. I dealt with portfolio managers that took five weeks off in a row, which is great work if you can get it, but no one backed up or watched their portfolios. I remember asking several of them what if there was an emergency on one of the stocks they held? The common response was, it will have to wait.

Continue reading Will France rejoin the "regular" world?

Will France rejoin the "regular" world? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 05 May 2007 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.