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CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
February 24, 2012--The current reports for the week of February 21, 2012 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Maple Group and TMX Group Announce Extension of Offer To TMX Group Shareholders To March 30, 2012
February 24, 2012--Parties reaffirm commitment to Maple's proposed transaction
February 24, 2012 - Maple Group Acquisition Corporation ("Maple"), a corporation whose investors comprise 13 of Canada's leading financial institutions and pension funds, and TMX Group Inc. (TSX: X) today announced the extension of Maple's offer to acquire a minimum of 70% and a maximum of 80% of the shares of TMX Group to 5:00 p.m.
(Eastern Time) on March 30, 2012, unless further extended or withdrawn. The Maple offer is part of an integrated acquisition transaction, valued at approximately $3.8 billion, to acquire 100% of TMX Group shares. The TMX Group Board of Directors continues to unanimously recommend that shareholders accept and tender their shares under the Maple offer.
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Source: TMX Group (TSX-X)
ICI Exchange-Traded Fund Assets
February 24, 2012--The combined assets of the nation's exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were $1.134 trillion in January, according to ICI. The Institute's monthly statistical collection also includes the value of shares issued and redeemed by exchange-traded funds.
Statistics contained in the Institute’s monthly ETF report have been obtained from information provided to ICI by exchange-traded funds and commodity funds. Commodity funds are listed in the Domestic (Sector/Industry) category. A detailed breakdown of the monthly ETF data is available on our website at http://www.ici.org/info/etfdata.xls
view Assets of Exchange-Traded Funds by Type (XLS)
Source: ICI
AllianceBernstein files with the SEC
February 24, 2012--AllianceBernstein has filed a third amended and restated application for exemptive relief with the SEC for actively-managed ETFs.
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Source: SEC.gov
Speculators and Commodity Prices-Redux
February 24, 2012--On March 16, 2011, I spoke to an industry group concerning the impact of speculative activity on commodity prices. Eleven months later, I'm still talking about it, and saying almost precisely the same thing.
Speculators are necessary liquidity providers to our markets, and while they perhaps are not driving prices to uneconomic levels, they certainly have an effect on prices—above and beyond where they might otherwise go—and American consumers and taxpayers are shouldering that burden.
President Obama spoke about rising gas prices yesterday. You can’t turn on the television or the radio without hearing about record high gas prices, and yet the CFTC has not yet been able to implement Congressionally-mandated position limits to put the brakes on excessive speculation in oil and other commodity markets. Meanwhile, trade associations representing Wall Street interests have sued us in federal court in order to impede our imposition of position limits.
So, I find myself repeating—and repeating—the same message: it’s high time to kick it in gear and use the one tool we have to appropriately address high oil and gas prices.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
February 24, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The $CDN1.10 cash per share offer from Trafigura Beheer B.V. to acquire Iberian Minerals Corp. (TSXVN:IZN) has been accepted by the shareholders of Iberian Minerals.
The company will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite, Venture Select and Venture 30 Indices effective after the close of Tuesday, February 28, 2012.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company
Source: Standard & Poor's
iShares Launches Two New Dividend Equity ETFs
February 24, 2012--BlackRock, Inc. today announced that its iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, the world's largest manager of ETFs, has launched two new dividend-focused equity funds designed to access the fast-growing emerging markets and Asia/Pacific developed markets. Listed on the NYSE Arca, the funds are the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend Index Fund (NYSEArca: DVYE) and the iShares Asia/Pacific Dividend 30 Index Fund (NYSEArca: DVYA).
The launch of these funds expands the existing suite of iShares dividend ETFs with the goal of delivering a global tool kit of equity income solutions. iShares launched the first US-listed dividend ETF (NYSEArca: DVY) in 2003; the fund currently has over $10 billion in assets 1.
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Source: Standard & Poor's
Dow Jones Indexes To License Two Dividend Indexes For New iShares ETFs
Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index and Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index
To Serve as the Basis for iShares ETFs to Trade on NYSE Arca
February 24, 2012--Dow Jones Indexes today announced that iShares has licensed the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index and the Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index to serve as the basis for two new iShares ETFs.
The ETFs — the iShares Emerging Markets Dividend Index Fund and the iShares Asia/Pacific Dividend 30 Index Fund — begin trading today on NYSE Arca.
The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend Index is designed to measure the stock performance of 100 leading dividend-paying emerging markets companies, selected by dividend yield. At the time of its November 2011 launch, Dow Jones Indexes announced the index would be licensed to underlie the iShares Dow Jones Emerging Markets Select Dividend ETF, listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Launched in 2006, the Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index is designed to measure the performance of 30 top stocks by dividend yield in the Asia/Pacific region, which includes Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore. The Dow Jones Asia/Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index is also licensed to serve as the basis for seven other iShares ETFs, all of which trade on European exchanges.
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Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
February 25, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
February 24, 2012--The shareholders of European Goldfields Limited (TSX:EGU) have accepted the share exchange offer from Eldorado Gold Corporation (TSX:ELD).
European Goldfields will be removed from the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and Global Gold, the S&P/TSX Composite Equal Weight and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Indices. As a result of the issuance of shares to acquire European Goldfields, the relative weight of Eldorado Gold will increase in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Capped Materials, the S&P/TSX 60, Equity 60 and 60 Capped, the S&P/TSX Global Mining and Global Gold and the S&P/TSX Composite Dividend indices. There will be no weight changes effective in the S&P/TSX 60 130/30 Strategy, the S&P/TSX 60 Equal Weight or the S&P/TSX Composite Equal Weight Indices. These changes will be effective after close on Wednesday, February 29, 2012.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company
Source: Standard & Poor's
"Unreasonably Feeble"
Opening Statement of Commissioner Scott D. O'Malia Regarding Open Meeting on One Final Rule and One Proposed Rule1
February 23, 2012--Introduction
The latest issue of The Economist features an article titled "Over-regulated America"2 that features as its archetype for excessive and badly-written regulation our own Dodd-Frank Act.
The problem, the article points out, is that rules that sound reasonable on their own may impose a huge collective burden due, in part, to their complexity. Part of the problem is that we, as The Economist points out, are under the impression that we can anticipate and regulate for every eventuality. In our hubris, The Economist warns, our overreaching tends to defeat our good intentions and creates loopholes and perhaps unintentional safe-harbors, leaving our rules ineffectual and subject to abuse. The solution The Economist offers isn’t so unfamiliar, at least to this Commissioner. It is rather simple. It is just that: Rules need to be simple. Echoing President Obama’s 2011 Executive Order 13563 “Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review”3 (which applies equally to independent federal agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “Commission” or “CFTC”) per a subsequent Executive Order4), The Economist advises that we ought to cut out the verbiage and focus on writing rules that articulate broad goals and prescribe only what is strictly necessary to achieve them.
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Source: CFTC.gov
