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Gold hits seven-week high after Fed pledge
January 26, 2012--Gold prices soared Thursday to the highest level in almost seven weeks as the dollar weakened after the US Federal Reserve vowed to keep interest rates near zero for more than two years.
The precious metal hit $1,730.21 an ounce on the London Bullion Market -- which was the highest level since December 8 but still far below the record peak of $1,921.15 struck on September 6.
"With the US Federal pledging to keep interest rates in check until late 2014 -- gold soared," said Ross Norman, boss of British-based bullion broker Sharps Pixley.
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Source: EUBusiness
ProShares Launches First German Sovereign/Sub-Sovereign Bond ETF
January 26, 2012--ProShares, the country’s fourth most successful exchange traded fund (ETF) company,1 today announced the launch of ProShares German Sovereign/Sub-Sovereign ETF (NYSE: GGOV), the first ETF in the United States focused on sovereign and sub-sovereign debt from Germany.
Germany has the world’s third-largest public debt market2 and is widely recognized for its fiscal strength. The ETF lists on NYSE Arca today.
GGOV seeks to match the performance of Markit iBoxx EUR Germany Sovereign & Sub-Sovereign Liquid Index, before fees and expenses.
“Many investors have fixed income portfolios concentrated in high credit quality U.S. bonds,” said Michael L. Sapir, Chairman and CEO of ProShare Advisors LLC, ProShares’ investment advisor. “This ETF can help these investors manage risk by adding diversification through international bond exposure.”
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Source: ProShares
Quarterly Report to Congress ExpertPlan Offers Low Cost Exchange Traded Funds
The response was primarily due to the increasing demand by our top Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms who have expressed interest in being able to offer the lowest cost investments in light of full fee disclosure regulations.
read more Dow Jones Indexes To Launch The Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Equal Sector U.S. Large-Cap 50 Index The Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Equal Sector U.S. Large-Cap 50 Index is a quantitative-strategy gauge that takes a dynamic approach to measuring U.S. large-cap stocks by allocating index-component weights between an equity segment and a cash segment represented by Treasury Bills. The allocation between the two segments is determined based on a proprietary quantitative algorithm.
read more U.S. Federal Reserve Issues FOMC statement Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects economic growth over coming quarters to be modest and consequently anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only gradually toward levels that the Committee judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee also anticipates that over coming quarters, inflation will run at levels at or below those consistent with the Committee's dual mandate. To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014. read more Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement Of Longer-Run Goals And Policy Strategy Inflation, employment, and long-term interest rates fluctuate over time in response to economic and financial disturbances. Moreover, monetary policy actions tend to influence economic activity and prices with a lag. Therefore, the Committee's policy decisions reflect its longer-run goals, its medium-term outlook, and its assessments of the balance of risks, including risks to the financial system that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals.
The inflation rate over the longer run is primarily determined by monetary policy, and hence the Committee has the ability to specify a longer-run goal for inflation. The Committee judges that inflation at the rate of 2 percent, as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate. Communicating this inflation goal clearly to the public helps keep longer-term inflation expectations firmly anchored, thereby fostering price stability and moderate long-term interest rates and enhancing the Committee's ability to promote maximum employment in the face of significant economic disturbances. read more Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
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. Economic Projections of Federal Reserve Board Members and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents, January 2012
View Projection Materials CFTC Releases Results of Limited Reviews of Futures Commission Merchants read more
January 26, 2012--The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) submitted its quarterly report to Congress today.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
January 26, 2012---ExpertPlan, the leading provider of private label recordkeeping plan services, announced today the offering of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) on its proprietary retirement plan recordkeeping system.
The addition of these low cost investments is in partnership with Matrix Financial Solutions (a subsidiary of Broadridge) who provides custody, trading and clearing services. Matrix has made available for trading more than 900 individual ETFs across 40 asset classes from some of the leading ETF providers such as Barclays, Claymore, First Trust, iShares, Rydex, WisdomTree and more.
Source: ExpertPlan
New Gauge is the First in Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Indexes Series
Index Methodology is Based on LSP Partners’ Proprietary Investment Strategy Created by Noted Risk-Management Expert and Author, Ralph Vince
January 23, 2012-- Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Equal Sector U.S. Large-Cap 50 Index, the first in the new Dow Jones LSP Position Sizing Indexes series.
The index series utilizes a proprietary strategy created by the risk-management-research consulting firm, LSP Partners LLC, and its founder and CEO, Ralph Vince.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
January 25, 2012--Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately, notwithstanding some slowing in global growth. While indicators point to some further improvement in overall labor market conditions, the unemployment rate remains elevated.
Household spending has continued to advance, but growth in business fixed investment has slowed, and the housing sector remains depressed. Inflation has been subdued in recent months, and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Source: FBR
January 25, 2012--Following careful deliberations at its recent meetings, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has reached broad agreement on the following principles regarding its longer-run goals and monetary policy strategy. The Committee intends to reaffirm these principles and to make adjustments as appropriate at its annual organizational meeting each January.
The FOMC is firmly committed to fulfilling its statutory mandate from the Congress of promoting maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. The Committee seeks to explain its monetary policy decisions to the public as clearly as possible. Such clarity facilitates well-informed decisionmaking by households and businesses, reduces economic and financial uncertainty, increases the effectiveness of monetary policy, and enhances transparency and accountability, which are essential in a democratic society.
Source: FBR
January 25, 2012--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The shareholders of Minera Andes Inc. (TSX:MAI) and US Gold Corp. (NYSE:UXG) have approved the business combination between the two companies.
Minera Andes will be removed from the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index after the close of Thursday, January 26, 2012. Following the acquisition of Minera Andes Inc., US Gold Corp. will change its name to McEwen Mining Inc. and its ticker symbol to MUX. The GICS classification of US Gold Corp. will change from 15104030 to 15104040 effective at the same time as the acquisition of Minera Andes. US Gold Corp. will be removed from the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index as a result of the GICS change. The relative weight of McEwen Mining Inc. will increase in the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index to reflect the issuance of shares as part of the acquisition of Minera Andes Inc.
Source: Standard & Poor's
January 25, 2012--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released the attached table and charts summarizing the economic projections and the target federal funds rate projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Federal Reserve Bank presidents for the January 24-25 meeting of the Committee.
The table will be incorporated into a summary of economic projections released with the minutes of the January 24-25 meeting. Summaries of economic projections are released on an approximately quarterly schedule.
Source: FRB
CFTC did not find any material breaches of customer funds protection requirements during the spot check
January 25, 2012--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC or Commission) today released findings of limited reviews of futures commission merchants (FCMs) to assess compliance with requirements to segregate customer funds pursuant to Section 4d of the Commodity Exchange Act (ACT).
The limited reviews also covered the FCMs’ obligation to set aside in secured accounts funds deposited by customers for trading on foreign boards of trade under Section 4(b) of the Act and Part 30 of the Commission’s regulations. As of the review date for each FCM, all of the FCMs were in compliance with the segregation or Part 30 secured amount requirements.
Last fall, after the collapse of MF Global, Inc., the Commission initiated a coordinated review with the CME and NFA of all FCMs that carried customer funds to assess compliance with the protection of customer funds and Commission regulations. There were 120 FCMs registered with the Commission as of October 31, 2011. Seventy of the FCMs held Section 4d segregated funds or Part 30 secured amount funds, and were subject to the limited reviews. The remaining 50 FCMs did not carry customer segregated or Part 30 secured funds, and were not subject to the limited reviews.
Source: CFTC.gov
