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Reforms are essential for Brazil to build on recent success, says OECD
October 26, 2011--The Brazilian economy has made a rapid recovery from the global economic crisis, but further reforms are necessary to boost long-term growth, spur investment and further reduce poverty, according to the OECD’s latest Economic Survey of Brazil.
“Sound economic policies have helped Brazil weather the global financial crisis, but even more remarkable is the unprecedented progress being made on social goals including poverty reduction and inequality,” said the OECD Secretary-General, Angel Gurría. “We believe Brazil can achieve still higher, and more inclusive, growth over the medium term, provided policymakers meet the key challenges facing the economy by building momentum for further reforms.”
The report projects that GDP growth will slow to less than 4 percent over the coming two years, which is below trend rates of 4.5 percent annually, but well above the average for OECD countries.
view the Overview of the Economic Survey of Brazil 2011
Source: OECD
Van Eck files with the SEC
October 26, 2011--Van Eck has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the
European Currency High Yield Bond ETF (HYE).
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
Canada warns EU to not rank oil sands as dirty energy
October 25, 2011-- Canadian Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver on Monday decried a European Union proposal to rank Canadian oil sands as a more polluting fuel than conventional oil.
In a letter to European Union Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger, the minister said the proposed the proposed Fuel Quality Directive is not backed by science, would violate the Union's trade obligations, and put at risk the West's energy security.
"Canada will not hesitate to defend its interests," Oliver wrote.
read more
Source: EUbusiness
CFTC Staff Allows Taiwan Futures Exchange’s Futures Contract Based on the GreTai Securities Market Capitalized Weighted Stock Index (“GTEX”) To Be Offered and Sold in the United States
October 25, 2011--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC's) Office of General Counsel today announced that it issued a no-action letter on October 24, 2011, permitting the offer and sale in the United States of Taiwan Futures Exchange’s futures contract based on the GTEX.
The GTEX is a broad-based, free-float, market-capitalization-weighted composite index of highly capitalized and actively traded stocks listed on the board of the GreTai Securities Market, a non-profit organization modeled after the NASDAQ. The GTEX index provides a performance benchmark for the Taiwanese over-the-counter securities market. As of September 12, 2011, the total adjusted market capitalization of the GTEX was approximately US $52 billion.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Global X files with the SEC
October 25, 2011--Global X has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the
Global X Social Media Index ETF.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
ISE Introduces ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks Feed
October 25, 2011 -The International Securities Exchange (ISE) has introduced the ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks FeedTM, a joint offering from ISE and Hanweck Associates. Powered by Hanweck Associates’ high-performance VoleraTM engine, this feed provides real-time, low-latency, tick-level options analytics for all equity, index and ETF options traded on the nine U.S. options exchanges.
ISE offers the ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks Feed through an intuitive data feed format that allows the seamless integration of the data feed into trading and risk-management applications. The Volera engine uses state-of-the-art hardware acceleration to calculate options’ implied volatilities and risk parameters in real time. These analytics are distributed by ISE in a streaming, multicast feed.
“As an exchange operating within the options space for over a decade, ISE already possesses a unique capacity for managing large amounts of data and ultra-high message rates,” said Jeff Soule, Head of ISE Market Data. “With the ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks Feed, subscribers can effectively access critical data to carry out their trading and risk management strategies without having to manage the infrastructure and computational burden required to process such a large dataset.”
”Accurate, real-time risk management is paramount in today’s volatile markets,” noted Gerald Hanweck, CEO of Hanweck Associates. “Since 2007, Hanweck Associates has been generating advanced, real-time options analytics for sophisticated options professionals – under some very demanding market conditions. The ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks Feed is a leap forward in delivering high-quality, real-time risk analytics directly to market participants as an exchange datafeed.”
To learn more about the ISE Implied Volatility and Greeks Feed, visit www.ise.com/greeksfeed.
Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
SEC Announces Agenda for First Meeting of Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies
October 25, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the agenda for next week’s first meeting of the SEC Advisory Committee on Small and Emerging Companies.
The October 31 meeting, announced earlier this month, will feature discussions of the Advisory Committee’s agenda and organization with a focus on certain capital formation issues relevant to small and emerging companies.
read more
Source: SEC.gov
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index
October 24, 2011--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index:
The Class A First Preferred Shares, Series "M" and "N", of The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSX:TD.PR.M and TD.PR.N) have both been called for redemption at $C25.50 cash per share and will be removed from the S&P/TSX North American Preferred Stock Index
and the S&P/TSX Preferred Share Index after the close of Monday, October 31, 2011.
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
ETFS US Precious Metals Weekly: Palladium steadies on EU debt-deal hopes as Russia confirms stockpile sales to end
October 24, 2011--Precious metal prices and futures positioning consolidated last week, as hopes for a European debt management package gained traction. The hopes helped steady financial markets after a jittery few weeks of trade that saw broadbased de-leveraging across a wide variety of asset markets. Futures positioning has likewise steadied, with net speculative futures positioning lifting off October lows for
both platinum and palladium.
Russia draws the curtain on the era of state palladium stockpile sales.
Russian officials were quoted as saying that state sales of 4-4.5 tonnes were likely in 2012-2013 - less than one-quarter the 24 tonnes scheduled for 2011-and stopping thereafter. Russia shipments to Switzerland, a key export market, dropped 24% yoy in September, with YTD shipments of 12 tonnes. If realized, this cessation of Russian state exports will remove a key supply uncertainty to palladium markets
in coming years. Russian stock sales are estimated to have been equivalent 10% of supply in 2010 and have been difficult to forecast due to the unknown level of Russian state stockpiles.
No.1 global platinum producer Anglo American Platinum Ltd (Amplats) reports double-digit cost inflation, flat production, over Q3. In-house production dropped 1% yoy, with a sharp rise in metals purchased from third parties (+14% yoy). Cost inflation remains a significant issue for the largest platinum and palladium miners, with Amplats noting a 10% p.a. rise in costs in Q3. Declining ore grades were an important component, with high grade ore seams currently accounting for less than half of their peak levels of around 25% of total production.
Event risk surrounding European debt plan still the major market focus, though seasonal emerging market demand may provide underlying support to gold in the absence of financial investors. European officials are scheduled to release their blueprint for expanding the safety net for European sovereign debt and banking recapitalization on Wednesday. Particular attention will be paid to how or if the sovereign bailout fund will be boosted and deployed, with rising speculation that it will be leveraged via use as a guarantee for sovereign bonds. Official comments over the weekend suggest that Greek sovereign bond holders may be encouraged to take further voluntary losses on bond holdings, and that the IMF may be expected to take a larger role in providing a safety net for sovereign bonds. If so, the blueprint may yet leave unanswered questions regarding IMF involvement and bank fall-out in the run-up to the G20 summit on November 3-4. ETFS research suggests that if the 2008 credit crisis is a guide, precious metals may be one of the first commodity sectors to rebound once widespread uncertainty and volatility subsides. Gold is likely to see near term support from physical demand as India enters seasonally high demand periods for gold associated with religious festivals throughout this week.
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
Source: ETF Securities
DB Global Equity Research: US ETF Market Weekly Review: ETP AUM remains flat, recent risk related inflows lose steam
October 24, 2011--Net Cash Flows Review
Last week, equity markets in the US (S&P 500) completed a three-week winning streak rising by 1.12%. Other developed and emerging markets outside the US were mixed, with the MSCI EAFE (in USD) gaining 0.37% and the MSCI EM (in USD) losing 1.59% during the week. Moving on to other asset classes, the 10Y Treasury yield slightly retreated, dropping by 3bps; the DB Liquid Commodity Index was down by 2.18%, driven by a generalized drop across the majority of the sectors. The Agriculture sector (DB Diversified Agriculture Index),
Gold and Silver were down by 1.05%, 2.28%, and 2.52%, respectively; while WTI Crude Oil was the exception to the rule (+0.69%). Last but not least, Volatility (VIX) rebounded and rose by 10.9%, climbing back above 30 last week.
The total US ETP flows from all products registered $0.9bn of outflows during last week vs $6.6bn of inflows the previous week, setting the YTD weekly flows average at +$1.9bn.
The recent risk comeback lost some steam last week, but still keeps some momentum, all in all the risk-off reversal still remains undetermined. Equity, Fixed Income, and Commodity ETPs experienced flows of -$0.8bn, +$0.1bn, and -$0.2bn last week vs. +$5.5bn, +$1.3bn, and -$0.3bn the previous week, respectively.
Within Equity ETPs, Dividend products experienced the largest inflows (+$0.9bn), followed by Leveraged Short products (+$0.5bn), while Small Cap vehicles experienced the largest outflows (-$2.1bn). Within Fixed Income ETPs, Corporates products experienced the largest inflows (+$0.4bn), while Sovereign vehicles experienced the largest outflows (-$0.4bn). Within Commodity ETPs, all sectors experienced relatively mild outflows with Precious Metals products leading the ranking table (-$0.2bn), and Broad benchmarks following in the distance (-$30m).
New Launch Calendar: new ETPs to invest with lower volatility
There were 6 ETPs and 8 new ETNs listed on the NYSE Arca during the previous week. The new ETPs offer exposure to international indices with a minimum volatility focus, dividend, and emerging market debt; while the new ETNs provide access to short and long leveraged positions on precious metals. (Figure 18)
Turnover Review:
ETP turnover rose in tandem with volatility
Total weekly turnover rose by 12.7% to $421bn vs. $374bn in the previous week. The largest increase was on Equity ETP turnover, which climbed by $42bn or 12.3% to $381bn. Fixed Income ETP turnover increased by $1.4bn to $17.7bn last week. Finally, Commodity ETPs products turnover jumped by $3.6bn, totaling $18.7bn at the end of last Friday.
Assets Under Management (AUM) Review: assets remained flat
An overall positive equity market and mild outflows left US ETP AUM practically unchanged during last week. Total ETP assets were 2.5% up YTD by the end of last week, ending up at $1.02 trillion. Assets for equity, fixed income and commodity ETPs moved +$0.5bn, +$1.2bn, and -$2.5bn during last week, respectively.
to request report
Source: Deutsche Bank - Global Equity Research