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OIC Announces February Options Trading Volume Up 35%
March 1, 2011--The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 354,214,236 total options contracts changed hands in February, 34.97 percent more than the 262,434,225 contracts traded in February 2010.
Average daily trading volume in February was 18,642,854 contracts, 34.97 percent higher than the 13,812,328 contracts in the same year ago period. Year-to-date volume for February stood at 732,694,742 contracts, which is 27.65 percent more than 573,995,766 contracts at the same point last year.
Equity options volume (options on individual stocks and ETFs) for February came in at 331,962,409 contracts, up 38.36 percent compared to February of last year when 239,922,344 contracts were traded. On average, 17,471,706 contracts were exchanged each day during February, which is 38.36 percent higher than in February 2010 when 12,627,492 contracts changed hands daily. Equity options year-to-date volume came in at 686,757,923 contracts, up 29.86 percent over the 528,861,827 contracts traded throughout the same period last year.
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Source: OIC
Dow Jones Indexes And Brookfield Asset Management Launch Emerging Markets Infrastructure Index
April 1, 2011--Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, and Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM.A, Euronext: BAMA), a global asset management company focused on property, power and infrastructure assets, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones Brookfield Emerging Markets Infrastructure Index.
The index aims to represent companies in emerging market countries that are owners and operators of infrastructure assets. This index has been licensed along with the Dow Jones Brookfield Global Infrastructure Index, to ETF Securities, a global leader in commodity exchange traded products. The indexes will serve as the basis for two UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives) -compliant exchange traded funds on the ETF Exchange platform.
“Extending our infrastructure index family with the addition of an emerging market sub-index clearly demonstrates continued investor interest in growing countries,” said Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes. “With our associates at Brookfield Asset Management, Dow Jones Indexes is pleased to provide reliable infrastructure indexing products in areas that directly respond to market demand.”
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Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Treasury Issues Updated Debt Limit Projections
March 1, 2011--Today, Mary Miller, Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, issued the following update regarding the projected dates by which the United States will reach the statutory debt limit:
“The Treasury Department now estimates that the United States will reach the debt limit between April 15, 2011 and May 31, 2011. As announced at the February Quarterly Refunding, Treasury will update this projection at the beginning of each month.”?
Source: US Department of the Treasury
The Basic ETF Trading Practices That Can Save Your Clients Money
March 1, 2011--Advisors are using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for a growing percentage of fund applications in clients’ accounts. This trend will accelerate as the advantages of ETFs over conventional mutual funds are more widely appreciated and as improved ETFs are introduced.
The purpose of this article is to help advisors develop the basic trading skills they need to use ETFs effectively. The more ETFs you use and the more actively you trade them, the more important it is to trade them efficiently. (1)
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Source: Forbes
RiverPark Advisors files with the SEC
March 1, 2011--RiverPark Advisors, LLC has filed an application for exemptive relief with the SEC.
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Source: SEC.gov
ISE Reports Business Activity for February 2011
Average daily volume in February 2011 up 1.9% over February 2010.
Dividend trades made up 4.2% of industry volume in February 2011.
ISE is third largest equity options exchange in February with market share of 19.0%,excluding dividend trades.
March 1, 2011--The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 3.2 million contracts in February 2011, an increase of 1.9% over February 2010. Total options volume for the month was 61.0 million contracts.
ISE was the third-largest U.S. equity options exchange in February with market share of 19.0%*. Business highlights for the month of February include:
On February 28, 2011, ISE launched the Qualified Contingent Cross (QCC) order type. ISE’s members can now cross tied-to-stock options orders of 1,000 contracts or more on ISE’s market
with a guaranteed execution as long as the order is priced at or better than the National Best Bid or Offer (NBBO) and does not trade in front of resting customer orders.
Aggregate assets under management for ETFs based on ISE’s proprietary indexes was $1.2 billion as of February 28, 2011.
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Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance Review is Now Available
March 1, 2011--The BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance Review is now available.
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Source: BNY Mellon
Monetary Policy Report to the Congress
Monetary Policy Report submitted to the Congress on March 1, 2011, pursuant to section 2B of the Federal Reserve Act
March 1, 2011--Economic activity in the United States expanded at a moderate pace, on average, in the second half of 2010 and early 2011. In the spring and early summer, a number of key indicators of economic activity softened relative to the readings posted in late 2009 and the first part of 2010, raising concerns about the durability of the recovery. In light of these developments--and in order to put the economic recovery on a firmer footing--the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) provided additional monetary policy stimulus during the second half of 2010 by reinvesting principal repayments from its holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities and by announcing its intention to purchase an additional $600 billion of Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011.
Financial market conditions improved notably in the fall of 2010, partly in response to actual and expected increases in monetary policy accommodation. In addition, later in the year, the tenor of incoming economic news strengthened somewhat, and the downside risks to economic growth appeared to recede. Nonetheless, the job market has improved only slowly. Employment gains have been modest, and although the unemployment rate fell noticeably in December and January, the margin of slack in the labor market remains wide. Meanwhile, despite rapid increases in commodity prices, longer-term inflation expectations remained stable, and measures of underlying consumer price inflation continued to trend downward on net.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose at a moderate rate in the third quarter. Inventories provided the principal impetus to growth while final sales showed little vigor--the same pattern that prevailed in the first half of the year. Less favorable readings that began to emerge during the second quarter for a range of indicators--new claims for unemployment insurance, industrial production, and numerous surveys of business activity, among others--pointed to a slowing in the pace of the recovery and suggested that the transition from a recovery boosted importantly by the inventory cycle to one propelled mainly by private final demand was proceeding only very gradually. Later in the year, however, this process appeared to gain traction. Indeed, real GDP is estimated to have risen a little faster in the fourth quarter than in the third quarter despite a substantial slowdown in the pace of inventory investment in the fourth quarter; final sales increased much more rapidly in the fourth quarter than earlier.
Over the second half of 2010, consumer spending posted a solid gain, boosted in part by continued, albeit modest, increases in real wage and salary income; some waning of the drag on outlays from earlier declines in household net worth; and a modest improvement in the availability of consumer credit. Businesses continued to step up their spending on equipment and software in response to a brighter outlook for sales as well as more favorable conditions in credit markets. In the external sector, the continued rebound in exports was supported by firming foreign demand. Meanwhile, the construction sector remained exceptionally weak.
read more view Monetary Policy Report to the Congress Broadridge’s Access Data Introduces Unique Tax Management Solution “Until now, a mutual fund or ETF could only estimate aggregate shareholder positions and not effectively
calculate the positions by state. As states take a more aggressive stance in scrutinizing tax estimates the
market need for this solution became very evident to us,” said Gerard Scavelli, President, Mutual Fund
Solutions, Broadridge. “With the extensive information available to Broadridge, we were able to create
this solution in collaboration with our clients, and solve a real industry problem,” added Mr. Scavelli. read more Concurring Statement, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Strategic Plan FY 2011-2015 If we learned anything from the 2008 financial crisis, it’s that improved transparency and integrated cross divisional analysis is critical. The Commission’s own shortcomings in data collection and cooperation were identified in the March 2009 Promontory Financial Group Market Surveillance Review (the “Promontory Report”), which found that communications between divisions “appears to impede the overall effectiveness of the Commission’s effort to not only detect and prevent, but in certain circumstances, to take enforcement action against market manipulation.” The report found that the lack of cooperation and coordination among the divisions within the Commission limited the CFTC’s effectiveness. read more
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
March 1, 2011--Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) today
announced a unique tax management solution providing mutual fund managers and ETF sponsors
access to data to accurately calculate state tax obligations.
Broadridge’s Multi-State Tax Management solution, the first of its kind, collects, organizes and tabulates
shareholder account data across distribution channels in all 50 states, without divulging specific
shareholder information. It enables chief financial officers and their corporate tax managers to effectively
apportion state taxes.
Source: Broadridge
Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia
March 1, 2011--I support the Strategic Plan because the Commission is now committed to reorganizing the CFTC’s technology, data collection and analysis functions into a central group. For the first time, the Commission will focus on its technology needs in an organized manner to enhance its oversight of the futures markets and meet its new statutory responsibilities under the Dodd-Frank Act. As proposed, the new group will serve as the primary data collection point and will improve the CFTC’s cross market surveillance capabilities. It’s my expectation that this group will develop core risk analysis competencies that will provide great value to the Commission and industry as a whole.
This group should be provided its own budget separate from the Commission operations’ funds to specifically advance technology investments, automated surveillance, automation of all forms and compliance applications, and enhanced cross division and cross market analytical tools. While the Strategic Plan indicates that the reorganization of the Commission will be completed in the near future, it is my hope that the new technology and data group will be in place by July 15, 2011, consistent with the implementation date of the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFTC should address its organizational challenges in the same manner and with the same conviction it has demonstrated in implementing the Dodd-Frank Act within the statutory time frame.
Source: CFTC.gov
