Americas ETP News
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US Treasury urged to sell ultra long bonds
February 2, 2011--The US Treasury has been urged to sell “ultra-long” bonds with maturities of up to 100 years to help lower the government’s borrowing costs.
The longest bond issued by the US has a maturity of 30 years, and in recent years, the UK, France and China have sold 50-year debt. Extending the average maturity of its outstanding debt beyond the current 59 months would enable the US to take advantage of prevailing low yields on bonds.
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Source: FT.com
Direxion Shares Announces Reverse Share Split of Six ETFs
February 2, 2011--Direxion, a pioneer in providing alternative investment strategies to sophisticated investors, announced today it will execute a 1-for-5 reverse split of the shares of the Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3x Shares (FAZ), Direxion Daily Large Cap Bear 3x Shares (BGZ), Direxion Daily Mid Cap Bear 3x Shares (MWN), Direxion Daily Developed Markets Bear 3x Shares (DPK) and Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bear 3x Shares (SOXS) for shareholders of record after the close of the markets on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011.
Additionally, the firm announced it will execute a 1-for-3 reverse split of the shares of the Direxion Daily Small Cap Bear 3x Shares (TZA) for shareholders of record after the close of the markets on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011.
The CUSIPs for the six ETFs will change as follows:read more
Source: Direxion
Morgan Stanley Exchange-TradedFunds: ETF Net Cash Inflows of $37.9 Billion for 4Q10 and $110.2 Billion for FY 2010
February 2, 2011--There were 179 new ETFs listed in the US in
2010, of which 26 were issued in the fourth quarter. However, 49 ETFs were liquidated in 2010, resulting in net new issuance of 130. As of
January 28, 2011, there were 33 issuers with 987 ETFs listed in the US.
Net inflows into US-listed ETFs were $37.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2010, bringing FY 2010 net cash inflows to $110.2 billion. While the $37.9 billion in net inflows in the
fourth quarter is well above the average quarterly net cash inflows of $26.1 billion over the past six
years, it is below the fourth quarter average net cash inflows of $45.7 billion from the previous six
years.
The largest net cash inflows in 2010 went into emerging market equity and fixed income ETFs. These asset classes had net cash inflows of $30.5 billion and $28.0 billion, respectively, in 2010. Commodity and US Sector and Industry ETFs had the next highest net cash flows in 2010 at $10.7 billion and $10.4 billion, respectively.
US ETF industry assets of $1,003 billion are 28% higher than their level at the end of 2009. Despite the growth of the ETF market, it remains concentrated with three providers and 20 ETFs accounting for almost 80% and 50% of industry assets, respectively.
Many newer listings have struggled to gain meaningful traction. The 485 ETFs launched since the start of 2008 (excluding liquidations) have an average market cap of $147 million but a median market cap of just $27 million. While some of the products offer unique exposure, many of the newer ETFs, particularly those with a narrower focus and those based on less well-known indices, have struggled to gain traction.
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Source: Morgan Stanley
NSX Releases January 2011 ETF Data Reports; Assets Reach New Month End Record
February 2, 2011--Highlights from the January 2011 reports include:
Assets in U.S. listed Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) and Exchange-Traded Notes (ETN) totaled a new record of approximately $1.02 trillion at January 2011 month-end, an increase of approximately 37% over January 2010 month-end when assets totaled $744.7 billion.
ETF net cash inflows for the month totaled over $10.3 billion, with U.S. Equity leading all product categories with over $10.1 billion in net cash flow.
ETF/ETN notional trading volume during January 2011 totaled almost $1.3 trillion, representing 29% of all U.S. equity trading volume.
At the end of January 2011, the number of listed products totaled 1,121 compared to 947 listed products at the same time last year.
Visit http://www.nsx.com for more info.
Source: NSX
SEC Proposes Rules for Security-Based Swap Execution Facilities
February 2, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose rules defining security-based swap execution facilities (SEFs) and establishing their registration requirements, as well as their duties and core principles.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act authorized the SEC to implement a regulatory framework for security-based swaps, which currently trade exclusively in the over-the-counter markets with little transparency or oversight.
The Dodd-Frank Act sought to move the trading of security-based swaps onto regulated trading markets, and therefore created security-based SEFs as a new category of market intended to provide more transparency and reduce systemic risk.
"Our objective here is to provide a framework that allows the security-based swap market to continue to develop in a more transparent, efficient, and competitive manner," said SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro. "This is an important and complex undertaking that adds a significant new component to the regulatory framework for over-the-counter derivatives."
The Commission's proposed rules:
Interpret the definition of "security-based SEFs" as set forth in Dodd-Frank.
read more
Source: SEC.gov
Claymore files with the SEC
January 31, 2011--Claymore has filed a post effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for
Guggenheim BulletShares 2012 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
Guggenheim BulletShares 2013 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
Guggenheim BulletShares 2014 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
Guggenheim BulletShares 2015 High Yield Corporate Bond ETF
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
ISE Reports Business Activity for January 2011
Average daily volume in January 2011 up 29.9% over December 2010.
Dividend trades made up 5.1% of industry volume in January 2011.
ISE is third largest equity options exchange in January with market share of 19.5%, excluding
dividend trades.
February 1, 2011-The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today reported average daily volume of 3.3 million contracts
in January 2011, a decrease of 11.8% over January 2010.
Total options volume for the month was 66.1 million contracts. ISE was the third-largest U.S. equity options exchange in January with market share of
19.5%*. Business highlights for the month of January include:
Aggregate assets under management for ETFs based on ISE’s proprietary indexes was $1.1 billion as of January 31, 2011.
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Source: International Securities Exchange
Charles Schwab: Commodity ETFs: Spot and Futures Prices
Key points
Knowing whether an ETF tracks spot or futures prices will help you better understand its performance.
Futures-based ETFs, the most common structure for commodity ETFs, are subject to contango and backwardation. We'll explain what that means.
Designed for ETF investors.
February 1, 2011--One feature many investors like about exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is the ability to access parts of the market that were previously very hard to reach.
An example is the commodities asset class—hard to access in the past, but easier now with ETFs. Commodities have their own risks and aren't for everyone, but may be appropriate for investors looking for the opportunity to diversify beyond stocks and bonds.
Commodity ETFs work a bit differently from traditional stock and bond ETFs, though, and it's important to understand the difference before diving in. In order to understand how a commodity ETF works, you'll need to know whether it tracks spot prices or futures prices.
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Source: Charles Schwab
OIC Announces January Options Trading Volume Increased 21.5%
February 1, 2011--The Options Industry Council (OIC) announced today that 378,480,506 total options contracts changed hands in January, a 21.48 percent increase from the 311,561,541 contracts traded in January 2010.
January's trading volume was the second highest monthly total ever recorded, following only May 2010 when nearly 406 million changed hands. Average daily trading volume for January was 18,942,025 contracts, up 15.4 percent from the 16,397,976 contracts in January 2010.
Equity options volume (options on individual stocks and ETFs) in January saw 354,795,514 contracts change hands, 22.8 percent more than in January 2010 when 288,939,483 contracts were traded. On average, 17,739,776 contracts were traded each day throughout January compared to January of last year when an average of 15,207,341 contracts were traded daily, representing a 16.7 percent increase.
Source: OIC
ETF Securities Asian Gold Trust (AGOL) takes in $50M in AUM
February 1, 2011--ETF Securities USA LLC (ETFS) announced today that the newly launched ETFS Asian Gold Trust (AGOL) Exchange Traded Product (ETP) has gathered $50M in AUM.
AGOL is designed for investors who want a cost-effective(1) and convenient way to invest in gold held outside of the United States or Europe. The gold bars are allocated and held in a secure vault in Singapore.
Investors have further choice in gold holdings and can now diversify from gold epicenters like London and the U.S. into Asia using AGOL or into Switzerland using existing SGOL. Both offered at 0.39%. (1)
Singapore is the gateway to Asia, and like Switzerland, is widely considered a neutral country. Singapore welcomes free market trade and is a country that is poised for tremendous growth and free of sovereign debt (2) concerns.
ETFS’ Physical Asian Gold Shares ETP is the first U.S. precious metals product to be vaulted in Asia.
With AGOL, ETFS now offers seven precious metal ETPs in the U.S. – solidifying our position as market leader in issuance of physically-backed precious metal ETPs.
Each vault is audited bi-annually and the bar numbers of all the metal holdings are listed on the ETF Securities website, providing investors with insurance that they are, in fact, purchasing the underlying physical metal.
Commenting on this milestone for ETF Securities in the US, Fred Jheon, Head of Product & Business Development for ETFS Marketing LLC, commented:
“We are delighted with the immediate success of AGOL and look forward to broader investor adoption of our physically-backed precious metal products.”
Source: ETF Securities
