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Morningstar May Rate Leveraged ETFs Separately
September 23, 2010--Morningstar may remove leveraged and inverse exchange-traded funds from its star rating system and track them separately, Scott Burns, the firm’s ETF director, told attendees at Morningstar’s ETF conference last week.
And Howard Atkinson, president of Horizons BetaPro, the only provider of leveraged ETFs in Canada, says he can’t blame them.
“I agree. You can’t compare one-beta ETFs with leveraged ETFs where the investment objective is daily,” Atkinson told the National Post. “They’re no more comparable than bonds and equities are and have a different risk/return profile.”
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Source: Financial Planning
NASDAQ OMX Launches the Green Economy Index Family
September 23, 2010---- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced it is offering a comprehensive family of indexes designed to track the green economy. Leading the launch is the all-inclusive NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index (Nasdaq:QGREEN), which is designed to serve investors who wish to benchmark an investment portfolio based on the segment of the economy that supports clean, renewable and sustainable economic development. NASDAQ
NASDAQ OMX will expand the Green Economy Index family with additional indexes in the coming months.
Combining the economic factors that power renewable and clean growth, the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index covers the entire green economic landscape with constituents that are selected across all industry sectors participating in the green solution. The Index acts as a benchmark for the performance of stocks in the following sectors: advanced materials; biofuels; energy efficiency; financial; green building; healthy living; natural resources; pollution mitigation; recycling; renewable energy generation; transportation and water.
"The NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index provides a global investment benchmark for institutional and retail investors," said John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group. "Amid the transition from a fossil based economy to the sustainable nature of the green economy, NASDAQ OMX continues to play a leading role in benchmarking the companies and sectors that are engaged in developing environmentally enhancing goods and services."
The NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index is comprised of more than 350 securities from 13 distinct sectors from a universe of over 460 companies. Indexes tracking each sector and region of the Green Economy Index will be launched in the coming weeks. Companies for the entire Green Economy Index Family are selected by Rona Fried, Ph.D. of SustainableBusiness.com, LLC.
"Through the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index, investors will be able to get exposure to all the companies worldwide that stand to benefit from a societal transition toward a green economy. The Index covers the broadest array of companies from natural resources to healthy living, from energy efficiency to renewable energy, from green building to efficient transportation, and from green IT to advanced materials," said Rona Fried, Ph.D., CEO of SustainableBusiness.com, LLC, which jointly developed the Index family with NASDAQ OMX.
Four versions of the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index began calculating on September 22, 2010 at a base value of 1000.00. The versions are a Price Return (Nasdaq:QGREEN), Total Return (Nasdaq:QGREENX), a Capped Price Return (Nasdaq:QGREENCP4), and a Capped Total Return (Nasdaq:QGREENCP4X).
For more information about NASDAQ OMX's Green Economy Index Family and the upcoming Green Economy Sector indexes, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/green.aspx.
For information about the components and weights of the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index, visit NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch at https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/IndexWatch.aspx.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
Global X Funds Colombia and Silver Miners ETFs cross $100M in assets
September 23, 2010--Following in the footsteps of its China Consumer ETF (ticker: CHIQ), the Global X Funds family has pushed a second and third ETF product over the $100M asset threshold.
The Global X FTSE Colombia ETF (GXG) was the family’s first Emerging Markets fund, and has consistently been a top performer.
Its cumulative return has exceeded 180% since inception in Feb 2009, earning it the WSJ Category King of Latin American funds designation in Aug 2010 and Investor’s Business Daily’s Top World ETF in Sept 2010.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) was launched last quarter to debut the family’s Global Commodities fund suite, and has garnered the highest average volumes. It traded nearly one million shares on its sixth day after launch. Despite the silver slowdown this summer, SIL now holds $101M in assets.
Momentum Ahead
Among other innovative products in the family, the Global X Brazil Financials ETF (BRAF) is the youngest with an inception date of 7/28/10, and has returned 6.96% already as of 9/20/10. Among the six Brazil indexes currently tracked by plain vanilla* ETFs, the Solactive Brazil Financials index has shown the highest upside and lowest downside over the past three years, as of 9/17/10.
Source: Global X Funds
Financial Stability Oversight Council Will Hold First Meeting On October 1
September 23, 2010--Today, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, in his capacity as chairperson of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, announced that the Council will hold its first meeting on October 1, 2010 at the U.S. Treasury Department.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which President Obama signed into law on July 21, 2010, established the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The Council will provide, for the first time, comprehensive oversight over the stability of our nation's financial system. It is charged with identifying threats to the financial stability of the United States; promoting market discipline by eliminating expectations on the part of shareholders, creditors, and counterparties that the government will shield them from losses in the event of failure; and responding to emerging risks to the stability of the United States financial system.
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Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
NYSE-Sponsored “Commission On Corporate Governance” Outlines Key Governance Principles - Committee Representing Broad Group Of Investors, Issuers, Broker-Dealers, Governance And Proxy Experts Defines 10 Core Principles of Corporate Governance
September 23, 2010--NYSE Euronext (NYX) today released the final report of the NYSE–sponsored Commission on Corporate Governance. The Commission on Corporate Governance, chaired by Larry W. Sonsini, Chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, is a diverse and independent commission established in the fall of 2009 to examine core governance principles that could be widely supported by issuers, investors, directors and other market participants.
The report is the result of nearly a year-long process, including a detailed review of the governance changes which have occurred over the past decade. The report identified 10 core governance principles covering the scope of the board’s authority, management’s responsibility for governance and the relationship between shareholders’ trading activities, voting decisions and governance. The findings of the Commission include that:
The Board’s fundamental objective is to build long-term sustainable growth in shareholder value, and thus corporate policies that encourage excessive risk-taking for the sake of short-term increases in stock price are inconsistent with sound corporate governance.
Corporate management has a critical role in corporate governance, as management has the primary responsibility for creating an environment in which a culture of performance with integrity can flourish.
view the Report of the New York Stock Exchange
Commission on Corporate Governance
Source: NYSE Euronext
Nuveen files with the SEC
September 23, 2010--Nuveen has filed a pre-effective amendment No. 8 to Form S-1 for
Nuveen Diversified Commodity Fund.
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
iShares files with SEC
September 23, 2010--iShares has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for
MSCI China Small Cap Index Fund.
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Source: SEC.gov
NASDAQ OMX Offers Family Of Green Economy Indexes
September 22, 2010--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced it is offering a comprehensive family of indexes designed to track the green economy. Leading the launch is the all-inclusive NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index (Nasdaq:QGREEN), which is designed to serve investors who wish to benchmark an investment portfolio based on the segment of the economy that supports clean, renewable and sustainable economic development. NASDAQ OMX will expand the Green Economy Index family with additional indexes in the coming months.
Combining the economic factors that power renewable and clean growth, the NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index covers the entire green economic landscape with constituents that are selected across all industry sectors participating in the green solution. The Index acts as a benchmark for the performance of stocks in the following sectors: advanced materials; biofuels; energy efficiency; financial; green building; healthy living; natural resources; pollution mitigation; recycling; renewable energy generation; transportation and water.
"The NASDAQ OMX Green Economy Index provides a global investment benchmark for institutional and retail investors," said John Jacobs, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group. "Amid the transition from a fossil based economy to the sustainable nature of the green economy, NASDAQ OMX continues to play a leading role in benchmarking the companies and sectors that are engaged in developing environmentally enhancing goods and services."
read more
Source: NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group
Component Changes Made to Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index
September 22, 2010--Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced component changes in the Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index.
Healthscope Ltd. (Australia, Health Care, HSP.AU) will be deleted from the Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index and replaced by Coal & Allied Industries Ltd. (Australia, Basic Resources, CNA.AU).
Healthscope Ltd. is being removed due to its acquisition by Asia Pacific Healthcare Group Pty Ltd. The changes in the Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index will be effective as of the open of trading on Tuesday, September 28, 2010.
The Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index represents the country’s top 30 stocks by dividend yield. Further information on the Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index can be found at http://www.djindexes.com.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Standard & Poor’s Announces Changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
September 22, 2010--Standard & Poor’s Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
The shareholders of Biovail Corporation (TSX:BVF) and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International (NYSE:VRX) are expected to agree to a Plan of Merger. Pursuant to the plan, the shares of Biovail (to be renamed Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. and to trade under the TSX ticker VRX) will increase in the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX 60, 60 Capped and Equity 60, the S&P/TSX Equity and the S&P/TSX Capped Equity Indices to reflect the issuance of new shares as part of the transaction.
The transaction will be effective after the close of trading on Monday, September 27, 2010
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 & Poors
