IMF Working paper-External Conditions and Debt Sustainability in Latin America
January 30, 2013--Summary: Highly favorable external conditions have helped Latin America strengthen its economic fundamentals over the last decade. But, has the region built enough buffers to guard itself from a weakening of the external environment?
This paper addresses this question by developing a simple framework that integrates econometric estimates of the effect of global factors on key domestic variables that determine public and external debt dynamics, with the IMF‘s standard debt sustainability framework. Results suggest that, while some countries in the region are well placed to withstand moderate or even large shocks, many would benefit from having stronger buffers to be in a position to deploy countercyclical policies, especially under tail events. External sustainability, on the other hand, does not appear to be a source of concern for most countries.
view the IMF Working paper-External Conditions and Debt Sustainability in Latin America
Knight Looks to Sell Fixed-Income Units .
January 30, 2013--Knight Capital Group Inc. plans to sell some assets and has cut staff ahead of the trading firm's planned sale to a rival, according to people close to the company.
Bank of America, Merrill Lynch has been hired to explore a sale of Knight's bond-trading and reverse-mortgage units, part of a division that has struggled for years to turn a steady profit, these people said.
The effort to sell the two units would mark the biggest step so far to refocus Knight on its core business of buying and selling shares, following a years-long push by Chief Executive Officer Thomas Joyce to diversify into asset classes such as bonds and currencies.
Horizons ETFs announces final valuations for terminated ETFs
January 30, 2013--Horizons Exchange Traded Funds Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") and its affiliate Horizons ETFs Management ( Canada ) Inc. (the "Manager") have previously announced, by way of a press release dated November 16, 2012, that certain exchange traded funds ("ETFs") will be terminated effective upon the close of business today, January 18, 2013.
The ETFs being terminated (collectively, the "Terminated ETFs"), with their respective final net asset values ("Final NAV") per unit, are as follows:
First Trust files with the SEC
January 30, 2013--First Trust has filed a pre-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF.
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National Income and Product Accounts Gross Domestic Product, 4th quarter and annual 2012 (advance estimate)
January 30, 2013--Real gross domestic product--the output of goods and services produced by labor and property
located in the United States--decreased at an annual rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 (that is, from the third quarter to the fourth quarter), according to the "advance" estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 3.1 percent.
The Bureau emphasized that the fourth-quarter advance estimate released today is based on
source data that are incomplete or subject to further revision by the source agency (see the box on page 4
and the "Comparisons of Revisions to GDP" on page 5). The "second" estimate for the fourth quarter,
based on more complete data, will be released on February 28, 2013.
The decrease in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected negative contributions from private inventory investment, federal government spending, and exports that were partly offset by positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), nonresidential fixed investment, and residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased.
The downturn in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected downturns in private inventory investment, in federal government spending, in exports, and in state and local government spending that were partly offset by an upturn in nonresidential fixed investment, a larger decrease in imports, and an acceleration in PCE.
Federal Reserve Issues FOMC Statement
January 30, 2013--Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in December suggests that growth in economic activity paused in recent months, in large part because of weather-related disruptions and other transitory factors.
Employment has continued to expand at a moderate pace but the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending and business fixed investment advanced, and the housing sector has shown further improvement. Inflation has been running somewhat below the Committee’s longer-run objective, apart from temporary variations that largely reflect fluctuations in energy prices. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
BNY Mellon Classic ADR Index(SM) 18% Return in 2012 Beats S&P 500, Led by Europe
Strong country performance in Europe, Australia, China drive DR index gains, according to BNY Mellon's 2012 DR market update; other milestones set in volatile
January 30, 2013-The BNY Mellon Classic ADR Index posted an 18% return last year, beating the 16% gain by the Standard & Poor's 500 Index of U.S. shares, and reversing a 2011 loss even as overall depositary receipt trading shrank, according to BNY Mellon's year-end report on the DR market.(1)
"The outperformance of the Classic ADR Index is significant, given that overall DR trading value dropped in 2012 and U.S. stocks performed well during a year of political wrangling," said Christopher M. Kearns, deputy CEO of BNY Mellon's Depositary Receipts business. "International portfolio diversification through DRs has offered a viable option to many investors, even as geopolitics led to periods of unsettled markets and made companies cautious about committing capital."
Continued growth for ETPs
January 30, 2013--Having seen a record-breaking year for inflows in 2012, the global Exchange Traded Products (ETP) market is attracting increased investment from institutional, professional and retail investors alike, according to BlackRock.
For Dodd Kittsley, global head of ETP research for BlackRock, ETPs have proven themselves to be a way to access assets classes in a cost-efficient and effective way, whatever the market conditions.
"Hot on the heels of an impressive 2012, the market has continued to grow in the early months of 2013, and we expect this to continue during the rest of this year," he said.
First US ETF celebrates 20th birthday
January 29, 2013--The first US listed exchange traded funds marked its 20th birthday on Tuesday having developed into a $125bn giant and becoming one of the world's most widely traded securities over the last two decades.
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF, known as SPY, which is managed by State Street Global Advisors, has spearheaded the development of the ETF industry worldwide over the past 20 years.
Exchange Traded Concepts files with the SEC-Forensic Accounting ETF
January 29, 2013--Exchange Traded Concepts has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the Forensic Accounting ETF (FLAG).
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Exchange Traded Concepts files with the SEC-Yorkville High Income Composite MLP ETF
January 29, 2013--Exchange Traded Concepts has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the Yorkville High Income Composite MLP ETF (YMLC).
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Exchange Traded Concepts files with the SEC
January 29, 2013--Exchange Traded Concepts has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the Yorkville High Income Infrastructure MLP ETF (YMLI).
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Fitch: index fund, ETF price competition rising for US banks
January 29, 2013--Price competition among providers of mutual funds and
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is likely to put pressure on investment management
fee growth for U.S. trust and custodial banks, according to Fitch Ratings.
Recent moves by Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, Blackrock, and other fund managers to reduce index fund and ETF fees paid by increasingly cost-conscious investors will make it difficult for trust banks, such as State Street, Northern Trust,
and Bank of New York Mellon, to push through meaningful fee growth on individual
and institutional customer accounts.
Vanguard cuts fees again, 12 percent at Strategic Equity Fund
January 28, 2013--Vanguard Group, the No. 1 U.S. mutual fund company, says it is reducing more fees, targeting four actively managed funds, including a 12 percent cut at the $3.3 billion Strategic Equity Fund, and many of its popular target retirement funds.
The moves, announced on Monday and last week, followed Vanguard's decision last month to lower fees across dozens of its index-tracking stock and bond funds, following similar actions by competitors. The cuts at the actively managed funds will help Vanguard's three major customer groups: individual investors who buy from Vanguard directly, 401(k) plan participants and investment advisers.
Investors pour record $55 billion into U.S. stock funds in January
January 28, 2013--Investors poured $55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, the biggest monthly inflow on record, research provider TrimTabs Investment Research said.
U.S. stock mutual funds and ETFs accounted for $25.2 billion of the total cash gains, the most since January 2004. Global mutual funds and ETFs overtook them with inflows of $29.8 billion, a monthly record according to the research company.