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ETF Weekly Update-Morgan Stanley
May 24, 2010--Highlights
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Weekly Flows: $8.4 Billion Net Outflows
Largest Weekly Net Outflow This Year
Launches: 3 New ETFs; 1 New Provider
Vanguard Reduces Expenses on 19 ETFs
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Flows by Market Segment
Amid weak equity markets, ETFs had net cash outflows of $8.4 bln last week
Largest weekly net outflow of 2010. Total ETF assets shrink by $36 bln.
Flows driven largely by US Equity ETFs. Two large-caps, one small-cap.
Over 13-week period, Fixed Income ETFs exhibit strongest net inflows
$32.7 bln net inflows into US-listed ETFs over past 13 weeks with almost all categories exhibiting net inflows.
US-Listed ETFs: New Listings For the Week
SPDR Barclays Capital International Corporate Bond ETF
Symbol:IBND
Launch Date:05/19/100.
Expense Ratio:055%
Tracks developed ex-US investment grade corporate bond market
ESG Shares North America Sustainability Index ETF
Symbol:NASI
Launch Date:05/19/100
Expense Ratio:0.50%
Tracks N. America equities that meet environmental, social, governance criteria
IQ Taiwan Small Cap ETF
Symbol: TWON
Launch Date:05/19/100
Expense Ratio:0.79%
Tracks Taiwan small-cap equity market
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Source: Morgan Stanley Research
Wisdom Tree files with the SEC
May 24, 2010--Wisdom Tree has filed a post-effective, registration statement with the SEC for
WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund (ELD).
view filing
Source: SEC.gov
Statement, "And One More Thing", Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues
May 24, 2010--The market events of May 6th were serious and significant, and I'm pleased that this Advisory Committee has been established.
As I listen to staff describe equity and derivative markets and what was going on that day, it makes me think of Lieutenant Columbo from the television series. He would receive responses to his queries, say "good bye," and then often pause and ask yet another question with the preface, "And one more thing I'm trying to understand . . . ." And that "one more thing" was usually the kicker.
Well, there are many unanswered questions about May 6th. In fact, I still have many questions about the economic fiasco and why some of the specific market actions took place. Yes, Congress deregulated the banking industry and that cue led to free markets than ran so rampant that we saw wild hybrids being created. There were exotic mortgages and bets upon bets that bundled loans would fail. There were hundreds of trillions in dark trading that took place off the regulators' radar, and there were new speculators with novel trading strategies. All of these keep us asking "and one more thing," trying to figure out how the economic mess was created, and--more importantly--how we make sure it doesn't happen again.
read more
Source: CFTC.gov
Opening Statement of Chairman Gary Gensler Meeting of the Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues
May 24, 2010-Good morning. I would like to start by thanking Chairman Schapiro for all of her efforts on behalf of the investing public as well as the staff of the SEC for hosting this first meeting of the Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues.
I also want to recognize and thank my fellow CFTC Commissioners, Mike Dunn, Jill Sommers, Bart Chilton and Scott O’Malia. I thank them for their support in establishing this joint committee and for all of their work on behalf of the American public. I know that each of us looks forward to receiving the advice of this expert panel.
During the Presidential transition, when Chairman Schapiro and I first discussed possibly setting up a joint advisory committee, little did we think it would take a year and a half, a joint harmonization report, an act of Congress and a 1,000-point drop in the Dow before getting it done. I am so pleased to have our first meeting of the committee today.
An advisory committee designed to review emerging risks in our financial markets is long overdue. While I am not suggesting that had this committee been set up five or 10 years ago we would not have had a financial crisis, I do believe that there were emerging risks that demanded thoughtful analysis. There was the use of new products like credit default swaps and new developments in the securitization marketplace. We also have now seen rapid advancements in technology and significant changes in market structure. We can be certain that we will continue to see innovations in the market that will require thorough review.
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Source: CFTC.gov
CFTC Joint Presentation for Meeting of the Joint CFTC-SEC Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues
May 24, 2010--The presentation of todays meeting is available for viewing.
view presentation
Source: CFTC.gov
Semi-Annual Changes to the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index
May 24, 2010 -- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) and CRD Analytics announced today the results of the semi-annual re-ranking of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index (Nasdaq:QCRD), which will become effective prior to market open on Monday, May 24, 2010.
The following twelve securities will be added to the Index: Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A), Banco Bradesco S.A. (NYSE:BBD), Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE:BBVA), Bank Of Montreal (NYSE:BMO), Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), Infosys Technologies Limited (Nasdaq:INFY), Eli Lilly & Company (NYSE:LLY), Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT), Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), UBS AG (NYSE:UBS).
The NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index is an equally weighted equity index that serves as a benchmark for stocks of companies that are taking a leadership role in sustainability performance reporting and are traded on a major U.S. stock exchange. The Index is made up of companies that have taken a leadership role in disclosing their carbon footprint, energy usage, water consumption, hazardous and non-hazardous waste, employee safety, workforce diversity, management composition and community investing. These are companies that are voluntarily disclosing their current environmental, social and governance risks as well as their revenue opportunities and how it will affect future performance. The securities must also meet other eligibility criteria which include minimum requirements for market value, average daily share volume, and price. The Index is evaluated on a semi-annual basis in May and November. For more information about the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index, including detailed eligibility criteria, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/.
"More and more companies and investors are recognizing that sustainability as a business and investment strategy will define success in the Twenty-First Century," said Michael Muyot, President and Founder of CRD Analytics. "The NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index, based on our SmartView analytics platform, is a key tool for tracking the performance of sustainability leaders. Hats off to those companies added to the index -- as they have raised the bar."
"The re-ranking of the NASDAQ OMX CRD Global Sustainability 50 Index ensures its relevance as the most widely followed benchmark for companies that are on the leading edge of self-reporting sustainability activities," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. "This index is a powerful tool for those who want to capture the investment opportunities created by the economic shift toward global sustainability."
As a result of the re-ranking, the following twelve securities will be removed from the Index: ABB Ltd (NYSE:ABB), Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:ABX), BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP), BT Group plc (NYSE:BT), Reed Elsevier PLC (NYSE:ENL), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE:RDS-A), Royal Bank Of Canada (NYSE:RY), Siemens Aktiengesellschaft (NYSE:SI), Statoil ASA (NYSE:STO), Vodafone Group PLC (Nasdaq:VOD), Westpac Banking Corporation (NYSE:WBK).
Source: NASDAQ OMX
CFTC official admits data still collected by fax
May 21, 2010--Trades may be carried out faster than the blink of an eye but the watchdog charged with overseeing the US futures markets has admitted that it still receives market-related data by fax that is then entered in to its systems by hand.
Scott O’Malia, a commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, admitted that the agency had been in a “perpetual game of technological catch-up” when it came to keeping track of derivatives markets.
His comments came the same day that CFTC chairman Gary Gensler told a Senate banking committee hearing into the May 6 “flash crash” on Wall Street that the CFTC was investigating the role of algorithmic trading in futures markets – one of the biggest technology developments of recent times.
The CFTC said it would re-instate a special technology committee to help it stay abreast of new technologies to help it better oversee the markets. The flash crash has shone a spotlight on the ability of regulators and market venues to keep track of markets increasingly driven by high-speed trading.
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Source: FT.com
U.S. Department of the Treasury Economic Statistics - Monthly Data Update
May 21, 2010--U.S. Department of the Treasury Economic Statistics - Monthly Data Update is now available.
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Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
Exchange-Traded Funds International Equity: EM Allocation Update
May 21, 2010--May 21, 2010--Morgan Stanley's Global Emerging Market (EM) Strategy team, led by Jonathan Garner, maintains an EM-based country allocation model. The model is adjusted monthly and seeks to outperform the MSCI EM Index on a 6- to 12-month time horizon.
The team made three relative rating changes to the model this month. Relative to the MSCI EM Index, Turkey moves to an equal-weight recommendation from an underweight while Malaysia and Thailand are both downgraded from overweight to equal-weight recommendations. Additionally, because of MSCI's decision to transition Israel from emerging to developed market status, effective May 27, 2010, Garner has initiated coverage of Colombia with an equal-weight rating and moved Israel to the "Other" bucket in his model.
ETFs are available for most countries in Garner's model. Currently, US-listed ETFs are available for approximately 99% of the market cap of the MSCI EM Index and 99% of the recommended Morgan Stanley weights. ETFs may offer an efficient way to access EMs. The costs associated with them may be lower than the costs traditionally associated with other EM investments. Moreover, ETFs trade on exchanges, provide intra-day liquidity, many have options available, and most ETFs can be easily shorted.
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Source: Morgan Stanley
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
May 21, 2010--The current reports for the week of May 18, 2010 are now available.
view current report
Source: CFTC.gov