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PIMCO Lists PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy Fund on NYSE Arca
January 3, 2010--NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, began trading the PIMCO Short Term Municipal Bond Strategy Fund (Ticker: SMMU). The ETF is sponsored by PIMCO ETF Trust.
The Fund seeks to achieve attractive tax-exempt income, consistent with preservation of capital, by investing under normal circumstances at least 80% of its assets in a diversified portfolio of debt securities whose interest is, in the opinion of bond counsel for the issuer at the time of issuance, exempt from federal income tax and which securities generally are issued by or on behalf of states and local governments and their agencies, authorities and other instrumentalities
Source: NYSE Euronext
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
February 3, 2010--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Wednesday, February 3, 2010:
Gold Wheaton Gold Corp. (TSXVN:GLW) will be removed from the index. The company will graduate to TSX where it will trade under the same ticker symbol.
The shares will be consolidated on a 1-for-10 basis upon graduation.
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
Treasury Welcomes PNC’s Plan to Repay TARP Funds
February 3, 2010--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the following statement regarding PNC's announcement to repay taxpayers for the assistance provided by the government:
"We are pleased that PNC Financial Services is moving ahead with plans to pay the taxpayers back in full. Government policies have helped restore our financial system and economy to health, giving banks such as PNC an opportunity to replace Treasury investments with private capital and reducing the burden of debt on future generations.
"Once Treasury receives PNC's repayment, it will have recovered nearly 70 percent of taxpayer investments in the banking system. Also, this repayment means that of the $376 billion in total TARP funds that have been disbursed since 2008, only $203 billion will be outstanding today, and Treasury will have recovered $170 billion of taxpayer investments in the banking system."
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
NSX Releases January 2010 ETF Data Reports
February 3, 2010--Highlights from the January 2010 report include:
Assets in U.S. listed Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF) and Exchange-Traded Notes (ETN) totaled approximately $744.7 billion at January 2010 month-end, an increase of approximately 48% over January 2009 month-end when assets totaled $504.6 billion.
At the end of January 2010, the number of listed products totaled 947, compared to 856 listed products at the end of January 2009.
January 2010 net cash outflows from all ETFs/ETNs totaled approximately $17.3 billion.
Fixed income led all product categories with over $3.1 billion in net cash flow.
U.S. equities had record monthly net cash outflows for the category of over $19.8 billion for the month of January 2010.
For more info vsit nsx.com.
Source: National Stock Exchange, Inc.(NSX®)
PNC to Sell PNC Global Investment Servicing
February 3, 2010--The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell PNC Global Investment Servicing Inc., a leading provider of processing, technology and business intelligence services to asset managers, broker-dealers, and financial advisors worldwide, to BNY Mellon (NYSE: BK) for $2.3 billion in cash.
Upon completion of the sale, PNC expects to report an after-tax gain of approximately $.5 billion and an increase in Tier 1 common capital of approximately $1.6 billion after the release of capital of $1.1 billion primarily related to goodwill and other intangible assets. As a result, on a pro forma basis, PNC's Tier 1 common capital ratio at December 31, 2009 would have increased by approximately 70 basis points to an estimated 6.7 percent.
"The sale of PNC Global Investment Servicing is consistent with our focus on disciplined capital management," said James E. Rohr, chairman and chief executive officer. "Given the changing competitive landscape in the investment servicing industry, we believe this is the proper time to sell the business to capture the full value of PNC Global Investment Servicing. The capital generated from this transaction will position PNC with further flexibility."
The transaction is estimated to be completed in the third quarter of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals and certain other closing conditions.
"For more than three decades the work of PNC Global Investment Servicing's dedicated employees has grown the business into a premier provider of fund servicing around the globe," Rohr continued. "We are pleased that this transaction partners PNC Global Investment Servicing's clients and employees with an industry leader."
PNC Global Investment Servicing serviced total fund assets of $2.3 trillion and had 4,450 full-time employees at December 31, 2009.
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated acted as financial advisers and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal adviser to PNC.
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (www.pnc.com) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services organizations providing retail and business banking; residential mortgage banking; specialized services for corporations and government entities, including corporate banking, real estate finance and asset-based lending; wealth management; asset management and global fund services.
Source: PNC Bank
Minutes of the Meeting of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee Of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
February 2, 2010--The Committee convened in closed session at the Hay-Adams Hotel at 8:00 a.m. All Committee members were present. Deputy Assistant Secretary (DAS) for Federal Finance Matthew Rutherford and Acting Directors of the Office of Debt Management Fred Pietrangeli and Stephen M. Vajs welcomed the Committee. The Chairman of the committee introduced one new member, Walter J. Muller III.
DAS Rutherford opened the discussion with a presentation to the Committee which highlighted current fiscal conditions and financing needs. The presentation began with a review of the budget outlook and projections for the upcoming year. DAS Rutherford noted that net receipts were expected to be 15% of GDP, while outlays were expected to be 25% of GDP.
Rutherford also noted that Administration's deficit estimate for FY2010 was expected to print at 11% of GDP, but is expected to moderate in coming years to 4% of GDP. Rutherford also said that the pace of decline in year-over-year corporate tax receipts had slowed in the first quarter of FY 2010. In the past, these receipts have led changes in other receipt categories. While the deceleration was favorable, there remains uncertainty about the timing and level of economic recovery. DAS Rutherford then turned to Treasury's financing over the past quarter and plans for future borrowing.
Report to the Secretary of the Treasury from the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
February 2, 2010--Dear Mr. Secretary:
Since the Committee met in early November incoming data have confirmed a significant acceleration in the pace of economic activity. A recovery initially sparked by aggressive policy stimulus is broadening as the private sector shifts away from retrenchment. This transition is likely to be completed this quarter with resumption in hiring. The prospects for sustaining above-trend growth are good, but the unemployment rate will likely stand above 9% at the end of the year.
With a spike in 4Q09, real GDP grew at a 4% annualized pace during the first two quarters of the recovery. Over one-half of this gain reflects the end of an aggressive liquidation of inventories. However, an upturn in final demand has also been established. Contributing to the 1.9% annualized increase in final sales during 2H09 were consecutive quarterly gains in equipment spending, exports and personal consumption. The manufacturing sector was a major beneficiary of this turn in demand, producing 7.4% annualized growth – its strongest two quarter gain in almost ten years. A spike in the ISM survey to 58.4 in January bolsters confidence that the manufacturing sector will continue to expand at a rapid pace.
Although the "cash for clunkers" incentive scheme created considerable volatility, consumer spending grew at a 2.5% pace through the second half of last year. Against the backdrop of continued job losses and rising gasoline prices, this outcome marked a shift in behavior as the saving rate ended a sharp upward adjustment. Most growth forecasts anticipate rising saving this year that holds spending gains close to its recent pace, even as labor income gains accelerate.
Corporations have made large strides containing costs and strengthening balance sheets over the past two years. Aggressive job shedding and declines in capital spending have helped maintain profit margins close to historic norms. Firms have also built up large cash reserves and lengthened the average maturity of their debt. As a result, they appear well positioned to generate profits and take advantage of growth opportunities in an expanding economy. To date, the turn in corporate behavior remains tentative as inventories and employment have stabilized but are not yet expanding. Equipment and software spending rose an impressive 13% annualized pace last quarter, but remains below levels of depreciation.
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Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
February 2010 Quarterly Refunding Statement
The U.S. Department of the Treasury is offering $81 billion of Treasury securities to refund approximately $48.3 billion of privately held securities maturing on February 15, 2010. This will raise approximately $32.7 billion. The securities are:
A 3-year note in the amount of $40 billion, maturing February 15, 2013;
A 10-year note in the amount of $25 billion, maturing February 15, 2020; and
A 30-year bond in the amount of $16 billion, maturing February 15, 2040.
The 3-year note will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. The 10-year note will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday, February 10, 2010, and the 30-year bond will be auctioned on a yield basis at 1:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, February 11, 2010. All of these auctions will settle on Tuesday, February 16, 2010.
The balance of Treasury financing requirements will be met with 4-, 13-, and 26-week bills; 52-week bills; monthly 2-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 7-year notes; the February 30-year TIPS; the March and April 10-year note reopenings and 30-year bond reopenings; the April 5-year TIPS; and the April 10-year TIPS reopening.
Treasury will also issue cash management bills, some potentially longer dated, during the quarter.
Moody’s warns US of credit rating fears
February 3, 2010--Moody’s Investors Service fired off a warning on Wednesday that the triple A sovereign credit rating of the US would come under pressure unless economic growth was more robust than expected or tougher actions were taken to tackle the country’s budget deficit.
In a move that follows intensifying concern among investors over the US deficit, Moody’s said the country faced a trajectory of debt growth that was “clearly continuously upward”.
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Source: FT.com
CFTC publishes Speculative Position Limits for Referenced Energy Contracts and Associated Regulations
February 3, 2010--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has released proposals for the regulation of commodities exchange-traded funds.
view Federal Speculative Position Limits for Referenced Energy Contracts and
Associated Regulations; Proposed Rule
Source: CFTC.gov