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Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
October 20, 2009--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Tuesday, October 20, 2009:
The shares of Bayou Bend Petroleum Ltd. (TSXV:BBP) will trade under the new name Shamaran Petroleum Corp.
The new ticker symbol will be "SNM" and the new CUSIP number will be 819321 10 2. There is no consolidation of capital.
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
NASDAQ OMX Announces September 2009 Market Performance Statistics for U.S. Exchanges
October 20, 2009--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. today announced consolidated market performance
statistics for its U.S. exchanges for the month of September 2009.
-- The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. matched share of total U.S. equity
volume in September 2009 was 22.7%.
- The NASDAQ Stock Market's (NASDAQ(R)) matched share of U.S.
equity volume was 19.4%, more than any other U.S. exchange.
- NASDAQ OMX BX matched share of U.S. volume was 3.3%.
The NASDAQ Stock Market:
-- The average daily matched volume in all U.S. securities last month
was 1.9 billion shares.
- The average daily matched trade count in U.S. equities was 7.4
million, a 3.6% increase from last month.
-- Matched market share in NYSE-listed securities during September
2009 was 14.0%.
- The average daily matched volume in NYSE-listed stocks was 792
million shares.
-- Matched market share in NASDAQ-listed securities during September
2009 was 29.9%.
- NASDAQ's average daily matched share volume in NASDAQ-listed
securities during September was 721 million shares, a 12.0%
increase over last month.
NASDAQ OMX BX:
-- NASDAQ OMX BX matched share of U.S. equity volume in September was
3.3%. In August, matched share on BX was 2.6%.
- BX's average daily matched volume in U.S. equities in September
was 316 million shares, an increase of 26.5% over the previous
month.
U.S. ETFs:
-- Matched market share in U.S. ETFs during September 2009 was 25.2%,
more than any other U.S. exchange.
- Average daily matched share volume of U.S. ETFs in September
was 360 million shares, an increase of 2.9% over last month.
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U.S. Equity Options:
-- NASDAQ OMX exchanges' matched market share of U.S. equity options
was 22.0% last month, an increase of 3.6 percentage points over
last year.
- The average daily matched volume of NASDAQ OMX exchanges in
U.S. equity options totaled 3 million contracts in September
2009, a 21.0% increase over last month.
- In September, matched share on The NASDAQ Options Market (NOM)
was 3.6%.
- NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) matched share was 18.4%.
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. Monthly Volume and Market Share Report is available at http://media.primezone.com/cache/6948/file/7489.pdf
To download more detailed information on NASDAQ OMX and overall U.S. market activity, including FINRA/NASDAQ TRF, NASDAQ Reported, NASDAQ Routed, NASDAQ Handled and Consolidated figures, visit http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/content/marketstatistics/marketshare/useq.x ls.
For information about these and other NASDAQ performance statistics, visit www.nasdaqtrader.com/marketshare.
For this month's detailed statistics on NASDAQ OMX exchanges in the
Nordic and Baltic regions, including national figures, visit
http://nordic.nasdaqomxtrader.com/newsstatistics/.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
CFTC Proposes to Amend Electronic Filing Regulations and Certain Other Financial Reporting Requirements Applicable to FCMs and IBs
October 20, 2009--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has proposed to amend its regulations regarding the electronic filing of financial reports and notices by futures commission merchants (FCMs) and introducing brokers (IBs) as well as certain other financial reporting requirements. The proposed amendments would, among other things:
enable internet-based filing of FCM financial reports using user authentication and password procedures in anticipation of expected changes to the WinJammer™ software application;
• expand the types of filings that FCMs and IBs may submit electronically to include required “early warning” notices and certain other notices and filings;
• provide for less prescriptive, but more immediate, documentation to be filed regarding a firm’s undercapitalized condition; and
• expressly require that an income statement be included in the periodic unaudited financial reports of FCMs and IBs.
Public comment on the proposed regulations must be received by November 12, 2009. Copies of the proposed regulations also may be obtained by contacting the Commission's Office of the Secretariat, Three Lafayette Centre, 1155 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581, 202-418-5100, or by accessing the Commission's website, www.cftc.gov.
Source: CFTC.gov
BM&FBOVESPA Authorizes New DMA Modality for Its Derivatives Segment
DMA model 3 allows direct access to the Exchange's electronic derivatives trading platform without technological infrastructure of a brokerage house or DMA provider
October 19, 2009- The Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange - BM&FBOVESPA will offer, starting today, a new Direct Market Access (DMA) modality connection to its GTS (Global Trading System), the Exchange's electronic derivatives trading platform. DMA model 3 allows clients to directly access the GTS trading platform without the technological infrastructure of a brokerage house or an authorized DMA provider. As with the other available DMA trading modalities, direct access to BM&FBOVESPA and its order flow will continue to be authorized and monitored by a brokerage house.
BM&FBOVESPA DMA modalities
Direct access to the Exchange's derivatives market segment is carried out through DMA models 1, 2, 3, and 4. In model 1, or traditional, the client accesses the GTS through the technological infrastructure of the brokerage house. In model 2, or via DMA provider, the client does not use the previously mentioned structure and connects to the system through an authorized access provider. DMA via order routing with CME Globex is also a form of DMA model 2. In model 4, or DMA via co-location, the clients install their own equipment inside the BM&FBOVESPA facilities.
Equities segment DMA
Direct access to the BOVESPA market segment (equities) is carried out through DMA model 1. The Exchange is planning to launch the other DMA trading modalities for its equity segment by the end of 2009, after the authorization of the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM - Comissao de Valores Mobiliarios).
DMA trading volumes
In September, Direct Market Access (DMA) trading of the derivatives market segment at BM&FBOVESPA represented 12.3% of the total 31,505,077 contracts traded. DMA trading of the equities market segment represented 56.1% of the total 7,143,911 trades.
Source:Brazilian Securities, Commodities and Futures Exchange - BM&FBOVESPA
Standard & Poor's Launches S&P/TSX Equal Weight Index Suite
October 19, 2009--Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced today the launch of the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Index Suite. The new index suite includes the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals CAD Hedged Index, the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Diversified Banks Index and the S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index.
"Equal-weighted indices provide additional options to investors," says Jasmit Bhandal, director at Standard & Poor's Canada. "Designed to meet investors need for benchmarking, investing and trading strategies that require a size-neutral index, the equal weight indices have weighting and rebalancing processes that lead to different return and risk profiles when compared with market capitalization weighted indices."
The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Global Base Metals CAD Hedged Index is the equal-weighted and Canadian Dollar hedged version of the S&P/TSX Global Base Metals Index, a benchmark of securities involved in the production or extraction of base metals, and a subset of the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index.
The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Diversified Banks Index is the equal-weighted version of the S&P/TSX Diversified Banks Index, a benchmark including commercial banks whose businesses are derived primarily from commercial lending and operations and also have significant activity in retails banking and small and medium corporate lending. Eligible securities for the index are members of the S&P/TSX Composite Index and classified under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) subindustry Diversified Banks.
The S&P/TSX Equal Weight Oil & Gas Index provides investors with a portfolio of securities involved in the oil and gas industry. Eligible securities are members of the S&P/TSX 60 and are classified under the following GICS subindustries: Oil & Gas Drilling, Oil & Gas Equipment & Services, Integrated Oil & Gas, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production, Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing, and Oil & Gas Storage and Transportation.
For additional information on our complete line-up of S&P/TSX Indices, including methodology, please visit: www.standardandpoors.com/indices.
Source: Standard & Poors
TMX Group to Host Live Webcast on Exchange Traded Funds - October 20, 2009
October 19, 2009- TMX Group Chief Executive Officer Tom Kloet and Kevan Cowan, President, TSX Markets and Group Head of Equities, will host industry representatives in a live webcast panel discussion on exchange traded funds (ETFs) on Tuesday, October 20, 2009.
Panelists from BMO Financial Group, Claymore ETFs, Horizons BetaPro ETFs and iShares Funds will share their insights into why many investors are including ETFs in their portfolios.
DATE: Tuesday, October 20, 2009
TIME: 10:30 a.m. - 11:20 a.m. (EDT)
Click here to pre-register
Source: TMX Group
Direxion IPO Fund Would Join Small Group
October 19, 2009--As the market for initial public offerings is starting to heat up, Direxion Funds is considering a unique mutual fund that would permit smaller investors to take both long and short positions on the young stocks.
Direxion IPOX Global Long/Short Strategy Fund would invest in IPOs, spin-offs of domestic and foreign issuers and financial instruments that provide exposure to these IPOs.
The general sense is that shares of initial public offerings are overvalued when they come out, and then become undervalued, said Andy O'Rourke, marketing director at Direxion Funds. "So we've developed an index that is able to long and short IPOs," he said. "It's a tremendous opportunity; we think it's very unique."
More investors are coming to realize that they need "to do something a bit alternative or to find ways to capitalize on market inefficiencies," O'Rourke said.
Direxion has filed a registration document with regulators, but continues to analyze "the opportunity in the market" and may not launch the fund right away, said O'Rourke.
Bill Buhr, IPO strategist and equity research analyst at Morningstar Inc. (MORN), said there is a lot of investor interest in IPOs and that the market for them is recovering. In 2003 and 2004, there were an average of 20 offerings a month; there were nine last month and the same number so far in October after scant offerings this summer, he said.
"These last two months were the healthiest months so far in 2009," Buhr said. But with the increase in deals, has also come a broader range in the quality of the offerings, he said.
The Direxion fund would be managed by Rafferty Asset Management LLC and use subadviser IPOX Capital Management LLC, which was recently founded by Josef Schuster of IPOX Schuster LLC, a Chicago-based financial services firm specializing in IPO products. The fund will go long or short based on IPOX Capital Management's outlook for an IPO.
The fund will closely resemble the IPOX Global Long-Short Index, with has securities including about 50% of IPOs from the IPOX Global Sequential Index Portfolio - the long component - and about 50% of IPOs from the IPOX Global Calendar Time Index Portfolio - the short component, according to the fund's registration document
Jeff Tjornehoj, a senior research analyst with Lipper, said he's aware of only two other funds that invest primarily in IPOs - IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund (IPOSX), an open-end fund, and First Trust US IPO Index Fund (FPX), an exchange-traded fund. Each has only about $10 million in assets, he said.
Such funds allow the smaller investor access to the IPO market, said Tjornehoj, but "these products have yet to find a consistent and sticky consumer base."
The minimum initial investment for the new Direxion fund is $2,500 for investor class accounts and $1,000 for retirement accounts, though minimums for certain securities dealers, banks and other financial institutions may differ.
Source: Getting Personal-WSJ.com
Claymore Advisors, LLC Lists Claymore/AlphaShares China All-Cap ETF on NYSE Arca
October 19, 2009-NYSE Euronext (NYX) announced that its
wholly-owned subsidiary, NYSE Arca, today began trading the
Claymore/AlphaShares China All-Cap ETF (Ticker: YAO). The ETF is
sponsored by Claymore Advisors, LLC
The fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the
performance, before the fund’s fees and expenses, of an equity index
called the AlphaShares China All-Cap Index. The Index is designed to
measure and monitor the performance of publicly issued common equity
securities of publicly-traded companies based in mainland China.
Source: NYSE Euronext
CFTC to Release History of Disaggregated COT Data
October 19, 2009--The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that the agency will make available more than three years of history of disaggregated data included in the weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) reports. History for the 22 commodity futures markets currently contained in the weekly disaggregated COT reports, first published on September 4, 2009, will be available starting Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at www.cftc.gov.
“Economists have for decades recognized that transparency benefits the marketplace,” CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler said. “
Last month, we began disaggregating data included in our weekly reports to give the public a more accurate depiction of the makeup of the commodity futures markets. By releasing three years of history, we will provide regulators, market participants and the public with additional transparency.”
Two machine-readable files will be located on the CFTC website, with data dating back to June 13, 2006. One is a zipped, comma-delimited text file (.txt); while the other is a zipped Excel file. In addition, the 3-year history will be available in a “viewable” file on the CFTC website, by commodity group, and, within group, by commodity. These viewable files will only be available in the “long format.”
view Commitments of Traders (COT) reports
Please note: CFTC does not maintain a history of large trader classifications. Therefore, current classifications are used to classify the historical positions of each reportable trader (this approach is commonly referred to as “backcasting;” see the link to the D-COT Explanatory Notes
Source: CFTC.gov
CFTC’s Office of International Affairs to Host International Symposium and Training Program on Regulation of Derivative Products, Markets and Financial Intermediaries
Chicago program expected to draw more than 75 participants.
October 19, 2009--The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Office of International Affairs, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will host its annual International Symposium and Training program from October 18-23, 2009, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
This year’s meeting is expected to draw more than 75 international market authorities and panelists from more than 30 countries, including: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Speakers from the CFTC, the International Monetary Fund, the National Futures Association, the Federal Reserve Banks of Chicago and New York, and academia, among others, will present and lead discussions in a wide range of topics.
The sessions will address such topics as: the implications of current over-the-counter regulatory initiatives; the clearing process and the supervision of clearinghouses; hedge fund regulation; the role of speculators in creating asset bubbles; market surveillance issues related to detecting, deterring and combating market abuse; and emissions markets.
“International coordination is essential to ensure comprehensive regulation of the derivatives marketplace,” CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler observed. “The CFTC’s international training program is a forum for regulators to share ideas on how to best meet new challenges.”
Source: CFTC.gov