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iShares Launches Four Minimum Volatility ETFs to Help Investors Manage Risk
October 20, 2011--BlackRock, Inc. (NYSE: BLK) today announced that its iShares® Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, the world's largest manager of ETFs, has launched on the NYSE Arca four new minimum volatility funds designed to help investors manage risk in their portfolios. The new funds can help provide a portfolio with downside protection while seeking to maintain some exposure to the upside price movement.
The funds are:
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Minimum Volatility Index Fund (NYSE Arca: EEMV)
iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility Index Fund (NYSE Arca: EFAV)
iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility Index Fund (NYSE Arca: USMV)
iShares All Country World Minimum Volatility Index Fund (NYSE Arca: ACWV)
Will the SEC Kill These ETFs?
October 20, 2011--Even amid market turmoil and economic uncertainty, exchange-traded funds have never been more popular. But Congress and the SEC see the industry differently, and they're looking to take bold steps to clamp down on ETFs before they create another financial crisis.
The evolution of ETFs
When they first came out, exchange-traded funds were simple and easy to understand. Closely resembling index mutual funds, ETFs tracked well-established indexes by owning all the underlying component stocks. As a result, when you looked at daily holdings of ETFs, you'd see all the stocks you'd expect from whichever index the ETF followed.But along the line, ETFs have broken ground in new sectors of the financial markets, opening the door for investors to put their money into previously unavailable investments. But with that new opportunity also came complexity. Here are just a few examples of ETFs that blazed new trails for investors -- along with some of the problems and concerns that came with them:When United States Natural Gas (NYSE: UNG - News) became available,
US banks issue bonds worth more than $2bn
October 20, 2011--Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase issued more than $2bn in new long-term debt on Wednesday as the banks looked to take advantage of calmer markets and lock in funding from new sources.
Investors shied away from bank debt during the late summer as markets were roiled by the eurozone crisis and credit default swaps on some US banks reached their widest spreads since Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.
Exchange Traded Concepts Files for Approval to Issue Fixed Income and Actively Managed ETFs
ETF-in-a-Box Platform Seeks to Expand Offerings for Current and Prospective Partners
October 20, 2011--Expanding its ETF-in-a-Box platform for investment managers and advisors, Exchange Traded Concepts (ETC) has filed requests for exemptive relief with the Securities & Exchange Commission to issue fixed income and actively managed exchange-traded funds.
In addition to active and fixed income funds, ETC has requested relief to issue domestic and international funds that employ fund-of-funds, 130/30, and balanced strategies.
The filings reflect ETC’s effort to meet marketplace demand for sophisticated investments in an ETF structure by enabling current and prospective partners to launch ETFs across the full spectrum of investment strategies. Under the ETC platform, partners will be able to launch such ETFs in an accelerated, cost-efficient manner under their own label.
Dow Jones Indexes To License Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index To Charles Schwab For U.S. Dividend Equity ETF
Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index to Measure Stock Performance
of High-Dividend-Yielding U.S. Companies
Index Differs from Other Dividend Gauges
By Accounting for Additional Fundamentals-Based Factors
October 20, 2011--Dow Jones Indexes today announced that Charles Schwab has licensed the new Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 IndexSM to underlie the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF™, the latest addition to Schwab’s growing proprietary exchange-traded funds (ETFs) platform. This ETF was launched today by Schwab and will trade on the NYSE Arca.
The Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index was also launched today and is designed to measure the stock performance of high-dividend-yielding U.S. companies with a record of consistently paying dividends, selected for fundamental strength relative to their peers based on financial ratios.
“Schwab’s selection of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index as the underlying gauge for its new ETF is the latest in a series of licensing arrangements between our firms,” said Michael A. Petronella, President of Dow Jones Indexes. “By regularly working with market leaders such as Schwab, Dow Jones Indexes continues to burnish its brand as a company with a long track record of creating reliable, rules-based market-measurement tools.”
SEC to Weigh Hedge Fund Rule on Systemic Risk Data Analysis
October 20, 2011-- Hedge funds and private-equity funds will be asked to deliver “extraordinary amounts” of new data to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under a rule set for a vote next week, said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.
Under the version of the rule proposed by the SEC on Jan. 26, firms managing more than $1 billion would have to file quarterly information on fund assets, leverage, investment positions, valuation and trading practices on a new Form PF. That added oversight would also come with routine inspections.
Claymore files with the SEC
October 19, 2011--Claymore has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC.
view filing
Claymore files with the SEC
October 19, 2011--Claymore has filed a post-effective amendment, registration statement with the SEC for the Guggenheim Canadian Energy Income ETF
Guggenheim China Real Estate ETF
Guggenheim China Small Cap ETF
Guggenheim Frontier Markets ETF
Guggenheim International Multi-Asset Income ETF
Guggenheim Shipping ETF
Guggenheim Timber ETF
BlackRock Seeks Ban on ETF Label for Funds Using Derivatives
October 19, 2011--BlackRock Inc., the world’s biggest provider of exchange-traded funds, urged U.S. lawmakers to bar products that rely on derivatives from being marketed as ETFs to avoid confusion with their traditional counterparts.
BlackRock Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink compared ETFs to the market for mortgage-backed bonds, which began with a simple product and evolved into complex variations with risks that investors didn’t understand.
SEC conducting sweeping regulatory review of ETFs
October 19, 2011--The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a broad, agency-wide review of exchange-traded funds to ensure they are adequately transparent and not fueling market volatility, a top agency official told lawmakers on Wednesday.
"Commission staff is currently engaged in a general review of exchange-traded products in connection with, among others, the adequacy of investor disclosure, liquidity levels and transparency of underlying instruments in which ETPs invest, fair valuations, efficiency in the arbitrage process and the relationship between market volatility and ETPs," said SEC Investment Management director Eileen Rominger in prepared testimony.
The review also entails "gathering and analyzing detailed information about specific products," she added.
Knight earnings miss estimates
October 19, 2011--Knight Capital, among the biggest marketmakers in the world, got a huge boost in third quarter as spreads widened and volatility spiked to historic levels – though a September drop-off disappointed investors.
Knight reported sales of $397m in the third quarter, up nearly 80 per cent against the second quarter of 2010. Its net income was $26.9m, versus just $0.2m last year.
ConvergEx Group Launches Spectrum-Innovative Algorithm Offers Portfolio Traders the Power of Dark Liquidity
October 19, 2011--ConvergEx Group, a leading technology company, today announced the launch of Spectrum, a new algorithm that gives portfolio traders the benefits of executing in a diverse array of domestic dark venues, while allowing them to maintain their required cash and sector balances. Designed by ConvergEx's dedicated team of financial engineers, Spectrum enables users to trade cash neutral in the dark.
"For moving large orders with minimal market impact, dark liquidity is simply invaluable. However, portfolio traders, with their need to precisely manage risk and cash balances, have been virtually excluded from leveraging these dark pools. The timing and velocity of the dark pool fills is simply too random for their heterogeneous baskets," said Scott Daspin, managing director in the Electronic Execution group at ConvergEx. "But with Spectrum we are now giving them the power to operate in the dark."
"Spectrum is driven by ConvergEx's state-of-the-art risk management engine and works by making thousands of order placement decisions every second. It optimizes execution performance by providing midpoint or better pricing, while simultaneously monitoring risk management and cash balance parameters," said Gary Ardell, head of the Financial Engineering & Advanced Trading Solutions group at ConvergEx. "Spectrum represents truly innovative technology put to use in the pursuit of superior performance."
The strategy offers three separate cash objective options based upon customers' preferred level of cash constraints. It supports three distinct settings for risk management and is fully-configurable to meet customers' selected level of risk aversion.
Spectrum's proprietary technology and methodology also offer a sophisticated, web-based performance interface that tracks user performance throughout the life cycle of each execution. It empowers both low-touch and high-touch users with the ability to dynamically modify portfolio executions throughout the trading day.
This is the first in a series of portfolio algorithms ConvergEx plans to roll out.
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite, Venture Select And Venture 30 Indices
October 19, 2011--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Indices:
The Toronto Stock Exchange announced today in the Daily Bulletin that the shares of Surge Energy Inc. (TSXVN:SGY) will graduate to trade on TSX at the open of trading on Friday, October 21, 2011.
The ticker symbol will remain "SGY" and the CUSIP number will remain 86880Y 10 9. The company will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Thursday, October 20, 2011.
Surge Energy is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX Venture Select Index. The company will be removed from this index effective after the close of Friday, October 21, 2011, at which time it will be listed on TSX. The company is also a constituent of the S&P/TSX Venture 30 Index. It will remain in this index, according to methodology, until the next index review after the end of January, 2012.
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.
Federal Reserve Board- Beige Book
October 19, 2011--Prepared at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and based on information collected on or before October 7, 2011. This document summarizes comments received from business and other contacts outside the Federal Reserve and is not a commentary on the views of Federal Reserve officials.
Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicate that overall economic activity continued to expand in September, although many Districts described the pace of growth as "modest" or "slight" and contacts generally noted weaker or less certain outlooks for business conditions. The reports suggest that consumer spending was up slightly in most Districts, with auto sales and tourism leading the way in several of them. Business spending increased somewhat, particularly for construction and mining equipment and auto dealer inventories, but many Districts noted restraint in hiring and capital spending plans. By sector, manufacturing and transportation activity was reported to have increased on balance. A few Districts also reported slight improvements in construction and real estate activity; nonetheless, overall conditions for both residential and commercial real estate remained weak. Districts reporting on nonfinancial services cited mixed results with activity varying widely by industry. Loan demand by and large moved lower, with the exception of an increase in mortgage refinancing in many Districts. Crop conditions at harvest were generally less favorable than a year ago. In contrast, energy and mining activity continued to strengthen in several Districts, with the exception of some storm-related slowdowns in the Gulf of Mexico. Cost pressures eased in the majority of Districts, though there was some further pass-through of earlier increases to downstream prices. Wage pressures remained subdued outside of a few exceptions in which firms noted having difficulty finding appropriately skilled workers.
CME Group Statement Regarding Position Limits
October 19, 2011--CME Group today released the following statement regarding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)'s rule making on position limits:
"CME Group commends the Commission and staff of the CFTC for their efforts to respond to the more than 13,000 comment letters filed on the CFTC's position limits proposal.
We also appreciate the Commission's recognition of the need to establish equivalent position limits in the important spot month for physically-settled futures and those cash-settled futures and swaps which are based on the daily and final settlement prices of the primary physically-delivered price discovery contracts. With the lone exception of natural gas, the CFTC's interim final rule will appropriately limit opportunities for inter- market manipulation and abuse in the spot month where the risk of misconduct and artificial prices is most acute.
