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Board Of Governors Of The Federal Reserve System: Minutes Of The Federal Open Market Committee, August 1 And August 9, 2011
August 30, 2011--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Tuesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on August 9, 2011 and of the conference call held on August 1, 2011.
The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee ordinarily are made available three weeks after the day of the policy decision and subsequently are published in the Board's Annual Report. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
view Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee-August 9, 2011
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
August 30, 2011--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Tuesday, August 30, 2011:
Redhawk Resources, Inc. (TSXVN:RDK) will be removed from the index. The company will graduate to trade on TSX under the same ticker symbol.
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.
BATS Receives SEC Approval on Rules for U.S. Primary Listings Business
SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH LISTINGS BUSINESS IN FOURTH QUARTER OF 2011
August 30, 2011-- BATS Global Markets (BATS), a global operator of stock and options markets, today announced it received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the rules for its U.S. primary listings business, which will launch in December 2011.
As a new primary listings venue, BATS will provide issuers an alternative place for initial public offerings (IPOs), stock listing transfers, and dual-listed stocks. All securities will be listed on the BATS BZX Exchange. BATS is the third largest U.S. stock exchange operator, behind NASDAQ and NYSE.
"We are excited to bring competition to the primary listings market in the U.S. as we believe there is a great opportunity to satisfy unmet needs of current and future public companies and other issuers," said Joe Ratterman, president and chief executive of BATS Global Markets. "Creating a competitive alternative to the incumbent exchanges that brings simple, competitive pricing and superior technology coupled with our world-class customer support, will drive innovation in this market and allow issuers more choice."
A copy of the approved rules is available on the BATS Listings website at www.batstrading.com/listings.
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
August 30, 2011--Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
On Friday, August 26, 2011, trading on TSX in Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX:TRE) was halted by order of the Ontario Securities Commission. The S&P/TSX index committee has determined that Sino-Forest no longer qualifies to be a constituent of the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
As a result, the company will be removed at zero price from the S&P/TSX Composite and Capped Composite, the S&P/TSX Equity and Capped Equity, the S&P/TSX Completion and Equity Completion and the S&P/TSX Capped Materials Indices after the close of trading on Friday, September 16, 2011, as part of the quarterly review of the S&P/TSX Composite Index.
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.
Unlike Banks, This Wall St. Group Embraces Dodd-Frank
August 30, 2011--While the United States military has Defcon, the tiered alert system used during times of national crisis, Wall Street has fashioned a critical event of its own, Sefcon.
The industry conference known as Sefcon is devoted to the relatively obscure swap execution facility, or SEF, the electronic derivatives marketplace designated under the Dodd-Frank Act, the sweeping financial regulatory overhaul.
With Washington cracking down on derivatives, Sefcon’s nod to Defcon was not coincidental.
“I thought that Sefcon would give people a sense of urgency,” said Chris Ferreri, a co-founder of the event and a managing director at ICAP, the largest derivatives broker for banks, which plans to register with regulators as a swap execution facility.
Knight Uses Its Size to Thwart HFTs
August 30, 2011--Knight Capital Group has revamped technology used by its institutional customers to help them steer clear of high-frequency traders.
Because some HFTs are looking to take advantage of the information inherent in large institutional orders, Knight has rejiggered the technology supporting its Knight Direct execution management system to avoid imparting too much information.
John Hancock files with the SEC
August 29, 2011--John Hancock has filed a second amended and restated application for exemptive relief with the SEC. In addition, the Applicants are also requesting relief (“Master-Feeder Relief”) to permit the Feeder Funds to
acquire shares of Master Funds beyond the limitations in Section 12(d)(1)(A) of the Act and permit the Master Funds, and any principal underwriter for the Master Funds, to sell shares of the Master Funds to the Feeder Funds beyond the limitations in Section 12(d)(1)(B) of the Act.
John Hancock files with the SEC
August 29, 2011--John Hancock has filed a second amended and restated application for exemptive relief with the SEC.
view filing
Brazil leads gains in Latin America
August 29, 2011--Latin American equities were stronger, led by gains in Brazil as traders were closely watching the results of a meeting of Banco Central do Brasil, the country’s central bank.
The Brazilian government raised a key budget surplus target, indicating it would control spending while examining how and when to lower interest rates.
Morgan Stanley -ETF Weekly Update
August 29, 2011--Weekly Flows: $8.2 Billion Net Inflows
ETF Assets Stand at $1.0 Trillion, up 3% Last Week
No ETF Launches
Christian Values ETF (FOC) to Cease Trading
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Flows by Market Segment
For the second consecutive week, ETFs posted net inflows (the most since week of 7/5/11)
ETFs posted net inflows of $8.2 bln last week; primarily driven by US Large-Cap ETFs
ETF assets stand at $1.0 tln, up 3% last week; a combination of net inflows and market appreciation
13-week flows were mixed among asset classes; combined $17.8 bln net inflows
Fixed Income ETFs up $7.8 bln; US Mid-, Small- and Micro-Cap ETFs down $6.9 bln
We estimate ETFs have generated net inflows 20 out of 34 weeks in 2011; YTD net inflows are more than $20
bln ahead of where we were at this point last year.
US-Listed ETFs: Estimated Largest Flows by Individual ETF
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) had net inflows of $6.3 bln last week, the most of any ETF
SPY regained its status as the world’s largest ETF last week, surpassing SPDR Gold Trust (GLD)
Seven out of the top 10 ETFs to generate net inflows were US Equity ETFs
Last week, GLD gave back the prior week’s net inflows; GLD exhibited net outflows of $3.5 bln while posting a
1.4% market price decline
US-Listed ETFs: Change in Short Interest
Data Updated: Based on data as of 8/15/11
SPY exhibited the largest increase in USD short interest since last updated
$23.5 billion in additional short interest
Highest level of shares short for SPY of all-time
XLU exhibited the largest decline in USD short interest since last updated
$237 million in reduced short interest
XLU’s decline in shares short comes amid its relative market outperformance vs. the S&P 500 over 7/29-8/15 time period
Russell files with the SEC
August 29, 2011--Russell has filed an application for exemptive relief with the SEC.
view filing
Foreign ETFs must issue a prospectus to trade on Ontario exchanges: OSC
Regulator has received many inquiries regarding possible cross-listings
August 29, 2011--Foreign exchange-traded funds will have to issue a prospectus if they want to list and trade on an exchange in Ontario, provincial securities regulators say.
The Ontario Securities Commission has published a notice setting out the views of its staff regarding possible cross-listings by foreign ETFs. The OSC notes that it has received several inquiries relating to foreign ETFs that may be interested in cross-listing.
In the notice, the OSC says that its employees view a possible cross-listing of foreign ETF securities as constituting a distribution in Ontario. “ETFs differ from other exchange-listed issuers primarily because an ETF’s exchange listing functions as the primary distribution channel through which an ETF issues its securities to investors and increases its net assets. As a result, we do not consider the ETF’s exchange listing as merely providing a source of secondary market liquidity,” it notes.
Estimates for US corn harvest cut due to heat exposure
August 28, 2011--Food price inflation looks set to continue as a threat into 2012 as expectations for the US corn harvest, the world’s largest, are being lowered by the week.
Analysts and trading executives are cutting estimates of how many bushels each acre will grow as the effects of punishing heat last month result in smaller ears of corn. The private sector estimates are well below already disappointing official forecasts published earlier this month.
Derivatives Tax Won’t Hurt Brazil Market, CME CEO Says
August 26, 2011--A tax on currency derivatives imposed by the Brazilian government last month to curb the real’s appreciation won’t cause a migration of derivatives trading offshore, said Craig Donohue, chief executive officer of CME Group Inc. (CME), the world’s largest futures market.
The 1 percent tax on some bets against the dollar “is a function of the larger dynamics of the currency appreciation,” Donohue said today in an interview at the BM&FBovespa derivatives conference in Campos do Jordao, Brazil. “I don’t expect it to be permanent so I think it won’t result in that outcome,” Donohue said.
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke At the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyoming
The Near- and Longer-Term Prospects for the U.S. Economy
August 26, 2011--Good morning. As always, thanks are due to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City for organizing this conference. This year's topic, long-term economic growth, is indeed pertinent--as has so often been the case at this symposium in past years.
In particular, the financial crisis and the subsequent slow recovery have caused some to question whether the United States, notwithstanding its long-term record of vigorous economic growth, might not now be facing a prolonged period of stagnation, regardless of its public policy choices. Might not the very slow pace of economic expansion of the past few years, not only in the United States but also in a number of other advanced economies, morph into something far more long-lasting?
I can certainly appreciate these concerns and am fully aware of the challenges that we face in restoring economic and financial conditions conducive to healthy growth, some of which I will comment on today. With respect to longer-run prospects, however, my own view is more optimistic. As I will discuss, although important problems certainly exist, the growth fundamentals of the United States do not appear to have been permanently altered by the shocks of the past four years. It may take some time, but we can reasonably expect to see a return to growth rates and employment levels consistent with those underlying fundamentals. In the interim, however, the challenges for U.S. economic policymakers are twofold: first, to help our economy further recover from the crisis and the ensuing recession, and second, to do so in a way that will allow the economy to realize its longer-term growth potential. Economic policies should be evaluated in light of both of those objectives.
This morning I will offer some thoughts on why the pace of recovery in the United States has, for the most part, proved disappointing thus far, and I will discuss the Federal Reserve's policy response. I will then turn briefly to the longer-term prospects of our economy and the need for our country's economic policies to be effective from both a shorter-term and longer-term perspective.
