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U.S. Department of the Treasury Economic Statistics - Monthly Data Update
August 24, 2010--The U.S. Department of the Treasury Economic Statistics - Monthly Data has been updated.
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SPDR ETF Announces Additional Information on Treatment of Weyerhaeuser Company Special Dividend
August 24, 2010--As previously announced on August 19, 2010 and August 4, 2010, SPDR(R) S&P 500 ETF, The Materials Select Sector SPDR(R) Fund, SPDR(R) Dow Jones Large Cap ETF, SPDR(R) Dow Jones Large Cap Value ETF and SPDR(R) Dow Jones Total Market ETF (collectively, the "SPDR Funds"), as record holders of Weyerhaeuser Company, do not intend to make a special dividend payment reflecting the amounts received from the Weyerhaeuser Company special dividend.
The amounts received from Weyerhaeuser Company will be reflected as part of each SPDR ETFs' scheduled dividend payments.
S&P 500 ETF Trust has elected the "STOCK" option. The Materials Select Sector SPDR(R) Fund, SPDR(R) Dow Jones Large Cap ETF, SPDR(R) Dow Jones Large Cap Value ETF and SPDR(R) Dow Jones Total Market ETF have elected the 'CASH" option. The details of each option are available in Weyerhaeuser Company's prospectus supplement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 13, 2010. Although several SPDR Funds elected the CASH option, it is expected that each SPDR Fund electing CASH will receive a mix of cash and WY stock. The ratio of cash and stock is not available at this time but, under the terms, up to 90% of the dividend could be paid in WY stock. Each SPDR Fund intends to retain the newly-issued WY securities unless its underlying index does not increase the WY weightings on or around the pay date of the distribution. The applicable index providers may not immediately increase the WY proportionately, and therefore the SPDR Funds may be over weight in WY versus their index for a short period.
The full amount of the Weyerhaeuser Company special dividend is anticipated to be included in the income dividend distribution scheduled for September regardless of the SPDR Fund's election and the final allocation between stock and cash of the dividend payment.
If more definitive information or revised information regarding the corporate action becomes available prior to payment date or if circumstances warrant, each SPDR Fund reserves the right to take actions deemed reasonable or necessary to best pursue its investment objectives consistent with the principal investment strategies of each SPDR Fund.
The SPDR Funds undertake no obligation to publicly update these statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
State Street manages more than $200 billion in SPDR ETF assets worldwide (as of June 30, 2010) and is one of the largest ETF providers in the US and globally.
ISE Introduces Step Up and Match Feature for Facilitation and PIM Orders
August 23, 2010-The International Securities Exchange (ISE) announced today that it has launched a new Step Up and Match feature for Facilitation and Price Improvement Mechanism (PIM)
orders. These orders are exposed to all ISE market participants who may respond to participate with the order during a one second auction.
The Step Up and Match functionality now allows firms originating the
order to step up and match the best price achieved during the auction or up to a specific limit price,
allowing greater flexibility for participation.
“We are very excited to offer the Step Up and Match feature to our members,” said Boris Ilyevsky, Managing Director of ISE’s options exchange. “This functionality provides our members with higher and more flexible participation with orders they bring to our exchange while also providing price improvement for their customers.”
Step Up and Match crossing orders can be submitted via PrecISE Trade®, FIX and API applications. For
more information, contact ISE Business Development at bizdev@ise.com.
Emerging Markets Week in Review -8/16/2010 - 8/20/2010
August 23, 2010--The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Composite Index increase 0.37% last week as all sectors were positive except Energy, which dropped 0.41%. Consumer Goods and Services continued to drive the market forward, climbing 2.50% and 1.93% last week respectively.
The two are the best performing sectors on a year-to-date basis as well, highlighting the emergent impact of the middle class consumer in the world's developing regions.
CBOE Stock Exchange (CBSX) Establishes New Daily Volume Record With 90.8 Million Shares Traded
August 23, 2010--The CBOE Stock Exchange, LLC (CBSX) today reported that trading volume on Friday, August 20 was a record for any day at CBSX. More than 90.8 million shares changed hands, surpassing the previous daily record of 63.7 million shares traded on August 12, 2010.
CBSX, launched in 2007, in July posted an all-time monthly high volume with 598.0 million shares traded.
On August 16, CBSX instituted new pricing in 24 of the most-active, lower-priced securities traded on CBSX. The pricing pays "takers" a substantial rebate -- $0.0014 per share -- to remove liquidity when the security's price is above one dollar and charges "makers" an $0.0018 fee per share.
Mammoth Energy Group Comments on Launch of Lithium ETF
LIT Has Topped $20 Million in Assets and Regularly Sees Daily Trading Volumes North of a Million Shares
August 23, 2010--Mammoth Energy Group Inc.announced today that the new Lithium ETF, sponsored by Global X, already a fast-growing exchange traded fund (ETF) provider, has made its biggest impression on the market yet by offering a lithium ETF. It's the first product that gives investors a way to get exposure to this rare but increasingly popular metal.
The fund itself is about evenly split between lithium producers and battery producers, with the heaviest weights given to the lithium industry's largest producers, who make up 44% of the fund's assets. The United States is the largest country weighting at 49%. Chile, the world's largest producer of lithium, is 20% of the fund. Japan, Canada, France and Australia all have smaller weightings.
"We expect Global X and the ETF Lithium fund to take serious notice as the development of the Salar de Maricunga moves forward," said William Lieberman, President of Mammoth Energy Group.
Mammoth Energy Group has signed a Letter of Intent to acquire 49% of Salt Gold Inter Chile Limitada and a Memorandum of Understanding to acquire the remaining shares. Salt Gold Inter Chile Limitada lithium concessions are located in the North West region of Chile in the heart of the Lithium belt stretching across Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. Initial test wells have confirmed average brine concentrations with grades of 650 ppm (parts per million) for lithium and 9500 ppm for potassium. These results confirm a significant third dimension to surface brines sampled on the project. The brine chemistry in the first test wells compares favorably to other Lithium companies in the region including the large multi-national Lithium producers whose estimates in the Atacama and throughout the region average 500 to 750 ppm lithium and 9000-10000 ppm for potassium.
SEI's ETF Platform Trades Over 50 Percent of All U.S. ETF Assets
August 23, 2010--SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) today announced that it supports authorized participant (AP) trading for over 300 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). This operational outsourcing business represents 53 percent of the U.S. ETF market. Instrumental in SEI's order-taking process is its ground-breaking straight-through-processing platform. The platform is designed to create increased levels of efficiency and transparency by connecting the APs, sponsors, distributor, custodians, and transfer agents in one straight-through electronic process. The growth points to the ongoing traction of the ETF sector and SEI's commitment to delivering innovative outsourcing services to this rapidly-evolving market.
SEI's system creates a centralized location for submitting and reviewing ETF creation and redemption transactions, while significantly increasing the speed and convenience of order entry. With this system, orders that were typically manual are now automated, processed in a controlled environment, and can be completed in seconds. Order affirmations are received electronically almost instantaneously, without the need for manual validation of the transaction. The system also enables new levels of flexibility for users, allowing participants to easily replace an order prior to cutoff times and access their historical records.
Another benefit of the electronic system is the increased transparency it gives to sponsors. Rather than waiting until the end of the trading day to understand their market positions, sponsors can now log in throughout the day to monitor their activity and obtain a more accurate snapshot of their business activity on a continuous basis.
"SEI's ETF processing platform is an important advancement in the technology that supports our business and the ETF industry in general," said George Pereira, Senior Vice President of Charles Schwab Investment Management, SEI's latest ETF client. "By reducing order processing time and by increasing transparency, SEI improves the efficiency, effectiveness, and experience of Schwab and our AP trading partners. This new platform is an example of the innovation that SEI is known for and is a testament to their market leadership."
Eliminating manual intervention, SEI's processing platform employs multiple checks and balances related to the size of the order and the fund symbol to prevent erroneous trades and other errors from occurring. Fund parameters and exceptions set by the sponsors are incorporated into the system and automatically assist the AP with the trade input. Orders are also acknowledged through an instantaneous PDF affirmation, followed by an electronic confirmation process.
"With the growth of the ETF sector this decade, it was clear that a more sophisticated, flexible, and convenient processing system was needed," said John Alshefski, Senior Vice President, SEI's Investment Manager Services division. "As the leader in the space, we have been investing the time and capital necessary over the past several years to build a better platform, not only for the benefit of sponsors, but also for the over 40 APs with whom we have relationships. The ETF marketplace has also been evolving, and our expertise has allowed us to support a widening array of index products, including '40 Act, '33 Act, and long-short ETFs. We're excited to be a catalyst for positive change and to provide ETF sponsors with innovative capabilities."
In addition to AP processing, SEI's ETF outsourcing solution includes fund administration, accounting, investor servicing, and distribution support globally through its US and European locations.
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index
August 23, 2010--Standard & Poor's will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index after the close of trading on Monday, August 23, 2010.
Ryland Oil Corporation (TSXVN:RYD) will be removed from the index. Theshares of the company have been acquired, pursuant to an Arrangement Agreement, by Crescent Point Energy Corp.
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
Nomura OSE NASDAQ ETF to Ring the NASDAQ Stock Market Opening Bell
August 20, 2010--Nomura Holdings, Inc. and Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd. will visit the NASDAQ MarketSite in New York City's Times Square to celebrate NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100(R) EXCHANGE TRADED FUND, which was listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. (OSE) on August 16th.
The NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100 EXCHANGE TRADED FUND gives investors in Japan, which has the world's second largest economy, the ability to invest in 100 of the largest and most innovative global non-financial securities listed on NASDAQ - including Apple, Intel, Google and Microsoft.
The OSE approved the listing of the NEXT FUNDS NASDAQ-100(R) EXCHANGE TRADED FUND on OSE's exchange-traded fund market. Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd., one of Japan's largest asset management companies and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc., is the sponsor of the ETF.
In honor of the occasion, Nomura and NASDAQ OMX representatives will preside over the NASDAQ Opening Bell.
Who:
Mr. Naoki Matsuba, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nomura Holding, Inc.
Mr. Shigeru Shinohara, President and CEO, Nomura Asset Management U.S.A., Inc.
John Jacobs, Executive Vice President of The NASDAQ OMX Global Index
Group and Chief Marketing Officer, NASDAQ OMX
Where:
NASDAQ MarketSite -- 4 Times Square -- 43rd & Broadway -- Broadcast Studio
When:
Monday, August 23rd, 2010 at at 9:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. ET
Claymore Launches Micro-Cap ETF Based on Wilshire Index
Access the Marketplace's Pure and Complete(SM) Micro-Cap Index through the Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF
August 20, 2010--Claymore Securities, Inc., an innovator of investment product solutions and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners, LLC, today announced the launch of the Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF (NYSE Arca: WMCR), based on the Wilshire US Micro-Cap Index(SM)--the marketplace's Pure and Complete(SM) micro-cap index.
The introduction of WMCR marks the fourth fund in Claymore's suite of Wilshire-focused ETFs, which also includes the Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (NYSE Arca: WFVK), Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (NYSE Arca: WXSP), and Wilshire US REIT ETF (NYSE Arca: WREI). Claymore is the exclusive provider of ETFs utilizing Wilshire indexes.
"Through our exclusive partnership with Wilshire and our ETF suite, investors now have solutions for both the core and satellite portions of their portfolios that combine the most meaningful features and benefits of ETFs," said Steven A. Baffico, senior managing director and Head of U.S. Retail Distribution for Claymore Securities, Inc. "Claymore's new Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF is tied to an index that offers an unbiased and more complete picture of the micro-cap market."
David Hall, senior managing director, Wilshire Associates Incorporated, the firm that created the index that WMCR is designed to track, noted, "The Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF provides investors an efficient way to gain exposure to a very difficult section of the market to replicate. The introduction of WMCR is the first style or size ETF based on the Wilshire indexes and marks another milestone in our commitment to working with Claymore to deliver a comprehensive suite of world-class Wilshire ETFs."
Prior to today, the Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF's name was Claymore/Sabrient Stealth ETF (NYSE Arca: STH) and it sought to replicate an index called the Sabrient Stealth Index. WMCR now seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire US Micro-Cap Index ("Wilshire Micro-Cap"). The Wilshire Micro-Cap is a rules-based index comprised of, as of July 31, 2010, approximately 1,597 securities of micro-capitalization companies, as defined by Wilshire Associates Incorporated. It is a float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index of the issues ranked below 2,500 by market capitalization of the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index(SM). For more information on WMCR please visit www.claymore.com/wmcr.
Treasury Concludes Three Weeks of Global Engagement with Governments, Private Sector on Iran
August 20, 2010--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the conclusion of three weeks of face-to-face global engagement on Iran with governments and the private sectors in Bahrain, Brazil, Ecuador, Japan, Lebanon, South Korea, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) led by Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Stuart Levey; Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, David Cohen; and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, Daniel Glaser
Treasury's leading officials on U.S. sanctions crisscrossed the globe this month, meeting with senior government officials to urge U.S. partners and allies to take bold steps to ensure rigorous, comprehensive implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1929 to bolster the impact of the Resolution and additional measures imposed by the United States, European Union and others in recent weeks. Treasury also briefed government officials and banking sector leaders on the financial provisions of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA) and the new Iranian Financial Sanctions Regulations (IFSR) issued this month by Treasury.
BetaPro ETFs target short-term fluctuations for results
August 20, 2010--A year after enduring a storm of criticism for the way his investment products performed during the market crash, Howard Atkinson is busily expanding his controversial lineup.
The president of BetaPro Management Inc., a provider of exchange-traded funds, is adding products that give investors new ways to bet on the direction of copper and oil prices. He’s also expanding his line of actively managed ETFs, run by star stock pickers, in an effort to take on the traditional giants of the mutual fund industry in their core business.
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
August 20, 2010--CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports have been updated for the week of August 17, 2010.
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U.S. International Reserve Position
August 20, 2010--The Treasury Department today released U.S. reserve assets data for the latest week. As indicated in this table, U.S. reserve assets totaled $129,137 million as of the end of that week, compared to $131,216 million as of the end of the prior week.
I. Official reserve assets and other foreign currency assets (approximate market value, in US millions)
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August 13, 2010 |
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A. Official reserve assets (in US millions unless otherwise specified) 1 |
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129,137 |
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(1) Foreign currency reserves (in convertible foreign currencies) |
Euro |
Yen |
Total |
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(a) Securities |
9,094 |
15,087 |
24,181 |
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of which: issuer headquartered in reporting country but located abroad |
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0 |
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(b) total currency and deposits with: |
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(i) other national central banks, BIS and IMF |
13,376 |
7,393 |
20,768 |
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ii) banks headquartered in the reporting country |
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0 |
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of which: located abroad |
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0 |
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(iii) banks headquartered outside the reporting country |
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0 |
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of which: located in the reporting country |
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0 |
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(2) IMF reserve position 2 |
12,278 |
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(3) SDRs 2 |
56,172 |
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(4) gold (including gold deposits and, if appropriate, gold swapped) 3 |
11,041 |
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--volume in millions of fine troy ounces |
261.499 |
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(5) other reserve assets (specify) |
4,697 |
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--financial derivatives |
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--loans to nonbank nonresidents |
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--other (foreign currency assets invested through reverse repurchase agreements) |
4,697 |
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B. Other foreign currency assets (specify) |
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--securities not included in official reserve assets |
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--deposits not included in official reserve assets |
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--loans not included in official reserve assets |
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--financial derivatives not included in official reserve assets |
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--gold not included in official reserve assets |
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--other |
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Grail Advisors and RiverPark Capital Fine-Tune Investment Lineup-closing 2 ETFs
August 20, 2010--Grail Advisors, an innovator in the development and distribution of actively-managed exchange traded funds (ETFs), and RiverPark Capital, a leading money manager, today announced that they will close two funds, RP Technology ETF (RPQ) and RP Financials ETF (RFF).
The Board of Directors of the Grail Advisors ETF Trust approved the closures at its August 20, 2010 meeting.
"By all appearances, the marketplace is not ready for these sector funds. We've been pleased with the performance of the RP Technology ETF but flows have still been disappointing," said Morty Schaja, CFA, CEO, and Managing Partner at RiverPark Capital. "I believe investors will be better served by incorporating the best ideas of these two sector funds into our RP Growth ETF (RPX) offering."
"Our goal is to bring investors a full complement of traditional, active fund managers and strategies to the ETF marketplace," said William M. Thomas, CEO of Grail Advisors LLC. "With this move, we are dedicating our resources to the areas of most interest to investors, including the introduction of several exciting new funds in the coming months that will have broad appeal in the marketplace."
Trading in both funds will be suspended prior to market-open on Monday August 30, 2010. Shareholders who do not sell their fund shares by this date will have their shares automatically redeemed for cash on Tuesday August 31, 2010, the funds' last day of operations.
