Americas ETP News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, using the search function will narrow down the results

Testimony of Chairman Gary GenslerGensler Before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

March 9, 2010--Good afternoon Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski and members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me to testify regarding the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, particularly with respect to energy markets. I am pleased to testify on behalf of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The 2008 financial crisis left us with many lessons and many challenges to tackle. Though there were certainly many causes of the crisis, I think most would agree that the unregulated OTC derivatives marketplace played a central role. We must now bring comprehensive regulatory reform to the OTC marketplace for derivatives.

CFTC Regulatory Regime
Before I discuss the details of much-needed OTC derivatives reform, let me take a moment to discuss the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) current oversight of particular derivatives markets, called futures markets. Futures have traded since the Civil War, when grain merchants came together to hedge the risk of changes in the price of corn, wheat and other grains on a central exchange. It took nearly 60 years until Congress first brought Federal regulation to the futures markets. President Roosevelt and Congress further responded to our last great financial crisis by strengthening regulation and oversight of the commodities and futures markets through the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA), which created the CFTC’s predecessor within the Agriculture Department.

The CFTC ensures that futures and commodity options exchanges protect market participants and promote fair and orderly trading, free from fraud, manipulation and other abuses. Exchanges are where buyers and sellers meet and enter into transactions. The CFTC also oversees clearinghouses, which enter the picture only after two counterparties complete a transaction. Clearinghouses act as middlemen between and guarantee the obligations of the two parties to the trade and take on the risk that one party may fail to meet its obligations for the duration of the contract. Centralized clearing has helped lower risk to the markets for more than a century, in both calm markets and in the stormiest of markets, such as during the 2008 financial crisis.

read more

FFCM, LLC files with the SEC

March 9, 2010--FFCM, LLC and FQF Trust have filed an amended application for exemptive relief.

view filing

Regulators tell US banks to hold funds

March 9, 2010--US regulators have told banks not to increase dividends or buy back shares until political and economic uncertainty surrounding the industry dissipates, in a move that will delay by months the return of capital to shareholders.

Some investors in financial stocks argue that winners of the credit crisis, such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, have profitable businesses and strong balance sheets and should consider raising dividends or buying back stocks

read more

Senators eye pre-funded resolution authority

March 9, 2010--Senators in the banking committee have agreed in principle to a partially pre-funded “resolution authority” to wind down a failing bank holding company, favouring a structure that would levy a $50bn charge on the industry.

Talks on a variety of issues in the Senate’s regulatory reform package continued on Tuesday and little has been settled. The resolution authority is the intellectual core of the Obama administration’s original overhaul proposed last summer.

read more

U.S. International Reserve Position

March 8, 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 $128,888 million as of the end of that week, compared to $129,435 million as of the end of the prior week.

I. Official reserve assets and other foreign currency assets (approximate market value, in US millions)

view more

Claymore Securities Launches ETF Suite Tracking the Wilshire 5000(SM), Wilshire 4500(SM) and Wilshire US REIT(SM) Indexes

Wilshire ETFs Provide Investors with Total U.S. Equity Market Exposure
March 9, 2010--Claymore Securities, Inc. today announced the launch of an ETF suite designed to track three of Wilshire Associates' broad market indexes: the Wilshire 5000 Total Market ETF (NYSE Arca: WFVK), the Wilshire 4500 Completion ETF (NYSE Arca: WXSP), and the Wilshire US REIT ETF (NYSE Arca: WREI). The Wilshire Indexes, developed by Wilshire Associates Incorporated, ("Wilshire(R)"), a global independent investment and consulting services firm, have been in existence for more than 35 years and are used extensively by institutional and active money managers as performance benchmarks.

"This is an exciting addition to our growing portfolio of ETF products, extending our line-up into broad-based domestic equities." commented William Belden, Managing Director, Claymore Securities, Inc. "Leveraging the expertise of Wilshire and their widely followed indexes, investors now have an opportunity to access the U.S. equity and REIT markets with the inherent benefits of ETF investing--efficiency, transparency and flexibility."

"We are delighted to be working with Claymore to launch these products," said Dennis A. Tito, founder Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wilshire Associates who is credited with developing the Wilshire 5000 in 1974 "Utilizing Wilshire's investment technology and performance measurement heritage, we created the Wilshire 5000 index as a tool for our institutional investment professionals and their clients to measure, understand and explain the market. Each index developed since that time was created to measure a specific section of the securities market in a way that was meaningful for investors," he noted.

"The Wilshire indexes are designed to give investors a Pure and Complete(SM) measure of the market without arbitrary rules and restrictions that introduce biases," said David L. Hall, Senior Managing Director, Wilshire Associates. "Through these ETFs, investors now have an efficient way to gain total market exposure and access to the institutional-level expertise for which Wilshire is known."

The Wilshire ETF suite includes:
-- WILSHIRE 5000 TOTAL MARKET ETF (NYSE Arca: WFVK) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index(SM) (the "Wilshire 5000"). The Wilshire 5000 seeks to capture the full diversification potential of the U.S. securities market.
-- WILSHIRE 4500 COMPLETION ETF (NYSE Arca: WXSP) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire 4500 Completion Index(SM) (the "Wilshire 4500"). For investors who already have access to the S&P 500, the Wilshire 4500 provides an easy way to gain exposure to the approximately other 88% of the U.S. stock market, based upon the number of issues in the market.(1)
-- WILSHIRE US REIT ETF (NYSE Arca: WREI) - The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of an equity index called the Wilshire US Real Estate Investment Trust Index(SM) ("Wilshire US REIT"). For portfolios concentrated in stocks and bonds, exposure to this index seeks to provide investors with the diversification and income potential of the REIT market.

BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance Review is Now Available

March 9, 2010--BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance Review is Now Available.

view report

William A. Porter To Receive Prestigious Options Industry Award

March 9, 2010--– The International Securities Exchange (ISE), E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corporation and The Options Industry Council (OIC) today announced that financial industry pioneer William A. Porter will be honored by the OIC with the Joseph P. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award in recognition of his overall contributions to the options industry.

William A. Porter is a co-founder and the first chairman of ISE and chairman emeritus of E*TRADE, which he founded in 1992. Called the “founder of online trading” by industry observers, his career is marked by significant innovation in the financial services and options industries, as well as in the science and technology fields. As the founder of the service bureau through which the very first online trade was made in 1983, he revolutionized the retail brokerage model by providing online access and trading tools to the self-directed investor. Mr. Porter brought that same ground-breaking vision to the options industry when he co-founded ISE in 1997, dramatically improving the efficiency of the options market via the first allelectronic U.S. options exchange. Mr. Porter holds 14 patents covering a number of electronic devices and processes that are still in use today in a variety of fields. Mr. Porter has an M.S. in Management from MIT, where he was a Sloan Fellow; an M.S. in Physics from Kansas State College; and a B.A. in Mathematics from Adams State College.

read more

BM&FBOVESPA Announces February 2010 Market Performance

March 9, 2010--In February 2010, equity markets (Bovespa segment) reached a total volume of BRL 118.06 billion, in 7,355,993 trades, with daily averages of BRL 6.55 billion and 408,666 trades, respectively. In January, total volume reached BRL 129.10 billion, 8,051,640 trades, with daily averages of BRL 6.79 billion and 423,771 trades, respectively.

The participation of individual investors in the financial volume was 32.05%, followed by institutional investors (28.95%) and foreign investors (27.83%). Trading via Home Broker set the following new records: financial volume participation in the equities markets of 22.30%, compared to 21.10% in January; average daily volume of BRL2.91 billion, compared to BRL2.90 billion in October 2009; and daily average of trades of BRL16,580.00, compared to BRL14,380.00 in November of 2009.

The Ibovespa ended February up 1.6% at 66,503 points. Best performing stocks were: MMX Miner ON (+26.14%); LLX Log ON (+14.39%); Gafisa ON (+12.43%); Cosan ON (+10.52%); and Lojas Renner ON (+8.45%). The worst performing stocks were: Eletrobras ON (-18.40%); Eletrobras PNB (-16.88%); Vivo PN (-8.21%); BM&FBOVESPA (-6.99%); and Telemar PN (-6.85%).

Derivatives markets in the BM&F segment (including financial and commodities derivatives) totaled 39,306,238 contracts and BRL 2.47 trillion in volume in February. That compares to 36,217,359 contracts and a volume of BRL 2.65 trillion in January.

The daily average of contracts traded in the derivatives markets set a new record in February, with 2,183,679 contracts, in contrast to the previous record of 2,172,046 in March 2008. The daily average number of trades also set a new record in February, with 62,994 trades, in contrast to 51,329 in October 2009. Open interest contracts ended the last trading day of February with 27,556,692 positions, compared to 22,967,763 in January.

read more

CME Group, Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and MexDer Announce Order Routing, Equity Agreement

March 8, 2010--CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV), the financial exchange operator in Mexico, today announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership that includes an order routing agreement for derivatives products. CME Group has purchased shares in the Mexican exchange valued at $17 million, or approximately 1.9 percent of outstanding BMV shares, as part of the equity portion of the agreement.

Additionally, the Control Trust of BMV has granted CME Group the right to nominate a member to BMV Board of Directors and the two exchange operators have signed a memorandum of understanding covering activities aimed at enhancing the partnership between the two exchanges.

Through the agreement, CME Group will become the exclusive exchange provider of derivatives order routing services to BMV outside Latin America, and BMV will be the exclusive exchange provider of derivatives order routing services to CME Group in Mexico. BMV's derivative products are offered through its derivatives subsidiary, MexDer.

CME Group and BMV have also agreed to pursue potential joint initiatives including product development, marketing and customer education as well as clearing opportunities. Additionally, BMV, CME Group and its Global Preferred Strategic Partner BM&FBOVESPA will initiate discussions about the aforementioned transaction and other commercial opportunities.

read more

FTSE Group Introduces New Equity Style Index Offerings with ActiveBeta Index Series

March 8, 2010-- FTSE Group (“FTSE”), the award winning global index provider, and global asset management firm Westpeak Global Advisors (“Westpeak”) have today launched the FTSE ActiveBeta Index Series, which provides an efficient, transparent and cost-effective vehicle for capturing systematic sources of active equity returns. The new series draws on the FTSE All-World Index Series, the benchmark of choice for international investors, for its base universe.

The FTSE ActiveBeta Index Series provides a new approach to investing in equities, derived from the premise that a significant portion of traditional active equity management returns – or alpha – is attributable to systematic sources of active returns rather than a manager’s stock selection skill. The new index series is based on research establishing that momentum and value, two widely used approaches in active management, are, in fact, systematic sources of active returns and should therefore be viewed as additional forms of betas – or ‘Active Betas’. The research also provides evidence of the counter-cyclical nature of momentum and value active returns, which implies that the combined capture of momentum and value should provide superior risk-adjusted performance compared to the capture of either momentum or value alone.

The index series can be used by a variety of institutional investors and product issuers to:
•structure more efficient equity portfolios through direct allocation to the systematic sources of active equity returns
•benchmark active growth, value and core managers’ investment performance more appropriately by using indices that better reflect their investment process
•create low cost passive investment vehicles which provide an alternative to traditional active management strategies

Westpeak’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Khalid Ghayur, commented, “For the first time, investors have access to an internally consistent global family of momentum, value, and combined momentum and value indices, which more accurately reflect the investment processes of active managers and provide a better understanding of the nature of traditional active equity returns.”

Mark Makepeace, Chief Executive, FTSE Group, added, “FTSE is proud to introduce this new range of equity style indices by partnering with Westpeak Global Advisors. The new FTSE ActiveBeta Index Series offers investors a fresh perspective on style investing as well as an alternative to traditional active management strategies, and further extends the range of tools FTSE provides to help clients meet their investment objectives."

Emerging Markets Week in Review -3/1/2010 - 3/5/2010

March 8, 2010--The Dow Jones Emerging Markets Composite Index had its best weekly return of 2009, gaining 4.63% last week. All sectors were positive as Materials and Finanicals led the way, up 5.77% and 4.77% respectively.

Technology, the best performing sector of 2010 (+5.17%), was up the least of any sector, gaining 2.51%. This week investors continue to weigh the risk of default of several trouble governments after last week's announcements of plans to raise taxes and lower spending.

read more

NASDAQ OMX Purchases North American Energy

March 8, 2010--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the purchase of the business of North American Energy Credit and Clearing Corp. (NECC), a Chicago-based clearinghouse for the over the counter (OTC) power and gas markets. The NECC transaction closed on March 3. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"NASDAQ OMX continues to expand its presence in OTC commodities and clearing, and this acquisition presents us with an opportunity to deliver what the U.S. power and gas market currently lacks: a clearinghouse with the flexibility to clear both financial and physical instruments," said Bob Greifeld, Chief Executive Officer of The NASDAQ OMX Group. "The U.S. power and natural gas market is another area where we can strategically apply our exchange technology and an innovative clearing solution to reduce risk, increase volume, and better serve the customer through improved services and lower cost."

NASDAQ OMX is an experienced operator in the energy and commodities space through its Nord Pool market, the world's largest power derivatives exchange which has been in operation for 15 years. The exchange recently launched N2EX, its marketplace for physical UK power contracts.

"The support and resources of NASDAQ OMX will enable our team to expand our offering over the entire continental U.S. and provide the clearing facility that the industry has been seeking," said George Sladoje, former Chairman and CEO of NECC.

The NASDAQ OMX Commodities Clearing operation will be led by Geir Reigstad, Head of NASDAQ OMX Commodities. NASDAQ OMX has several operations in clearing across multiple asset classes, including majority-owned IDCG, which provides clearing for interest rate swaps. NASDAQ OMX also recently completed the first cross-border merger of clearing houses with the combination of its Nord Pool and Nordic clearing houses to clear Nordic equities, fixed income and power derivatives. NASDAQ OMX plans to offer central clearing in its U.K. power derivatives market in 2010.

The NECC acquisition follows NASDAQ OMX's recent purchase of a majority stake in Agora-X, which enables institutional market participants to efficiently negotiate OTC transactions in commodity and derivative contracts.

NECC's business supports the U.S. physical power and gas markets by integrating the physical and financial markets through market-neutral clearing services. It develops and provides clearing services to North American energy markets. The business' key customers include physical traders such as utilities and merchant generators, and financial traders such as banks and hedge funds. Operating as a market-neutral 'riskless principal', the clearinghouse enters matching positions with different counterparties and manages the credit risk on both sides using standard clearinghouse type margining.

For more information on NASDAQ OMX Commodities:
http://www.nasdaqomx.com/commodities

Blackrock-ETF Landscape: Latin America Industry Review - Year End 2009

March 5, 2010--At the end of 2009 the Latin American ETF industry had 17 locally domiciled ETFs, 211 exchange listings, and assets of US$9.84 Bn from three providers on two exchanges.

There are 169 ETFs cross listed in Mexico at the end of December 2009 from eight providers, while there are 340 ETFs registered for sale in Chile from 10 providers, and 277 ETFs registered for sale in Peru from 12 providers.

to request report

Weekly Market Report-State Street Global Advisors

March 4, 2010--US: THE WEEK IN REVIEW Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke’s Semiannual Testimony to the Congress contained few surprises. Most importantly, he reassured markets that last week’s discount rate hike was not a portent of imminent policy tightening. Indeed, he reiterated that the Fed would keep the funds target low for “an extended period.”

His view of economic conditions seems to correspond closely to ours, namely that the current blip in activity reflects the inventory swing and fiscal stimulus. A self-sustaining recovery requires improvement in private-sector demand, and that could be compromised by weakness in the labor markets and higher structural (long-term) unemployment. In general, the tone was dovish, and triggered a ten point rally in the S&P 500®.

GDP growth was revised up two ticks in the fourth quarter to 5.9%. However, the quality of growth actually deteriorated. The increase in final sales was revised down three ticks to 1.9%, while the inventory contribution rose by five ticks to 3.9 percentage points. This implies that the economy had less demand momentum than previously thought, and more of the ammunition stored in the inventory swing was used up, leaving less for the first half of 2010 when it might well be needed. Other changes included downward revisions to consumer spending, government purchases and net exports, partially offset by an upward one to business investment.

Much of the rest of this week’s data were worrisome, most notably consumer confidence, jobless claims and home sales. But, the weather may at least partially explain the weakness, so we are reluctant to conclude that the recovery is derailing just yet. However, we need to see improvement soon.

Consumer confidence eroded in February. According to the Conference Board’s survey the drop was quite severe as its headline index plunged 10.5 points to just 46.0, its lowest reading since April 2009, when the economy was still in the middle of its recessionary freefall. Expectations fell to their lowest level since July. And assessments of current conditions, which had been showing signs of stability over the last several months, appears to have taken another leg down, dropping to just 19.4, its lowest reading since February 1983 (in the wake of the devastating 1981-82 recession that pushed the unemployment rate to 10.8%). Fortunately, the University of Michigan survey did not confirm the collapse suggested by the Conference Board.

Indeed, confidence eroded only marginally during the month, with the headline index off just 0.8 point. Moreover, assessments of current conditions actually improved. The loss solely reflected deterioration in the rather volatile expectations component. So while the improvement in sentiment since last spring has certainly slowed, and may even have stalled, it may not be reversing. Next month’s Conference Board print will be important.

click here for more info

• Prev
• 1
• ...
• 1709
• 1710
• 1711
• 1712
• 1713
• ...
• 1774
• Next