Dow Jones Indexes Adds Shari’ah-Compliant Index To Dow Jones RBP Index Family
Dow Jones Islamic Market RBP U.S. 50 Index Weighted by Business-Performance Probability
August 2, 2011--– Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the launch of the Dow Jones Islamic Market RBP U.S. 50 Index, a unique gauge designed to measure the largest 50 U.S. stocks ranked by RBP® probabilities supplied by Transparent Value, LLC that have first passed the screens for Shari’ah compliance.
RBP®, which stands for Required Business Performance, is calculated by Transparent Value by taking a reverse discounted cash flow approach to determine the future business performance required by a company to support its current stock price. RBP® probabilities measure the likelihood that a company can deliver the required business performance identified by applying the methodology over specified time periods.
Markets put Italian, Spanish debt under pressure again
August 2, 2011-- Italy and Spain came under fresh pressure Tuesday on the financial markets as nervous investors sold down their bonds on concerns that their debt problems will only get worse as economic growth slows.
In mid-morning trading, the benchmark Spanish 10-year benchmark government was yielding 6.326 percent, a rate up sharply from 6.180 percent late on Monday.
OECD-Economic Survey of Greece 2011
August 2, 2011--Greece has embarked on an ambitious adjustment programme to deal with the deep economic crisis by restoring sustainable public finances, competitiveness and the foundations for healthy and solid long-term growth. The economic adjustment plan is being implemented with the technical and financial support of the IMF, the European Union and the ECB, and – as announced on 21 July 2011- the participation of Greece’s private sector. It aims at tackling the root causes rather than the symptoms of the crisis.
The programme can succeed. Under conservative assumptions regarding growth and interest rates, and if fiscal and structural reforms are fully implemented, the debt-GDP ratio could peak in 2013 and fall below 60% of GDP in the next two decades. The package announced on 21 July 2011 should ensure reasonable interest rates on Greek debt, contains measures to enhance investment and growth, and will give Greece the time needed to implement reforms which will boost competitiveness and export performance. Despite the short term costs, the reforms that have been implemented or planned will benefit Greece for many years to come, as they will raise growth, living standards and equity. A key prerequisite of success is that the burden and benefits of reform be, and be seen to be, broadly and fairly shared. Clearly, the key to success will be in implementation, which will have to be impeccable.
view moreOverview of the Economic Survey of Greece
London still dominant location for hedge funds in Europe
August 1, 2011--- A Roundtable of U.K. based hedge fund experts found that London is still the dominant location for hedge funds in Europe, with the highest concentration of Europe's talent, assets, risk taking, service providers and new launches. As an industry, hedge funds continue to play an increasingly important role for institutions, and via UCITS also for retail investors
However recently, there has seen some disquiet about the hedge fund industry in the U.K.: the tax regime is regarded as unhelpful or even a threat, and while some fund managers “voted with their feet”, others not willing to move physically have set up an asset management business in Malta and continue to just provide research from the U.K.
EU wind power will triple by 2020
August 1, 2011--The European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) today published its scenarios for onshore and offshore wind power deployment in the EU, ahead of the European Commission's Energy Roadmap 2050, due to be published later this year.
"Wind energy will more than triple its power output by 2020 with 194 billion Euros invested in European onshore and offshore wind farms in this decade", said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director of EWEA. "This success is mainly driven by a strong EU regulatory framework to 2020, which we need also after 2020".
"Wind power will not only make a very substantial contribution to meeting Europe's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It strongly accelerates a shift away from expensive fossil fuels, creates jobs, makes Europe more competitive, and provides secure and renewable power production in Europe", said Wilkes.
view the report-Pure Power
Wind energy targets for 2020 and 2030
Eurozone growth indictator shows new slump in momentum
August 1, 2011-- - Private sector activity in the eurozone saw a new drop in momentum in July as recovery slowed in key economies and deterioration quickened in Greece and Spain, a key growth indicator showed Monday.
The data showed output growth slowing in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Austria, with Italy moving slightly higher but "only to a level broadly consistent with stagnation", according to the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) leading indicator, compiled by research firm Markit.
New Lyxor bond index ETF launched on Xetra
August 1, 2011--Deutsche Börse is further expanding its XTF segment for exchange-listed index funds on the Xetra trading platform. A new bond index ETF issued by Lyxor was admitted to trading on Monday.
ETF name: Lyxor ETF iBoxx $ Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns
Asset class: bond index ETF
ISIN: FR0010967323
Total expense ratio: 0.30 percent
Distribution policy: non-distributing
Benchmark: Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns
Lyxor ETF iBoxx $ Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns on the Markit iBoxx USD Liquid Emerging Markets Sovereigns Index enables investors to participate in the performance of US-Dollar denominated government bonds of 20 Emerging Market countries providing highest liquidity.
The product offering in Deutsche Börse’s XTF segment currently comprises a total of 857 exchange-listed ETFs, making it the largest offering of all European stock exchanges.
United Kingdom: Selected Issues Paper
July 1, 2011--A BUMPY ROAD AHEAD—THE NEAR-TERM OUTLOOK FOR INFLATION IN THE UK1
A. Introduction
1. Headline inflati
on in the UK is currently the highest amongst major advanced economies. CPI inflation has exceeded the official target of 2 percent since December 2009.
These overruns have been largely unanticipated by most forecasters due in part to unexpected
increases in international commodity prices. Despite constant upward revisions to the Bank of England (BoE)’s forecasts, inflation has continued to surprise on the upside. The average one-year ahead forecast error was close to 1¾ percentage points in 2010. These overruns
have heightened attention on the inflation outlook.
view United Kingdom: Selected Issues Paper
United Kingdom: Financial System Stability Assessment
August 1, 2011--EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The past four years have witnessed a crisis of unprecedented proportion in the U.K. financial sector and its regulatory framework. Significant risks posed by large, complex,
and interconnected financial institutions crystallized, exposing weaknesses in the policy and
regulatory framework that had enabled their expansion and complexity, both domestically and internationally. This report is written at a time when the key decisions on the role of the
financial sector and the regulatory framework are still being formulated.
Given the gaps in the crisis management framework, the authorities initially resorted to ad hoc solutions, but thereafter rapidly introduced a new framework. The lack of crisis
management mechanisms meant disruptive and expensive outcomes in the early stages of the crisis. However, decisive actions were taken and an improved framework, including an
enhanced deposit insurance scheme and a new Special Resolution Regime, was implemented to resolve or restructure failing institutions.
view the United Kingdom: Financial System Stability Assessment report
Boerse Stuttgart generates monthly turnover in excess of EUR 8.3 billion
Turnover up by around 15 percent / Strong growth in bonds, investment funds and equities
July 1, 2011--According to the order book statistics, turnover on the Stuttgart Stock Exchange in July ended the month at over EUR 8.3 billion, approximately 15 percent up on both the previous month and July 2010. The figures for every single asset class showed an increase on June of this year.
At over EUR 4.2 billion, almost 10 percent up on June 2011, securitised derivatives accounted for the biggest share of trading. Leverage products generated turnover in excess of EUR 2.2 billion, while investment products contributed over EUR 2 billion to the overall figure.