Global ETF News Older than One Year
FTSE announces changes to FTSE Italia Index Series
August 8, 2012--FTSE says the FTSE Italia Series, which includes the FTSE MIB, will be changed to use actual free float, rounded up to the nex 1%.
FTSE was the first index provider to introduce the principle of free float adjustments to its equity indices in 2000. Free float reduces a company’s weight in an index to take account of restricted holdings of the company’s shares, which are not freely available for market trading. Adjustment for restricted holdings provides a better representation of the investable universe since market turnover (and the liquidity of individual company securities) is closely related to the number of shares held by portfolio investors. The change will come into effect on September 24th this year.
Source: FTSE
Thomson Reuters Global Equities Monthly Market Share Data Reports-July 2012
August 7, 2012--Trading is fragmenting between exchanges and competing venues. But by how much and which venues? Find out in the summarised monthly reports.
Source: Thomson Reuters
BATS Global Markets Records 2nd Best U.S. Equities Monthly Market Share In July; U.S. Options, European Equities Continue Strong Growth
BATS Reports 12.3% U.S. Equities Market Share, Up From 11.1% a Year Ago; BATS Chi-X Europe Sets Monthly Market Share Records in Nordic and Portuguese Markets; U.S. Options Market Share Rises Sequentially to 3.6%
July 7, 2012--BATS Global Markets (BATS), a leading operator of securities markets in the U.S. and Europe, today reported U.S. equities market share of 12.3% in July,
the second-best monthly market share performance in the company's seven-year history, as well as numerous monthly records in Europe including the Nordic and Portuguese markets.
BATS Chi-X Europe remained the largest pan-European market by notional value traded in July, recording a second consecutive monthly market share record in the overall Nordic market with 26.1%, including individual records in Stockholm's OMXS30 (29.6%), Copenhagen's OMXC20 (21.8%), Oslo's OBX (21.1%) and Lisbon's PSI-20 (16.5%). Overall European market share reached 24.6%, up from 24.4% one year ago on a pro forma basis.
Source: BATS
Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes July 2012 Commodities Commentary
Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Indexes Up As Drought Continues To Overshadow Other Factors
August 7, 2012--The Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index was up 6.46% for the month of July as the impact from the worst drought conditions in approximately 60 years limited much of the agricultural crop output in the U.S. Midwest and largely overshadowed concerns about the resurgence of the EU debt crisis and a rise in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to most other trading partners of note.
Commodities tend follow an inverse relationship with the value of the dollar, as a stronger dollar means less buying power for global players in the market.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released data July 31 that showed the overall farm-price index—an index that monitors the prices received by farmers for sales including crops and livestock—posted an 11-point month-to-month increase during July.
The Dow Jones-UBS Single Commodity Indexes for corn, soybean meal and wheat had the strongest gains with month-end returns of 28.32%, 19.80% and 17.30%, respectively.
Source: Mondovisione
FEAS Monthly Newsletter-July 2012
August 7, 2012--ADX
The Middle East Investor Relations Society (ME-IR Society) announced today the launch of its Abu Dhabi Chapter, hosted at the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX).
This is the sixth ME-IR Society Chapter launched this year so far, following initiatives launched in Qatar, Palestine, Kuwait, Dubai and Oman.
The Chapter will be chaired by the Head of Listed Companies at ADX; Mr. Saif Sayah Al Mansouri. The Chapter also includes representatives from companies listed on the ADX including Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Agthia, First Gulf Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and TAQA. ME-IR Society Founding members of the informal board will include representatives from Bank of New York Mellon and Rothschild Group. The aim of the Chapter will be to work to improve the quality of investor relations practices in Abu Dhabi, to establish a solid networking platform and enhance the reputation, efficiency and attractiveness of both public and private firms in the Capital.
Source: FEAS
Regulator Says British Bank Helped Iran Hide Deals
August 6, 2012--Using its New York-based operations, a major British bank schemed with the Iranian government for nearly a decade to launder $250 billion, leaving the United States financial system vulnerable to terrorists and corrupt regimes, New York's top banking regulator charged on Monday.
The New York State Department of Financial Services accused Standard Chartered, which the agency called a “rogue institution,” of masking more than 60,000 transactions for Iranian banks and corporations, motivated by the millions of dollars it reaped in fees.
Source: NY Times
Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index Finished Up 2.50% In July-Index Measures Performance Of 100 Of World's Leading Shari'ah-Compliant Stocks
Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index End July In Positive Territory-Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index Gains 2.44%
August 6, 2012--The Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index finished July up 2.50%, according to data compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. The index measures the performance of 100 of the world,s leading Shari,ah,compliant stocks.
The Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the world’s 50 largest companies, posted a July gain of 2.22%.
Regionally, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Asia/Pacific Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of 25 of the leading Shari’ah-compliant stocks in the Asia/Pacific region, increased 2.37% in July; the Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index increased 2.67%.
Source: Mondovisione
Create Your Better Life Index
August 6, 2012--The Better Life Index allows citizens to compare well-being across 36 countries based on 11 dimensions in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life. The updated version integrates data on gender and inequality and strengthens existing topics.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY-HISTORY
For over fifty years, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has helped governments design better policies for better lives for their citizens. It provides a forum in which leaders and policy makers can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems, and produces high-quality internationally comparable statistics used to understand what drives economic, social and environmental change.
Ever since the OECD started out in 1961, GDP has been the main factor by which it has measured and understood economic and social progress. But it has failed to capture many of the factors that influence people's lives, such as security, leisure, income distribution and a clean environment. Is life really getting better? How can we tell? What are the key ingredients to improving life – is it better education, environment, healthcare, housing, or working hours? Does progress mean the same thing to all people or in all countries and societies?
Source: OECD
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly: Precious Metals Slump Following ECB's 'Whatever it Takes' Disappointment
August 6, 2012--The ECB's 'whatever it takes' turned out to be 'not much' for
precious metals. While the risk of the FOMC doing nothing ahead of the US
jobs data last Friday had already largely been incorporated into
expectations, the market was certainly more disappointed by ECB President
Draghi's press conference, after suggesting that the ECB will do whatever it takes to preserve the Euro.
ECB President Draghi seemed to suggest that the ECB would intervene in debt markets, if governments were prepared to seek funding from the EFSF and adhere to their austerity commitments. The problem remains that details of the ECB’s potential intervention remain a mystery, similar to the lack of clarity that has clouded the bailout mechanism for Spain and its banking sector. With so much uncertainty, it is no wonder financial markets responded negatively, with gold losing 2% following the ECB press conference and silver dropping as much as 3.5% from the week’s high point. While there appeared to be a lack of decisiveness in central bank policy last week, the clear message from all three of the guardians of the world’s major reserve currencies is that if fundamentals do not improve quickly, more monetary easing and unconventional policies are coming. In recent weeks, it has become increasingly clear that further quantitative easing and other forms of easing from the US Fed and the ECB are the main catalysts gold investors are waiting for. The Fed last week has made it clear that with inflation now under control, its focus is increasingly skewed towards the second objective of its double mandate - job creation. So while nonfarm payrolls beat expectations, the sustainability of job creation will be critical for expectations of future stimulus and the gold price.
South African platinum supply concerns overshadow strong Russian production.
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
Source: ETF Securities
Economic & Capital Market Summary-Second Quarter, 2012
August 6, 2012-The single biggest driver for the economy and investment returns is the deleveraging process which we are currently struggling through.
Arguably, we have successfully transferred debt from the financial sector to the U.S. government through the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programs. And, bank loan portfolios are smaller given the decline in loan demand which is consistent with the deleveraging process. As we move through the long process of reducing debt, economic growth inevitably moderates as resources are applied to debt reduction rather than fixed investment and consumption within the economy. As a result, expected returns on financial assets are lower. Therein lies the challenge facing investors – how to invest in today’s financial markets where the price of risk is distorted and the rewards are substantially less than investment returns of prior years.
Source: Winthrop Capital Management
