Global ETF News Older than One Year
Greg Smith-Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs
March 14, 2012--TODAY is my last day at Goldman Sachs. After almost 12 years at the firm --first as a summer intern while at Stanford, then in New York for 10 years, and now in London — I believe I have worked here long enough to understand the trajectory of its culture, its people and its identity. And I can honestly say that the environment now is as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it.
To put the problem in the simplest terms, the interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest and most important investment banks and it is too integral to global finance to continue to act this way. The firm has veered so far from the place I joined right out of college that I can no longer in good conscience say that I identify with what it stands for.
It might sound surprising to a skeptical public, but culture was always a vital part of Goldman Sachs’s success. It revolved around teamwork, integrity, a spirit of humility, and always doing right by our clients. The culture was the secret sauce that made this place great and allowed us to earn our clients’ trust for 143 years. It wasn’t just about making money; this alone will not sustain a firm for so long. It had something to do with pride and belief in the organization. I am sad to say that I look around today and see virtually no trace of the culture that made me love working for this firm for many years. I no longer have the pride, or the belief.
Source: New York Times
G20 GDP for the fourth quarter of 2011-G20 GDP growth slows to +0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011
March 14, 2012--Quarterly GDP growth in the G20 slowed to +0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with +0.9% in the third quarter, according to provisional results. In 2011 as a whole, G20 GDP rose by 2.8%, a marked deceleration compared with the +5.0% growth recorded in 2010.
The G20 GDP aggregate masks diverging patterns among the world’s largest economies. In the United States, GDP growth increased to +0.7% in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with +0.5% in the third quarter. In India and Indonesia growth increased strongly, but slowed in China to +2.0%, compared with +2.3% in the third quarter. In Japan, economic growth decreased to -0.2%, following the strong rebound (+1.7%) in the third quarter. GDP fell by 0.3% in both the EU271 and the euro area1 in the fourth quarter of 2011, the first fall since the second quarter of 2009.
Today’s release of the G20 GDP aggregate marks the first release of a G20 aggregate in the context of the implementation of the Data Gaps Initiative - a set of 20 recommendations on the further enhancement of statistics as agreed by the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. The process is coordinated by the Inter Agency Group on Economic and Financial Statistics2: International Monetary Fund, Bank for International Settlements, European Central Bank, Eurostat, OECD, United Nations and the World Bank. The dissemination of this G20 aggregate provides a timely measure of economic growth for the G20.
Source: Eurostat
S&P Indices Taps SGX Futures Prices for New S&P CNX Nifty Futures Real-time Index
March 13, 2012--S&P Indices today launched the S&P CNX Nifty Futures Real-time Index, a measure of the returns on offshore exposure to the Indian equity market based on Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed S&P CNX Nifty Index futures prices.
The new S&P Nifty Futures Real-time Index tracks the performance of a portfolio holding a single SGX Nifty Futures reinvested on a monthly basis. The Index series is based on the front month Nifty Futures contract traded on SGX and reinvestment occurs over a three business day period preceding expiration.
The SGX Nifty Futures is based on the S&P CNX Nifty Index, the headline index of the National Stock Exchange of India which is owned and managed by India Index Services & Products Limited. A diversified 50-stock index comprising large and highly liquid securities, the Nifty Index covers 25 sectors of the Indian economy.
Source: S&P Indices
SGX and Eurex team up to enhance market access
March 13, 2012--Singapore Exchange (SGX) and Eurex today announced a partnership to deliver convenient market access and cost efficiencies to members of both exchanges.
Both companies plan to link their co-location data centers to provide market participants easy connectivity to each other’s markets in Singapore and Frankfurt/Main respectively.
As part of this partnership, Eurex will be moving its existing access point in Singapore into the SGX co-location data center. In return, Eurex will act as a network service provider to SGX’s customers in Europe. This initiative is expected to be implemented mid-2012.
When the link becomes operational, customers of each exchange can more easily and cost effectively access both markets by connecting their trade-execution systems to either the SGX or Eurex co-location data centers. Trade matching will still be executed at the respective home exchanges.
Source: Eurex
A primer on rare earth minerals
March 13, 2012--Rare earth minerals, at the heart of a major trade dispute between China and the United States, the European Union and Japan, are coveted natural resources used in high-tech items ranging from iPhones to missiles.
These elements are, surprisingly, not that rare, but unlike more common minerals are found in low concentrations and are more difficult to mine and separate.
Techniques of ion exchange and solvent extraction have led to important advances in purifying rare earth elements since the end of World War II, even as increased use of electronics has increased the demand.
Source: EUbusiness
US seeks WTO action on China's rare earth controls
March 13, 2012-- The United States on Tuesday joined the EU and Japan in a complaint at the World Trade Organization against Chinese controls on exports of rare earths, the chief US trade negotiator said.
"China continues to make its export restraints more restrictive, resulting in massive distortions and harmful disruptions in supply chains for these materials throughout the global marketplace," said the US Trade Representative Ron Kirk.
The complaint argues that China places restrictions on the export of rare earths -- 17 elements critical to the making of high-tech products from iPods to missiles -- that are illegal under global trade rules.
Source: EUbusiness
IMF Working paper-BRICs' Philosophies for Development Financing and Their Implications for LICs
March 12, 2012--Summary: Flows of development financing from the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) to low income countries (LICs) have surged in recent years.
Unlike aid from traditional donors, BRICs (excluding Russia) view their financing as primarily based on the principles of South-South cooperation, focusing on mutual benefits without attachment of policy conditionality. This paper provides an overview of the philosophies and modalities of BRIC financing and examines their implications for LIC economies and future LIC-BRIC engagement.
view IMF Working paper-BRICs' Philosophies for Development Financing and Their Implications for LICs
Source: World Bank
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly: Gold price drops to six-week low, speculative longs cut at fastest rate in nearly 8 years
March 12, 2012--Gold price drops to six-week low as US jobs boost removes hopes of near-term QE3 from US Fed. The gold price fell to its lowest level in six weeks last week, dropping below its 200-day moving average, before rebounding on Monday back above the key psychological level of $1,700oz.
The Greek Private Sector debt deal was largely ignored, with investor attention focused on continued evidence that the US economy is recovering and the likelihood another round quantitative easing from the Fed is unlikely in the near-term. Strong US non-farm payrolls (NFP) numbers on Friday were the clincher. The strength of the US economy relative to those in Europe has kept the US dollar in ascendence, providing a nearterm headwind to gold price gains despite on-going sovereign concerns in the Eurozone and expectations of exceptionally low real interest rates in the world’s major reserve currency economies.
Speculators cut long gold positions at fastest rate in nearly eight years, setting better positioning base for the gold price. Net long speculative gold positions in the week to March 6th fell by 30%, their their fastest rate since April 2004. Further clear-out last week is likely given the sharpness of the price decline. Other precious metals also saw speculative positioning decline sharply, with silver net longs declining nearly 30% and palladium and platinum net long positions falling by 13% and 5% respectively (see page 4). Further evidence of a moderation in Chinese economic activity last week weighed on cyclically-linked metals. Platinum group metals prices in particular were also likely negatively affected by the resumption of production at the Rustenberg mine in South Africa, the world’s largest platinum mine (15% of global production).
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
Source: ETF Securities
New capital markets research portal opens today – CMCRC
March 12, 2012--Capital Markets Co-operative Research Centre (CMCRC) today opened a new portal for its research that measures and ranks the quality of global securities markets.
The Market Quality Forum is a free resource. It publishes monthly statistics for various market metrics including costs of trading in various markets; incidences of insider trading and market manipulation; and metrics around liquidity provision, for all the major markets in the world.
The Forum was conceived by CMCRC Chief Scientist, Michael Aitken. It's the first time such extensive data on the efficiency and integrity of markets has been made regularly available for free.
"The idea behind this is to get people talking about market quality, and show them how dynamic it is. You can see the influence of policy changes as they come into effect – it's fascinating stuff and I'm very pleased that CMCRC has been able to unlock this information and make it available. "
The data in the Forum is part of a broad, global review of market quality, the Market Quality Framework, which Aitken's team has been developing over the past ten years.
Source: Capital Markets Co-operative Research Centre (CMCRC)
February 2012 Market Share and Market Dynamics Executive Summary
March 12, 2012--The February 2012 Market Share and Market Dynamics Executive Summary is now available.
Source: FIF
