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Dow Jones Indexes Launches Three Series of Volatility Risk Control Indexes
Dow Jones Europe Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control, Dow Jones Eurozone Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control Indexes
Support Dow Jones Indexes’ expansion plans in Europe
Dow Jones BRIC 50 Volatility Risk Control Indexes to track performance
of leading stocks, at various levels of volatility, in four key countries
September 13, 2011--Dow Jones Indexes, a leading global index provider, today announced the launch of three series of indexes designed to target various levels of volatility.
The new index families are:
• the Dow Jones Europe Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control Indexes;
• the Dow Jones Eurozone Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control Indexes; and
• the Dow Jones BRIC 50 Volatility Risk Control Indexes.
Each series includes four indexes targeting predetermined levels of market volatility (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%) by dynamically allocating between an underlying index and a cash component represented by EONIA (Euro OverNight Index Average) . Volatility levels are reflected in the index by leveraging (up to 150%) or deleveraging (relative to cash) exposure to the equity components in the underlying index.
The Dow Jones Europe Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control and Dow Jones Eurozone Titans 80 Volatility Risk Control Indexes are the latest examples of Dow Jones Indexes’ expanded offerings for the European region; in June 2011, the firm launched two European blue-chip stock gauges, the Dow Jones Europe Titans 80 Index and the Dow Jones Eurozone Titans 80 Index, measuring leading companies within each region and the indexes on which the new volatility risk control indexes are based.
ISDA and S&P Indices to Co-brand S&P Credit Default Swap Indices
September 13, 2011 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) and S&P Indices announced today that they will co-brand S&P’s
existing Credit Default Swap (CDS) Indices as S&P/ISDA CDS Indices. The S&P/ISDA CDS Indices seek to reflect the credit default swap market for U.S. corporate credits and increase
transparency for market participants.
“We are very pleased to announce this partnership with S&P Indices,” said Robert Pickel, ISDA Executive Vice Chairman. “The S&P/ISDA CDS Indices will continue to provide market
participants a key benchmark designed to further increase transparency and efficiency in the OTC derivatives market.”
“We are excited to co-brand our family of CDS indices with ISDA, the premier trade organization of participants in the over-the-counter derivatives markets,” said Alexander Matturri, Executive Managing Director at S&P Indices. “S&P/ISDA CDS Indices offer market participants additional, important transparency and insight into the credit default swap market. By working closely with ISDA and market participants, we expect to broaden the family of S&P/ISA CDS indices and attract even greater interest in these indices by both institutional investors and dealers alike.”
Highlights of the latest OMRil Market Report-IEA
September 13, 2011--Uncertain global economic and financial prospects underpinned volatile oil futures prices in August and early September. WTI and Brent followed divergent paths last month, with the price spread hitting record levels of over $27/bbl in early September. Prices at writing were $111/bbl for Brent and $86/bbl for WTI.
Global oil demand is revised down by 0.2 mb/d for 2011 and by 0.4 mb/d for 2012 on lower non-OECD readings and reduced economic growth expectations. Global GDP growth is now seen at 3.9% in 2011 and at 4.2% in 2012 with significant downside risks. Demand estimates now stand at 89.3 mb/d in 2011 (+1.0 mb/d y-o-y) and 90.7 mb/d in 2012 (+1.4 mb/d y‑o‑y).
World oil supply rose by 1.0 mb/d in August, to 89.1 mb/d, with non-OPEC production up by 0.8 mb/d. Rising US and Latin American production offset heavy maintenance and field outages in the North Sea. Non-OPEC supply has been revised lower to 52.8 mb/d in 2011 on outages in the Middle East and China, rising to 53.8 mb/d in 2012.
August OPEC crude oil output was up by 165 kb/d, to 30.26 mb/d with production still 1.04 mb/d below the 31.3 mb/d 3Q11 ‘call on OPEC crude and stock change’. However, the ‘call’ for 4Q11 has been lowered by 0.2 mb/d to 30.5 mb/d, due to weaker demand. With the end of Libya’s civil conflict on the horizon, we have revised up our Libyan capacity outlook for 4Q11 by 0.1 mb/d, to 0.3 mb/d
ETF redemptions at highest level since 2008
September 12, 2011--Global ETF redemptions reached the highest level since June 2008 last week, with the majority in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. now.
There were US$15bn worth of redemptions in equity ETFs, according to Cowen; $14bn of those came from the US and almost $10bn were in State Street Global Advisors' SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).
Although the US market has been volatile for several weeks - the S&P 500 has fallen 16% since the end of July - and trading has spiked, it is only now that the redemptions have picked up pace.
BlackRock calls for regulations for synthetic ETFs
September 12, 2011--BlackRock sent a letter to the Financial Stability Board arguing that regulations should be implemented to counter risks related to synthetic exchange-traded funds.
The investment-management firm also called for "full transparency" of the funds. "BlackRock supports full transparency and regulatory rules for ETFs that would mitigate the conflict of interest involved in fund managers investing in swaps with affiliated swap counterparties," the firm said.
BlackRock calls for regulations for synthetic ETFs
September 12, 2011--BlackRock sent a letter to the Financial Stability Board arguing that regulations should be implemented to counter risks related to synthetic exchange-traded funds.
The investment-management firm also called for "full transparency" of the funds. "BlackRock supports full transparency and regulatory rules for ETFs that would mitigate the conflict of interest involved in fund managers investing in swaps with affiliated swap counterparties," the firm said.
Responses to the FSB note on ETFs
September 12, 2011--On 12 April 2011, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a note on ETFs. The FSB indicated that it would welcome feedback from the public on this note by 16 May 2011.
The FSB wishes to thank those who have taken the time and effort to express their views. The FSB and its member authorities and standard setting bodies are continuing to monitor developments in the ETF market closely, and will use the feedback received as an input for their work.
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly: Gold Price Holds Near Record High As Greek Debt Default Risk Escalates
September 12, 2011--Gold speculative futures positions rise for first time since early August as spot prices hover near record highs on rising sovereign debt concerns. Markets are now pricing a nearly 100% probability of a Greek government debt default as the deadline for the release of the next tranche of bailout funds looms this week.
Intra and inter-government disagreements within the Eurozone featured prominently last week as euro-area governments struggle to meet painful fiscal cutback provisions under the weight of slowing growth and revenues. Significantly, Germany is exploring methods to ring fence its banks from any Greek debt default.
Inflation, currency debasement concerns as governments outline plans to further pump-prime economies, maintain competitive exchange rates. US President Obama unveiled a $400bn+ package to boost employment last week as Fed minutes confirmed that the US central bank is exploring options to further underwrite flagging US growth and employment. The Swiss National Bank announced plans to sell unlimited Swiss Francs to maintain a minimum EUR/CHF rate last week as the perceived safe haven currency has soared recently.
Platinum group metals prices remain resilient as supply issues help check growth worries. Mooted mining nationalization priorities in South Africa and mining indigenisation in Zimbabwe highlight the uncertain supply environment in Africa, home to over three-quarters of global platinum production and over onethird of global palladium production.
visit www.etfsecurities.com for more info
OECD composite leading indicators signal widespread slowdown in economic activity
September 12, 2011--Composite leading indicators (CLIs) for July 2011, designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, continue to point to a slowdown in economic activity in most OECD countries and major non-member economies. The CLI for the OECD area fell 0.5 point in July; the fourth consecutive monthly decline.
Compared to last month’s assessment, the CLIs for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and India are pointing more strongly to a slowdown in economic activity.
The CLIs for the United States and Russia are now also pointing more clearly to a slowdown in economic activity than in last month’s assessment. The outlook for Japan continues to indicate a potential turning-point in economic activity.
Fidessa assesses developments in internalisation
New white paper discusses the trend towards broker internalisation and the impact on execution quality, specifically under MiFID II
September 12, 2011--Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA), provider of high-performance trading, investment management and information solutions for the world’s financial community, has today announced the publication of a white paper exploring the trend of increasing internalisation of flow and the technology options available to take advantage of this developing paradigm. The paper focuses on the specific consequences for the European non-lit market under the forthcoming MiFID II regulation.
"The MiFID regulations have heralded a period of enormous change and so market participants of all types have needed to adopt a far more intelligent approach to trade effectively across the full spectrum of lit, dark and grey liquidity," said Ian Salmon, Head of Enterprise Business Development at Fidessa, who authored the paper. "Whilst lit interaction has matured, and to some extent standardised, MiFID II promises to turn the spotlight on the non-lit spectrum. Previously considered the domain of only the larger players, dark trading now looks set to enter the mainstream."
Key points from the white paper include:
Those firms that have been operating non-lit venues will need to rethink their approach in light of the forthcoming MiFID II regulations that will place far greater emphasis on post-trade transparency
The battle between larger brokers will intensify as they seek to aggregate each other’s dark order flow
The operation of non-lit venues will no longer be the sole domain of the big banks and brokers as technological advances and dark trading alliances will bring new participants into this market