Global ETF News Older than One Year
FAO Food Price Index up slightly in June
But outlook for cereals improves
July 7, 2011--FAO's Food Price Index rose one percent to 234 points in June 2011 - 39 percent higher than in June 2010 but four percent below its all-time high of 238 points in February of this year.
A strong rise in international sugar prices was behind much of the increase.
The FAO Cereal Price index averaged 259 points in June, down one percent from May but 71 percent higher than in June 2010. Improved weather conditions in Europe and the announced lifting of the Russian Federation's export ban contributed to the price drop.
Source: FAO
NYSE Euronext shareholders approve Deutsche Boerse merger
July 7, 2011-- NYSE Euronext shareholders approved Thursday a merger with Deutsche Boerse to form the biggest stock exchange operator in the world valued at some $25 billion.
A merged Deutsche Boerse and New York Stock Exchange Euronext will own bourses in New York, Frankfurt, Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Brussels.
Source: EUbusiness
NYSE Euronext Shareholders Overwhelmingly Approve Combination With Deutsche Boerse - Preliminarily, Over 96% Of Votes Cast In Favor Of The Proposed Merger
July 7, 2011--NYSE Euronext (NYSE:NYX) today announced that its shareholders have approved the adoption of the business combination agreement with Deutsche Boerse AG (XETRA: DB1) and related proposals. The proposals, which required approval by a majority of the outstanding shares or in some cases majority of shares voted of NYSE Euronext common stock, were approved at a special shareholders meeting held today in New York.
Based on preliminary results, approximately 96.09% of the shares present at the special meeting voted for the approval of the combination, representing 65.68% of NYSE Euronext’s outstanding common shares.
“We are delighted that our shareholders support the value inherent in this compelling combination with Deutsche Boerse and recognize the substantial benefits the combined company will be positioned to provide,” said Jan-Michiel Hessels, Chairman of the Board of NYSE Euronext.
Source: NYSE Euronext
Deutsche Börse AG welcomes positive vote of NYSE Euronext shareholders
More than 96 percent (preliminary figures) in favour of the planned combination/Acceptance period for Deutsche Börse shareholders will expire on 13 July
July 7, 2011-- Deutsche Börse AG welcomes the positive vote a clear majority of shareholders cast today during the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of NYSE Euro-next. Based on preliminary results over 96.09 percent of the voting capital approved the planned combination of the two exchange operations this morning (US time).
This corresponds to 65.68 percent of the overall capital. With this move, a major prerequisite for the planned combination has been met.
Reto Francioni, CEO of Deutsche Börse AG and designated Chairman of the future joint holding company, said: "The shareholders of NYSE Euronext have clearly voted in favour of the growth perspectives and the value potential. Now the shareholders of Deutsche Börse have also their chance to participate."
Source: Deutsche Börse
Top hedge fund managers see significant losses
July 7, 2011--Some of the world’s largest hedge fund managers have been left nursing significant losses after two months of volatile markets amid growing fears over the state of the global economy.
Monthly performance numbers for the industry, tracked by Hedge Fund Research, due to be released on Friday are expected to confirm a lacklustre first half of the year with the average fund manager returning little more than 2 per cent.
Source: FT.com
IOSCO consults on issues raised for market efficiency and integrity by technological developments
July 6, 2011--The Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions has published a Consultation Report on Regulatory Issues Raised by the Impact of Technological Changes on Market Integrity and Efficiency (Report), which is aimed at developing recommendations to mitigate the risks posed to the financial system by the latest technological developments, such as high frequency trading. The work is being carried out in response to a G20 Leaders request during the Seoul Summit in 2010.
The Report analyses the most significant technological developments and related micro-structural issues that have arisen in financial markets in recent years, notably high frequency trading, and their impact on market structure, participants’ behaviour, price discovery and formation and also on the availability and accessibility of liquidity. It also considers other micro-structural related topics such as co-location, tick sizes, fee structures, indications of interest etc. and presents an analysis on trading control mechanisms.
Source: IOSCO
NYSE-Deutsche Börse deal set to clear US hurdle
July 6, 2011--The proposal to create the world’s largest stock exchange is expected to clear its first and easiest hurdle on Thursday, with shareholders of NYSE Euronext likely to agree to a merger with Deutsche Börse. But fears remain about the prospects for the deal in Europe.
Shareholders in the US group are expected to vote to approve the deal, which will end the Big Board’s 219 years of independence and create a dominant player for trading and clearing in the European derivatives market.
Source: FT.com
Expansionary Austerity New International Evidence
July 6, 2011--Summary: This paper investigates the short-term effects of fiscal consolidation on economic activity in OECD economies. We examine the historical record, including Budget Speeches and IMFdocuments, to identify changes in fiscal policy motivated by a desire to reduce the budget deficit and not by responding to prospective economic conditions.
Using this new dataset, our estimates suggest fiscal consolidation has contractionary effects on private domestic demand and GDP. By contrast, estimates based on conventional measures of the fiscal policy stance used in the literature support the expansionary fiscal contractions hypothesis but appear to be biased toward overstating expansionary effects.
view the IMF Working paper-Expansionary Austerity New International Evidence
Source: IMF
The Behavior of Conventional and Islamic Bank Deposit Returns in Malaysia and Turkey
July 6, 2011--Summary: This paper examines the empirical behavior of conventional bank deposit rates and the rate of return on retail Islamic profit-and-loss sharing (PLS) investment accounts in Malaysia and Turkey, using monthly data from January 1997 to August 2010.
The analysis shows that conventional bank deposit rates and PLS returns exhibit long-run cointegration and the time-varying volatility of conventional bank deposit rates and PLS returns is correlated and is statistically significant. The pairwise and multivariate causality tests show that conventional bank deposit rates Granger cause returns on PLS accounts. These findings have policy implications in terms of price stability and financial stability.
Source: IMF
OECD annual inflation accelerates to 3.2% in May 2011
July 5, 2011--Consumer prices in the OECD area rose by 3.2% in the year to May 2011, compared with 2.9% in April - the highest rate since October 2008. This increase was mainly driven by a sharp acceleration of inflation in Canada (to 3.7% in May, up from 3.3% in April) and the United States (to 3.6%, up from 3.2%) with high food and energy prices being the main drivers.
For the OECD as a whole, the increase in food and energy prices accelerated to 3.9% and 14.2% respectively in May, compared with 3.1% and 13.8% in April.
Excluding food and energy, consumer prices rose by 1.7 % in May 2011, compared with 1.6% in April - the highest rate since July 2009.
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Source: OECD
