Global ETF News Older than One Year
Markit Buys Risk Analytics Firm QuIC
January 12, 2011-- Markit, a leading, global financial information services company, today announced that it has acquired QuIC Financial Technologies, Inc (QuIC). QuIC provides the world’s leading financial organisations with risk analytics solutions to test market and credit risk tolerance in financial portfolios and simulate risk at the enterprise level.
The acquisition will enable Markit to meet the growing demand for risk analytics and enterprise risk management services by combining its strengths in data and valuations with QuIC’s analytics expertise. Markit and QuIC’s integrated platform will be well-positioned to offer a comprehensive solution for risk-related services spanning independent pricing, valuations and analytics across asset classes.
QuIC will become part of Markit’s valuations and analytics services unit, and will continue to provide all of its existing high-quality services to clients throughout the financial industry. Markit’s rich data set, which spans all major asset classes in the cash and over-the-counter derivative markets - including credit default swaps, bonds, loans, equities, commodities and rates - will become a valuable input into the QuIC Engine™, the high speed computational framework that powers QuIC’s solutions.
Source: Markit
Contributions to GDP growth – Third quarter of 2010
Investment slowdown weakens OECD GDP growth in the third quarter of 2010
January 12, 2011--Real GDP in the OECD area grew by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2010, down from the 0.9% of the previous quarter. Capital formation contributed 0.2 percentage point to overall growth, down from the 0.5 percentage point recorded in the second quarter.
Private consumption was the main contributor, adding 0.4 percentage point to overall growth; while stockbuilding contributed 0.3 percentage point. For the third consecutive quarter, net exports dragged down GDP growth (by 0.3 percentage point in the third quarter of 2010).
Source: OECD
Gold Must Exceed $2,000 to Be Considered in a Bubble, Deutsche Bank Says
January 11, 2011--Gold would have to exceed $2,000 an ounce to be considered in a bubble, and the metal will gain this year on investment in exchange-traded funds and central-bank buying, Deutsche Bank AG said.
Gold will “perform strongly” on investor demand and low real interest rates in the U.S., Michael Lewis, London-based head of commodities research at Deutsche Bank, said in a report today. A bubble may form because investors are buying gold as a hedge against both inflation and deflation, he said.
Source: Bloomberg
The global financial crisis has accelerated the shift in economic power to emerging economies.
January 11, 2011--In the latest in the series of PwC’s ‘World in 2050’ reports, analysis reveals that the E7 emerging economies (China, India, Brazil, Russia, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey) are set to overtake the G7 economies (US, Japan, Germany, UK, France, Italy and Canada) before 2020.
view the World in 2050 The accelerating shift of global economic power: challenges and opportunities
The world in 2050:Can rapid global growth be reconciled with moving to a low-carbon economy?
view the Beyond the BRICs: A broader look at emerging market growth prospects
view the How big will the major emerging market economies get and how can the OECD compete? report
Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Capital Flows, Exchange Rate Flexibility, and the Real Exchange Rate IMF Working paper
January 10, 2011--This paper analyzes the impact of capital inflows and exchange rate flexibility on the real exchange rate in developing countries based on panel cointegration techniques. The results show that public and private flows are associated with a real exchange rate appreciation.
Among private flows, portfolio investment has the highest appreciation effect-almost seven times that of foreign direct investment or bank loans-and private transfers have the lowest effect. Using a de facto measure of exchange rate flexibility, we find that a more flexible exchange rate helps to dampen appreciation of the real exchange rate stemming from capital inflows.
view the Capital Flows, Exchange Rate Flexibility, and the Real Exchange Rate
Source: IMF
Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs), OECD, January 2011
January 10, 2011--OECD composite leading indicators (CLIs), designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to trend, point to an increasing pace of economic expansion in November 2010.
The CLIs for China, the United States, France and Japan show clear signs of accelerating economic activity, while the one for Russia points strongly to steady expansion.
The German CLI is unchanged from the previous month at a rate above 100 and should therefore be interpreted as a sign of a continued, stable pace of expansion. Signs of stabilization in the pace of economic expansion are also present in the CLIs for Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom and India.
Source: OECD
HK price differentials create renminbi openings
January 10, 2011--Banking regulators have quietly taken a major step towards harmonised global regulation by agreeing to raise worldwide capital requirements whenever an individual country declares a credit bubble.
Part of the larger Basel III banking reform package, the countercyclical capital buffer heralds a step change in the way national banking regulators interact and is the first concrete example of “macroprudential” regulation that seeks to moderate the economic cycle.
Source: FT.com
NYSE Euronext Announces Trading Volumes for December 2010
Global Derivatives Averaged 6.7 Million Contracts per Day in December, Down 6% vs. Prior Year;
European Cash Trading Volumes Up 13%, U.S. Cash Down 14%
January 6, 2011-- NYSE Euronext (NYX) today announced trading volumes for its global derivatives and cash equities exchanges for December 2010 [1] Global derivatives average daily volume (“ADV”) of 6.7 million contracts traded per day in December 2010 decreased 6.2% versus the prior year.
The decrease in global derivatives ADV versus prior year levels was driven primarily by a 17.7% decrease in European derivatives, partially offset by an 8.7% increase in U.S. equity options ADV. Cash equities ADV in December 2010 was mixed, with European cash ADV increasing 12.9% and U.S. cash trading volumes decreasing 13.5% from December 2009 levels.
Highlights
NYSE Euronext global derivatives ADV in December 2010 of 6.7 million contracts decreased 6.2% compared to December 2009 and decreased 19.1% from November 2010 levels.
Source: NYSE Euronext
Smaller hedge funds to enjoy inflows
January 6, 2011-Financial News reports, small and medium-sized managers are set to be the main beneficiaries this year from investors putting money into hedge funds as a result of reduced competition for assets from larger firms, according to new research.
For the past two years, the largest hedge funds have raised most of the money that have gone into the sector. In the third quarter, more than $14bn of the $19bn total net inflow was allocated to firms with more than $5bn in assets under management, which manage more than 60% of total industry capital, according to data provider Hedge Fund Research.
Source: Financial News
Hedge Funds Increase Bullish Crude Bets to Four-Year High
January 6, 2011--Hedge funds raised bullish bets on crude oil to the highest level in more than four years on speculation that futures will climb as the U.S. recovers from the deepest recession since the 1930s.
The funds and other large speculators increased net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, by 4.6 percent in the seven days ended Dec. 28, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly Commitments of Traders report. It was the biggest total in records going back to June 2006.
Source: Bloomberg
