Global ETF News Older than One Year
Arab OPEC ministers to meet in Cairo as oil price tops $90
December 23, 2010-- Core OPEC ministers began arriving in Cairo on Thursday ahead of talks expected to broach how high an oil price the world economy can stand as the market hovers near two-year peaks above $90 a barrel
A full conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries earlier this month elected to make no change to an output policy it has stuck to since December 2008. Since then oil has maintained a more than 30 percent rally from this year’s low struck in May and this week scaled a high of $90.80, the steepest in two years. The Organization of Arab Exporting Countries (OAPEC) brings together the Arab members of OPEC, including top exporter Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally been viewed as a price moderate. Ministers began arriving on Thursday in time for Saturday’s meeting when they will not take any formal decision on output, but can still discuss production and price.
Source: Todays Zaman
Dow Jones Insights Quarterly Newsletter
December 22, 2010--The Dow Jones Insights Quarterly Newsletter is now available.
Source: Dow Jones Indexes
BATS and Chi-X Europe in exclusive talks
December 22, 2010--BATS Global Markets, operator of the third largest stock exchange in the US, is in exclusive talks with a group of banks to combine its business with Chi-X Europe and create the largest share trading venue in Europe by volume, two people familiar with the matter said.
The move signals the biggest shake-up in share trading in the region since competition was allowed against established national exchanges four years ago.
Source: FT.com
Dwindling US supplies keep oil above $90
December 22, 2010--Oil rose to a fresh 26-month high on reports that crude stocks shrank and the economy accelerated in the US, the world’s largest petroleum consumer.
Nymex February West Texas Intermediate crude rose 66 cents to $90.48 a barrel, trading above $90 for the third time this year. ICE February Brent rose 45 cents to $93.65.
Source: FT.com
December 2010 “Islamic Market’s Measure” Preliminary Report - Monthly Report On The Performance Of The Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes
December 22, 2010--Based on the close of trading on December 21, the global Dow Jones Islamic Market Titans 100 Index, which measures the performance of 100 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks globally, gained 6.74% month-to-date, closing at 2230.89. In comparison, the Dow Jones Global Titans 50 Index, which measures the 50 biggest companies worldwide, posted a gain of 6.78%, closing at 176.02.
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 7.02%, closing at 15.69. The Dow Jones Asian Titans 50 Index, in comparison, posted a gain of 6.25%, closing at 143.05.
Measuring Europe, the Dow Jones Islamic Market Europe Titans 25 Index, which measures the performance of the 25 of the leading Shari’ah compliant stocks in Europe, closed at 2163.73, a gain of 8.72%, while the conventional Dow Jones Europe Index gained 8.38%, closing at 269.33.
Measuring the performance of 50 of the largest Shari’ah compliant U.S. stocks, the Dow Jones Islamic Market U.S. Titans 50 Index increased, closing at 2259.48. It represents a gain of 5.92%. The U.S. blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 4.79%, closing at 11533.16.
Source: Mondovisione
IMF Publishes First Worldwide Survey of Foreign Direct Investment Positions
December 22, 2010--The International Monetary Fund (IMF) today released results from its inaugural Coordinated Direct Investment Survey (CDIS), the first worldwide survey of foreign direct investment positions. The results, published as an online database, cover investment positions at end-2009 for 72 participating economies. The survey will be carried out annually and the intention is to broaden coverage in terms of both geographical representation and breakdowns of the data.
“Policymakers and analysts will find the CDIS database an invaluable tool in assessing the patterns and volumes of foreign direct investment as well as the increasing interconnectedness of economies,” Ms. Adelheid Burgi-Schmelz, Director of the IMF’s Statistics Department, said after the launch.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is cross border investment where a resident in one economy has control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise resident in another economy. This category of investment is of large and growing importance, increasing the need to improve data about it. In 2006, the IMF’s Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics endorsed the CDIS proposal, and the IMF began work on the project after formally deciding to proceed in March 2007.
Source: IMF
BlackRock New Report * ETF Landscape Industry Highlights, End of November 2010
December 22, 2010--At the end of November 2010, the global ETF industry had 2,422 ETFs with 5,413 listings and assets of US$1,231.0 Bn, from 133 providers on 46 exchanges around the world.
Additionally, there were 1,039 other Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) with 1,747 listings and assets of US$161.4 Bn, from 54 providers on 22 exchanges.
Combined, there were 3,461 products with 7,160 listings and assets of US$1,392.4 Bn, from 165 providers on 50 exchanges around the world, at the end of November 2010.
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock
China extends help to tackle euro crisis
December 21, 2010---- China has promised to take further "concerted action" to support European financial stabilisation, including continuing to buy the bonds of countries at the centre of the sovereign debt crisis, according to senior European officials.
The officials, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said one of China's vice-premiers Wang Qishan, whose responsibilities include oversight of the economy, had given assurances that China would step up support for European stabilisation efforts "if necessary".
Source: CNN
Copper price at record on supply concerns
December 21, 2010--Copper prices hit an all-time high on Tuesday well above the key $9,000 a tonne level, after the world’s third largest mine of the red metal halted exports after an accident.
The jump in copper prices came amid a broader rally in commodities prices, with the cost of cotton hitting a fresh all-time high and the price of high quality coffee surging to a 13½-year peak.
Source: FT.com
What Caused the Global Financial Crisis - Evidence on the Drivers of Financial Imbalances 1999 - 2007-IMF Working Paper
December 20, 2010--Summary: This paper investigates empirically the drivers of financial imbalances ahead of the global financial crisis. Three factors may have contributed to the build-up of financial imbalances: (i) rising global imbalances (capital flows), (ii) monetary policy that might have been too loose, (iii) inadequate supervision and regulation. Panel data regressions are performed for OECD countries from 1999 to 2007, so as to shed light on the relative importance of these factors, as well as the extent to which these factors might have interacted in fuelling the build-up.
We find that the build-up of financial imbalances was driven by capital inflows and an associated compression of the spread between long and short rates. The effect of capital inflows on the build-up is amplified where the supervisory and regulatory environment was relatively weak. We find that, by contrast, differences in monetary policy cannot account for differences across countries in the build-up of financial imbalances ahead of the crisis.
Source: IMF
