Oil sands resolution continues to gain pensions support
April 12, 2010--Several major US pension funds and Australian superannuation investors are the latest players to back a call for BP to report further information on the implications of extracting oil from tar sands.
BP will face a motion tabled by UK lobbying body FairPensions at its AGM later this week calling for the company to report details of the financial, environmental and social risks of using tar sands from next year.
Quarterly ETP Market Update: Growth on Track
April 12, 2010--Our 15-20% global ETP market growth forecast over 2010, assuming flat
equity markets is on track. In the first quarter of 2010, the global ETP market
reached $1.14 trillion experiencing overall growth of 3.5%. Growth was
fuelled by strong fixed income inflows on both sides of the Atlantic, and
strong European equity inflows that kept the global growth on track despite
equity outflows in the US and Asian markets.
The US ETP market grew by 3.9% in Q1’10 and it is on track with our forecast
of 15-20% growth by year end, assuming flat equity markets. The European
market continued to grow at twice the rate of the US market and experienced
growth of 8.5% over Q1’10. Our forecast of the European market growing at
20-25% over 2010 remains on track, with a possibility that the growth rate
could be revised upwards pending cash flow performance in Q2’10. It is
worth noting that despite the fact that the European market is 3 times smaller
than the US market, it saw comparable cash flows over Q1’10 (US: $9.3, EU;
$9.9).
The US ETP market experienced inflows of $9.3 billion over Q1’10. US equity ETPs experienced outflows of $2.3 billion over the quarter, while commodities finished the quarter flat and fixed income saw very strong inflows of $11.3 billion. Extreme US equity ETP market outflows that peaked at $23 billion on February 9 2010 reversed as equity market volatility reached record lows for the past year by quarter end (8.31% on 31/3/010). Re-bounding US market equity ETP cash flows followed a steady trajectory suggesting they were driven by fundamentals rather than quarter-end window dressing.
US commodity ETPs emerged as the second most traded US ETP asset class after equity due to the fact that these instruments remain largely a trader’s tool, while other ETP asset classes such as fixed income are more of a buyand- hold investment.
In Europe, all asset classes continued to experience inflows, totalling €7.5 billion, throughout Q1’10, with equity and alternative cash flow trajectory remaining positively steeper than other asset classes, despite converging volatility patterns.
Overall, the global ETP market experienced a very strong product launch
calendar over Q1’10, with a total of 242 new products globally (Europe: 171,
US: 57 and Asia 14). While all asset classes saw new product launches
globally, the flavour in Europe was commodities and alternatives while in the
US it was emerging markets.
Deutsche Börse launches fastest algo news feed with macroeconomic information
"AlphaFlash” delivers indicators into algorithmic trading applications
:
April 12, 2010--Deutsche Börse expands its data and news feed offering by launching AlphaFlash,
the fastest currently available data feed for machine readable, trading
relevant macroeconomic releases. AlphaFlash delivers more than 150 economic indicators from the US, Canada and Europe. Market participants use this data as triggers for their trading algorithms.
AlphaFlash is the first joint product of the Deutsche Börse’s segment Market
Data & Analytics and the US financial news agencies Need to Know News (NTKN)
and Market News International (MNI), both entities of Deutsche Börse Group.
“AlphaFlash ideally combines the strengths of all partners. With AlphaFlash we
are assuming the lead in the delivery of global event data for algo traders”,
said Georg Gross, Head of Front Office Data & Analytics at Deutsche Börse.
As fully accredited news agencies NTKN and MNI have direct access to government
lock-up rooms as well as embargoed news releases. Economic events such as
central bank decisions, employment figures, inflation numbers as well as GDP
are processed so they become available with minimum latency to speed sensitive
algo traders via Deutsche Börse’s high speed network. The information can be
used in trading applications immediately following its release.
BlackRock-ETF Landscape Global Handbook Q1 2010
April 9, 2010--At the beginning of March 2010 the global ETF industry had 2,091 ETFs with 3,998 listings, assets of US$1,001.9 Bn, from 115 providers on 40 exchanges around the world.
Additionally, there were 630 Exchange Traded Products (ETPs), with 921 listings and assets of US$150.03 Bn from 40 providers on 18 exchanges. Combined, there were 2,721 products with 4,919 listings, assets of US$1,152.2 Bn from 139 providers on 43 exchanges around the world.
Hedge Fund Assets to Hit $2 Trillion by Year-End, Survey Says
April 7, 2010--Global hedge fund assets may return to the pre-financial crisis peak of almost $2 trillion by year- end, boosted by investment profits and capital inflows, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG survey of investors.
Industry assets may grow 25 percent from the $1.6 trillion at the end of 2009, according to the annual survey published today. The Zurich-based lender polled about 600 institutional investors worldwide with about $1 trillion of hedge fund assets between them, or above 60 percent of the industry total.
Hedge funds posted the strongest annual return in a decade last year, helping to reverse capital outflows in the second half of 2009.
Xtrakter Launches New OTC Liquidity Service
April 9, 2010--Xtrakter, the fixed income specialist, made the following announcement today: Xtrakter is pleased to announce the launch of XVOL its new OTC liquidity service.
XVOL offers fund, risk and performance managers the unique ability to determine the liquidity of differing fixed income securities they may currently hold or be monitoring. XVOL specifically provides subscribers with the total volume figure for each security traded in the preceding month and a unique flag indicating the level of trading in each listed security within pre-defined bands. The service is based on the actual level of trading in the previous month and does not include synthetic data.
Morningstar Quarterly Commentary: Despite the slowdown, the rally in stocks continues in 1Q10
April 8, 2010-- A recap of the key observations.
Small beats large. Some beaten-down financials took off in the quarter as signs of stabilization in bank credit quality came through as welcome news to investors. The Morningstar Small Cap Index rose 9.6% for the quarter, and the Morningstar Large Cap Index rose 4.7%.
Sovereign credit concerns linger. The Morningstar Core Bond Index gained 1.5% in the quarter. Conversely, the Morningstar Global ex US Government Bond Index lost more than 2%.
Commodities fall. The metals segment continued to rack up gains, up 8% for the quarter. It wasn't enough to lift commodities overall. The Morningstar Long-Only Index fell 4.3%, and the Morningstar Long/Short Index lost 0.2%.
view the report-Morningstar Quarterly Commentary
The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010
April 6, 2010--The report highlights the key role of ICT as an enabler of a more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable world
Sweden tops the rankings of The Global Information Technology Report 2009-2010, released today for the ninth consecutive year by the World Economic Forum. Sweden is followed by Singapore and Denmark, which was in the number one position for the last three years. Switzerland (4), the United States (5) and the other Nordic countries together with the Canada, Hong Kong and the Netherlands complete the top 10.
With an extensive coverage of 133 economies worldwide, the report remains the world’s most comprehensive and authoritative international assessment of the impact of ICT on the development process and the competitiveness of nations.
The report is produced by the World Economic Forum in cooperation with INSEAD, the leading international business school, within the framework of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network and the Industry Partnership Programme for Information Technology and Telecommunications Industries.
NASDAQ OMX Launches Portfolio Manager App for iPad
Bringing Real-Time Market Intelligence to Life for iPad Users
April 2, 2010--he NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the NASDAQ OMX Portfolio Manager App for iPad is now available on the App Store.
Following the success of the NASDAQ OMX Portfolio Manager App for iPhone and iPod touch, it's a natural fit for us to offer it for iPad," said Anna Ewing, chief information officer of NASDAQ OMX. "Nearly 40 years ago we launched the first all-electronic exchange, a revolutionary technology in the exchange space. At NASDAQ OMX, we are proud to now offer innovative visualization capabilities for stock market enthusiasts to view and engage with the stock market in real time on iPad."
The NASDAQ OMX Portfolio Manager App for iPad allows users to build a portfolio and watch list using real-time stock price data for U.S., Nordic and Baltic stocks. The app includes a flashing price screen to highlight real time movements, a chart overlay to show technical analysis, and capabilities for video and tweet posting.
Features of the NASDAQ OMX Portfolio Manager App for iPad include:
* The ability to build virtual stock portfolios;
* Create watch lists to monitor favorite stocks;
* Draw on-the-fly performance charts and overlay them with curves for technical indicators;
* See stock prices change in real time within a portfolio or watch list;
* View high-quality video clips from StockTwits TV and from the NASDAQ Market Intelligence Desk; and
* Post tweets on StockTwits' real-time stream. StockTwits hosts a social media community that covers economic and market news, and also allows users to share charts, recommendations, symbols, and websites.
The NASDAQ OMX Portfolio Manager App for iPad is available for free from the App Store on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
China factories crank up as global demand rises
April 1, 2010--Factories in China and India cranked up production in March and Japanese business morale rose to its highest in more than a year on signs of improving global demand, boosting hopes for a sustainable economic recovery
Similar manufacturing surveys later on Thursday were expected to show activity in the United States, Europe and the UK also picked up from February, suggesting gradual improvement in those economies despite worries about high unemployment and massive government debt.