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
Source: Morningstar
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.
Source: World Economic Forum
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/.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
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.
Source: Todays Zaman
UNFCCC publishes reports summing up results of 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen
April 1, 2010--The UN Climate Change Secretariat Wednesday published official reports on the results of last years UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (7-19 December 2009). The reports detail the outcomes of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties at its 15th session (COP 15) and of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol on its fifth session (CMP 5). Each report is in two parts: one on formal proceedings and one on the decisions adopted by the relevant body.
Since the closing of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has received submissions of national pledges to cut or limit emissions of greenhouse gases by 2020 from 75 Parties, which together account for more than 80% per cent of global emissions from energy use.
41 industrialised countries have formally communicated their economy-wide targets to the UNFCCC. 35 developing countries have communicated information on the nationally appropriate mitigation actions they are planning to take, provided they receive the appropriate support in terms of finance and technology. These communications can be found on the view reports-UNFCCC Conference
Source: UNFCC
Average daily volume of 10 million contracts at Eurex and ISE in March
The equity index derivatives product segment recorded 69.5 million contracts (38.5 million index futures and 31 million index options), down from 92.5 million contracts the year before. Futures on the EURO STOXX 50 Index stood at 31.9 million contracts while options on the index stood at 23.1 million.
The equity derivatives (equity options and single-stock futures) segment at Eurex recorded 36.4 million contracts (March 2009: 33.7 million) and thus marked an increase of 8 percent. Thereof, equity options totaled 29 million contracts and single-stock futures another 7.4 million contracts. Dividend-based derivatives continued to grow significantly: The number of traded contracts was up by 134 percent and stood at 355.000 contracts.
Source: Eurex
Preqin:Q1 2010 Private Equity Fundraising Update
Source: Preqin
The Options Clearing Corporation Announces Total Contract Volume in March Grew 2%
Options: Exchange-listed options trading in the U.S for the month of March was up 1.44 percent from the previous year. Index options volume rose 15 percent higher than last year with 27,363,133 contracts in March. The year to date average daily contract for equity options is up 6.48 percent from 2009.
Futures: Futures cleared by OCC in March rose to 2,289,938 with an average daily contract of 102,770. Equity futures volume reached 385,125 contracts, a 64.87 percent increase over the same month last year where 233,598 were traded. Index and other futures volume came in at 1,904,039 this month and show a year to date average of 85,579 daily contracts.
Source: OCC
ETF Landscape: Industry Review February 2010
• YTD assets decreased by 3.3% which is more than the 3.0% fall in
the MSCI World Index in US dollar terms. Europe United States
Source: Global ETF Research & Implementation Strategy Team, BlackRock.
International Derivatives Clearing Group Announces Interest Rate Swap Link With MarkitSERV
MarkitSERV provides a single gateway for over-the-counter derivative transaction processing globally, covering credit, interest rate, equity and commodity derivatives.
"MarkitSERV's support of the IDCG platform is very important," said Garry O'Connor, Chief Executive Officer of IDCG. "Allowing market participants to deliver trades to our clearinghouse through their existing infrastructure is a major step forward for IDCG and the interest rate derivative market."
"We are pleased to implement electronic connectivity between MarkitSERV's interest rate swap trade processing platform and IDCG's clearinghouse. This represents another milestone in the industry's efforts to reduce operational risk and counterparty risk in the OTC derivative markets," said Jeff Gooch, CEO of MarkitSERV.
IDCG is a majority owned, independently operated NASDAQ OMX subsidiary that operates a CFTC licensed designated clearing organization for clearing and settling interest rate derivative products. IDCG has cleared in excess of $3 trillion in notional value in its Shadow Clearing environment, a process to prepare market participants for central clearing of derivatives. Newedge, the world's largest futures commission merchant, announced the week of March 8, 2010 that it would become a clearing member of IDCG's clearinghouse, joining MF Global who joined previously.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
April 1, 2010--In March 2010, the international derivatives exchanges of Eurex Group recorded an average daily volume of 10 million contracts (March 2009: 12.2 million) – a decline of 17 percent. Of those, 7.1 million were Eurex contracts and 2.96 million contracts were traded at the U.S.-based International Securities Exchange (ISE). In total, 163.7 million contracts were traded at Eurex (March 2009: 172.3) and 68.1 million at the ISE (March 2009: 96.7).
April 1, 2010--Private equity fundraising shows slight improvement in Q1 2010: $50.4bn raised in Q1 2010 represents a 5% improvement from Q4 2009.
April 1, 2010--The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced today that total OCC cleared volume in March reached 353,294,816 contracts. This represents a 2 percent increase over the March 2009 volume of 346,360,655 contracts. OCC year to date total contract volume is up 8 percent from 2009 with 931,269,641 contracts.
March 31, 2010--Highlights
• At the end of February 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.
• The top 100 ETFs, out of 2,091, account for 64.7% of global
ETF AUM, while 404 ETFs have less than US$10.0 Mn in assets.
• YTD the number of ETFs increased by 7.3% with 143 new
ETFs launched.
• The number of ETFs listed in Europe has surpassed the US with
901 ETFs listed in Europe, compared to 807 in the US.
• There are currently plans to launch 838 new ETFs.
• YTD the number of exchanges with official listings remains at 40.
• YTD the average daily trading volume in US dollars increased by
47.8% to US$74.3 Bn.
• MSCI ranks first in terms of ETF AUM tied to their benchmarks
with assets of US$234.5 Bn and 293 ETFs, while Standard &
Poor’s (S&P) ranks second with US$232.4 Bn and 259 ETFs,
followed by Barclays Capital in third with US$93.4 Bn and
75 ETFs.
• The top three ETF providers, out of 115, have 71.1% market share.
• Globally, iShares is the largest ETF provider in terms of both
number of products, 437 ETFs, and assets of US$471.9 Bn,
reflecting 47.1% market share; State Street Global Advisors is
second with 107 products and US$144.5 Bn, 14.4% market share;
followed by Vanguard with 47 products and assets of US$95.4 Bn
and 9.5% market share at the end of February 2010.
• Globally, net sales of mutual funds (excluding ETFs) were positive
US$6.0 Bn, while net sales of ETFs were minus US$13.8 Bn during
the first month of 2010 according to Strategic Insight.
• Over the last five years the S&P 500 has outperformed 60.8% of
actively managed large-cap US equity funds; the S&P MidCap 400
has outperformed 77.2% of mid-cap funds and the S&P SmallCap
600 has outperformed 66.6% of small-cap funds. The five-year data
results are similar for actively managed fixed income funds. Across
all categories, with the exception of emerging market debt, more
than 70% of active managers have failed to beat benchmarks1.
• Additionally, there were 630 other Exchange Traded Products
(ETPs) with 921 listings and assets of US$150.3 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 at the end of February 2010.
• 11 April 2010 will mark the tenth anniversary of ETFs in Europe.
• At the end of February 2010 the European ETF industry had 901
ETFs with 2,490 listings, assets of US$220.1 Bn, from 35 providers
on 18 exchanges.
• YTD assets have decreased by 3.0%, which is less than the 8.2%
fall in the MSCI Europe Index in US dollar terms.
• The top 100 ETFs, out of 901, account for 73.5% of European
ETF AUM, while 171 ETFs have less than US$10.0 Mn in assets.
• YTD the number of ETFs increased by 8.7% with 72 new
ETFs launched.
• YTD the number of exchanges with official listings remains at 18.
• YTD the average daily trading volume in US dollars increased by
34.2% to US$3.1 Bn. Most ETF trades are not required to be
reported in Europe as ETFs are not covered by the European
Union Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID).
• The top three ETF providers, out of 35, have 73.5% market share.
• The average Total Expense Ratio (TER) for equity ETFs in Europe
is 40 bps versus 91 bps per annum for the average equity index
tracking fund and 180 bps for the average active equity fund2.
• In Europe net sales of mutual funds (excluding ETFs) were
US$44.3 Bn while net sales of ETFs domiciled in Europe were
US$2.6 Bn during January 2010 according to Lipper FMI.
• Additionally, there were 185 other Exchange Traded Products
(ETPs) with 452 listings and assets of US$15.6 Bn from four
providers on five exchanges.
• Combined, there were 1,086 products with 2,942 listings and
assets of US$235.7 Bn from 36 providers on 18 exchanges
in Europe.
• At the end of February 2010 the US ETF industry had 807 ETFs,
assets of US$678.6 Bn, from 28 providers on two exchanges.
• YTD assets decreased by 3.8%, which is more than the 0.9% fall
in the MSCI US Index in US dollar terms.
• The top 100 ETFs, out of 807, account for 83.5% of US ETF AUM,
while 114 ETFs have less than US$10.0 Mn in assets.
• YTD the number of ETFs increased by 4.5% with 35 new
ETFs launched.
• YTD the average daily trading volume in US dollars has increased
by 51.1% to US$69.2 Bn.
• The top three ETF providers, out of 28, have 85.4% market share.
• The average Total Expense Ratio (TER) for equity ETFs in the US
is 34 bps versus 93 bps per annum for the average equity index
tracking fund and 146 bps for the average active equity fund.2
• In the US net sales of mutual funds (excluding ETFs) were minus
US$108.2 Bn, while net sales of ETFs domiciled in the US were
positive US$5.5 Bn during the first two months of 2010 according
to Strategic Insight.
• Additionally, there were 145 other Exchange Traded Products
(ETPs) with assets of US$84.5 Bn from 17 providers on
one exchange.
• Combined, there were 952 products with assets of US$763.1 Bn
from 41 providers on two exchanges in the US.
• 29 January 2010 marked the 17th anniversary of ETFs in the US.
March 31, 2010--The International Derivatives Clearing Group (IDCG) announced today that it will be able to accept interest rate derivative products into its clearinghouse via MarkitSERV, the leading electronic platform for processing over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives.
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