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S&P ends at record but off day's high on Ukraine worries
February 28, 2014--The S&P 500 ended at another record close on Friday but well off the day's highs as worries about tensions in Ukraine caused investors to take profits ahead of the weekend.
All three major indexes closed out the month with strong gains, however. The Dow scored its best monthly percentage gain since January 2013, while the S&P 500 had its best month since October.
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Source: Reuters
Preliminary Report on Foreign Holdings of U.S. Securities at End-June 2013
February 28, 2014--February 28, 2014--Preliminary data from a survey of foreign portfolio holdings of U.S. securities at the end of June 2013 were released today on the Treasury website. Final survey results, which will include additional detail as well as possible revisions to the preliminary data, will be reported on April 30, 2014.
The survey was undertaken jointly by Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The next survey will cover holdings at the end of June 2014; preliminary data are expected to be released by February 28, 2015.
Complementary surveys measuring U.S. holdings of foreign securities are also carried out annually. Data from the most recent survey, reporting on securities held at year-end 2013, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported by August 29, 2014.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
Institutional investors move into fixed income ETFs
February 27, 2014--Fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are poised to take on a bigger role in institutional portfolios, according to a new report.
The Greenwich Associates report, which was sponsored by iShares, notes that American investors are making sweeping changes to their fixed-income portfolios in response to the post-crisis regulatory changes in the bond markets, the current interest-rate environment and expectations of future rate increases.
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Source: Benefits Canada
ProShares S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF Surpasses $100 Million
February 27, 2014--Investors Attracted to NOBL's Unique Dividend Growth Strategy
February 27, 2014--ProShares, a premier provider of alternative exchange traded funds, today announced that its S&P 500 Aristocrats ETF (NOBL) has gathered more than $100 million in assets since its October 2013 launch.
NOBL is the only ETF or mutual fund that invests in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, an index composed of the S&P 500 companies that have increased their dividends year over year for at least 25 consecutive years.
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Source: ProShares
Invesco PowerShares Expands Smart Beta Suite With New International BuyBack Achievers ETF
February 27, 2014--Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC, a leading global provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today the listing of the PowerShares International BuyBack Achievers(TM) Portfolio (IPKW) on the NASDAQ Stock Market, LLC. IPKW provides investors efficient access to a portfolio of international companies classified as International BuyBack Achievers(TM).
BuyBack Achievers are companies that have effected a net reduction of 5% or more of their outstanding shares in their most recent fiscal year, and have met additional criteria in accordance with the guidelines and mandated procedures of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., the underlying index provider.
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Source: Invesco PowerShares Capital Management LLC
State Street Global Advisors' New Short-Term TIPS SPDR ETF Seeks to Offer Inflation Protection for a Rising Rate Environment
February 27, 2014--State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), the asset management arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT) today announced the SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF (Symbol: SIPE) began trading on the NYSE Arca on February 27, 2014. The SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF gives investors a potential opportunity to protect their portfolios from inflation and diversify their fixed income allocations to prepare for rising interest rates.
It adds to investors' options in the SPDR fixed-income product suite in a short-term TIPs offering.
"With rising rates on the horizon, investors are increasingly relying on ETFs to manage duration risk within their fixed-income allocations," continued Ross. "The new SPDR Barclays 0-5 Year TIPS ETF seeks to offer these investors a hedge against inflation that’s less sensitive to interest rate changes than longer duration TIPS funds."
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Source: State Street Global Advisors
State Street Enters Fray as Corporate-Bond Broker
February 27, 2014--As Wall Street banks pull back from some corporate bond trades with clients, other large financial institutions are looking to step in.
A State Street Corp. unit has begun handling corporate-bond trades between large investment firms as an intermediary, company officials said. That job is often done by a bank-owned broker-dealer.
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Source: Wall Street Journal
KCG chief: 'Any security that is liquid, we want to be a leader in'
February 27, 2014--
Daniel Coleman, the chief executive of KCG Holdings, talks exclusively to Financial News about the challenges of merging a high-frequency trader with an institutional brokerage, forging a new category of securities firm and the group's master plan for Europe.
KCG was formed last July through a $1.4 billion merger between high-speed trading firm Getco and US broker Knight Capital. The deal followed an algorithmic trading error at Knight on August 1 2012, which cost the firm over $450 million in a matter of minutes and forced it to seek rescue from a group of firms
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Source: Source: Financial News
CFTC's Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight Issues a Staff Advisory on Best Practices for Complying with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Security Safeguards
February 26, 2014--The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (Commission) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (Division) today issued a Staff Advisory that outlines recommended best practices for covered financial institutions to comply with Title V and Part 160 of the Commission's regulations concerning security safeguards.
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Source: CFTC.gov
Economic Growth Is Projected to Be Solid in the Near Term, but Weakness in the Labor Market Will Probably Persist
February 26, 2014--After a frustratingly slow recovery from the severe recession of 2007 to 2009, the economy will grow at a solid pace in 2014 and the next few years, averaging about 3 percent per year, according to CBO's most recent economic projections, which were published earlier this month in The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2014 to 2024.
From 2018 to 2024, CBO projects the growth of real (inflation-adjusted) gross domestic product (GDP) will average 2.2 percent per year.
What Is the Outlook for the Economy Through 2017?
Over the next few years, CBO anticipates that increases in housing construction and investment by businesses will boost overall output, employment, and incomes, and, therefore, consumer spending. In addition, under current law, federal fiscal policy will restrain the growth of the economy by much less than it has recently. As measured by the change from the fourth quarter of the previous year, real GDP is projected to increase by 3.1 percent this year, by 3.4 percent per year in 2015 and 2016, and by 2.7 percent in 2017; by comparison, real GDP increased by 2.7 percent in 2013 (see the figure below). By the second half of 2017, CBO projects, real GDP will return to its average historical relationship with potential (or maximum sustainable) GDP-that is, slightly below its potential level.
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Source: Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
