Americas ETP News
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World Bank: Latin America's Economy Is Decelerating but, in a Historic Shift, Currencies Now Provide Lift
Exchange rate acts as shock absorber and economic booster
In spite of 2.5 % expected growth, pessimism over LAC's future unwarranted
Small countries with less flexible currencies need to find fiscal buffers
October 9, 2013--For the first time, currencies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are absorbing some of the shocks derived from a less friendly global environment, according to the latest report by the World Bank Chief Economist Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin America's Deceleration and the Exchange Rate Buffer.
Depreciated currencies not only lower the cost of exports but also raise the cost of imports, making the export and local industries more competitive and boosting job creation.
LAC, together with other emerging markets, is entering a new phase of lower growth dynamics, as the tailwinds that blew so favorably in its direction in the recent past continue to recede. Growth rates in middle-income countries in Eastern Europe, East Asia, and LAC, as well as China have declined by about 3 percentage points from their 2010 peaks to the present. In the case of LAC, the growth rate has fallen from about 6 percent in 2010 to around 3 percent in 2012 and to an estimated 2.5 percent in 2013, with a predictable heterogeneity within the region.
view the World Bank Report: Latin America's Deceleration and the Exchange Rate Buffer
Source: World Bank
Nasdaq hopes new testing technology will halt glitches, head off regulators
October 9, 2013--During peak hours, stock traders use complex algorithms to generate millions of messages per second about what they're buying, selling or canceling.
But a spate of high-profile technology glitches has proved that these algorithms don't always interact without a hitch, and regulators are exploring whether they should force market players to test their technologies before unleashing them on the world.
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Source: Washington Post
SEC Launches Market Structure Data and Analysis Website
October 9, 2013--The Securities and Exchange Commission today unveiled a dynamic new website to provide investors and others with the ability to interactively explore a range of new market metrics and access empirical research and analyses that further inform the broader public debate on market structure.
The new website located at www.sec.gov/marketstructure will serve as a central location for the SEC to publicly share evolving data, research, and analysis as the agency continues its review of the equity of market structure. The data and related observations address the nature and quality of displayed liquidity across the full range of U.S.-listed equities – from the lifetime of quotes and the speed of the market to the nature of order cancellations.
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Source: SEC.gov
In hot IPO market, exchange traded funds look beyond first day
October 9, 2013--While active mutual fund managers get in line early for hot initial public offerings (IPOs), their counterparts at exchange-traded funds often sit on the sidelines and wait days, if not months, before joining the action.
That is because most index-tracking ETFs need to wait for an IPO stock to be added to an underlying benchmark before the fund can add the company. That delay can cost some ETFs money because many IPOs get a first-day pop in price.
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Source: Reuters
STOXX Launches New Global Infrastructure Index
New index has been licensed to underlie an exchange-traded fund in the U.S.
October 9, 2013-- STOXX Limited, a leading provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced the launch of the STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index, which captures the performance of the largest companies in the global infrastructure industry.
The STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index has been licensed to FlexShares, managed by Northern Trust, for an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
"With the global need for infrastructure estimated to be about 40 trillion US dollar, market participants require a well-defined approach to understand the listed global infrastructure universe," said Hartmut Graf, chief executive officer, STOXX Limited.
"The STOXX Global Broad Infrastructure Index identifies these companies and combines them in a transparent index concept, offering users an efficient, rules-based and diversified solution for their benchmarking and passive investment needs."
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Source: STOXX
Tales from the Tape: Factoring in Trade Execution in the Performance Equation
Intended for Institutional Investors.
October 9, 2013--In the previous months we've examined how a few of the conventional execution methods can impact liquidity and affect price discovery.
The challenge lies in knowing the most appropriate time to use each venue, because the improper choice could result in information leakage, market impact, and unnecessary slippage. Mitigating all of these factors is crucial to protecting the alpha that you're trying to generate.
This month we're going to take a closer look at the agency approach and the role agency brokers play in the ETF ecosystem.
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Source: Blaze Portfolio
Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee September 17-18, 2013
October 9, 2013--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on September 17-18, 2013.
The minutes for each regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee ordinarily are made available three weeks after the day of the policy decision and subsequently are published in the Board's Annual Report. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
view the Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee September 17-18, 2013
Source: FBR
BMO-Canadian ETF Outlook 2013-October Update
Continued growth and relevance amid market uncertainty
October 9, 2013--With market uncertainty exacerbated by the roller coaster ride of U.S. Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) announcements, exchange traded funds (ETFs) have experienced significant inflows, as investors gravitate toward a vehicle that proves efficient and responsive to changing needs, and changing market environments.
This update to our 2013 Outlook examines tactical benefits, and provides some interesting statistics on the popularity-and future trends -of ETFs.
As predicted, inflows continue
Through the first nine months of 2013, the Canadian ETF industry has continued
to grow, with over $4.1 billion in inflows. In the big picture, Canadian ETFs have approximately $60 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of September 30, an increase of 6.0% over year-end 2012.
Over the summer, we saw a significant shift in market behaviour as the U.S. Fed indicated it might taper its bond-buying program. While equity demand has held steady, investors' preference for fixed income has declined, in response to sharply rising yields and greater uncertainty in the bond markets. The surprise announcement on September 18th, that the Fed would hold tight on monetary stimulus, may reinvigorate emerging markets, and had an immediate positive impact on gold and fixed income prices.
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Source: BMO Global Asset Management
CBOE's VIX Options Establish New Single-Day Volume Record: Nearly 1.8 Million Contracts Change Hands
October 8, 2013--Chicago Board Options Exchange(R) (CBOE(R)) today reported that options on the CBOE Volatility Index(R) (VIX(R)index) established an all-time, single-day volume record. Options volume totaled an estimated 1,782,329 contracts, surpassing the previous record of 1,399,867, contracts traded on April 15, 2013.
Year to date through September, VIX options average daily volume (ADV) was 565,040 contracts, a 32-percent increase over the same period a year ago. VIX futures ADV year to date through September was nearly 160,000 contracts, an 86-percent increase over the same period a year ago.
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Source: CBOE
Don Phillips to Step Down as Head of Research for Morningstar, Haywood Kelly to Assume His Responsibilities in January 2014
October 8, 2013--Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced that Don Phillips will be stepping down as head of the company's Research group after the first of the year.
Haywood Kelly, currently head of equity, credit, and structured credit research, will assume Phillips' responsibilities as global head of Research, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Phillips will be a managing director and remain a member of the board of directors.
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Source: Morningstar, Inc.
