Global ETF News Older than One Year
ETF Securities-Precious Metals Monitor--December 2017
January 5, 2018---Precious Metals Monitor--December 2017
Key Highlight
Gold: A Goldilocks Economy in 2018 May Benefit Gold
The global economy continues to chug along in a "just-right" goldilocks scenario with steadily rising inflation and synchronized growth among developed and emerging economies.
This backdrop has benefited equities over gold in 2017 while also resulting in stretched equity valuations and record low volatility. As the economy seems to be on cruise control, this complacency may see the probability of unforeseen risks disrupting the status quo increase. This may result in heightened demand for gold as a portfolio risk overlay in preparation for a correction or slowdown particularly while gold remains relatively cheap. Additionally, in an expanding global economy, consumer demand for jewelry and electronics may provide a floor for gold demand, while rising inflationary pressures may keep real interest rates low and tame as the US rate tightening cycle continues throughout 2018.
Source: etfsecurities.com
IMF Working paper-Optimism, Pessimism, and Short-Term Fluctuations
January 5, 2018--Summary:
Economic theory offers several explanations as to why shifting expectations about future economic activity affect current demand. Abstracting from whether changes in expectations originate from swings in beliefs or fundamentals, we test empirically whether more optimistic or pessimistic potential output forecasts trigger short-term fluctuations in private consumption and investment.
Relying on a dataset of actual data and forecasts for 89 countries over the 1990-2022 period, we find that private economic agents learn from different sources of in- formation about future potential output growth, and adjust their current demand accordingly over the two years following the shock in expectations. To provide a theoretical foundation to the empirical analysis, we also propose a simple Keynesian model that highlights the role of expectations about long-term output in determining short-term economic activity.
view the IMF Working paper-Optimism, Pessimism, and Short-Term Fluctuations
Source: IMF
UPDATE 1-China aims to get more cross-border transactions done in yuan
January 5, 2018--C.bank:Encourage firms to use the yuan in cross-border trade
To support yuan usage by foreigners' for direct investment
Banks told to let foreign firms freely remit profits, dividends (Adds details)
China will encourage companies to increase their use of yuan for settling cross-border trade deals and support foreigners' use of the currency for direct investments in the country, the central bank said on Friday.
Source: Reuters
All Wirehouses Forbid Cryptocurrency Trading, Not Just Merrill Lynch
January 4, 2018--Wells Fargo, UBS and Morgan Stanley also bar advisors to purchase bitcoin or derivative products on behalf of clients.
Merrill Lynch is not the only wirehouse that forbids its financial advisors from trading cryptocurrencies and their derivatives.
Source: Wealth Management
White paper-The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870-2015?
January 4, 2018--This paper answers fundamental questions that have preoccupied modern economic
thought since the 18th century. What is the aggregate real rate of return in the economy?
Is it higher than the growth rate of the economy and, if so, by how much?
Is there a tendency for returns to fall in the long-run? Which particular assets have the highest long-run returns? We answer these questions on the basis of a new and comprehensive dataset for all major asset classes, including-for the first time-total returns to the largest, but oft ignored, component of household wealth, housing. The annual data on total returns for equity, housing, bonds, and bills cover 16 advanced economies from 1870 to 2015, and our new evidence reveals many new insights and puzzles.
view the The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870–2015? white paper
Source: Òscar Jordà, Katharina Knoll, Dmitry Kuvshinov, Moritz Schularick, Alan M. Taylor
Insurers faced record $135bn in costs from natural disasters in 2017-Munich Re
January 4, 2018--Insurers faced record $135bn in costs from natural disasters in 2017-Munich Re. German reinsurer Munich Re says that natural disasters in 2017 exposed the global insurance industry to a record level of costs which give "a foretaste of what is to come".
Source: FT.com
Record year for BlackRock's ETF business in 2017
January 4, 2018--Record year for BlackRock's ETF business in 2017..
It predicted that ETF assets globally would double by 2022 from the current level of $4.5tn. The ETF industry is expected to announce within days that it enjoyed a third consecutive year of record-breaking growth with net new inflows of more than $600bn in 2017.
Source: FT.com
Binance is now the Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange and Fastest Ever 'Unicorn'
January 4, 2018--Six months back when bitcoin was trading in the $2000-$3000 range, a new cryptocurrency exchange Binance was launched; in a short space of time, it has become the top crypto-exchange by volume.
The firm was nowhere to be found on Google six months ago and now stands with trading volume of almost $10 billion as per data from Coinmarketcap. Binance was founded in July 2017 and has reached an incredible crowd, counting 2.9 million users across the platform.
Source: btcmanager.com
ETF Securities Weekly Flows Analysis-Gold inflows rebound towards the end of the year
January 3, 2018--Gold ETPs saw inflows of US$32mn for the final week in December.
Crude oil ETPs saw further outflows of US$28mn last week, we have seen 22 consecutive weeks of
outflows highlighting pessimism amongst investors.
In Currency ETPs we saw US$10mn and US$11mn respectively for the US dollar and Euro short
positions.
The flows for the final week in December were understandably low for most commodities with the exception of gold and oil. Gold ETPs saw inflows of US$32mn for the final week in December which we believe is a rebound following the December 14th US Federal Reserve interest rate hike coupled with the escalating worries in North Korea and Iran.
Source: etfsecurities.com
OCC 2017 Total Cleared Contract Volume Up Four Percent, Third Highest Volume Year Ever
January 2, 2018--Total cleared futures volume sets record with 32 percent annual growth
Total securities lending CCP activity up 16 percent in December and up 22 percent from 2016
Equity index options volume up 11 percent in December and up 15 percent from 2016
OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced 2017 volume reached the third highest total cleared contract volume ever with 4,327,576,930 contracts, a four percent increase from the 4,167,747,777 cleared contracts in 2016. December cleared volume was 346,006,092 contracts, up three percent from December 2016. OCC also reported record-breaking 2017 volume for cleared futures with 138,029,762 cleared contracts; a 32 percent increase from 2016.
Source: The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)
