Global ETF News Older than One Year
State Street Global Advisers-May Market Commentary and the latest ETF Industry Guide
Weekly Market Report
April 26, 2013--ECONOMIES: GDP disappoints in the US. Retail sales rebound in Canada. GDP rises modestly in the UK. Manufacturing struggles in the eurozone. The Bank of Japan restates its commitment to double the monetary base. Inflation remains moderate in Australia.
MARKETS: Risk appetites return on expectations of a more supportive policy environment. Equities rise. Government bonds are mixed but Italian yields fall sharply. GBP and JPY are bid. Oil and gold rise.
NEXT WEEK PREVIEWED
SPOTLIGHT: The Fed should leave policy unchanged and very easy. The ECB seems poised to cut its key policy rate. Employment should rise moderately in the US. Unemployment remains on a severe uptrend in the eurozone. Industrial production will likely rise in Japan
THE WEEK IN REVIEW
US
The first-quarter GDP report was disappointing. The consensus
expected a "three-handle" on growth, and the supply-side
estimate, based on labor input, suggested it could be a “high
three.” But, the first estimate was just 2.5% (annualized rate).
Inventories bounced back as expected, contributing a full 1.0
percentage point to growth, but it appears they were all imported,
not produced domestically, as imports jumped 5.4% to subtract
0.9 percentage point. Another disappointment was business fixed
investment, which after rising 13.2% in the fourth quarter grew
just 2.1% in the first quarter. But the big surprise was the second
consecutive large decline in defense spending, which subtracted
0.6 percentage point from growth. Most analysts had expected
a rebound following the fourth quarter’s 22.1% plunge. The rest
of the report was solid, with residential investment rising 12.6%,
exports 2.9% and consumer spending 3.2% (despite a 5.3% taxrelated
drop in disposable income). The report does not change our view of “more of the same” (lackluster growth) in 2013...
visit statestreetspdrs.com to request report
Source: Source: State Street Global Advisers
Northern Trust White Paper-The New Active Decision in Beta Management - An analysis of the role of alternative indexing
April 25, 2013--Northern Trust has just released the Line in Sight-The New Active Decision in Beta Management-An analysis of the role of alternative indexing white paper.
Source: Northern Trust
Northern Trust Study: Alternative Indexes the New Active Decision in Beta Management
Global survey of 51 institutional investors representing US$800bn in assets
April 25, 2013--Institutional investors, increasingly considering the full range of active and passive strategies available, may view the allocation to alternative indexes as the new active decision in beta management. This is according to new research from the asset management business of Northern Trust which surveyed the views of 51 institutional investors across the globe, representing a collective US$800bn in assets under management.
The survey forms the basis of the white paper entitled, The New Active Decision in Beta Management, which profiles how early adopters of the allocation to alternative indexes are using the approach. It follows a similar study by Northern Trust last year which examined the blurring lines between passive and active management and the rise of customized beta strategies.
view the Northern Trust Study: Alternative Indexes the New Active Decision in Beta Management
Source: Northern Trust
World stocks higher, British economy grows in 1Q
World stock markets mostly higher on hopes central banks to support growth
April 25, 2013--World stocks were mostly higher Thursday as a slump in orders for U.S. durable goods and other data convinced investors that central banks would continue efforts to help the global economic recovery.
Confidence also got a boost after Britain said its economy grew in the first quarter of the year. The Office for National Statistics said Thursday that the economy grew by a better-than-expected 0.3 percent from the previous quarter.
Source: FIN24
IMF Working paper-The Dynamic Effect of Social and Political Instability on Output: The Role of Reforms
April 23, 2013--Summary: The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamic effect of social and political instability on output. Using a panel of up to 183 countries from 1980 to 2010, the results of the paper suggest that social conflicts have a significant and negative impact on output in the short-term with the magnitude of the effect being a function of the intensity of political instability.
The results also show that the recovery of output over the medium-term depends on the ability of the country to implement, in the aftermath of a social instability episode, reforms aimed at improving the level of governance. The results are robust to different checks and estimation strategies.
Source: IMF
Goldman ends gold 'short' call
April 23, 2013--Goldman Sachs, whose bearish call helped push down the gold price two weeks ago, has advised clients it was closing the recommendation while warning that the precious metal could face further declines.
Investors who had followed the Wall Street’s bank advice to “short”, or initiate a bearish position on the Comex gold futures market on April 10, and then closed the trade on Tuesday, would have posted gains of more than 10 per cent.
Source: FT.com
IMF Working paper-Fiscal Sustainability: A 21st Century Guide for the Perplexed
April 22, 2013--Summary: This paper critically reviews recent work regarding the sustainability of public debt. It argues that Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSAs) should be more than mere mechanical simulation exercises.
Instead, a DSA should be linked to some objective regarding the distribution of fiscal burdens and distortions over time (in the tradition of Barro's 1979 tax smoothing objective). The paper discusses objective functions that yield simple and transparent fiscal policy rules.
view the IMF Working paper-Fiscal Sustainability: A 21st Century Guide for the Perplexed
Source: IMF
Scott Ebner moves to global State Street role
April 22, 2013--The man in charge of developing exchange-traded funds at SPDR ETFs has been promoted to the new role of head of global product development and research for State Street Global Advisors.
Scott Ebner will now oversee the creation of new institutional products around the world as well as ETFs for the $2.2 trillion fund manager. He moved to London when he joined State Street’s SPDR ETFs business in 2010 and will relocate to Boston later this year, the firm said.
Source: Financial News
IOSCO Publishes Report on Technological Challenges to Market Surveillance
April 22, 2013--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published today a final report on Technological Challenges to Effective Market Surveillance: Issues and Regulatory Tools, which makes recommendations to help market authorities address the technological challenges facing effective market surveillance.
An effective surveillance regime is needed to ensure that trading in a given market is fair and orderly, and that market authorities have the ability to detect or uncover market abuse. But in recent years, technological developments in securities markets render it increasingly difficult to achieve these goals.
Source: IOSCO
EL-ERIAN: It's Official-The World Needs To Worry About The Damage Caused By QE
April 20, 2013--It is now official: "We will be mindful of unintended negative side effects stemming from extended periods of monetary easing." This is how the G-20, the most important country grouping today, put it in the communique they issued Friday night.
But what exactly are they talking about?
It all started with the difficulties that most advanced economies faced in generating adequate growth and employment after the 2008 global financial crisis.
Source: Business Insider
