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Stanford University and the FINRA Foundation Launch Fraud Prevention Research Center
August 10, 2011--Stanford University's Center on Longevity and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation have joined together to launch the Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud, an interdisciplinary resource for law enforcement, government and research groups studying financial fraud. Financial fraud, ranging from Ponzi schemes to online phishing scams and work from home schemes, swindles Americans out of billions of dollars each year. While emerging technologies continue to fuel the expansion and reach of financial fraud, this joint initiative will support and consolidate scientific research and connect this research to practical prevention and detection efforts.
"Financial fraud is a serious economic and social problem for people of all ages and our rapidly aging population places an increasing number of older adults at risk for fraud. With the Center on Longevity's dedication to preserving financial security throughout our extended life spans, and with the support of the FINRA Foundation's ongoing commitment to protecting individuals from fraud, the new Research Center on the Prevention of Financial Fraud seeks to enhance the financial security of Americans," said Dr. Laura Carstensen, Stanford Professor in Public Policy, Professor of Psychology, and Founding Director of the Stanford Center on Longevity.
"The FINRA Foundation's partnership with Stanford will deliver practical, cutting-edge research to policymakers and law enforcement. This new joint initiative complements an array of FINRA Foundation initiatives to protect Americans from fraud," said Gerri Walsh, Acting President of the FINRA Foundation.
The Research Center's inaugural conference, The State and Future of Financial Fraud, will take place November 3 – 4, 2011, at the Sofitel in Washington, D.C. The conference will bring together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, law enforcement, advocacy groups and other stakeholders to discuss actionable implications of the latest research and evidence-based programs that successfully arm consumers against fraudulent tactics. Senior public officials and leading researchers will deliver keynote addresses and the conference will feature profiles of fraud victims and perpetrators.
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Source: FINRA
Rydex files with the SEC
August 10, 2011--Rydex has filed a Post-Effective Amendment No. 21, registration statement. This filing relates solely to the Trust’s Rydex S&P MidCap 400 Equal Weight ETF and Rydex S&P SmallCap 600 Equal Weight ETF.
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Source: SEC.gov
Latin America: World Bank Experts Confident in Region's Resilience to Global Turmoil
Latin America is in good position to weather the current global turmoil
A new global recession could impact parts of the region
The region's poor are shielded by strong social protection nets
August 10, 2011-- Latin American economies have developed strong immune systems against global contagion but a worsening of the current market turmoil could put those defenses to the test said World Bank Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean, Augusto de la Torre.
“Over the last 20 years the region has experienced a silent economic revolution that has provided a shield against external shocks, as we have witnessed in the previous crisis and those reforms are still in place ,” de la Torre noted.
But he warned that a worsening of the current turbulence -"a global turmoil of immense magnitude”, he said- could impact Latin America’s ability to grow. “Not even the best immune system in the world could withstand these kinds of attacks,” he noted.
Such 'worsening' would materialize if rich economies –Europe, United States, the developed countries– dip into recession once again, de la Torre said. Under this scenario a US slowdown would have a larger impact on its close trade partners, including Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Economies linked to China –essentially those in South America– would sustain a lesser impact, provided the Asian giant continues its current high growth trend.
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Source: World Bank
State Street-US ETF Snapshot: July 2011
August 10, 2011--1,108 Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)—with assets totaling $1.1TN—were managed by 36 ETF managers as of July 31, 2011.
Month over month, ETF assets rose $9BN, up 0.8%.
Sizeable gains in the Commodities and Fixed Income asset classes fueled an $8.9BN increase in overall assets in the ETF Industry for July.
ETF Industry Detail
Asset Classes — Overall
While the MSCI EAFE® Index dropped 1.6%, the S&P 500® Index lost 2.0%. Commodities were positive, with the S&P GSCI Index increasing 2.4% and Gold soaring 8.2%. U.S. Bonds were also positive with the Barclays U.S. Treasury and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Index up 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.
With $3.9BN of net flows, Commodity assets grew by $12.9BN.
FLOWS
ETF flows topped $13BN in July. Size - Large Cap had the most inflows for the second straight month, drawing $6.0BN. Fixed Income continued to see positive inflows, attracting $2.6BN in July and $18.8BN year-to-date. With $1.9BN leaving the category, Size - Small Cap saw the most significant outflows.
Manager and Fund Detail
The top three managers in the US ETF marketplace were: BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard. Collectively, they account for approximately 83% of the US listed ETF market.
•The top three ETFs in terms of assets for the month were the SPDR S&P 500 [SPY], SPDR Gold Shares [GLD], and Vanguard Emerging Markets [VWO].
visit www.spdrs.com for more info
Source: SSGA
EGShares Launches Fourth Emerging Markets Consumer Fund with ETF Targeting India’s Leading Consumer Companies (NYSE Arca: INCO)
More India Sector Funds Planned For Later This Year
August 10, 2011--Emerging Global Advisors (EGA), an asset management company focused exclusively on emerging markets and the sub-advisor to the EGShares family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today the successful launch of INCO, a fund targeting a number of India’s leading consumer companies.
INCO, EGA’s fourth emerging markets consumer fund, seeks to replicate the INDXX India Consumer Index, a 30-stock composite of companies in a wide range of industries, including automotive, personal products, media, textiles, apparel, and luxury goods. The fund, which is passively managed, directly owns the stocks in its portfolio and doesn’t use options, swaps, or other derivatives. INCO’s portfolio stocks are listed on India’s National and Bombay stock exchanges, and few can be bought or held directly by US investors.
EGA is committed to developing research-based tools to invest in emerging markets with greater precision than broad indices. The firm has consistently been first to market with ETFs seeking to allow investors to access what EGA believes is the largest single theme in emerging market investing, the rapidly growing ranks of middle class consumers. EGA’s flagship consumer fund is EGShares Emerging Markets Consumer ETF (NYSE Arca: ECON), a multi-country portfolio consisting of some of the leading emerging markets stocks.
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Source: Emerging Global Advisors
Sizemore Capital Management Launches a Tactical ETF Portfolio on Covestor
Mirrored Investing Platform Expands Global Offerings for Retail Investors
August 10, 2011-- Sizemore Capital Management LLC has launched a global ETF investment model on Covestor (http://covestor.com), the mirrored investing platform that enables clients to replicate the trading strategies of proven investors.
The Sizemore Capital Tactical ETF Portfolio, managed by Sizemore Capital Management Chief Investment Officer (www.sizemorecapital.com) and Sizemore Investment Letter (http://sizemoreletter.com) founder and editor, Charles Sizemore, is a Global Macro ETF model with a strong contrarian value focus.
The model utilizes all major asset classes, including U.S. and global equities, emerging market equities, bonds, currencies and commodities, as market conditions warrant. The model attempts to allocate to those asset classes the manager believes to be undervalued while avoiding or selling those asset classes deemed to be overvalued.
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Source: Sizemore Capital Management LLC
CFTC.gov Financial Data for Futures Commission Merchants Update
August 10, 2011--Selected FCM financial data as of June 30, 2011 (from reports filed by August 01, 2011) is now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
ETF managers beat a path to the patent office
August 10, 2011--The rapid pace of innovation and increasing competitive pressures have a number of exchange traded fund innovators flocking to the patent office for protection.
In the past year, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued 10 patents to five firms for structures, computer systems and technologies for building and trading exchange traded products. That compares to only one such patent issued in 2005.
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Source: FT.com
Invesco Canada Ltd. today introduced the latest addition to its PowerShares® Funds family.
August 9, 2011--PowerShares QQQ Class* gives investors exposure to the U.S.-listed PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ: QQQ), one of the world's largest and most actively traded ETFs (exchange-traded funds). This ETF provides access to the 100 largest U.S. and international non-financial companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market based on market capitalization.
"Through our new Fund, investors can complement and diversify their portfolios with sector exposure that differs from that of the S&P/TSX Composite Index, which is heavily concentrated in the financials, materials and energy sectors," said Michael Cooke, Head of Distribution, PowerShares Canada.
Additional benefits of PowerShares QQQ Class include:
U.S.-dollar hedging that lets investors be confident that their investments won't be affected by changes in the value of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar, as the underlying ETF hedges substantially all of its U.S.-dollar exposure**
Greater tax efficiency because the Fund is offered in the corporate structure, allowing for switches between funds in the same corporation on a tax-deferred basis Now featuring 21 funds across a range of sectors and asset classes, PowerShares® Funds are innovative investment solutions that conveniently bring the many benefits of exchange-traded funds to the mutual fund structure, providing all Canadian advisors and their clients with access to PowerShares index-based products.
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Source: Invesco
Federal Open Market Committee Statement
August 9, 2011--Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in June indicates that economic growth so far this year has been considerably slower than the Committee had expected. Indicators suggest a deterioration in overall labor market conditions in recent months, and the unemployment rate has moved up. Household spending has flattened out, investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector remains depressed. However, business investment in equipment and software continues to expand. Temporary factors, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan, appear to account for only some of the recent weakness in economic activity.
Inflation picked up earlier in the year, mainly reflecting higher prices for some commodities and imported goods, as well as the supply chain disruptions. More recently, inflation has moderated as prices of energy and some commodities have declined from their earlier peaks. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee now expects a somewhat slower pace of recovery over coming quarters than it did at the time of the previous meeting and anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only gradually toward levels that the Committee judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Moreover, downside risks to the economic outlook have increased. The Committee also anticipates that inflation will settle, over coming quarters, at levels at or below those consistent with the Committee's dual mandate as the effects of past energy and other commodity price increases dissipate further. However, the Committee will continue to pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations.
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Source: FBR
