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Moody’s places US rating on review
July 13, 2011--The US may lose its triple A credit rating, after Moody’s warned that the political deadlock over raising the country’s debt ceiling could lead to a downgrade.
Moody’s on Wednesday placed the US rating on watch for a possible downgrade, pending a decision in Washington on raising the $14.300bn debt ceiling. Failure to do so by August 2 could result in the US Treasury missing a debt payment.
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Source: FT.com
CFTC to Hold Open Meeting to Consider Four Final Rule Proposals and One Proposed Rule under the Dodd-Frank Act
July 13, 2011--The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) will hold a public meeting on Tuesday, July 19, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. to consider four final rules and one proposed rule under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on the following topics:
Consideration of Proposed Rule on Customer Clearing Documentation, Timing of Acceptance for Clearing and Clearing Member Risk Management;
Consideration of Final Rule on Process for Review of Swaps for Mandatory Clearing;
Consideration of Final Rule on Part 40, Provisions Common to Registered Entities;
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Source: CFTC.gov
Standard & Poor's Announces Changes In The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
July 13, 2011--Standard & Poor's Canadian Index Operations announces the following index changes:
On July 13, 2011, OPTI Canada Inc. (TSX:OPC) was halted on TSX prior to the open. The company subsequently announced that it is pursuing a restructuring under CCAA.
If the stock does not trade during the day on Thursday, July 14, 2011, on TSX, OPTI Canada will be removed from the S&P/TSX SmallCap and Equity SmallCap Indices at a price of zero effective after the close of Thursday, July 14, 2011.
Company additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the company.
Source: Standard & Poor's
ETF Licensing, Innovative Index Launches, Dow Anniversary Cap Memorable First Half Of 2011 For Dow Jones Indexes
July 12, 2011-- The late-June licensing of eight indexes from the Dow Jones Emerging Markets Sector Titans Indexes series capped an impressive first half of 2011 for Dow Jones Indexes, which also launched a host of innovative indexes and commemorated the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s 115th anniversary.
Among the other first-half 2011 highlights for the global index provider included:
a collaboration with FXCM Inc. to launch the Dow Jones FXCM Dollar Index, which measures the value of the U.S. dollar against a basket of the world’s most liquid currencies;
the licensing, with SAM, of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Enlarged ex All/AE Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe ex All/AE Index, to Blackrock for use with ETFs; and
the winning of three awards for its highly decorated Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes series:
•“Best Islamic Index Provider” by Islamic Business & Finance;•“Islamic Index Provider of the Year in Asia” by Asia Asset Management; and•“Best Shari’ah Compliant Index Provider of the Year” by Global Finance.
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Source: Dow Jones Indexes
Minutes Of The Federal Open Market Committee, June 21-22, 2011
July 12, 2011--The Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday released the attached minutes of the Committee meeting held on June 21-22, 2011. A summary of economic projections made by Federal Reserve Board members and Reserve Bank presidents for the June 21-22, 2011 meeting is also included as an addendum to these minutes.
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. Summaries of economic projections are released on an approximately quarterly schedule. The descriptions of economic and financial conditions contained in these minutes and in the Summary of Economic Projections are based solely on the information that was available to the Committee at the time of the meeting.
The FOMC minutes can be viewed on the Board's website at http://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm.
Source: FBR
NASDAQ OMX Appoints New Head Of U.S. Equities For Transaction Services Business
July 12, 2011-The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ - News) today announced that Michel Finzi has been appointed as Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Equities of NASDAQ OMX Transaction Services. Mr. Finzi will join NASDAQ OMX later this summer and report to Eric Noll, Executive Vice President of NASDAQ OMX Transaction Services U.S. and U.K.
Mr. Finzi will be responsible for leading the strategic direction, sales efforts and market operations for NASDAQ OMX's three U.S. equity exchanges; The NASDAQ Stock Market, NASDAQ OMX BX and NASDAQ OMX PSX, as well as the sales efforts for the exchange group's two U.S. options exchanges; NASDAQ OMX PHLX and The NASDAQ Options Market. He will also operate and manage NASDAQ's Access Services data center ports and membership, co-location offerings and The FINRA/NASDAQ Trade Reporting FacilityTM. Mr. Finzi will drive innovative product development in equities and other asset classes to create new ways to leverage the exchange group's low-latency INET technology and leadership in operating transparent and liquid markets.
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Source: NASDAQ OMX
Authorities could bail out banks again, S&P says
July 12, 2011--Officials fighting the next financial crisis may again bail out banks using the public purse, S&P has said, in an opinion that casts doubt on one of the fundamental tenets of US financial reform.
The rating agency said on Wednesday that the US Treasury, Federal Reserve and Congress might rescue a large financial group rather than allow it to fail like Lehman Brothers. Dodd-Frank, the legislation signed into law a year ago next week, was supposed to prevent bail-outs by allowing the government to seize and wind down safely an ailing “systemically important financial institution”, or Sifi.
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Source: FT.com
Reliability of US crop reports questioned
July 12, 2011--Large sums of money in commodity markets are routinely gained and lost thanks to a group of professional insomniacs in Washington.
There, once a month, caffeinated analysts lock themselves into two storeys of the US Department of Agriculture headquarters between midnight and dawn, finishing reports on crop production and world supply and demand, the latest of which were released on Tuesday. The department’s closely watched assessments have recently triggered sharp price moves.
read more Flight to quality’ boosts Treasury sales read more Barclays Launches Additional Series of Leveraged iPath Exchange Traded Notes The returns on the new ETNs are calculated in a similar manner to those of existing iPath leveraged and inverse ETNs. The new ETNs (ticker VZZB) are linked to a leveraged participation in the same Index as the iPath® Long Enhanced S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures™ ETNs (ticker VZZ), which were automatically redeemed today. The new ETNs and the ETNs that were redeemed are both linked to a leveraged performance of the Index – in particular, each was designed to track a multiple of two times the performance of the Index over their respective terms before deduction of certain costs and fees as described in the applicable prospectus. However, the two series of ETNs have, among other features, different inception dates and are not fungible with one another. read more
Source: FT.com
July 12, 2011--Investors were heavy buyers in new Treasury debt sales on Tuesday, with money flowing into US government paper against the backdrop of worries over renewed contagion within the eurozone.
The sale of $28bn four-week bills attracted the strongest demand from institutional investors in three months, while a $33bn auction of three-year notes also garnered solid buying from non-dealers.
Source: FT.com
New ETNs provide investors with leveraged returns on medium-term volatility index
July 11, 2011--Barclays Bank PLC announced today the launch of a new series of leveraged iPath® Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs) on the NYSE Arca stock exchange. The iPath® Long Enhanced S&P 500 VIX Mid-Term Futures™ ETNs (II) provide a way to access leveraged returns based on the performance of the S&P 500® VIX Mid-Term Futures™ Index (the “Index”). The ETNs will be listed under the ticker symbol VZZB.
“Our leveraged and inverse ETNs are designed with a leverage factor that is locked in at the point of purchase, reflecting returns that more closely track the index without path dependency over periods longer than a single trading day,” said Johnny Wu, head of Investor Solutions, Americas at Barclays Capital. “The launch today demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing investors with efficient access to the US volatility markets, without tracking error or resets.”
Source: Barclays Bank PLC
