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CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
November 1, 2013--The current reports for the week of October 22, 2013 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
WisdomTree finally drawing fire
November 1, 2013--WisdomTree, the only pure-play publicly traded exchange traded fund manager, never quite turned the heads of the US's biggest fund managers in the way it expected to, but it has every reason to expect their attention now.
"When I was trying to raise launch money back in 2003, 2004," says chief executive and founder Jonathan Steinberg,"investors would say to me, "but what’s going to happen to you when Fidelity comes [into ETFs]?’ That it took them 10 years to come blows me away."
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Source: FT.com
Fidelity teams with Goldman Sachs as part of big push into alternative investments on behalf of RIAs
November 1, 2013--Fidelity Investments is taking the plunge and becoming the first of the major custodians to develop an alternative-assets program.
In doing so, the Boston-based firm is teaming with CAIS, a financial technology company that provides access for advisors to various alternative assets; Morningstar Inc.; and-more controversially-Goldman Sachs Asset Management, which many RIAs view warily because of its sales and pricing tactics.
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Source: RIA BIZ
ISE Granted Stay in CBOE's Patent Suit
November 1, 2013--In the case of Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated v. International Securities Exchange, LLC, Case No. 1:13-cv-01339-JMF, the Honorable Jesse M. Furman of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a ruling yesterday that halted CBOE's patent suit against ISE while the validity of the patents-in-suit is examined by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
ISE had previously filed petitions with the USPTO to invalidate the CBOE patents (US Patent Nos. 7,356,498, 7,980,457 and 8,266,044). Judge Furman agreed with ISE that serious validity questions regarding the CBOE patents should be resolved by the USPTO and not the district court.
As a result, the court proceedings will now be suspended pending a decision on the matter by the USPTO.
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Source: International Securities Exchange (ISE)
UPDATE 2-Latest Nasdaq options glitch highlights ongoing market problems
November 1, 2013-Nasdaq OMX Group Inc closed its second-largest options market for much of Friday after a spike in volume hampered the exchange's ability to accept orders and distribute quotes, the latest glitch to hit U.S. market operators.
The Nasdaq Options Market (NOM), which accounted for about 8 percent of U.S. options volume last month, was halted at 10:36:57 a.m. EDT (1436 GMT) and remained shut through the rest of Friday, Nasdaq said.
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Source: Reuters
Ronald Blue & Co. To Launch Two ETFs
October 31, 2013--Most new exchange-traded funds are ideas looking for assets. Two new ETFs created under the auspices of Ronald Blue & Co. enjoy the opposite scenario-a ready-made asset base searching for the right funds to invest in.
Based in suburban Atlanta, Ronald Blue is a full-service, fee-only wealth management firm with offices in 13 states, more than 6,000 household clients and more than $7 billion in assets under management.
The ETFs are being created and launched by Vident Financial (with help from various partners), a separate entity formed by Ronald Blue that serves as an oversight trust for the funds. Ronald Blue is responsible for the underlying investment principles of the indexes tracked by the Vident International Equity Fund (VIDI) and Vident Core U.S. Equity Fund (VIUS). The former began trading this week; the latter is still in the oven..
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Source: Financila Advisor
iShares 529 Plan awarded Morningstar Silver rating
October 31, 2013--BlackRock, Inc. announced today that its iShares 529 Plan, managed in partnership with industry leader Upromise Investments, and featuring 28 investment options that financial advisors can use to build effective 529 portfolios for their clients,, has received a Silver rating in the annual Morningstar Analyst Ratings for 529 College Savings Plans.
According to Morningstar, "Arkansas' iShares 529 Plan is another Silver medalist with inexpensive advisor-sold options. This plan includes only exchange-traded funds, which replicate indexes yet trade like individual stocks. Several other plans also include ETFs, or have plans to add them to their menus, but the iShares line-up is robust and reasonably priced, giving advisors ample choice when constructing custom portfolios for clients."(1)
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Source: Wall Street Journal
Horizons ETFs Announces Changes to Certain ETFs
October 31, 2013--Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. ("Horizons ETFs") and its affiliate AlphaPro Management Inc. (the "Manager") announced today that certain changes will take place in respect of the following exchange traded funds ("ETFs"):
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Source: Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc
MSCI Puts ISS on the Block
October 31, 2013--Proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholders Services finds itself on the block, as index provider MSCI (MSCI) initiates a strategic review of the business it acquired only three years ago through its purchase of RiskMetrics Group.
MSCI said Wednesday, Oct. 30, that it is working with Morgan Stanley to look into options including a possible or spin-off of ISS. MSCI did not provide a specific time frame for the review, but said ISS' senior management was supportive of the decision.
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Source: Thestreet.com
Report on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities at End-Year 2012
October 31, 2013--Overall Results
This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2012 as approximately $7.9 trillion, with $5.3 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.3 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.
The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2011, measured U.S. holdings of approximately $6.8 trillion, with $4.5 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.0 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The largest gain occurred in equities, reflecting gains in global stock markets.
U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2012 were the largest for the United Kingdom ($1.129 trillion), followed by Canada ($808 billion), the Cayman Islands ($797 billion), and Japan ($521 billion) (see Table 2). These four countries attracted 41 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
