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HNW Investors Say Economy Worse Since 2007
February 15, 2013--Two thirds of those with $5 million or more in investable assets believe the country is worse off now than it was in 2007, with the deficit, the national debt and high unemployment their top concerns, according to a Northern Trust survey.
However, when describing the state of their own finances, close to three-quarters of the 1,700 high-net-worth investors surveyed expressed confidence that they will achieve their financial goals. Forty-one percent cited improved investment returns as the main reason for their confidence.
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Source: Private Wealth Magazine
Guggenheim Investments to Close Nine Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in March
Firm Remains Committed to ETF Suite; Ranking as Eighth Largest U.S. ETF Provider is Unchanged
Affected Exchange Traded Funds Account for Approximately 1% of Guggenheim Investments' ETP Business
February 15, 2013--Guggenheim Investments, the investment management division of Guggenheim Partners, today announced that it will liquidate nine exchange traded funds (ETFs) in order to focus resources on products that have demonstrated the most marketplace demand.
Earlier this month, the Boards of Trustees of the Claymore Exchange Traded Fund Trust, the Claymore Exchange Traded Fund Trust 2 (together, the "Claymore ETF Trusts") and the Rydex ETF Trust approved the closing and subsequent liquidations of the selected ETFs. The average size of the nine closing ETFs is $16M, for a total of $144 million, roughly 1% of Guggenheim Investments' total $13.7 billion1 in exchange-traded assets as of January 31, 2013.
The last day of trading on the NYSE Arca, Inc. ("NYSE Arca") for shares of the following ETFs is expected to be on Friday, March 15, 2013:
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Source: Guggenheim Investments
CFTC.gov Commitments of Traders Reports Update
February 15, 2013--The current reports for the week of February 12, 2013 are now available.
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Source: CFTC.gov
BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance-January 2013 Update
February 15, 2013--The BNY Mellon ADR Index Monthly Performance-January 2013 Update has been publiched and is now available for review.
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Source: BNY Mellon
Treasury International Capital Data For December
February 15, 2013--The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for December 2012. The next release, which will report on data for January 2013, is scheduled for March 15, 2013.
The sum total in December of all net foreign acquisitions of long-term securities, short-term U.S. securities, and banking flows was a monthly net TIC inflow of $25.2 billion. Of this, net foreign private inflows were $26.1 billion, and net foreign official inflows were negative $0.9 billion.
Foreign residents increased their holdings of long-term U.S. securities in December – net purchases were $76.5 billion. Net purchases by private foreign investors were $67.3 billion, and net purchases by foreign official institutions were $9.1 billion.
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Source: US Department of the Treasury
Mandatory clearing for OTC swaps to hit more than 200 funds
February 15, 2013--Nearly 80 fund managers with more than 200 funds will be required to clear their over-the-counter swaps starting March 11,
Lukas Becker and Matt Cameron write. Up to one-third of the entities facing mandatory clearing are not prepared.
Source: FIA SmartBrief
IMF Country Report-Canada
February 15, 2013--KEY ISSUES
Context.
Growth slowed in 2012, as fiscal consolidation and high levels of debt weighed on households consumption, while external headwinds depressed exports and business spending. Growth is expected to accelerate again from mid 2013 as the global economy
improves, but the balance of risks remains tilted to the downside as concerns linger over the external environment and the unwinding of domestic imbalances.
Policy mix. The return to more neutral interest rates should be delayed until there are signs of a sustainable acceleration in growth. There is some space to cut rates if activity
were to weaken significantly. The pace of fiscal consolidation is appropriate under the
baseline scenario. Automatic stabilizers should be allowed to operate if growth disappoints, while temporary fiscal stimulus could be considered in the event of a large
adverse shock, especially at the federal level. It will be important to continue to address long-term spending pressures from population ageing and increasing health-care costs.
view IMF Country Report-Canada-Canada: 2012 Article IV Consultation
Source: IMF
IMF-Canada: Selected Issues
February 15, 2013--I. ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF HIGH HOUSEHOLD DEBT ON ECONOMIC VOLATILITY IN
CANADA1
A. Introduction
1. To what extent is the increase in Canada's household leverage a matter of
concern? Other advanced economies (for example, Australia, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), experienced similar or even larger increases in household debt-to-income ratios during the last decade and faced very different outcomes during the Great Recession.
In principle, it is not immediately
obvious why higher gross household debt should be a problem, especially if the increase in leverage is matched by higher gross asset positions and an
increase in net wealth (IMF, 2012,
and Dynan, 2012). And there is no
clear threshold above which
household leverage can be defined
"excessive". Moreover, as
discussed in the staff report, while
house prices seem somewhat
overvalued at the national level in
Canada (Box 1), the risk of a severe housing bust is reduced by the strong balance sheet and conservative lending practices of Canadian banks, the recourse nature of mortgage loans, and
the broad scope of government-backed mortgage insurance.
view IMF paper-Canada: Selected Issues
Source: IMF
FINRA Issues New Investor Alert: Duration-What an Interest Rate Hike Could Do to Your Bond Portfolio
February 14, 2013--WASHINGTON—The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a new Investor Alert called Duration-What an Interest Rate Hike Could Do to Your Bond Portfolio. FINRA is issuing this Alert to help investors understand the importance of duration risk.
Although stated in years, duration is not simply a measure of time. The duration of a bond or a bond fund also signals how much the price of a bond investment is likely to fluctuate when interest rates move up or down.
"With interest rates hovering near all-time lows, investors should make sure they know their duration numbers. Whether investors own individual bonds or bond funds, they need to understand that outstanding bonds with a low interest rate and high duration may experience significant price drops if interest rates rise," said Gerri Walsh, FINRA Vice President of Investor Education.
view the alert-Duration—What an Interest Rate Hike Could Do to Your Bond Portfolio
Source: FINRA
BlackRock to offer ETFs with maturity dates, like bonds
February 13, 2013--BlackRock, the world's largest manager of exchange-traded funds, will soon release a new series of fixed-income funds that mature after a set number of years, like ordinary bonds.
The new ETFs are designed to simplify the task of institutional money managers like bank treasurers, who currently must juggle hundreds or even thousands of distinct bond issues in their portfolios, BlackRock President Robert Kapito said on Wednesday.
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Source: Reuters