Global ETF News Older than One Year
JPMorgan May Create a Virtual Currency That Rivals Bitcoin
The megabank tries to get in on the virtual cash craze
December 10, 2013--JPMorgan Chase has filed a U.S. patent application for a computerized payment system that resembles the virtual currency Bitcoin, the Financial Times reports.
As more people make their purchases online, banks, credit card companies and tech companies are all hoping to capitalize on the quickly expanding business of mobile and online payments.
Bitcoin rose this year as the most prominent virtual cash system, storing its users' cash in computer files.
The price of Bitcoin shares soared to over $1,240 the day after Thanksgiving (a 9,000% gain for the year), and its new virtual currency may one day challenge the traditional payment systems of big credit card companies and banks.
Source: TIME
World's biggest investor BlackRock says US rally nearing exhaustion
December 9, 2013--BlackRock, the world's biggest investor, has warned that central banks are poised to tighten monetary policy in the Anglo-Saxon countries and China, advising clients to be ready to pull out of global stock markets at any sign of serious trouble.
"2014 is the year to squeeze more juice out of risk assets. But investors should be ready to discard the fruit when it starts running dry," said Ewen Cameron Watt, chief strategist for the BlackRock Investment Institute.
Source: The Telegraph
Mutual funds look to gain ETF foothold
December 9, 2013--"To know your enemy, you must become your enemy" is an oft-quoted dictum for military and corporate strategists.
Mutual funds providers trying to grab a slice of the fast-expanding market for exchange-traded products are taking the tactic to heart.
Source: FT.com
SIX Swiss Exchange lures India to the Alps
December 9, 2013--SIX Swiss Exchange, Switzerland's principal stock exchange, is vying with Indian companies and investment bankers to raise capital through its platform.
Source: Business Standard
ETFS Precious Metals Weekly-Gold Revisits US$1,200/oz Support as Strong Data Raises Early Tapering Risks
December 9, 2013--Market expectations rise on the FOMC signalling a reduction in bond buying this month. Better-than-expected economic data from the US reignited fears of early tapering by the Fed,keeping commodity price gains in check,particularly precious metals. Despite the US government shutdown,US economic data has been consistently positive. Economic indicators continue to point to a pick-up in US economy,with the November manufacturing and jobs data both surprising on the upside.
We expect the US Federal Reserve to begin to taper bond purchases in Q1 2014 as the employment picture continues to strengthen. Fed tapering is likely to provide support for the US dollar in the near-term - historically a headwind for gold price performance. The gold price has been under strong downward pressure in 2013,but last week the market appeared to draw a line-in-the-sand at the US$1,200/oz. level. There now appears to be an almost unanimous consensus belief that US economic growth,interest rates and the dollar will rise next year. This scenario is also now reflected in gold futures and ETF positioning. If there is any disappointment in US growth numbers or reduced confidence stemming from the brewing government budget fight,the tail risk event in 2014 could be a surprise counter-consensus rally of the gold price.
Source: ETF Securities
New research finds HFT improves market fairness-CMCRC
December 9, 2013-- New research from the Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC) has found that the presence of high frequency traders improves market fairness by reducing end of day price dislocation. Professor Michael Aitken, CMCRC CEO, said that End of Day (EOD) price dislocations whether they occurred by fair means or foul were troublesome for markets and that any market structure change which mitigates the incidence of such changes should be seen as a positive outcomes for the marketplace.
“EOD prices are often used to determine the expiration value of directors' options, the price of seasoned equity issues, evaluate broker performance, calculate net asset values of mutual funds, and compute stock indices," he said. "So on the one hand there's clear incentive to manipulate the closing price by ramping end of day trading to push the closing price to an artificial level. However, EOD dislocation could also simply reflect price pressure brought on by the fact that the market is about to close for 18 hours. Either way, EOD dislocation of prices is not a good look for markets."
view the High Frequency Trading and end-of-day price Dislocation
Source: Capital Markets Cooperative Research Centre (CMCRC)
BIS-December 2013 Quarterly Review: Low rates boost credit markets
December 8, 2013--Easy money continued to drive financial markets. Searching for yield,c investors extended credit to riskier firms at progressively lower rates and on looser terms. But banks, especially in the euro area, struggled further to regain the market's confidence.
The Fed's hint that it might "taper" its asset purchases was followed by a sharp fall in cross-border credit to some large emerging market economies.
Daily turnover in the global FX market reached an all-time high of $5.3 trillion in April 2013. Non-dealer financial institutions are playing a more active role, as Dagfinn Rime (Central Bank of Norway) and Andreas Schrimpf (BIS) show.
Monthly FX market turnover has fallen since the Triennial Central Bank Survey in April 2013, report Morten Bech and Jhuvesh Sobrun (BIS).
view the BIS Quarterly Review December 2013- International banking and financial market developments
Source: BIS
BlackRock Is The Biggest Investor In The World - Is Its Dominance A Problem?
December 7, 2013--ASK conspiracy theorists who they think really runs the world, and they will probably point to global banks, such as Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase. Oil giants such as Exxon Mobil and Shell may also earn a mention. Or perhaps they would focus on the consumer-goods firms that hold billions in their thrall: Apple, McDonald's or Nestle.
One firm unlikely to feature on their list is BlackRock, an investment manager whose name rings few bells outside financial circles. Yet it is the single biggest shareholder in all the companies listed above. It owns a stake in almost every listed company not just in America but globally. (Indeed, it is the biggest shareholder in Pearson, in turn the biggest shareholder in The Economist.)
Source: Business Insider
The monolith and the markets
Getting $15 trillion in assets on to a single risk-management system is a huge achievement. Is it also a worrying one?
December 7, 2013--EAST WENATCHEE, in Washington state, is known for its apples, not for its financial services. But in a data centre nestled between the orchards and hills, a cluster of 6,000 computers oversees the assets of over 170 pension funds, banks, endowments, insurance companies and others.
Whirring around the clock, the machines look at what interest-rate changes, or bank collapses, or natural disasters could mean for trillions of dollars of assets. Around the world, 17,000 traders have the computers’ assessments of these risks at their fingertips when they buy or sell assets.
Source: The Economist
BlackRock Research-ETP Landscape-US and European Equities lead flows
December 6, 2013--Highlights:
Global ETP flows were $15.8bn during November, more moderate relative to the past two months as expectations resurfaced that Fed tapering may come sooner rather than later.
November Equity flows revealed a tale of two halves with Developed Markets taking in $21.5bn while Emerging Markets experienced outflows of ($4.7bn).
Pan European flows maintained momentum gathering $3.5bn although the pace slowed from the record setting totals witnessed in the prior three months. Year-to-date the category has gathered $24.0bn in contrast to outflows of ($6.5bn) from German ETPs.
US Equities gathered $9.9bn, with investors cautious and looking to protect gains amid concerns that valuations may be stretched. Large Cap and Sector funds fared the best but were offset by Small Cap redemptions.
Source: BlackRock ETP Landscape Research
