Has competition improved markets?
June 5. 2013--Equity markets are undergoing nothing short of a competitive revolution. Equity Market titans such as the NYSE, the London Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Deutsche Borse and Euronext now share the limelight with dozens of players.
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of trading on markets partially exempt from National Market System requirements on equity market quality. Lit and dark trading venues differ in their regulatory structure most notably in whether they must provide fair-access and pre-trade transparency and restrict sub-penny trading increments. We find evidence consistent with the notion that dark venues rely on their special features to segregate order flow based on asymmetric information risk, which results in their transactions being less informed and contributing less to price discovery on the consolidated market.
Source: CMCRC
ETFGI PRESS RELEASE: Net inflows of 107 billion US dollars YTD through the end of May 2013 helped push global assets in ETFs and ETPs to new high
According to ETFGI record net inflows of $107 billion year to date through the end of May 2013 helped to push assets invested globally in ETFs and ETPs to a new all-time high of $2.14 trillion
June 5, 2013--ETFs and ETPs have received record net inflows of $107 billion through the end of May 2013 which is 31% higher than the $82 billion in net flows at this time in 2012.
These inflows have helped to push assets invested globally in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) to a new all-time high of $2.14 trillion US dollars, according to preliminary figures from ETFGI’s Global ETF and ETP industry insights report for May 2013. There are now 4,849 ETFs and ETPs, with 9,875 listings, assets of $2.14 trillion, from 211 providers listed on 56 exchanges. ETF and ETP assets have increased by 9.6% from $1.95 trillion to $2.14 trillion.
ETFs and ETPs in May received $24.3 billion in net inflows. Equity ETFs and ETPs gathered the largest net inflows with $25 billion, followed by fixed income ETFs and ETPs with $3.1 billion, while commodity ETFs and ETPs experienced net outflows with $6.7 billion.
Equity ETFs and ETPs saw net inflows of $25 billion in May with US/North American equity exposures gathering $16 billion, the largest net inflows, followed by developed Asia Pacific equity with $8.9 billion, and global equity with $2.1 billion net inflows, while products offering emerging market equity exposure experienced the largest net outflows with $4.3 billion.
Source: ETFGI
S&P Dow Jones Indices: Dow Jones-UBS Commodity Index: Commodities Fall Short In May
June 5, 2013--KEY HIGHLIGHTS
DJ-UBS Commodity Index fell 2.2% in May, bringing the index's YTD total return down to -6.0%.
DJ-UBS Energy lost 4.7% this month and was almost flat YTD, coming in at 0.6%.
DJ-UBS Grains was up 2.3% in May, driven by wet weather that resulted in delayed plantings.
DJ-UBS Softs fell 6.8% MTD, bringing the index to its lowest level since July 2010.
Source: Mondovisione
S&P GSCI: Market Attributes-Commodities-Commodities Missed The Mark In May
June 5, 2013--KEY HIGHLIGHTS
The S&P GSCI fell 1.5% in May, bringing the index's YTD total return down to-5.6%.
The S&P GSCI Energy lost 1.9% this month, driving down the YTD total return to -4.7% and losing its position as the best performing sector index YTD.
The S&P GSCI Agriculture lost 61 basis points in May, bringing the YTDtotal return down to -4.4% and making it the best performer in 2013. The S&P GSCI Livestock was slightly down again in May, off 65 basis points, which added to its negative performance for the year, now off 8.1%. The S&P GSCI Industrial Metals, led by lead, was the only sector index to post gains in May, up 2.6%.
Source: Mondovisione
IMF Working paper-The Comovement in Commodity Prices: Sources and Implications
June 5, 2013--Summary: We present a simple macroeconomic model with a continuum of primary commodities used in the production of the final good, such that the real prices of commodities have a factor structure.
One factor captures the combined contribution of all aggregate shocks which have no direct effects on commodity markets other than through general equilibrium effects on output, while other factors represent direct commodity shocks. Thus, the factor structure provides a decomposition of underlying structural shocks. The theory also provides guidance on how empirical factors can be rotated to identify the structural factors. We apply factor analysis and the identification conditions implied by the model to a cross-section of real non-energy commodity prices. The theoretical restrictions implied by the model are consistent with the data and thus yield a structural interpretation of the common factors in commodity prices. The analysis suggests that commodity-related shocks have generally played a limited role in global business cycle fluctuations.
view the IMF working paper-The Comovement in Commodity Prices: Sources and Implications
Source: IMF
BlackRock, Vanguard warn Libor fixes threaten funds
June 4, 2013--BlackRock and Vanguard are urging an international regulatory body to reconsider some of the principles the group has proposed to bolster the Libor and other financial benchmarks.
The firms warn that some principles proposed by the International Organisation of Securities Commissions may spur regulators to impose misguided requirements on commercial indices, pushing up compliance costs that would then be passed on to regulated funds that license indices.
Source: FT
NASDAQ OMX Monthly Index Performance Report
June 4, 2013--NASDAQ OMX has consolidated performance data for the top 50 most-watched NASDAQ OMX indexes.
view the NASDAQ OMX Monthly Index Performance Report (as of 4/30/13)
Source: NASDAQ OMX
IOSCO Launches Investor Education Gateway
June 4, 2013--The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) launched today an Investor Education Gateway on its Website.
This new online tool is part of IOSCO´s broader investor education initiative and aims to enhance the sharing of investor education information among IOSCO members and the public. The information contains online investor education materials from many of IOSCO´s members, as well as published IOSCO reports and presentations regarding investor education.
Source: IOSCO
NASDAQ OMX Prices EUR 600,000,000 Senior Notes Offering
June 4, 2013--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (NDAQ) today announced that it priced a public offering of EURO600,000,000 aggregate principal amount of Euro-denominated 3.875% senior notes due 2021.
The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, together with cash on hand and/or borrowings under the revolving portion of its senior credit facility, to fund the consideration for the previously announced acquisition of the eSpeed platform and related expenses and for general corporate purposes, which may include the repayment of indebtedness.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
NYSE Euronext plans to sell over Rs 200 crore stake in MCX
June 3, 2013--Global exchange giant NYSE Euronext is considering a fresh bid to sell its nearly 5 per cent stake in India's premier commodity bourse MCX, after an earlier attempt failed in March this year.
NYSE Euronext, which runs leading bourses in the US and Europe, holds 4.79 per cent stake in Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) and its stake is currently valued at over Rs 200 crore.
Source: The Economic Times