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
NASDAQ OMX Completes Acquisition of Thomson Reuters Investor Relations, Public Relations and Multimedia Businesses
NASDAQ OMX to Integrate Businesses With Global Technology Solutions
Accretive to EPS Within the First 12 Months, Excluding Transaction-Related Costs
June 3, 2013--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc., today announced the completion of its acquisition of Thomson Reuters Investor Relations, Public Relations and Multimedia Solutions businesses, which provide insight, analytics and communications solutions.
These complementary businesses will be integrated with NASDAQ OMX's Global Technology Solutions business to create a differentiated client experience through a comprehensive portfolio of technology-driven solutions to more than 10,000 clients worldwide.
Source: NASDAQ OMX
Average daily volume of 10.1 million contracts at Eurex Group in May
June 3, 2013--In May, the international derivatives exchanges of Eurex Group achieved an average daily volume of 10.1 million contracts (May 2012: 11.2 million). Of those, almost 7.4 million were Eurex Exchange contracts (May 2012: 8.4 million), and 2.7 million contracts (May 2012: 2.6 million) were traded at the U.S-based International Securities Exchange (ISE).
In total, 162.4 million contracts were traded at Eurex Exchange and 58.3 million at ISE. This makes May the best month in terms of trading volumes in 2013.
Eurex Exchange recorded 51.9 million equity index derivatives contracts (May 2012: 76.6 million). The single largest contract was the future on the EURO STOXX 50(R) Index with 20.6 million contracts. The option on this blue chip index totaled 18.6 million contracts. Futures on the DAX index recorded 2.3 million contracts while the DAX options reached another 4.0 million contracts. The Eurex KOSPI Product reached 1.5 million contracts.
Source: Eurex
IOSCO Publishes the Responses to Financial Benchmark Consultation
June 3, 2013--The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) published today the comment letters to the consultation paper on Principles for Financial Benchmarks that was issued on 16 April 2013. The report sought public comment on a set of high-level principles for benchmarks used in global financial markets.
More than 40 responses were received. Because of the wide diversity of benchmarks, IOSCO also asked for public comment on a subset of more detailed principles for benchmarks having specific risks arising from their reliance on submissions and/or their ownership structure.
Source: IOSCO
BIS-June 2013 Quarterly Review: Markets under the spell of monetary easing
June 3, 2013--Further monetary easing boosted asset prices despite negative macroeconomic news.
Cross-border claims of BIS reporting banks fell in the fourth quarter of 2012 as a sharp reduction in cross-border interbank lending more than offset higher cross-border credit to non-banks.
Paul Melaschenko and Noel Reynolds (BIS) propose a mechanism to recapitalise banks that are too big to fail.
Mathias Drehmann (BIS) finds that the reliability of credit gap indicators as an early warning signal for incipient systemic crises can be improved by using data on total credit to the private sector rather than bank credit data only.
Chen Zhou (Netherlands Bank) and Nikola Tarashev (BIS) measure banks' systemic importance on the basis of information about rare events that they compute using tools from extreme value theory
Summaries of individual chapters
Markets under the spell of monetary easing
Further monetary easing helped market participants to tune out signs of a global growth slowdown. The spate of negative economic news between mid-March and mid-April did little to interrupt the rise of equity prices in advanced economies. Further policy easing, followed promptly by an improved US outlook in early May, boosted market sentiment and lifted the main equity indices to new highs.
Source: AME Info