Americas ETP News
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Fed ramps up economic stimulus, ready to do more
June 20, 2012--The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday delivered another round of monetary stimulus and said it was ready to do even more to help an increasingly fragile U.S. economic recovery.
The central bank expanded its "Operation Twist" by $267 billion, meaning it will sell that amount of short-term securities to buy longer-term ones to keep long-term borrowing costs down. The program, which was due to expire this month, will now run through the end of the year.
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Source: Reuters
Manning & Napier launches all-ETF target-date range
June 20, 2012--US fund manager Manning & Napier is rolling out a series of target-date funds that feature actively managed glide paths and invest solely in exchange traded funds.
The new series, called Manning & Napier Goal CIT Funds, became available in early June for qualified retirement plans. It is a “through” series that includes 10 funds with maturity dates ranging from 2015 to 2055 and an income fund.
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Source: FT.com
Canadian Securities Regulators Seek Comments on OTC Central Counterparty Derivatives Clearing Framework
June 20, 2012--The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) published today for comment CSA Consultation Paper 91-406 Derivatives: OTC Central Counterparty Clearing, which sets out the CSA Derivatives Committee's recommendations for central counterparty clearing of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives transactions through regulated central counterparties (CCPs).
The paper details recommendations on issues such as: the process for determining which OTC derivatives should be subject to mandatory CCP clearing; the regulation and governance of CCPs; clearing member access; and risk management.
view CSA Consultation Paper 91-406 Derivatives: OTC Central Counterparty Clearing
Source: Canadian Securities Administrators
ETN Market Ready for Its Close-Up
June 20, 2012--The exchange-traded note market has reached its ultimate test.
That market’s largest product – the $4.5 billion J.P. Morgan Alerian MLP Index ETN (AMJ) – is now effectively closed to new issuance. According to a press release and updated regulatory filings, J.P. Morgan (JPM) expected the final slug of notes to be issued for AMJ on Tuesday.
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Source: Forbes
Federal Reserve issues FOMC statement
June 20, 2012--Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April suggests that the economy has been expanding moderately this year.
However, growth in employment has slowed in recent months, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Business fixed investment has continued to advance. Household spending appears to be rising at a somewhat slower pace than earlier in the year. Despite some signs of improvement, the housing sector remains depressed. Inflation has declined, mainly reflecting lower prices of crude oil and gasoline, and longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.
Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The Committee expects economic growth to remain moderate over coming quarters and then to pick up very gradually. Consequently, the Committee anticipates that the unemployment rate will decline only slowly toward levels that it judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Furthermore, strains in global financial markets continue to pose significant downside risks to the economic outlook. The Committee anticipates that inflation over the medium term will run at or below the rate that it judges most consistent with its dual mandate.
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Source: FBR
S&P Indices Announces Changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices
A Deletion from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite, Venture 30 and Venture Select Indices
June 20, 2012--S&P Canadian Index Services will make the following changes in the S&P/TSX Canadian Indices:
The shareholders of Trelawney Mining and Exploration Inc. (TSXVN:TRR) have approved the Plan of Arrangement whereby the company will be acquired by IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX:IMG) for $CDN3.30 cash per share.
Trelawney will be removed from the S&P/TSX Venture Composite, Venture 30 and Venture Select Indices after the close of trading on Thursday, June 21, 2012.
Source: S&P Indices
NASDAQ Basic Powers Real-Time U.S. Market Data for Canadian Investors
Questrade Provides Real-Time NASDAQ Data to Clients
June 20, 2012--The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced that Questrade Inc., a leading online brokerage firm in Canada, has selected NASDAQ Basic to power its new online trading applications IQ Web and IQ Edge.
Questrade is the largest Canadian brokerage to fully integrate NASDAQ Basic, delivering valuable real-time streaming U.S. market data to investors.
NASDAQ Basic provides users with essential real-time quote and trade data for all U.S.-listed securities. Additionally, NASDAQ Basic offers firms a lower-cost, faster, easier-to-administer alternative to Level 1 products.
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Source: NASDAQ OMX
SEC Adopts Rule Requiring Listing Standards for Compensation Committees and Compensation Advisers
June 20, 2012-- The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a rule that directs national securities exchanges to adopt listing standards for public company boards of directors and compensation advisers.
The new rule, required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, requires exchange listing standards to address:
The independence of the members on a compensation committee
The committee’s authority to retain compensation advisers
The committee’s consideration of the independence of any compensation advisers and
The committee’s responsibility for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of the work of any compensation adviser.
view the Final Rule: Listing Standards for Compensation Committees
Source: SEC.gov
United States Commodity Funds LLC Launches the United States Metals Index Fund (USMI)
June 19, 2012--United States Commodity Funds LLC, a sponsor of exchange traded commodity funds, listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange Arca, a new exchange traded commodity index fund, United States Metals Index Fund, under the ticker "USMI".
The United States Metals Index Fund (USMI) is an exchange traded product ("ETP") that seeks to reflect the performance of a portfolio of metals futures contracts fully collateralized with U.S. Treasury Bills. The investment objective of USMI is for the daily changes in percentage terms of its units' net asset value ("NAV") to reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of the SummerHaven Dynamic Metals Index Total Return, less USMI's expenses. USMI issued units may be purchased and sold on the NYSE Arca.
United States Metals Index Fund's target is an Index comprised of a group of 10 metals currently traded on the LME, COMEX, and NYMEX exchanges. The Metals Index attempts to maximize backwardation and minimize contango while using contracts in the liquid portions of the futures curve.
For more information visit www.unitedstatesmetalsindexfund.com.
Source: United States Commodity Funds
CBOE Plans Process To Trade SPX Variance Strips-Allows Trading Of A Portfolio Of SPX Options In A Single Transaction
Allows Trading of a Portfolio of SPX Options in a Single Transaction
June 19, 2012--The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has announced that it plans to introduce,
starting July 27, a process for trading SPX Variance Strips --a portfolio of S&P 500 Index options (SPX) intended to replicate S&P 500 implied variance exposure
in a single transaction.
Trading in SPX Variance Strips (ticker: VSTRP) will be fully electronic, aimed at qualified professional investors, and employ a special quoting convention similar to the over-the-counter (OTC) method for quoting variance swaps. Specifically: l Prices will be quoted in volatility points.
l Trade quantities will be expressed in contracts; each variance strip "contract" features a multiplier (e.g., $25,000, $50,000, etc.) that reflects the aggregate vega exposure - sensitivity to the underlying instrument's volatility - of the SPX options comprising the variance strip.
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Source: CBOE
