Global ETF News Older than One Year
December 2017 BIS Quarterly Review: Paradoxical tightening echoes bond market "conundrum"
December 3, 2017--Markets shrugged off moves by some major central banks to wind back stimulus over the last quarter: global financial conditions paradoxically eased further amid heightened concerns about overvalued asset prices.
Continued low bond yields and low volatility, particularly in the United States, are reminiscent of the bond market "conundrum" referred to by former US Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan in 2005, when market yields remained low despite Fed rate hikes.
Easier US financial conditions coincided with a decline in the term premia components of yields, or the extra return investors seek for holding a longer-term bond rather than shorter ones. For asset pricing, there are lingering uncertainties about how precisely this compression works over time, or how yields would react once central bank policies normalise.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
IMF Working paper-Incorporating Macro-Financial Linkages into Forecasts Using Financial Conditions Indices: The Case of France
December 1, 2017--Summary:
How can information on financial conditions be used to better understand macroeconomic developments and improve macroeconomic projections? We investigate this question for France by constructing country-specific financial conditions indices (FCIs) that are tailored to movements in GDP, investment, private consumption and exports respectively.
We rely on a VAR approach to estimate the weights of the financial components of each FCI, including equity market returns (which turn out having a relatively strong weight across all FCIs), private sector risk premiums, long-term interest rates, and banks' credit standards. We find that the tailored FCIs are useful as leading indicators of GDP, investment, and exports, and as a contemporaneous indicator of private consumption. Credit volumes turn out to be lagging indicators of growth. The indices inform us on macro-financial linkages in France and are used to improve the accuracy of quarterly forecasting models and high-frequency "nowcast" models. We show that FCI-augmented models could have significantly improved forecasts during and after the global financial crisis.
Source: IMF
DECPG Global Weekly
December 1, 2017--TAKING STOCK
U.S. Q3 GDP growth was revised up; inflation remained subdued in October
Euro Area inflation picked up in November; unemployment rate fell
Japan core inflation edged up in October; industrial production rebounded
China's official PMIs increased in November
Oil producers agreed to extend oil production cut to 2018
U.S. Q3 GDP growth was revised up; inflation remained subdued in October. The second reading of U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter came in at a three-year high of 3.3 percent (q/q saar), above the initial estimate of 3.0 percent. The upward revision reflected stronger gains in business investment, exports, and inventories, which offset downward revision in consumer spending growth. Meanwhile, the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index rose 1.6 percent (y/y) in October, after 1.7 percent in September. Excluding food and energy, core PCE inflation remained stable at 1.4 percent (y/y) in October.
Euro Area inflation picked up in November; unemployment rate fell. A flash estimate of Euro Area's consumer price inflation in November came in at 1.5 percent (y/y), up from 1.4 percent in October, mainly reflecting a rise in energy prices.
Source: World Bank
What is a Hedge Fund?
November 30, 2017--For many entry-level investors, hedge funds are shrouded in mystery and exclusivity.
It's common, for example, for media coverage to focus on the ultra-wealthy founders and CEOs of hedge funds, such as Ray Dalio or Bill Ackman, as well as their secretive investing strategies or exclusive clientele.
Like investment banks, they are seen as an elite fixture on Wall Street, and they also get scapegoated for a variety of market problems ranging from manipulation to a lack of transparency.
Source: visualcapitalist.com
Ultumus-Private Equity ETF
November 30, 2017--USCF Advisers is listing two new ETFs that aim to track companies likely to be of interest to private equity firms.
They are:
USCF SummerHaven Private Equity Strategy Index Fund (BUY)
USCF SummerHaven Private Equity Natural Resources Strategy Index Fund (BUYN)....
France
Lyxor lists a Eurozone minimum variance ETF
Lyxor is listing a new minimum variance ETF, the Lyxor FTSE EMU Minimum Variance UCITS ETF (MVMU). MVMU will track the FTSE Developed Eurozone Minimum Variance Net Tax Index, which picks Eurozone companies while reducing index volatility...
Switzerland
Lyxor is cross-listing two ETFs into Switzerland, they are: Lyxor SG Japan Quality Income UCITS ETF (SGQJ) and Lyxor $ Floating Rate Note UCITS ETF (FLOTH). SGQJ tracks the SG Japan Quality Income Index (NTR-JPY), which sorts Japanese companies by quality and income....
UK
Lyxor is cross-listings its gender diversity ESG ETF into the UK, the Lyxor Global Gender Equality DR UCITS ETF (ELLE). ELLE tracks companies based on how good a job they do at bringing women into the workplace..
Source: ULTUMUS-Financial Data Management
ETF Securities-Investment Insights November 2017 Disruptive themes behind future commodity demand
November 29, 2017--Summary
As energy efficiency drives renewable energy and battery technology demand, silver and nickel usage may see boost.
Automation and technology integration may benefit copper.
Climate change may continue to impact global agriculture.
If you trace the evolution of commodities over time, the economically dominant commodity sector tends to follow structural shifts in technology and growth.
Until the 18th century, agriculture made up the bulk of the commodity market moving in sync with trade and population. The industrial revolution of the 19th century brought the rise of mass production of steel and coal into the limelight. This momentum then cascaded into the 20th century where oil and petroleum reigned supreme. We now stand at a tipping point for a new generation of commodities driven by intertwining technologies among the themes of energy efficiency, automation, and climate change likely to be central for demand.
Source: etfsecurities.com
World Bank-Cities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A Story of Urban Growth and Decline
November 29, 2017--The urbanization experience of countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia is quite unique, and for several reasons.
To begin with, most of these countries attained high-urbanization levels under a centrally-planned system, in which non-economic factors were pivotal in shaping the spatial distribution of both the population and economic activities.
Source: World Bank
Bitcoin sheds $700 in an hour as volatility returns
November 29, 2017--Bitcoin shed more than $700 in an hour on Thursday morning, extending the volatility that saw it whipsaw from a bull market to a bear and back again yesterday evening.
A unit of the cryptocurrency hit a low of $9,482 at 11am GMT, according to Reuters data, having traded at $10,200 at 10am.
Source: FT.com
