Global ETF News Older than One Year
Most Developing Countries Will Benefit from Oil Price Slump, Says World Bank Group
January 7, 2015--Gains from low oil prices can be substantial for developing-country importers if supported by stronger global growth, says a World Bank Group analysis of the oil price decline, contained in the latest edition of Global Economic Prospects.
The decline in oil prices reflects a confluence of factors, including several years of upward surprises in oil supply and downward surprises in demand, receding geopolitical risks in some areas of the world, a significant change in policy objectives of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and appreciation of the U.S. dollar. Although the relative strength of the forces driving the recent plunge in prices remains uncertain, supply related factors appear to have played a dominant role.
Source: World Bank
Developing Countries Need To Rebuild Fiscal Space to Weather Growth Slowdowns, Says a New Report by the World Bank Group
January 7, 2015--Faced with weaker export prospects, an impending rise in global interest rates, and fragile financial market sentiment, developing countries need to rebuild fiscal buffers to support economic activity in case of a growth slowdown, says the new edition of Global Economic Prospects, released today by the World Bank Group.
For many developing economies, lower oil prices have provided a timely opportunity for doing so.
view the Having Fiscal Space and Using It-Fiscal Policy Challenges in Developing Economies
Source: World Bank
Variable-capital SCPIs invested in commercial property will be introduced into the EDHEC IEIF Commercial Property (France) Index from January 1,2015
January 6, 2015--In order to take account of the increasing proportion of variable-capital SCPIs (Société Civile de Placement Immobilier or real estate investment company) invested in commercial property, the EDHEC IEIF Commercial Property (France) Index will include them in its universe from January 1, 2015.
There is no change to the index composition rules: only SCPIs that have recorded trading volume of more than 2 million euros on the secondary market during the previous year will be included.
Source: EDHEC-Risk Institute
Not just oil: Are lower commodity prices here to stay?
January 6, 2015--Oil isn't the only commodity that's gotten cheaper.
From nickel to soybean oil, plywood to sugar, global commodity prices have been on a steady decline as the world's economy has lost momentum. That lower demand helps explain, in part, why nearly everything from crude oil to cotton has been getting cheaper.
Source: CNBC
Gold great value protector in 2014- silver not
Perhaps we should look at gold in currencies-other than the US dollar-to see its real worth as a value protector over the past year.
January 5, 2015--LBMA Gold price end 2013: US$1 201.50; Gold price end 2014: $1 199.25-only down a minute 0.19% over the year.
Thus, by effectively marking time vis-á-vis the US dollar over the full year gold outperformed virtually all other currencies in maintenance of value.
Source: MineWeb
BlackRock Sets Record with $102.8B in ETF Flows in 2014
January 5, 2015--Investors poured $102.8 billion in new money into BlackRock Inc's exchange-traded funds in 2014, setting a record in global flows for the iShares ETF business, the company said on Monday.
The inflows into BlackRock accounted for 31 percent of the total $330.7 billion in new money added to the global ETF market in 2014 as investors flocked to the low-cost, index-tracking funds. Global ETF assets now stand at more than $2.7 trillion.
Source: Fox Business News
IMF Working paper-Shedding Light on Shadow Banking
January 5, 2015--Summary: In this paper, we develop an alternative approach to estimate the size of the shadow banking system, using official data reported to the IMF complemented by other data sources.
We base our alternative approach on the expansion of the noncore liabilities concept developed in recent literature to encompass all noncore liabilities of both bank and nonbank financial institutions. As opposed to existing measures of shadow banking, our newly developed measures capture nontraditional funding raised by traditional banks. We apply the new approach to 26 jurisdictions and analyze the results over a twelve-year span. We find that noncore liabilities are procyclical and display more volatility than core liabilities for most jurisdictions in the sample. We also compare our measures to existing measures, such as the measure developed by the Financial Stability Board. Our approach can be replicated over time using internationally-comparable data and thus may serve as an operational tool for IMF surveillance and policy analysis.
view the IMF Working paper-Shedding Light on Shadow Banking
Source: IMF
Total trading volume at Eurex Group at 2.1 billion contracts in 2014
Average daily volume approximately 8.3 million contracts
Janaury 2, 2015--The international derivatives markets of Eurex Group ended 2014 with a turnover of approximately 2.1 billion contracts (2013: 2.2 billion contracts).
The total volume for 2014 splits into 1.5 billion contracts traded at Eurex Exchange (2013: 1.6 billion) and 607.4 million contracts traded at the International Securities Exchange (ISE) (2013: 638.8 million). This corresponds to a daily average trading volume of 8.3 million contracts, thereof 5.9 million contracts at Eurex Exchange and 2.4 million contracts at ISE.
Source: Eurex:
U.S. Oil Prices Fall 46% This Year, Steepest Loss Since 2008
Gasoline Futures Are Down 48% for the Year
December 31, 2014--Oil futures closed the year at more-than five-year lows, as plentiful supplies and tepid demand continued to send prices plunging.
Brent crude oil and gasoline futures both posted 48% losses in 2014, making them the worst performers among the 22 commodity markets tracked by the Bloomberg Commodity Index.
Source: Wall Street Journal
World Economic League Table 2015 Highlights
December 26, 2014--Revisions to China's GDP mean that it is now forecast to overtake the US in 2025 compared to 2028 in last year's forecasts
The UK appears to have overtaken France this year to become the world's 5th largest economy (but as the 2014 GDP figures are $2,828bn for the UK and $2,827bn for France, the gap is well within the margin of error)
The rise of India looks unstoppable. India overtakes the UK in 2018 to become the largest economy in the Commonwealth and the rise continues – by 2024 India is the world’s third largest economy
Korea is becoming an economic powerhouse (Gangnam Style?) as its growth continues-its league table position moves from 15th in 2013 to a solid 8th, just behind Germany in 2030
Russia's economic woes, a likely weak rouble and a low price of oil mean that it drops back from 8th position in 2013 to 10th in 2014 and stays around that position to 2030
Source: Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr)
