MSCI, the firm responsible for developing and maintaining some of the most widely-followed indexes in the world, announced on Wednesday that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would remain classified under frontier status until at least the middle of 2012, ending speculation over whether the two Middle East economies would be upgraded to emerging status. The decision ended weeks of speculation that had spurred increased activity as market participants sought to anticipate the ramifications of an upgrade.
MSCI cited the “stringent foreign ownership limits, including on large companies” imposed by Qatar as a remaining hurdle that must be cleared before an upgrade is possible. “Any change to the status of the MSCI Qatar Index is conditional upon a meaningful increase of foreign ownership limit levels applied to Qatari companies resulting in increased foreign room,” said MSCI in a press release. [click to continue…]
[This article is a free preview of the special ETF research report Dividend ETFs In Focus: Finding The Best Yield. ETFdb Pro members can read the entire report here; sign up for a free 7-day trial to get your copy] The proliferation of exchange-traded products offering investors exposure to dividend-focused strategies is a testament to [...]
[This article is a free preview from the October edition of ETF Edge, the premium newsletter included with a subscription to ETFdb Pro] After a summer slowdown, the product development segment of the ETF industry is back in full swing; close to 40 new ETFs and ETNs began trading in October, pushing the total product [...]
The recent economic crisis has led to a frenzy of activity on Wall Street, as we have seen dramatic swings in both directions on a regular basis. Starting with a debt deal that did little to reassure investors, markets began to drop. Next came the downgrade from S&P, the first ever from a domestic credit [...]
For investors looking to generate current returns from the equity portion of their portfolio, there is no shortage of exchange-traded products offering attractive dividend yields in the current environment. From ETFs linked to dividend-weighted indexes to those that focus on companies with stellar distribution histories to simply sector-specific funds in high yield corners of the [...]
As hundreds of billions of dollars have flowed into exchange-traded products in recent years, international equity ETFs have been a particularly popular destination. As investors have shed their “home country bias” and recognized the importance of meaningful international equity allocations, the low costs and instant diversification offered by the exchange-traded structure have understandably served as [...]
Investors have become familiar with the term “contagion” in recent years, but most are accustomed to hearing the phenomenon discussed in relation to sovereign debt defaults in Europe or across U.S. municipalities. But in recent days the Middle East has seen a wave of revolutionary protests and rallies spread across the region, as what began [...]
Last week was a quiet but generally positive one for the markets as shares rose in a variety of sectors thanks to stronger commodity prices and quality earnings reports. The biggest gainers came out of the basic materials sector where major oil firms gained significantly and oil equipment and service companies also posted solid trading [...]
With interest rates at record lows and expected to remain depressed for the foreseeable future, investors have been forced to get creative in their hunt for current return. Some have shifted domestic fixed income holdings along the risk/return continuum, seeking out more attractive yields from junk bonds. Others have ventured beyond the U.S. borders, embracing [...]
For businessmen and women who regularly travel to the Middle East, last week saw the unveiling of a nightmare: a BlackBerry blackout across much of the region starting later this year. The United Arab Emirates announced recently that it will begin banning users of BlackBerry mobile phones from using email, instant messaging, and web browsing [...]
On the western coast of the Persian Gulf, one tiny country has earned a slew of rather unique distinctions that would surprise most U.S. investors. Qatar–which on a map looks like a tiny thumb sticking into the Persian Gulf–is among the fastest growing economies in the world. Though tiny in terms of population, the country’s [...]
