In an unexpected development, the European Central Bank announced Friday that it will tighten the standards under which it accepts asset-backed securities as collateral from banks for refinancing tenders after March 1. While this step seems relatively minor, analysts viewed its as the first step towards unwinding the massive stimulus plans put into effect to save the struggling financial system in the wake of the global credit crisis. [click to continue…]
The swelling controversy over the risks associated with leveraged ETFs has apparently caused its first casualty. St. Louis-based Edward Jones & Co., the prominent financial services firm, decided during a regular review of its products in June to stop selling leveraged funds, citing the fact that they are “one of the most misunderstood and potentially dangerous [...]
The National Stock Exchange has released its monthly statistical bulletin for June, and the ETF industry certainly seems to have avoided any sort of “June swoon.” Although the trends for the industry as a whole are overwhelmingly positive, a trio of fund sponsors enjoyed particularly successful months. A few of the highlights from the report:
ProShares launched four new international ETFs on Thursday, expanding its already dominant line of inverse leveraged ETFs focusing on foreign markets. With the launch of these four funds, ProShares doubles the size of its product line in this area, which already featured -200% leveraged funds tracking the MSCI Japan Index, Xinhua 25 China Index, MSCI Emerging Markets [...]
