Awaiting the MBS settlement fail fee
It’s been a while since FT Alphaville looked at settlement fails, but the following chart from RBC Capital Markets did catch our eye this week:As RBC notes, there’s...
A quick look at ETFs
The Financial Times – Look to history for profitable stockpicking The growth, proliferation and popularity of exchange traded funds has had consequences not all of which are beneficial. Today investors need no longer discern and analyse the differences between Exxon and Chevron since the Energy Select Sector ETF provides an opportunity to own both. And...
ETF Assets
Click to enlarge: The Financial Times – ETF glow fades for US investors A record number of new US exchange traded funds failed to attract substantial investor demand last year, leaving fund operators facing losses in one of the first signs that the industry’s explosive growth may have peaked. ETFs allow investors to trade baskets...
The S&P 500 ETF that’s a little bit zut alors, sacrebleu!
Back in October, iShares, the world’s leading exchange traded fund provider, decided to set an important transparency example for the ETF industry. The ETF provider began...
The ETF wash rule
FT.com reporter Jason Abbruzzese submits this guest post for FT Alphaville.They say nothing in life is certain apart from death and taxes. But, as it turns out, if you’re...
The US Treasury investment that’s a bit bunga bunga
As we all know by now, providers of swap-backed ETFs have no obligation to collateralise funds with anything resembling the indices being tracked.It’s all okay, because...
How ‘Delta One’ really works
One thing we’ve learnt about Delta One is that it’s head-scratchingly, mind-bogglingly tricky to explain.And exactly how the division makes money, outside of the...
The 15:00, 15:50 and 15:59 effect
Anyone following the markets will know that end-of-day volatility has been a problem since at least the 2008 crisis.Despite that, it’s only in the last month that mainstream...
The power of the dark inventory
FT Alphaville is reading Robert Harris’ The Fear Index at the moment, and would like to take this opportunity to recommend it as required reading for anyone who enjoys a...
A ’5x Inverse Eurozone Volatility ETN’ to save the Eurozone?
Has the answer to the eurozone problem been staring us in the face all this time? Could we equitise the EFSF and float the stock to investors so as to raise funds, rather than...
Are ETFs responsible for short-covering rallies?
In a Ponzi scheme, investors get duped into thinking their money has been invested in a profit-generating investment, when in reality their investment doesn’t actually exist....
