The S&P 500® Dividend Points Index tracks dividend payments of S&P 500 constituents, based on a fixed initial market capitalization, independent of equity price changes. The index cannot be invested in directly, but it is tracked by futures contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). Currently, the annual dividend futures are available up to Read more […]
When do sectors matter, and what can you do about it? Sometimes the sector composition of an equity portfolio strongly affects its returns. At other times, single stock effects or overall market effects dominate. Sector-based products such as ETFs and futures have been around for decades, but recently they have attracted growing interest. Exhibit 1 Read more […]
Over the past 10 years, the highest overnight reference rate from the Brazilian Central Bank has been 14.25% from July 2015 through September 2016. In an attempt to hold back the depreciation of the Brazilian real and to keep inflation within the target range, the reference rate dropped 775 bps to 6.50% at the end Read more […]
In my previous blog, we compared a daily inverse index to a “true short” and discussed the increasing vega exposure in the S&P 500® VIX® Short Term Futures Inverse Daily Index over the past couple of years. In this blog, we analyze how the mechanics of a VIX futures index, a low volatility environment, and Read more […]
After a strong January 2018, the U.S. equity market started February with a roller coaster ride. The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®), which has been relatively quiet over the past couple years, spiked up and crossed the 50 mark intraday on Feb. 5, 2018. On the same day, the S&P 500® VIX Short Term Futures Inverse Read more […]
In December 2015, S&P Dow Jones Indices launched the S&P Real Assets Index, the first index of its kind, which is designed to measure global property, infrastructure, commodities, and inflation-linked bonds, using liquid and investable component indices that track public equities, fixed income, and futures. The S&P Real Assets Index includes global infrastructure (35%), property Read more […]
Two factors tend to consistently influence gold and silver — interest rate expectations and mining supply. Changes in interest rate expectations typically exert a short-term, day-to-day influence that is exogenous to the metals market while mining supply has a long-term, year-to-year influence that is endogenous. Precious metals prices seem to exert little to no influence Read more […]
The headline story in oil is that it settled at its highest level of the year. Prices got a boost from a weaker U.S. dollar and there is an expectation in the market that weekly data will show a decline in U.S. crude inventories. The next story is that energy stocks rallied on higher oil, but historical data Read more […]
In my post about globalizing futures, technology and logistics were highlighted as key factors to expand local commodities into a global commodities. What I failed to mention is that these same keys may unlock potential futures markets growth beyond Earth. That may seem extraordinary but the potential is real since according to this article on Read more […]
