A Dow Jones report published last week quoted Standard & Poor’s Financial Services as theorizing that the $700 billion global Islamic finance industry would “weather the financial crisis” and moreover would resume its growth on the support of “high demand for Shariah-compliant products, which are considered less risky than convention debt.”  While the global issuance of sukuk fell 35% to $5.3 billion in Q2 compared with last year, a 164% surge in volume in this year’s second quarter compared to the first signaled renewed and robust interest, according to analysts.  In fact, Standard Chartered Bank’s CEO of Islamic banking predicts a primary market of “close to $10 billion” by year’s end.  The biggest sukuk issuers YTD have been Malaysia and Indonesia, followed by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the largest Middle East economy.

Facilitating sukuk’s global growth will be certain legal changes (i.e., tax system overhauls) currently

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Although two different groups are proposing ways to use ETFs to help boost U.S. markets, a third concept blending the best of each may work.

 

With trillions of dollars in U.S. government funding already committed to combating the worst recession since World War II, regulators are increasingly enlisting private sector support.

Along those lines, lawmakers and Treasury officials are reportedly listening to—and in some cases soliciting—outside views from key leaders in the financial sector.

Asset managers focusing on exchange-traded funds are being included in this movement to broaden the scope of U.S. economic recovery plans. As detailed in an IndexUniverse.com analysis of key developments in the effort to thaw credit markets, large ETF sponsors as well as small-yet-influential players are involved.

(The full 21-page Special Report, three months in the making, can be viewed here.) 

Two ETF Plans Emerge

At the heart of the issue is resolving so-called "toxic" debt

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Although two different groups are proposing ways to use ETFs to help boost U.S. markets, a third concept blending the best of each may work.

 

With trillions of dollars in U.S. government funding already committed to combating the worst recession since the Great Depression, regulators are increasingly enlisting private sector support.

Along those lines, lawmakers and Treasury officials are reportedly listening to—and in some cases soliciting—outside views from key leaders in the financial sector.

Asset managers focusing on exchange-traded funds are being included in this movement to broaden the scope of U.S. economic recovery plans. As detailed in an IndexUniverse.com analysis of key developments in the effort to thaw credit markets, large ETF sponsors as well as small-yet-influential players are involved.

(The full 21-page Special Report, three months in the making, can be viewed here.) 

Two ETF Plans Emerge

At the heart of the issue is resolving so-called "toxic" debt

...

I got to thinking that it seems like the world COULD use saving. And ETFs just might be the ticket.

Ever since Matt posted his blog "Can An ETF Save the World?" I've been thinking, "Hey, I know we've been talking about how much we love ETFs. But think how much we'll love them if they saved the world."

Since that idea caught my fancy, some concepts for that Master Plan have begun to circulate, and we've been hard at work looking at different structures and possibilities - first with PowerShares, who as far as I can tell, had the original idea - and then further afield, talking to fixed-income, real estate and ETF experts from around the world.

First, let's look at a very simple plan to save the world using ETFs: Simply have the government buy up billions of dollars worth of ETFs to prop up

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Before highlighting some memorable quotes from market commentators during the past week, let’s briefly review the week’s market action on the basis of a few performance charts.

Global stock markets were generally higher, with the top performance coming from emerging markets – again spearheaded by China and Hong Kong – and Japan. American equities were mildly disappointing compared with global markets, with only the Nasdaq Composite Index registering a positive return.