Week InReview

Anomalies.

"Researchers found that following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, market reactions weakened for forecasts from analysts with Middle Eastern surnames. They also found that following the French and German governments' opposition to the US-led Iraq War, the US market reactions weakened for analysts with French or German surnames. This effect was stronger in firms with lower institutional ownership and for analysts with non-American first names.

"The researchers measured surname favourability using the US historical immigration records to identify countries of origin associated with a particular surname and the Gallup survey data on Americans' favorability toward foreign countries."

Friday | Feb 1, 2019
INVESTORS briefings
Each week, we publish three briefings:
Monday |  Week InAdvance
Tuesday  | Rules & Regs
Friday |  Week InReview

In addition, we publish three  "upon request" briefings...
Wednesday
LIBOR 
Cyber Security
Thursday
ESG (environmental, social, and governance)

Please contact, with name of briefing(s) you would like to receive:
Matthew Jones, executive director
mjones@association.institutionalINVESTORS.org
(202) 712-9050
A VIX copycat is coming as exchange tries to break Cboe hold
Wall Street's wildly popular fear gauge -- the VIX -- may finally get some real competition. On Feb. 19, MIAX Options plans to debut options on a VIX copycat, the SPIKES Index, in an attempt to break up Cboe Global Markets Inc.'s monopoly on exchange-traded volatility products. (Bloomberg Law | Feb 7)

Gearing up for the Single Security Initiative
Change is coming to the $4.6 trillion conventional agency mortgage backed securities (MBS) market. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, under the direction of Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), will no longer issue separate securities into their own TBA (to be announced) markets. Rather, they will issue a common or "single security" into a common TBA market. (Bloomberg Pro | Feb 6)

U.S. regulator reports record surge in trade data
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority processed an all-time high daily average of 135bn data points last month. The U.S. market watchdog chewed through record amounts of data last year, amid a surge in volatility and the steady rise of automated trading. Volumes of electronic records - spanning quotes for securities such as stocks, actual transactions and cancelled bids - registered by the self-regulator, hit a daily average of 66.7bn in 2018, according to a recent report. That is up 87 per cent from the year before. (Financial Times | Feb 5)

January's stock-market rally revives appetite for risky margin loans
Margin debt tumbled with shares in December, but a rebound last month indicates investors' taste for risk is recovering.  Margin debt, which is generally considered a gauge of investor confidence, tumbled more than $90 billion in the fourth quarter to $554.3 billion, the lowest tally since December 2017, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. (The Wall Street Journal | Jan 4)

Nearly 1 in 3 GSE-backed loans might violate CFPB rule in 2021
Mortgages backed by government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are currently exempt from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's qualified-mortgage rule, but the exemption ends in 2021, at which point nearly a third of all GSE-backed loans will be in violation. Former CFPB acting Director Mick Mulvaney indicated the rule should be eased, but current Director Kathy Kraninger has not commented on the matter. (American Banker | Feb 4)
Binge reading disorder
Hand-curated, chosen with love
What kind of rock star manager are you?
A rocker's guide to management for those who want to learn how to manage like a rock star. But first you have to decide what kind of rock star you want to be. Here's an analysis of how the organizational structure of some famous bands affected their success.

This is what it takes to be in the 1% around the world
From Mexico to India, a breakdown of the richest of the rich. Since the financial crisis, income inequality has garnered increasing attention from economists, politicians, and journalists, and perhaps no income level has been cited more than the so-called 1 Percent. Yet that term can describe a wide variety of earners, depending on where the live.

The north magnetic pole's mysterious journey across the arctic
Scientists accelerated the update of a model of Earth's fluctuating magnetic field, which is needed to keep navigational systems functioning. Many wondered what's happening inside the planet's core.
Transparency.
Inclusiveness.
Consensus.