利比亚动荡搅动全球油价

2月24日,国际石油价格大幅攀升,4月份交货的欧洲基准原油——英国北海布伦特原油期货价格每桶为119.79美元,这是2008年12月21日以来的最高价格;4月份交货的美国轻质原油期货价格每桶达到103.41美元,涨幅为5．4％。油价急速攀升的原因是中东一些产油国局势动荡,利比亚石油生产大幅减产,国际投资商不敢继续对石油领域进行投资。另外,国际投机活动也趁机加剧,使本来就不稳定的石油市场形势更趋严重。人们期待欧佩克能采取行动增加产量。     

金融投机与油价波动

2008年以来,国际原油期货价格从不足100美元迅速攀升至逼近150美元,涨幅超过50%.然而就在7月份底的十个交易日当中,油价又从147美元高位暴跌15%至123美元一线.实际上,2003年以来,国际油价从每桶30美元左右上涨至2008年140多美元的高位,无论以名义价格还是真实价格来看,国际油价都达到了1970年代石油危机以来的最高点.高油价刺激了全球性的资源性商品价格上涨,也推动了全球性通货膨胀的形成和扩散.与此同时,是否是投机因素推高油价的争论也不绝于耳.但是,国际权威机构对石油市场中的投机行为的调查至今也没有比较统一的结论.油价波动与金融投机之间到底存在怎样的关系呢?     

投机资本：助推油价暴涨的 “黑手”

国际市场原油价格在今年以来快速飙升40％,并一度摸高至140美元／桶的高位。诚然,石油价格的高企与市场供求等基本面直接关联,但另一个普遍的共识是,原油期货市场的种种投机行为已经将这种基本面数倍地放大,其对于油价的疯涨起到了推波助澜的作用。     

把脉国际油价波动展望中国能源机遇

世界经济下滑导致2009年世界石油需求预期下降,但石油开采成本刚性使得油价下跌空间有限,美元贬值预期为国际油价反弹埋下伏笔。伴随着需求减弱和投机力量的此消彼长,2009年国际油价或先探底后反弹,我国战略石油储备起步较晚,应抓住低油价时机,加快储备进度,境外油气资产并购良机显现,中资石油公司应与中资金融机构形成合力,携手迎接国际化的挑战。     

高油价背后“看不见的手”

国际市场原油价格在进入2008年后一路飙升,并一度摸高至147美元／桶的高位,尽管其后有所回落,但现阶段油价长期走高的趋势已不可逆转。石油价格的高企诚然与市场供求等基本面直接关联,此外,另一个普遍的共识是,原油期货市场的种种投机行为将这种基本面数倍地放大,对油价的疯涨起了推波助澜的作用。     

“能源-金融”的“联姻”之路

由于市场担心美国政府金融援救计划导致美元贬值,全球油价9月22日疯涨16.37美元．创历史上最大单日涨幅。不难预料,在接下来几年中,作为全球信用核心货币的美元持续走弱局面可能难以根本逆转,因此,国际油价虽然出现短暂回落,但高位运行的局面仍将持续。发生在21世纪初期的本轮能源价格走强．除了美元因素外,需求增长、市场投机等因素也相互交织。     

国际投机资本对我国影响几何?

近十多年来,我们看到短期投机资本即国际游资在国际金融市场上式风作浪,对世界金融经济的发展产生很大的影响。例如上个世纪90年代初投机资本对英镑的投机;在东南亚金融危机中,以对冲基金为首的国际游资对亚洲的有关国家和地区金融市场的投机冲击。而我们当前面临的是国际游资对中国的投机冲击。     

美元持续贬值油价金价飙升——第三季度国际金融市场走势回顾及未来展望

次贷危机和美联储的连续两次降息引发了三季度国际金融市场动荡,美元加速贬值,美国国债收益率全面下跌,并呈现出“期限越短,下跌幅度越大”的结构特征。受美元贬值、原油供应趋紧、市场投机炒作及地缘政治等因素刺激,国际油价延续了上半年的快速增长势头。国际金价受美元币值和石油价格变化影响也迅速攀升。[编者按]     

数字背后

国际油价逼近70美元 需求促涨投机促狂。     

关于国际对冲基金重返亚洲投机及我国防范措施

针对当前国际对冲基金重返亚洲寻找商机的现实，在分析其近期主要活动特征的基础上，提出防范国际对冲基金及其他短期投机资金投机套利的应对措施是：提高认识，高度重视；大力加强外汇监管；改革人民币汇率机制；加快金融外汇制度改革：慎重开放资本项目。     

Effective fair pricing of international mutual funds

We propose a new methodology to provide fair prices of international mutual funds by adjusting prices at the individual security level using a comprehensive and economically relevant information set. Stepwise regressions are used to endogenously determine the stock-specific optimal set of factors. Using 16 synthetic funds whose characteristics are extracted from 16 corresponding actual US-based Japanese mutual funds, we demonstrate that our method estimates fund prices significantly more accurately than existing methods. Although existing fair-pricing methods provide an improvement over the current practice of simply using Japanese market closing prices, they are still highly vulnerable to exploitation by market-timers. By contrast, our method is the most successful in preventing such strategic exploitation since no competing method can profit from our stated prices.     

Equity prices and financial globalization

This paper examines the association between equity returns, economic shocks, and economic integration. The empirical findings show that oil prices and U.S. Federal Reserve funds rates are associated with negative responses of international equity returns, of which a simple asset-pricing model is capable of explaining the international differences. Using vector autoregressions, we find that the effects of global economic shocks operate through the current excess returns of equity prices. Empirically, trade integration increases the responses of international equity returns to oil prices, while finance integration increases the responses of equity returns to Federal Reserve funds rates across countries.     

Has Petroleum Pricing Reform in China Achieved Its Objective? An Empirical Study

China’s petroleum pricing reform has started since 1998 and is still ongoing. It has a profound impact on China’s oil market and even global oil market. We quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of the reform on two key issues. Has the pricing reform strengthened the linkage between the international crude market and China’s petroleum products market? Has the pricing reform magnified shocks to the international crude market on China’s economy? Our results show that the reform has strengthened the relationship between China’s petroleum prices and international crude price without negative influence on China’s economy, but the effect of China’s petroleum prices on international crude price is still limited. Furthermore, the reform helps the Chinese government reduce oil subsidies.     

石油金融：融合态势与中国发展战略

随着现代经济的发展,石油与金融的结合越来越紧,石油金融化趋势日益凸显。因此,为应对国际石油价格的未来走势,保障中国金融体系和中国经济的安全和长期稳定发展,中国迫切需要制定石油金融体系。新形势下中国石油金融体系构建的战略取向为：多层次构建石油交易市场体系;多渠道营造石油银行系统;多途径形成石油基金组合;多方位灵活运用石油外汇等。     

Price sensitivity of the consumer-investor: Evidence from energy prices and mutual fund fees

This study documents a significant relation between changes in commodity prices and investors' price sensitivity in the market for mutual funds. Specifically, price sensitivity⸺defined as the negative relation between fund-level flows and a fund's cost of ownership⸺is more pronounced in periods when energy commodity prices increase sharply. Aggregate flows into actively managed funds relative to the cheaper passively managed funds decrease (increase) when energy prices rise (fall). The results furnish novel evidence supporting an integrated view of the representative “consumer-investor,” whose price sensitivity in choosing financial products is related to price shocks in household consumption goods.     

国际投机资本冲击风险预警指标体系的构建

在全球金融危机的背景下,国际投机资本的频繁流动严重影响了我国经济的稳定性.通过选取1996～2007年能够反映我国经济面临风险的12个指标,确定各自的权重,用KLR信号分析法实证论述近年来我国的风险变化情况,找出影响风险变化的重要指标.研究发现,国际投机资本这一潜在的危险正在加重,因此,可以在利用风险预警机制的同时加强对跨境资本流动的监管,以保证国民经济的均衡发展.     

Analysis of DJIA,S&P 500, S&P 400, NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000 ETFs and their influence on price discovery

This study examines the temporal behavior of price discovery in the spot, ETF and futures markets of the DJIA, S&P 500, S&P 400, NASDAQ 100 and Russell 2000. We document an increasing trend in the price discovery metrics of exchange traded funds for all indexes but the DJIA. Contrary to past studies, our findings show that the spot market rather than the futures market leads the price discovery. The arbitrage process that links exchange traded funds to spot prices, and not the futures prices might explain the results. This daily arbitrage that ensures exchange traded funds prices equal net asset values appear to promote spot market price discovery especially with the popularity of exchange traded funds in more recent years. We additionally document that the temporal behavior of the exchange traded funds price discovery metric affects differently price discovery in the spot and futures markets across indexes.     

Information Diffusion among International Fund Managers: Multicountry Evidence

Investors seeking exposure to global equity markets commonly buy international mutual funds managed by locally based fund managers. How competitive is this form of intermediated investing? We investigate whether international equity fund managers mimic each other's portfolio holdings and analyze the performance implications of these actions. Managers based in the same country have more stocks held in common than those of their peers in other countries. Correlated trading among domestic fund managers contributes significantly to this pattern. Cross‐border managers' portfolio holdings and trades are also relevant to the actions of domestic managers. Stock selection strategies based on mimicry and differentiation both deliver short‐term superior performance. Mimicked sales occur while prices are rising.     

What drove the mid-2000s explosiveness in alternative energy stock prices? Evidence from U.S., European and global indices

Soaring prices in European alternative energy stocks and their subsequent tumble have attracted attention both from investors and academics. We extend recent research to an international setting and analyze whether the explosive price behavior of the mid-2000s was driven by rising crude oil prices and overall bullish market sentiment. Inflation-adjusted U.S. alternative energy stock prices do not exhibit signs of explosiveness. By contrast, we find strong evidence of explosive price behavior for European and global sector indices, even after controlling for a set of explanatory variables. Interestingly, while the sector indices plunged with the outbreak of the global financial crisis, idiosyncratic components continued to rise and did not start to decline until after world equity markets had already begun to recover in 2009. This finding suggests a substantial revaluation of alternative energy stock prices in light of intensifying sector competition and shrinking sales margins and casts some doubts on the existence of a speculative bubble. Nevertheless, we observe temporary episodes of explosiveness between 2005 and 2007 followed by rapid collapses, indicating the presence of some irrational exuberance among investors.     

A New Method for Estimating the Effects of Fuel Taxes: An Application to Thailand

This article proposes a new methodology for estimating the impactof fuel price and tax changes on the general price level andthe distribution of income and applies a model to Thailand usingdata for 1975–76 and 1981–82. Because the modelallows for pricing under international competition where taxincreases must be partially absorbed in reduced factor incomerather than always being passed on in higher consumer prices,the results are significantly different from those generatedby the more conventional cost-plus pricing rule. The inflationaryimpact of fuel tax changes is slight because of both the opennessof the economy and the low energy intensity of manufacturingand other production in Thailand. In contrast, taxes on importsengender price increases not only for imports but also for goodswhich substitute for imports. The model also indicates thatthe net effects of taxes on petroleum products (other than kerosene)are progressive in their distributional impact, relative toa tax on imports or consumption. A main policy conclusion ofthe study is that fuel taxes could be used to increase bothequity and allocative efficiency without inducing significantinflationary responses. It follows that in the current circumstancesof falling world oil prices, developing countries could generaterevenues needed for structural adjustment by increasing fueltaxes to maintain domestic petroleum price levels.