• Host: Mark Longo, The Options Insider Media Group
• Panelist: Eugen Mohr, Eurex
• Panelist: David Russell, TradeStation
• Panelist: Russell Rhoads, Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Host: Mark Longo, Owner and CEO of The Options Insider Media Group

Featured Guests:

• Russell Rhoads, Associate Clinical Professor at Indiana Kelley School of Business

• Matt Amberson, Principal and Founder of ORATS (Options Research and Technology Services)

• Daniel Murillo, Associate Vice President and US Sales Manager for Market Data and Services at Deutsche Börse (Eurex)

For traders looking across the pond, data access is the key to unlocking opportunities. In this episode, our panel tackles the challenges of finding, analyzing, and utilizing quality European derivatives market data.

On the Agenda:

• Data Deep Dive: Where can retail and professional traders find reliable, cost-effective data for Eurex products like EURO STOXX 50, DAX, and VSTOXX? Guests highlight essential free and paid resources.

• Backtesting the Continent: ORATS's Matt Amberson details how the unique, often sideways movement of European stocks offers different—and sometimes better—backtesting results for strategies like covered calls compared to the U.S. market's long bull run.

• The Race for Speed: Daniel Murillo of Eurex shares an insider look at the exchange's data services, including T+1 flows and new picosecond-level timestamping for High-Frequency Traders.

• VIX vs. VSTOXX: Russell Rhoads analyzes the difference in the futures term structure between VIX and VSTOXX, revealing why the European volatility index offers unique trading dynamics, especially as the U.S. trading day slows down.

This episode delves into the world of European dividends and the specialized futures and options markets used to trade them. Host Mark Longo is joined by Dr. Russell Rhoads (Indiana University), Lorena Dishnica (Head of Dividend Products, Eurex), and Sahand Taghizadeh (Head of Investable Stocks Benchmarks, STOXX).

• Key Differences: Unlike the U.S. with its quarterly payments and buyback culture, Europe favors annual dividends, with a "dividend season" in spring/summer.

• Dividend Futures: Eurex pioneered a listed market for dividend derivatives in 2008. These products allow traders to isolate and hedge dividend risk, which is a key need for banks that issue structured products.

• Analyzing the Market: The most liquid contracts are the annual Decembers. They can be used to gauge the market's fundamental outlook, as their prices are sensitive to corporate cash flow forecasts and macroeconomic events.

• The Curve: The European dividend futures curve often shows a downward slope, known as backwardation, reflecting the heavy hedging activity.

• Listener Question: A listener asks about smaller contract sizes. While dividend futures are not yet micro-sized, the options on them offer a way for traders to manage their capital commitment.