European Market Brief

Why is the DAX holding its ground while Germany's economy faces mounting challenges? Mark Longo welcomes Achim Karle of Eurex, Dirk Grosshans of Universal Investment, and Dr. Russell Rhoads of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business to explore the disconnect between Germany's economic headlines and its globally competitive companies. The panel examines how international revenues, industrial transformation, and infrastructure and defense spending shape the outlook for German equities. They also discuss opportunities across automation, technology, and financial services—and why investors should look beyond German GDP when evaluating the DAX. Plus, the conversation turns to European volatility and practical risk management, including VSTOXX versus VIX, DAX futures and options, a collar strategy using a put spread, and daily options for covered call strategies.

The Fed and ECB may be confronting very different economic conditions, but what are the interest-rate markets actually pricing in? Mark Longo is joined by Damien Zinck of Eurex Sales America, Dr. Russell Rhoads of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and Dr. Larissa Adamiec of Purdue University to examine the changing paths for U.S. and European monetary policy. They discuss where market expectations differ from economists' forecasts, what the yield curve may be signaling, and how traders can use futures and options to express views on rates, volatility and central-bank policy. The panel also explores the two-year versus 10-year spread, relative-value opportunities between the U.S. and Europe, and developments across the German, French and Italian bond markets.

The sirens are sounding and the U.S. midterms are approaching—but are the markets actually worried? On this episode of The European Market Brief, host Mark Longo is joined by Russell Rhoads of Indiana University, Matt Koren of Eurex and Tom Shuttlewood of STOXX to examine the approaching U.S. midterm elections through a European derivatives lens. The crew breaks down what the VSTOXX term structure is telling us about election risk, how volatility has behaved around previous midterms and whether traders may actually be too focused on November. They also explore current options positioning, downside protection, European defense and financials, industrials and semiconductors, currency hedging, defined-outcome strategies and the growing role of retail traders in European derivatives. Plus, they discuss Eurex overnight liquidity and how traders can potentially react to election results while much of the U.S. market is closed. And in a fitting twist, actual tornado sirens interrupt the conversation as severe weather rolls through the Midwest. The weather may be stormy, but the volatility markets remain surprisingly calm.

What does it really take to access Europe's derivatives markets—and are they as fragmented and difficult to navigate as many U.S. traders believe? On this episode of The European Market Brief, Mark Longo is joined by Dr. Russell Rhoads along with Eurex's Marcel Rothacker, Head of Derivatives Trading Development, and Andre Eue, Head of Derivatives Market Development, for a deep dive into the evolving landscape of European market access. They explore the perception of fragmentation across Europe, the liquidity that may not always be visible in the order book, and the efforts underway to make European markets easier and more efficient to access. The conversation covers sponsored access, cloud connectivity, regulatory market making, vendor integration, electronic RFQ platforms, off-book trading, and the growing role of retail investors in European derivatives. The panel also discusses how Eurex is working to lower barriers for U.S. and global market participants, improve access to liquidity, and expand distribution through new technology, platforms, and brokers.

Interest rate swaps are the largest derivatives market in the world—but they're also one of the least understood. In this episode, host Mark Longo is joined by Chris Dopp and Milena Dimitrova from Eurex for an in-depth look at OTC interest rate swaps, central clearing, and why this market sits at the heart of the global financial system. Topics include: What interest rate swaps are and why institutions rely on them Why the OTC swaps market exceeds $500 trillion in notional outstanding How central clearing transformed the market after the financial crisis Counterparty risk, clearing houses, and capital efficiency Dodd-Frank, EMIR, MiFID, and the evolving regulatory landscape Why futures, options, and swaps are increasingly interconnected The future of OTC clearing, tokenization, and even... swaptions