The DAX is a stock market index consisting of the 40 major German blue chip companies trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It is a total return index. Prices are taken from the Xetra trading venue. According to Deutsche Börse, the operator of Xetra, DAX measures the performance of the Prime Standard's 40 largest German companies in terms of order book volume and market capitalization. DAX is the equivalent of the UK FTSE 100 and the US Dow Jones Industrial Average, and because of its small company selection it does not necessarily represent the vitality of the German economy as a whole.
In finance, a futures contract is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset transacted is usually a commodity or financial instrument. The predetermined price of the contract is known as the forward price or delivery price. The specified time in the future when delivery and payment occur is known as the delivery date. Because it derives its value from the value of the underlying asset, a futures contract is a derivative.
A futures exchange or futures market is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized futures contracts defined by the exchange. Futures contracts are derivatives contracts to buy or sell specific quantities of a commodity or financial instrument at a specified price with delivery set at a specified time in the future. Futures exchanges provide physical or electronic trading venues, details of standardized contracts, market and price data, clearing houses, exchange self-regulations, margin mechanisms, settlement procedures, delivery times, delivery procedures and other services to foster trading in futures contracts. Futures exchanges can be organized as non-profit member-owned organizations or as for-profit organizations. Futures exchanges can be integrated under the same brand name or organization with other types of exchanges, such as stock markets, options markets, and bond markets. Non-profit member-owned futures exchanges benefit their members, who earn commissions and revenue acting as brokers or market makers. For-profit futures exchanges earn most of their revenue from trading and clearing fees.
Euronext N.V. is a pan-European bourse that provides trading and post-trade services for a range of financial instruments.
The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the world's 3rd oldest and 12th largest stock exchange by market capitalization. It has operations from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm.
The London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange was a futures exchange based in London. In 2014, following a series of takeovers, LIFFE became part of Intercontinental Exchange, and was renamed ICE Futures Europe.
SIX Swiss Exchange, based in Zürich, is Switzerland's principal stock exchange. SIX Swiss Exchange also trades other securities such as Swiss government bonds and derivatives such as stock options.
Xetra is a trading venue operated by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange based in Frankfurt, Germany.
Deutsche Börse AG, or the Deutsche Börse Group, is a German multinational corporation that offers a marketplace for organizing the trading of shares and other securities. It is also a transaction services provider, giving companies and investors access to global capital markets. It is a joint stock company and was founded in 1992, with headquarters in Frankfurt. On 1 October 2014, Deutsche Börse AG became the 14th announced member of the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative.
European Energy Exchange (EEX) AG is a central European electric power and related commodities exchange located in Leipzig, Germany. It develops, operates and connects secure, liquid and transparent markets for energy and related products, including power derivative contracts, emission allowances, agricultural and freight products.
NYSE Euronext, Inc. was a transatlantic multinational financial services corporation that operated multiple securities exchanges, including the New York Stock Exchange, Euronext and NYSE Arca. NYSE merged with Archipelago Holdings on March 7, 2006, forming NYSE Group, Inc. On April 4, 2007, NYSE Group, Inc. merged with Euronext N.V. to form the first global equities exchange, with its headquarters in Lower Manhattan. The corporation was then acquired by Intercontinental Exchange, which subsequently spun off Euronext.
MATIF SA is a private corporation which is both a futures exchange and a clearing house in France. It was absorbed in the merger of the Paris Bourse with Euronext NV to form Euronext Paris. Derivatives formerly traded on the Matif and other members of Euronext are traded on LIFFE Connect, the electronic trading platform of the London International Financial Futures Exchange. LIFFE is an affiliate of Euronext.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) is an American company formed in 2000 that operates global financial exchanges and clearing houses and provides mortgage technology, data and listing services. Listed on the Fortune 500, S&P 500, and Russell 1000, the company owns exchanges for financial and commodity markets, and operates 12 regulated exchanges and marketplaces. This includes ICE futures exchanges in the United States, Canada, and Europe; the Liffe futures exchanges in Europe; the New York Stock Exchange; equity options exchanges; and OTC energy, credit, and equity markets.
In finance, an option is a contract which conveys to its owner, the holder, the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific quantity of an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price on or before a specified date, depending on the style of the option. Options are typically acquired by purchase, as a form of compensation, or as part of a complex financial transaction. Thus, they are also a form of asset and have a valuation that may depend on a complex relationship between underlying asset price, time until expiration, market volatility, the risk-free rate of interest, and the strike price of the option. Options may be traded between private parties in over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, or they may be exchange-traded in live, public markets in the form of standardized contracts.
U.S. Futures Exchange (USFE) was a Chicago-based, electronic futures exchange that terminated all exchange operations on December 31, 2008. On December 17, 2008, MF Global had announced USFE was for sale or would be closed by December 31, 2008. USFE was originally Eurex US who bought BrokerTec, but applied and received its own futures exchange license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In October 2006, Man Group bought a majority share of Eurex US and rebranded the exchange U.S. Futures Exchange. It has been working to release a set of new products under a strategy of bringing innovation to the more than century-old derivatives business. The chief executive officer was John Spiegel.
STOXX Ltd. is a global index provider, covering the world's markets across various asset classes – developing, maintaining, distributing and marketing a comprehensive global family of strictly rules-based and transparent indices. STOXX, headquartered in Zug with key locations in New York, Eschborn and London, is part of ISS STOXX which is part of Deutsche Börse Group. STOXX calculates more than 17,000 indices and in addition acts as the administrator for the DAX indices.
LCH is a financial market infrastructure company headquartered in London that provides clearing services to major international exchanges and to a range of OTC markets. The LCH Group includes two main entities: LCH Limited based in London and LCH SA based in Paris.
Rudolf Ferscha is an Austrian banker and business executive who was previously an executive board member of Goldman Sachs Bank in Frankfurt and of Deutsche Börse AG, one of Germany's top 30 listed companies. He also served as CEO of Eurex and as Chairman of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Ferscha holds a law degree from the University of Vienna.
Financial market infrastructure refers to systems and entities involved in clearing, settlement, and the recording of payments, securities, derivatives, and other financial transactions. Depending on context, financial market infrastructure may refer to the category in general, or to individual companies or entities.
