Euronext scraps rules on dividend calls

2 comments / January 22, 2016

Until a decade ago, it was common for market makers to accumulate massive open interest in call options before dividend. The boosted open interest in in-the-money calls was usually created against related entities under the same holding.

The idea was to take advantage of retail investors neglecting to early exercise their in-the-money calls before dividend. Having a short call non-assigned means pocketing a piece of free dividend. The non-assignments are divided pro rata.

Massive size in dividend calls

New round in option exchange competition

9 comments / January 19, 2016

The alternative option exchange TOM has released a fresh research report. The option prices across the three exchanges with options on Dutch stocks are compared.

The best bids and offers in the market on Eurex, Euronext and TOM are compared for December 2015. TOM hired reputable market research company Markit to do the job. Good decision, because nobody would argue with Markit.

Landing a job at Optiver

10 comments / January 12, 2016

Optiver is a worldwide trading firm, active on all major financial markets. While it’s originally a Dutch firm, the CEO is a German and the employees come from all over the world (40 nationalities, according to their latest annual report).

Landing a job at Optiver isn’t easy. The mathematical tests are notorious. Optiver and Flow Traders also recruit in India, at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay. The IIT is the most prestigious university of country.

Malayali at Optiver

Amsterdamtrader turns seven years old

11 comments / January 6, 2016

Time flies when you’re having fun. Amsterdamtrader turns seven years old today! Not my habit to write about my website. Even skipped attention to the first six birthdays.

Anyway, the first post ever appeared on this website on January 6th, 2009. About the same time as sites such as Zerohedge and Josh Brown’s Reformedbroker. The first post was a true gem, with the title of “First post“. Short, to the point and a catchy title.

Some numbers

Optiver APAC sacks CEO

35 comments / December 23, 2015

Luke McElnea was heralded as CEO at Optiver Asia Pacific, because he was coming from the IT. He succeeded Paul Hilgers as CEO of Optiver APAC in Sydney. Hilgers went to lead the Optiver group from the headquarters in Amsterdam.

Milestone

Massive size in dividend calls

Malayali at Optiver

Some numbers

Milestone

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