HOW-TO Discover and Harness the Potential of the Dividend Market

Updated
Dividend Market as well as Dividend futures trading shines bright, in accordance with CME Group CME_Group Q3'23 Equity Insights Report. Dividend futures combined Q3 ADV reached 5.1K contracts, and OI averaged 284K contracts (+5% vs. Q2 2023).
Over 77K contracts have traded since the launch of Annual Dividend Index futures on Nasdaq-100 NDX and Russell 2000 RUT , which allow market participants increased options to manage U.S. dividend risk, especially as year end approaches.

Understanding Dividends and Dividend Market

👉 A dividend is the distribution of corporate earnings to eligible shareholders.
👉 Dividend payments and amounts are determined by a company's board of directors. Dividends must be approved by the shareholders by voting rights. Although cash dividends are common, dividends can also be issued as shares of stock.
👉 The dividend yield is the dividend per share, and expressed as a percentage of a company's share price.
👉 Many companies - constituents of S&P500 Index DO NOT PAY dividends and instead retain earnings to be invested back into the company.
👉 The S&P500 Dividend Points Index (Annual) tracks the total dividends from the constituents of the S&P 500 Index. The index provides investors the opportunity to hedge or take a view on dividends for U.S. stocks, independent of price movement. The index resets to zero on an annual basis.
👉 Using the S&P500 Dividend Point Index (Annual) as the underlying in financial products, investors can hedge or gain exposure to the dividend performance of the S&P500 Index.

Representation of S&P500 Dividend Points Index (Annual) over the past 5 years.
Dividends points are to be collected through the calendar year, and reset to Zero on an annual basis


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Understanding S&P500 Annual Dividend Index Futures

👉 The S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures SSDA1! calculates the accumulation of all ordinary gross dividends paid on the S&P500 index constituent stocks that have gone ex-dividend over a 12-month period. The amounts are expressed as dividend index points.
👉 The underlying index for S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures is the S&P500 Dividend Index. The methodology for the index can be found here at S&P Global website.
👉 Dividend index points specifically refer to the level of index points that are directly attributable to the dividends of index constituents. They typically only capture regular dividends and calculate this on the ex-date of the respective constituents within each index.
👉 In general, “special” or “extraordinary” dividends are not included as dividend points in the respective annual dividend indices.
👉 Futures contract Unit is $ 250 x S&P 500 Annual Dividends Index.

The Universe of S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures with expirations dates over the next several years

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Understanding the Difference between 'Today' and 'Tomorrow' using S&P500 Annual Dividend Index Futures, or what is SSDA1! and SSDA2! Futures contracts

👉 SSDA1! is a Front S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures contracts, that calculates expected dividend index points for current (in this time - 2023) calendar year.
👉 SSDA2! is a Next one S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures contracts, that calculates expected dividend index points for the next one (in this time - 2024) calendar year.
👉 The difference (futures spread) between front and next one can give an expression to traders and investors.
👉 Macro conditions are good, and U.S. economy is doing well, so futures spread values are below Zero (expected dividend points for next year are bigger rather current).
👉 Macro conditions are bad and U.S. economy is getting worst, so futures spread values are above Zero (expected dividend points for next year are lower rather current).

🤝 Happy Dividend Market Trading to Everyone! Enjoy!


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Note
Dec 29, 2023

👉 Were you ready for recent so-called "Santa Rally' or not, the difference between the Front S&P500 Annual Dividend Index futures contract SSDA1! and next one SSDA2! turned negative.
👉 This is a result an expected in 2024 dividends for SPX Index components hit all the history high.

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Note
Jan 10, 2024

CME Group is to launch on January 29, 2024 options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend futures.

To provide more ways to trade and manage U.S. dividend risk, CME Group will introduce options on S&P 500 Annual Dividend Index futures starting January 29.

☑ The new options contracts will build upon the robust Dividend futures suite at CME Group, which includes the S&P 500 Annual and Quarterly Dividend Index futures, Nasdaq-100 Annual Dividend futures, and Russell 2000 Annual Dividend futures.
☑ Market participants will gain new opportunities to effectively express their views on U.S. dividend risk and hedge dividend volatility exposures.
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