dax margin requirement 50,000 Euro per contract. 35 contracts margin requirement 1.7 Million euro. Unbelievable!
This was around new years eve 2009, the DAX only had an index value of 5,000 back then! So probably 1/5th the margin requirement you quote as well. I had a very good 2009, there was enough funds in my IB account to cover overnight margin for 35 lots. And once I hedged then IB was only requireing a much smaller FESX/FDAX spread margin.
Dang...got it... Even in the up markets? Every day is a higher day than the one before it. Seems to be that if you buy the close the next day is just another day of free money!
The DAX has risen from 14,000 to 24,000 points in that time, so I would expect the margin to almost double just based on that fact alone. Then the exchanges factor-in volatility as well. How much percentage wise could the DAX move over night these days. That could increase or decrease the margin requirements compared to five years ago had the index value stayed the same.