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With its ruling on the solidarity surcharge, the Federal Constitutional Court perpetuates the division between East and West. The judges' ruling does not simplify matters for the new federal government – but has the opposite effect.

Recent events, and the contemptuous statements from the White House, significantly dampen hopes that Donald Trump can be negotiated with as a ‘dealmaker’.

Economists agree that a trade war results in losers on all sides. Nevertheless, some take the view that Trump's policies might actually strengthen Europe in some areas.

Taking control of ProSiebenSat.1 would be an important step for Italian TV group MFE to create a pan-European broadcasting group. But its latest move – a voluntary public takeover offer – is unlikely to persuade many investors to tender their shares.

Dax and MDax companies will pay out a whopping 61 billion euros in the current dividend season. The biggest three payouts come from Allianz, Deutsche Telekom, and Mercedes-Benz Group.

Trade disputes, political uncertainties, and an uncertain economic outlook, have led to Jenoptik taking a cautious approach to 2025. The revenue forecast is similar to 2024, but given a range of plus or minus 5%.

Defence expenditure is going to rise sharply in Europe. At last week's earnings presentation, Renk CEO Alexander Sagel discussed the likely impact on the company of strengthening the Bundeswehr.

An M&A wave is forming in the crypto industry. For spot traders like Coinbase and Kraken, the time has come to acquire derivatives platforms.

Equities analysts from the Association of German Public Banks (VÖB) anticipate that Germany's new investment package will give stock markets a significant boost. But the risk of a Dax correction remains.

The Genoverband has lost a second top executive. Peter Hanker resigned from his position last Monday, following the departure of CEO Ingmar Rega at the end of January.

Weight-loss injections helped make Novo Nordisk the most valuable company in Europe at one point in 2024. The stock has recently taken a fall, though some analysts still see a big future for its weight loss drugs.

Automotive supplier ZF is in the midst of a major global job reduction programme. The company wants to strengthen individual business segments by signing new partnerships.

Commercial property group Branicks, which has undergone a restructuring via the StaRUG procedure, is making progress with repaying its rescheduled debts. CEO Sonja Wärntges is sticking to her target of being able to return to the capital markets in 2026.

High quality market data is critical for asset managers and traders, some of whom accuse the exchanges of driving up fees. There are calls for more regulation of pricing.

Transaction volume in the German real estate market is set to grow this year. But JLL Germany CEO Konstantin Kortmann tells Börsen-Zeitung in an interview that activity will still be far below the ten year average.

The Sparkassen have reported strong earnings for 2024. But the savings banks are likely to find this year more challenging.

In April 2026 Hans Joachim Reinke will hand over the leadership of Union Investment. The CEO role will be taken on by André Haagmann, who has been on the Management Board since 2022.

RWE has scaled back its investment plan running until 2030 by 10 billion euros, citing uncertainty in the US as the main reason. The company also wants to see the German government move fast with decisions on new gas fired power stations.

Hundreds of billions of additional infrastructure and defence spending can only steer the German economy back on track if accompanied by structural reforms, economists say in response to a survey conducted by Börsen-Zeitung.

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the remaining Landesbanks have been refocusing their business models. The infrastructure investment package voted through last week is a big opportunity for them.

Oldenburgische Landesbank (OLB) has been sold to the French co-operative bank Crédit Mutuel, which already owns Targobank. Private equity investor Apollo led a group of buyers which acquired OLB back in 2018, and had been considering an IPO exit.

Tania von der Goltz does not want to continue at machine manufacturer Heidelberg. The CFO will step down at the end of March – her duties will be taken over by CEO Jürgen Otto. Heidelberg considers itself to be ‘optimally positioned’.