If you own an XYZ call option with a strike price of $80—meaning you have the right to purchase the stock at that price—the split doesn’t mean you’re suddenly “out of the money.”
For most trading activity, the effect of a stock split is pretty straightforward. But naturally, investors with more complicated positions in the stock—for instance, if they’re short-selling it or trading options —may wonder how the split affects these outstanding transactions.
If XYZ Bank announces a 2:1 stock split (also coined a 2-for-1 split), it gives investors one additional share for each share they already own. Now, each one is now worth $50 instead of $100.
When a corporation retires its shares of treasury stock, the stock certificates are canceled. True If a company retires preferred stock, ________. A) total stockholders' equity will decrease
A company will sometimes announce a stock split when the price of the shares has risen to the point that it might be unappealing to investors who are more comfortable with lower-priced securities.
Keep in mind that you may not sell your stock for several years after a split, so it doesn’t hurt to do a little research and figure out if your shares were sliced up at any point after the initial purchase. Of course, you’ll want to adjust your basis each and every time the stock was split.
First, let’s look at short-sellin g , a strategy in which the investor is betting that the stock price will decline. Basically, the investor borrows shares through his/her brokerage account and agrees to replace them back at a later date. She immediately sells the stock on the secondary market, hoping that s/he’ll be able to buy the same number of shares at a lower price before the loan comes due. (See " An Overview of Short Selling .")
Such orders instruct the broker to sell a stock if the price goes above or below a given level. Often, people use a stop order to protect against significant losses, especially in cases where they can’t, or don’t intend to, monitor the stock price regularly.
While you may have paper stock certificates for the original shares you purchased, don’t necessarily wait for new ones to appear in the mail following a stock split. More companies are now issuing new shares in book-entry form (i.e. electronically) rather than the old-fashioned way.
Daniel Kurt is an expert on retirement planning, insurance, home ownership, loan basics, and more. Daniel has 10+ years of experience reporting on investments and personal finance for outlets like RothIRA.com, AARP Bulletin, and Exceptional magazine, in addition to being the "Bank of Dad" column writer for Fatherly.com. He earned both his Bachelor of Science in business administration and his Master of Arts in communication from Marquette University.
Eligibility for Dividends. One of the common questions that investors have after a stock split is whether their new shares are eligible for dividends. Unfortunately, this usually isn’t the case. Only shares held as of the dividend’s date of record qualify for dividend payouts.