An interesting thing I found out was that apart from being share trader I have also become a “Dividend Stripper.” I shall explain this further as to what I do occasionally.
A dividend stripper is a trader who buys shares to qualify for the oncoming dividend and then sells shortly afterwards.
You buy before the “Ex Dividend” then you can sell the next day. Making sure of course you have the dates right in the first place.
But to qualify for the “Franking Credits” you need to own them for 45 plus 2 days. 1 day for buying, 1 day for selling plus 45 days = 47 days. Anything less and you miss out on those franking credits.
An interesting thing to note is that a stock’s share price invariably falls usually by the amount of the dividend paid after the ex dividend date expires.
Another trick is to buy the stock 2-3 weeks earlier in the hope that the share price goes up prior to ex = dividend.
IPO’S
The market seems to be inundated with IPO’S (Initial public offering) these new companies all seem predominately to be in the mining sector. All eager to get in on the current “minerals boom”
A few opened up higher than the initial entry price. Most seem to be exploration of some sort or other. The flavors of the month are either oil or uranium.
These are of course classified as “Speculative Stocks” Which can mean that once the cash has dried up and they haven’t found anything, they then have to either raise more cash or shut shop? And your cash has gone with them
The rags to riches stories are many, but the road is littered with the crushed hopes and dreams of the unwary investors.
All are searching for that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
So be wary, do your research, and don’t jump in blind. Be an informed investor.
If it looks to be too good to be true then it usually is.
Published: Friday 15th June, 2007
