- What exactly is an ex-dividend date and why does it matter?
- The ex-dividend date (also called "ex-date") is the first day a stock trades without the right to the upcoming dividend. Stock exchanges set it one business day before the record date. If you own shares by the close of the trading day before the ex-date, you qualify for the dividend — that is, your settlement (T+1 in the U.S. since 2024) will complete by the record date. Buying on or after the ex-date means you miss that payment. Tracking these dates is essential for income investors.
- Why does the stock price usually drop on the ex-dividend date?
- On the ex-date, new buyers are no longer entitled to the upcoming dividend, so the market adjusts the opening price downward by approximately the dividend amount. For example, if a stock pays a $0.50 dividend and closed at $50.00, it will typically open around $49.50 on the ex-date. This is a normal mechanical adjustment — not a sign that anything is wrong with the company. The price often recovers in subsequent sessions.
- How do I find ex-dividend dates for stocks I own?
- You can find upcoming ex-dates on your broker's platform, on financial data sites like Nasdaq.com or Yahoo Finance (look for the stock's dividend history or "key statistics" section), or in the company's investor relations press release announcing the dividend. Enter the date here to track it alongside the rest of your holdings and get a timely reminder before the cutoff.
- Will I still get notified if I close this browser tab?
- Browser notifications via the Web Notifications API require the page to be open (or, in some browsers, a service worker to be running). This tool checks and fires alerts each time you load the page. For reliable daily reminders, bookmark this page and open it once a day — or keep a tab pinned. For hands-off alerting, pair this export CSV with a calendar app that supports recurring reminders.
- Is my data private? Does anything get sent to a server?
- All data is stored exclusively in your browser's
localStorage. Nothing is transmitted to any server. If you clear your browser storage or switch browsers, your data will not carry over — use the CSV export to keep a backup.