corporate actions and events
Educational articles in this subcategory.
Tracking Special Dividends and One-Time Distributions: When Companies Return Windfall Cash
In December 2023, Costco announced a **$15.00 per share special dividend**—a one-time payout totaling **$6.7 billion**. Shareholders who owned 100 sha...
Cash vs. Stock Dividends: Timeline and Taxation
Most investors get dividend taxation wrong in predictable ways: they **chase ex-dividend dates** hoping for "free money," **miss the 61-day holding re...
Option Adjustments After Corporate Actions
Option traders who ignore corporate actions learn expensive lessons. That **$50 call you bought** might become a contract delivering **5 shares at an ...
Proxy Voting, Record Dates, and AGM Season: Your Ownership Rights as an Active Shareholder
Every year, approximately **4,500 U.S. public companies** hold annual general meetings (AGMs) where shareholders vote on board members, executive comp...
Impact of Index Additions or Deletions
The textbook "index inclusion effect"—where stocks jump **8.8% on average from announcement to effective date**—has largely disappeared. S&P Global's ...
Monitoring Insider Transactions and Form 4s
Insider buying—when executives and directors spend their own money on company stock—shows up in portfolios as **a signal that's either incredibly valu...
How Earnings Announcements Change Liquidity
Earnings announcements don't just move stock prices—they **transform the market microstructure** around those stocks. Implied volatility spikes before...
Event Calendars and Trading Playbooks
Corporate events don't happen randomly—**they follow predictable calendars with published deadlines**. Dividend dates are announced weeks in advance. ...
Tax Considerations for Corporate Actions
Corporate actions create tax complexity that trips up even experienced investors. Stock splits are non-taxable (but change your per-share basis). Spin...
How to Interpret 13D and 13G Activist Filings: When Major Investors Signal Their Moves
When Carl Icahn filed a 13D on Apple in August 2013, he disclosed a position exceeding **$1 billion** and demanded the company increase its stock buyb...
Using Merger Arbitrage Spreads
Merger arbitrage looks like free money on paper: buy the target at current price, collect the deal price at close, pocket the spread. But the returns ...
Corporate Restructurings and Bankruptcy Outcomes: What Shareholders Actually Recover
Here's the number that should change how you think about distressed stocks: **common shareholders recovered an average of just 0.97% of their investme...
Share Buybacks: Accelerated Programs and Tender Offers
Share buyback announcements generate headlines, but most investors misunderstand what they signal. The pattern: companies announce **massive repurchas...
Rights Issues and Follow-On Offerings
When companies raise capital by issuing new shares, existing shareholders face a binary outcome: **participate and maintain your ownership percentage*...
Glossary: Corporate Action Terminology
This glossary covers the key terms you'll encounter when tracking corporate actions. Definitions are practical, focused on what matters for investment...
Mergers, Acquisitions, and the Shareholder Vote Process
Merger announcements trigger predictable investor mistakes: **target shareholders sell immediately** (capturing only part of the premium), **acquirer ...
Stock Splits, Reverse Splits, and Share Consolidations
Stock splits trigger predictable investor mistakes: **treating split announcements as bullish news** (splits don't change company value), **forgetting...