In trying to capture dividends there is no free lunch. In fact, since Wall street is involved, the best you can hope for is an affordable lunch. I have looked at, and tried quite a few approaches—most of which don’t work, but I have found one approach that does work with some ETFs. Ironically you don’t actually collect the dividend most of the time, but …
In 2010 options symbols transitioned to a new terminology. Unfortunately Fidelity and Schwab decided they didn’t want to use the standard, generic format, so they invented their own “better” version of the new symbols. Here are the new formats: Generic, industry standard format: “SPY 10417C00114000” (<symbol> <YYMMDD> <C or P><5 digit whole dollar strike><3 digit decimal>). Schwab’s systems: “SPY 04/17/2010 114.00 …
I have only found one site that offers completely free option charts for stocks, Exchange Traded Products, and indexes: BigCharts. I provide more information about it below. Recently Schwab (StreetSmart Pro) and Fidelity (Active Trader Pro and standard web site) have started offering option charts to customers, but they require you to at least setup an account with them. Neither of these use the “standard” …
Some SPY dividend capture strategies I don’t recommend: 1. Sell SPY short right before closing the day before ex-dividend Rationale: Securities tend to drop by about the dividend amount when trading begins (pre-open trading) Problem: The buyer that bought the stock from you deserves the dividend and the loaner that loaned you the stock you sold (probably unknowingly), deserves the dividend too. Two dividends, one …
The 2019 Ex-Dividend and Pay Date information below is based on SPDR’s distribution schedule.
