⚠ Особые случаи

Stock Split

Shares are "subdivided", the price falls proportionally to the number of shares. Ratio examples: 2:1 (each old → 2 new, price halved), 3:1, 4:1, 10:1. Notable recent examples:

• NVIDIA 10:1 in June 2024 (NVDA $1,200 → $120, 10× share count)
• Apple 4:1 August 2020 (AAPL $500 → $125)
• Tesla 3:1 August 2022
• Google/Alphabet 20:1 July 2022

Psychologically: lower nominal price → more retail buyers (optical effect, enterprise value does not change). For tax purposes: cost basis is adjusted proportionally, no partial sale event.

Reverse Split

Shares are consolidated, usually for penny stocks to rescue a stock exchange listing (NASDAQ requires a minimum price > $1).

• Example Citigroup 2011 10:1 (after financial crisis, price at $4 → $40)

❌ Red flag: Reverse splits are often a harbinger of further price declines — the company is cosmetically fixing the price without solving its operational problems.

Dividend Cycle

Four key milestones between announcement and receipt of funds:

• Declaration Date T−21
  Announcement of the dividend by the board — amount, ex-date and payment date are communicated. Often coincides with the quarterly earnings report.
• Ex-Dividend Date T0
  The decisive day for the investor: anyone who held the stock in their account the evening before receives the dividend. The stock opens with a discount equal to the gross dividend.
• Record Date T+1
  Broker settlement. Usually 1–2 trading days after ex-date. The purchase must be fully settled by then — since 2024 (US T+1) the record date is usually one day after the ex-date.
• Payment Date T+7 to T+28
  The cash arrives in the settlement account — less withholding tax (in Germany automatically 26.375%; for US stocks additionally 15% US withholding via DTA). 1–4 weeks after ex-date depending on issuer.

Spin-Off

A subsidiary is separated as an independent stock. Shareholders of the parent receive proportional shares of the subsidiary credited to their account free of charge.

• GE Vernova — April 2024 spun off from GE (GEV as new stock, energy division)
• Kellanova — 2023 from Kellogg (snacks) vs. WK Kellogg (cereals) split
• WBD (Warner Bros Discovery) — May 2022 from AT&T (media division)

Tax-neutral in most cases. In Germany: cost basis is split proportionally between parent and subsidiary (FIFO logic is preserved) — details depend on the legal structure of the spin-off.

Capital Increase

New shares are issued; existing shareholders receive subscription rights.

• Dilution: Without participation, your percentage ownership in the company falls.
• Example Commerzbank 2023: 10:1 subscription right, share temporarily −20%.
• Subscription rights trading: Investors who do not participate can sell the subscription right on the exchange within ~2 weeks.

Share Buyback

The company purchases its own shares on the market and cancels them.

• EPS cosmetics: Fewer shares → earnings per share rises automatically (even without a profit increase).
• Cash return to shareholders: Often more tax-efficient than a dividend (no immediate withholding, only sellers are taxed).
• Apple 2013–2024: Over $500 billion in share buybacks — one of the main drivers of the price multiple.

❌ Warning: Buybacks are often debt-financed. Boeing made massive share repurchases before the 737 MAX crisis — and then faced a cash crunch.

What sTraderZ.com does

On stock splits, dividends and spin-offs your positions are adjusted automatically (new cost basis, new share count, dividend record). For M&A transactions you should check manually whether price and quantity are correctly reflected.

💡 After a spin-off, the new position appears automatically in your sTraderZ.com portfolio. Always verify the cost basis allocation (e.g. 70/30 for the GE Vernova split) — at foreign brokers the allocation is sometimes incorrect.

Friendly vs. hostile takeover

Friendly: The target company's board agrees to the offer. Hostile: The bidder bypasses the board and goes directly to the shareholders (tender offer). Hostile takeovers often end in protracted defence battles (poison pills, white knights).

Mandatory offer

Anyone who acquires more than 30% (Germany/Austria) or 33.33% (Switzerland) of a listed company MUST make an offer to all remaining shareholders — at the weighted average price of the last 3 months or higher (WpÜG, ÜbG). Goal: protection of minority shareholders.

Squeeze-Out

From a 95% stake, the bidder can force out the remaining shareholders against compensation. The price must be "adequate" — regularly reviewed by a court appraisal procedure, often with additional payments years later.

Merger Arbitrage Basics

• Offer $50, stock trades at $48 → 2% spread (deal risk premium)
• Spread ≈ deal probability × (gain on success) − (1 − probability) × (loss on failure)
• Typical calculation: Probability 85%, on success +$2, on failure −$8 → expected value: 0.85 × 2 − 0.15 × 8 = +$0.50

Deal risks

• ❌ Regulatory block (antitrust): Activision Blizzard 2022–23 waited for FTC approval — spread up to 15%.
• ❌ Financing risks (bidder cannot pay): WeWork-SoftBank 2019.
• ❌ Shareholder vote — target shareholders reject the offer.
• ❌ Due-diligence findings — bidder withdraws (material adverse change clause).

All-cash vs. stock vs. mixed deals

• All-cash: Simplest form. Taxable sale, FIFO rule applies.
• Stock-for-stock: Bidder shares in exchange for target shares. In Germany, on a genuine merger often tax-neutral (continuation of cost basis).
• Mixed: Combination of cash + shares (most common).

Examples from 2023/24

• Activision Blizzard / Microsoft ($95/share): After 21 months of review and FTC lawsuit, eventually completed. Spread temporarily up to 15%.
• Twitter / Musk ($54.20/share): Musk tried to exit the deal, court proceedings in Delaware, deal ultimately enforced.
• Silicon Valley Bank 2023: Emergency sale after collapse to First Citizens — not a classic M&A, but FDIC receivership.

Practical tips for retail investors

• ✅ After deal announcement, compare target price with market — wide spreads signal market doubts about the deal.
• ✅ Read deal documents: 8-K, Schedule TO, HSR filing — all available free at SEC/EDGAR.
• ✅ Watch conference call transcripts for "close uncertainty" language.
• ❌ Merger arbitrage is not "free money" — 5–10% of all announced deals fall through.

Loss Streak — What Now?

Loss streaks are inevitable. The question is not whether they come, but when. Anyone not prepared for them will make the worst decisions at exactly the moment when they are most costly. That is why: define escalation levels beforehand — not in the middle of the storm.

Concrete escalation levels

Loss streaks are teachers — if you document them

Every series contains information. Either the strategy is broken, the market has changed, or your execution has cracks. You will never find that out in the heat of the moment — but you will in your journal. After each series, write three sentences: what was the common pattern? What was my emotional state? What will I do differently next time? The best loss streak is the one you emerge from with a better checklist.

💡 Further reading: Chapter 6.0 — The 1R Rule shows why clean position sizing automatically keeps every loss streak within manageable limits.