Options Trading Tutorial

I own a few stocks that pay dividends, however, I own them through Scottrade.......Do I still get dividends?

Do I still receive dividends when they are paid out even though I own my stocks through Scottrade? Does it just come in money form or does the amount of shares I own automatically increase? If I am being restricted from receiving dividends then why am I using Scottrade and how do I purchase stocks and receive the dividends on those well paying stocks? Are there options that are as cheap as Scottrade ($7 a transactions)? If you can answer any of the questions then please help. Thank you.

Public Comments

1. You will get the money in your account as cash unless you have it set to automatically reinvest it.
2. I think Scottrade is just a discount broker, and yes you should receive dividends. When you signed up, there should have been options for what to do with your dividends. The most common one is to automatically reinvest them. If so, they will be credited to your account and used for the purchase of additional shares.
3. Of course. The dividends will be credited to your account as a cash balance; presumably the brokerage will pay a small amount of interest on these funds. Don't forget to note the dividends and interest on your tax return; you will get 1099 forms in January describing the amounts.
4. YES AND YOU RECEIVE THEM AS THEY BUILD UP TO AMOUNTS ABOVE 100.00 I THINK SCOTTRADE IS THE BEST
5. It will show as activity(a dividend) in your scott acount....I have no idea about you being restricted(restricted stock)? cheap options trades..............ou have to check .probably...
6. You do receive dividends from the companies if you are a shareholder on the day that the company requires you to be a shareholder by. If you have your account set up to automatically reinvest dividends, then when the dividends are paid, your shares in the company will increase. If not, it will just get deposited into a money market account run by Scottrade, and whoever they outsource to to run their money market funds. If you like Scottrade, stick with them. Sharebuilder is also good, they have $4 per transaction, but they require it to be an automatic investment, and the automatic investment plans only purchase on Tuesdays. Otherwise, it is 9.99 per trade. They also allow you to purchase fractions of shares. For someone just starting out, this works well. If you are more involved, the automatic investment plan can feel limiting. I personally use Bank of America for brokerage. If you have 25,000 or greater in deposit accounts with them (CDs, Savings, or checking) you can make 30 trades a month for free. I am not sure how much it costs regularly, but I think it is probably around 10 dollars which is good considering it is not a deep discount brokerage firm like scottrade or sharebuilder.
7. Yep, you'll get them.
8. Most answers were wrong; sorry, but according to Scottrade: Stock Dividend Reinvestment Scottrade does not currently offer dividend reinvestment as an account option. Cash dividends which are paid to your account are automatically swept into an interest bearing cash account. You have the option to have the cash dividends mailed from your account. Dividends are mailed twice monthly. Please contact your local Scottrade branch office to request this option. If you wish to participate in a dividend reinvestment program, you would need to sign up directly through the transfer agent of the company in which you own stock. You will need to hold the physical stock certificate in order to participate in the program. To request a certification be mailed to you, please contact your local Scottrade Branch Office. I can't guarantee this link will work, but it was available from my account using the Scottrade Help Center: https://trading.scottrade.com/home/FindInfoFrame.aspx?page=https://help.scottrade.com/C9/PlacingOrders/Document Library/Stock_-_Dividend_Reinvestment.htm Also for those starting out that want 3 Free Trades: Simply open an Account on the Scottrade homepage. Fill in your information on the Get Started page and when asked how you heard about Scottrade, select "Referred by a friend, relative, etc." Enter the following Referral code: HPVG1076 This code has a value of $21.00 (at $7.00 per trade) so it is an awesome freebie! After you sign-up, you'll see the free trades on the right side of your homepage! You also get McAfee® VirusScan® Plus software (a $39.99 value) at no charge. Good Luck!