Keep in mind that only securities held at your broker-dealer will show on your monthly statement. Margin Margin is the extension of credit to the investor by the broker-dealer to be used for securities transactions. To open a margin account, you deposit cash or negotiable securities as a partial payment or pledge for the securities purchased or to be purchased by the broker on your behalf. The margin agreement also contains a clause whereby you and the broker-dealer agree that all disputes concerning the account will be taken to arbitration and not to court. Stock splits Stock splits are where a share is split up into a larger number of shares.
Reverse splits are where a number of shares are combined to form a smaller amount of shares.
If, in a reverse split, the split will result in a fractional share, the value of that fractional interest will normally be paid in cash to the investor. In general, the price of the shares is adjusted so that the total value of the shares you owned before the split will be the same as the total value after the split. The usual reason for splits is to adjust the per-share market price of the stock. As splits do not have much effect on the actual value of your investment, the only real importance is to be aware of the actual number of shares you hold in case you want to sell, or in case dividends per share are distributed. Dividends Dividends are payments designated by the board of directors of a corporation to be distributed to the shareholders on a per-share basis.