ex-

(Latin: without) A prefix used to exclude specified benefits when a security is quoted. A share is described as ex-dividend (xd or ex-div) when a potential purchaser will no longer be entitled to receive the company's current dividend, the right to which remains with the vendor. Government stocks go ex-dividend 36 days before the interest payment. Similarly, ex-rights, ex-scrip, ex-coupon, ex-capitalization (ex-cap), and ex-bonus mean that each of these benefits belongs to the vendor rather than the buyer. Ex-all means that all benefits belong to the vendor. Cum- (Latin: with) has exactly the opposite sense, meaning that the dividend or other benefits belong to the buyer rather than the seller. The price of a share that has gone ex-dividend will usually fall by the amount of the dividend, while one that is cum-dividend will usually rise by this amount. However, in practice market forces usually mean that these falls and rises are often slightly less than expected.