I woke up today opened my web browser at 8:00 and saw Tesco down by 3%. I thought to my self what happened today? the FTSE 100 is up, the sun is in the sky so why the hell Tesco is down?

Then I rememebr, it is the 29/04 – Tesco’s ex-dividend date. On this day shares are going down to offest the dividend. This is the way the market works and you always need to know your share ex-dividend date!

And because I bought Tesco using spread betting for June, the dividend was already in the price, so my Tesco position didn’t go down much today.