CA symbols and stock suffixes that investors should know

When logging into online trading platforms to buy and sell stocks, you often encounter mysterious symbols appended to stock codes, such as CA, XD, XM, T1, H, and others. What do these symbols indicate, and why are they important for investment decisions?

CA Symbol - Near Future Corporate Action Signal

The CA symbol stands for Corporate Action, which indicates that a significant event related to the stock will occur within the next 7 days. Clicking on CA will display details about the upcoming activity and allow you to check the scheduled date.

There are various types of symbols following CA, each with different levels of importance and implications, detailed as follows:

First Group: X Symbols - Rights Not Entitled

Symbols starting with X derive from “Excluding,” meaning rights or privileges that investors will not receive if they buy the stock during this period.

XD - Excluding Dividend: Entitlement to dividends. If you buy the stock when it goes XD, you will not receive the dividend for that round but can receive it in the next cycle. Buying stock just one day before the XD date allows you to collect the dividend.

XM - Excluding Meetings: Buyers during this period will not have the right to attend shareholder meetings.

XW - Excluding Warrant: No entitlement to subscribe for warrants, which are derivative securities that can be converted into the underlying stock, usually at a 1:1 ratio.

XS - Excluding Short-term Warrant: No entitlement to subscribe for short-term warrants.

XR - Excluding Rights: No entitlement to subscribe for additional shares (rights offering), which companies issue to raise additional capital.

XT - Excluding Transferable Subscription Right: No entitlement to transferable rights to subscribe for new shares.

XI and XP: No entitlement to interest and principal repayments announced by the company, respectively.

XA - Excluding All: No rights or privileges announced by the company, generally a broad exclusion before reviewing detailed information.

XE - Excluding Exercise: No entitlement to convert securities into shares.

XN - Excluding Capital Return: No entitlement to capital refunds resulting from capital reduction, a process where the company reduces its capital to manage funds properly.

XB - Excluding Other Benefits: No entitlement to subscription rights for preferred shares, additional capital, or other securities allocated.

Second Group: T Symbols - Measures to Control Volatility

Stocks marked with T indicate rapid price increases that prompted the stock exchange to implement control measures.

T1 - Trading Alert Level 1: Can only be purchased with a Cash Balance account, lasting about 3 weeks.

T2 - Trading Alert Level 2: If the stock remains under T1 warning, it escalates to T2. Purchases still require cash and cannot be used as collateral, lasting 3 weeks.

T3 - Trading Alert Level 3: If T2 persists, it escalates to the final level. In addition to T2 restrictions, borrowing or offsetting (Settlement) is prohibited. This means that after selling the stock, the buying power will be gradually restored, allowing immediate reinvestment.

A Cash Balance account is suitable for beginners because it limits trading to actual funds.

Third Group: Investment Warning Symbols

These symbols serve as alerts to warn investors to exercise caution.

H - Trading Halt: Temporary suspension of trading for one session due to leaked news, but the company has not yet officially announced it to the market.

SP - Trading Suspension: Trading is halted for more than one session, possibly for the same reasons as H or due to failure to submit financial statements.

NP - Notice Pending: The company has a report to submit to the market. Once reported, it will change to NR (Notice Received).

NC - Non-Compliance: The company may be delisted due to prolonged losses or failure to submit financial statements. It has one year to rectify.

ST - Stabilization: The company is maintaining price stability, often used after IPO by overselling shares to keep the price above the IPO price during the first 30 days.

C - Caution: The company has issues and high financial risk, including the following conditions:

• Capital issues: Shareholders’ equity less than 50% of paid-up capital, court-approved rehabilitation, or regulatory directives for correction.

• Reporting issues: Auditors’ opinion is unqualified, or financial statements require correction or special review.

• Business issues: The company is a Cash Company (selling most assets, making assets mainly cash or short-term securities).

Summary

Understanding the CA symbol and the suffix symbols attached to stocks is essential knowledge for investors. Each symbol indicates different events or statuses. Carefully reviewing these details before making buy or sell decisions can help reduce risks and better protect your investments.