If you are merely a day trader as opposed to long term investor do you still get a dividend?

Question

Just if you only hold on to a stock for a very short time ?

Answer 1

No.    By definition, in a day trade the stock is bought and sold the same day.  So he would not own the stock at the close of business.   Thus he would not receive a dividend.

If you buy a stock one day and sell the next, you can get the dividend.  (If the ex-div date was the date you held it at close.)  But that is not a day trade.

A previous answer says, "if you are the shareholder of record on the announcement date, then you get the dividend"   That is incorrect.  You must be the shareholder of record on the "record date" which means you must own the stock on the "ex-dividend" date to qualify for the dividend.   The announcement date is simply when the company announced they were going to pay the dividend.

Answer 2

if you are the shareholder of record on the announcement date, then you get the dividend, regardless of when you bought the stock or when you plan to sell it.

Answer 3

Yes, providing you owned the stock on the close of business, that the dividend was declared.  

Most day traders close all positions at day end.  So if you have closed your postions then you would not receive the dividends