Ex dividend date :

The first day of trading when the buyer of a stock is no longer entitled to the most recently announced dividend payment ( i.e. the trade will settle the day after the record date, too late for the buyer to appear on the shareholder record and receive the dividend.) The date set by the NYSE (and generally followed on other U.S. exchanges) is currently two business days before the record date. A stock that has gone ex-dividend is denoted by an x in newspaper listings on that date.

ex-dividend date :

The date on and after which a security is traded without dividends. If an investor buys a stock on ex-date, he is not eligible for dividend payout anymore. The ex-dividend date is two days before the date of record, when the shareholders of a company are determined.