Santander Stocks

The Santander Group, also known as Banco Santander, is a multinational financial company founded in 1857. Based in Madrid, Spain, the Santander history books show that it was initially a retail bank. It acquired Grupo Financiero InverMexico in 1996 and, following a merger with Banco Central Hispano (BCH) in 1999, Santander became one of the largest banking corporations in the world.

However, the initial merger was far from smooth. Disagreements resulted in BCH executives leaving the newly merged company, an incident that affected the Santander share price. The company’s fortunes soon rebounded and, through several acquisitions between 2000 and 2012, it became a multinational.

In 2013, Santander shares received another bump after the company acquired 51% of Spain’s largest consumer finance business, El Corte Ingles. This deal and many others have helped Santander achieve a total market capitalisation of more than $69 billion on the EU Stocks 50 stock market.

The Santander share price history started in 1988. Santander shares traded at $0.077 and didn’t break the $1 mark until 1995. Since then, Santander shares have undergone a series of bullish and bearish periods, most notably during the 2008 financial crisis.

With the global banking sector hit by the biggest financial downswing since the Great Depression, the Santander share price dropped almost 800%. Santander shares rallied as the global economy stabilised and, by 2010, they’d almost returned to pre-recession levels. Today, the Santander share price remains significantly higher than it was once the company started trading in 1988.

Why trade Santander shares? Deciding whether to trade or invest comes down to whether or not you want to own the underlying asset. Investing requires you to buy stock. That means you own the shares and, in turn, a piece of the company. If the value of Santander shares increases from the point you invested, you’ll make money. If they don’t, your investment will lose value.

Trading is different. You’re speculating on Santander share price movements, rather than buying the underlying asset. This means you can go long or short and make a profit if Santander shares increase or decrease in value. That’s why some people opt to trade Santander share price, rather than invest.