off topic on splits
> I never understand why they say "holders of record", since if
> you buy the stock the day before the split (or in this case
> on Dec 17, a Friday), your shares split as well.
all it means that the company (or the investment bank / agent) gives the shares to whoever held it on dec 10.
however, any sales of the stock dec 10 - dec 17 (interval between "of record" and split date) must come with a "split due bill" which is basically a piece of paper that says "i know i'll get your split shares, since i was the owner on december 10, but i'll send them to you immediately."
99.9% of the time, this means things work seamlessly, and you really shouldn't worry about the of-record date. your broker takes care of everything for you. after ibm's last split, i was unlucky enough to be in the 0.1% when somehow the "due shares" get lost somewhere along the way, but even that can be solved with a lot of pestering phone calls to your broker. :-)
sometimes i see people posting on si that they plan to buy before the "of record" date and sell right after it, to get "free" shares of the stock. this is of course, completely ridiculous. if this opportunity existed, it would be completely arbed anyway. as it is, any sales after the of-record have to come with the shares-due bill.
verbose regards :-)
kas |
