Captain JTK:
HWP/A is in the midst of this kind of trading now. Record date for the distribution ratio setting was 5/2, D-Day is 6/2, distribution ratio is 0.3814 (it went up from earlier estimates of 0.36 because the number of shares of HWP outstanding went down).
The "ex-distribution" HWP shares are called HWP WI and the Agilent "when issued" shares A WI in the Hewlett/Agilent FAQ, and they've been trading since 4/28, two business days prior to the record date. For more info, including the info statement issued by HWP to shareholders on 5/11, see:
hp.com
However, on the quote services I checked, they are trading variously as HWP*/A* (SI and Quote.Com), HWPw/Aw (Stocksmart), and HWP'I/A'I on my broker's service, so you may have to fish around. A* and A are trading at "almost" the same price (presumably the specialist is pocketing the small difference), HWP has been trading at HWP* + 0.3814 x A since 4/28. Not much activity in the HWP* (not many people offloading HWP* and just holding A), quite a bit in the A* today, though I don't see why since the A* and A are identical.
This means that the arbitrage gap that currently exists for COMS/PALM will go to zero by 7/7, the day the COMSV/PALMV start trading. You'll need to find out ahead of time what the correct symbol for COMSV is on your trading service, but you'll know if you're setting up the right sale by the price, since COMSV will be much lower than COMS.
David T. |
