The Golden Lounge

[ottoman]

Can't really help ya there, Buckey, SSP, Jim and others should have some links.

I thought that the following link might help

http://www.sec.gov/answers/dividen.htm

but it opened more questions for me than it answered.

...."When a company declares a dividend, it sets a record date when you must be on the company's books as a shareholder to receive the dividend. Companies also use this date to determine who is sent proxy statements, financial reports, and other information"

that's fine, if the record date occurs AFTER the ex-date.

..."Once the company sets the record date, the stock exchanges or the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. fix the ex-dividend date. The ex-dividend date is normally set for stocks two business days before the record date. If you purchase a stock on its ex-dividend date or after, you will not receive the next dividend payment. Instead, the seller gets the dividend. If you purchase before the ex-dividend date, you get the dividend."

What does normally mean? Does that mean that record dates can be set weeks BEFORE the ex-date in some circumstances?