YES, it's prior to the ex/div date.
Trades should settle on Wed. the 25th for a Friday the 20th trade..... the last day to get in on the F/S. Remember, 3 market days for a transaction to clear. I believe that the latest they will arrive is Thursday before the open bell. Scottrade said hey expect shares split-posted by tommorrow even though the settlement date for a Friday trade is Wed. the 25th. The reason being that If you purchase before lunch the stopwatch starts that day. I was told that it never takes more than 5 days..... if it does they will take action on my part to collect the shares. The best thin that can be done to salvage the shareholder, company, and MM is to get the 3,000,000 for 1 F/S out to us, I'll bet a big majority would sell @.0001....... if Interwest waits to long, this will attract too much attention and the thing will be sitting at a dime with no one budging for less. The longer this plays out the worst case scenerio for all involved.