Incorrect alan!
In cases of a deferred ex-date, the only function of the record date is to determine on which shares the dividend is paid.
Because of that -- and this is a critical point -- it is the ex-dividend date that determines who qualifies for the dividend, not the record date.
Another common misconception is that a dividend is free money.
Many uninformed investors scramble to get into a stock before the ex-dividend date in the mistaken belief that they will somehow end up ahead for having done so. This is not true because on the ex-dividend date the previous day's closing price will be reduced by the amount of the dividend.
This is because the rights to the dividend are no longer transferred with the sale of the stock and since the payment of the dividend has reduced the net value of the company by the same amount, the net value of a share of stock is proportionally less.
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