Corrections Corporation of America Message Board

I understand and agree with what you say,
most
especially your first 9 words, reproduced here, (emphasis
added)

" _I_F_ this dividend is handled like a stock
split..."

IF, on the other hand, this is really a
cash-equivalent payout, and a taxable event to the recipient,
which I belive will be required to satisfy the IRS,
then it is really like selling a stock after it has
gone ex-dividend and before the funds have been
credited. In the latter case, the dividend belong to the
seller, not the buyer. The buyer purchases the underlying
investment (stock), but without (ex-) the
dividend.

Kinda like an ex-con, or an ex-Marine.

please
don't let this nit-picking quibble deter you from
continuing to make valuable contributions, as you have so
often in the past.

The Merchant Actually Can
Keep Ex-Dividends, Really

Thanks, but I'm not juggling. Just having a hoot
about all of us wishing for higher prices for so long
and now hoping that the stock stays low. I did pick
up just a few yesterday mistakenly believing that I
wouldn't get any PIK--these shares are in a different
account than my others and getting rid of a miniscule
amount of the B shares (plus paying the tax) will be
more trouble than it's worth. Anyhow, I got them @ 1
7/8 so I should be able to dump them in the next week
without a loss--maybe even some pocket change
profit.

Now we'll see if my hunch is true--that the company
releases whatever info it can to keep the price of the
common up.

I guess what I was trying to say was that, unlike
with a cash dividend, record date and x-dividend date
are not necessarily the same thing with a stock
dividend. When a stock splits, it is called a stock
dividend, but, unlike a PIK, there is no taxable gain
there.

w_

overdawall,
If this dividend is handled like a
stock split, yahoo is correct. What happens is MT has a
record date and if someone sells their stock between the
record date and the distribution date, they are required
to surrender the distribution to the buyer. Your
broker will take care of this detail. This is why the
stock hasn't budged on x dividend day, just as on the
stock split x-dividend day the stock doesn't start
trading at half price. Not until the extra shares are
actually issued does the price change. In this case, yahoo
is probably right.

w_

Try this one from PRNewswire - it seems to have
the details on dividend and record dates. Under the
heading "Prison Realty Declares 1999 REIT
Dividend".

http://www.prnewswire.com/gh/cnoc/comp/208225.html

Since it was dated Sept 5 it may have been
revised. We'll see tomorrow.
Good luck with the
juggling.

Yahoo previously had 9/12 as the ex-div date. It was changed to 9/25. That, coupled with "scnippers" posts on the subject, convince me that 9/25 is correct.

How do you get around this?

NASHVILLE,
Tenn., Sept. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Prison Realty Trust, Inc.
(NYSE: PZN - news) announced today that its board of
directors has declared a dividend of $145.0 million payable
on Friday, September 22, 2000 to the Company's
common stockholders of record as of Thursday, September
14, 2000, in connection with the Company's election
to be taxed and qualify as a real estate investment
trust, or REIT, with respect to its 1999 taxable year.


There ain't no way that 9/25/00 is an ex-div
date!!

Y*hoo is not famous for scrupulous accuracy in such
things: just read their disclaimers.

Anyone else see the irony here?

Looks like investors might be in for another screwing--this time because the price goes up.

For a moment it almost feels good to be a long term holder.

"schnipper" says he spoke to NYSE rep about it,
any reason to disbelieve? (14991 and 14986) He says
he was told it is being treated as a special, so not
the usual ex-div date-- I think he may have
misunderstood partially, though, because he said you have to
own the stock on the payable date to get the div-- if
that were true, the payable date and the record date
would be the same. So, I think the ex-div date is the
day after the record date. But a call to the company
certainlt seems to be in order. I tried this a.m. but of
course all were at the meeting.

The "due bill" concept fits the fact that the
stock price has been steady. However, I still refer to
the press release, that clearly and simply stated
that the dividend is payable "to the Company's common
stockholders of record as of Thursday, September 14, 2000". No
other qualification or requirement was stated. The fact
that the dividend is payable on September 22, 2000 is
immaterial. Dividends are always payable subsequently to the
record date.

What you hypothesize is consistent
with the stock's behavior, but not with the press
release. If the company violates the press release, there
could be another lawsuit.

Also, it should be
noted that this is an important issue, because the
period from September 18 to September 22 is half of the
10 trading days for the first conversion period
pricing. Having the dividend still included in the price
of the common for those 5 days would significantly
impact the conversion rate.