Ann: Special Dividend , page-4

Alnby,

Somewhat against my better judgment I have owned this company for many years.

I say "against my better judgment" because the underlying businesses don't look to be that special or unique in terms of competitive barriers.

And yet they have very been strong creators of shareholder value over a long period of time, so much so that I am now well and truly free-carried in my holdings (i.e., I've more than recouped my initial capital outlay from dividends... even before the upcoming $1 special), and the share price is many multiple higher than my first acquisition.

So I'm a bit confused as to what to do now?

Do I sell and lock in a significant capital loss?
Do I wait for the stock to go ex- dividend next week, accept the cash dividend and then sell?
Or do I reinvest the dividend at what is looking like being a very attractive DRP discount to the theoretical ex- dividend price?

Any thoughts and or advice as to how the stock will trade after going ex-dividend? My sense is that if will fall by more than $1.00 due to the dynamics of the DRP and the fact that the DRP price is capped at 550c