SIX Announces Ten Fold Increase In Quarterly Dividend

[The Interpreter]

But, the dividend will be ten times what it was. The increase is NOT ten fold:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/six-flags-announces-ten-fold-increase-in-quarterly-dividend-2012-02-08

I wonder if some fun loving legal beagle will call them on the SEC carpet. This is quite the blooper.

[The Interpreter]

Oopsie, filed with SEC:

http://services.corporate-ir.net/SEC/Document.Service?id=P3VybD1odHRwOi8vaXIuaW50Lndlc3RsYXdidXNpbmVzcy5jb20vZG9jdW1lbnQvdjEvMDAwMTEwNDY1OS0xMi0wMDc4MjUvZG9jL1NpeEZsYWdzRW50ZXJ0YWlubWVudENvcnBvcmF0aW9uXzhLXzIwMTIwMjA4LnBkZiZ0eXBlPTImZm49U2l4RmxhZ3NFbnRlcnRhaW5tZW50Q29ycG9yYXRpb25fOEtfMjAxMjAyMDgucGRm

[jcgoble3]

Huh? That IS tenfold. From Dictionary.com:

2. ten times as great or as much.

If the new dividend is ten times what it was previously, then it is a tenfold increase.

[The Interpreter]

No, the dividend is tenfold. The increase is only ninefold. They said the increase was tenfold. It went from six cents a quarter to sixty. The increase is fifty-four cents. A tenfold increase would be an increase OF sixty cents (to sixty-six cents), not of only fifty-four cents TO sixty cents.

[jcgoble3]

That's odd. I've always heard it used to mean "an increase to ten times what it was previously". I've never seen it used the way you just defined it. Interesting.

[kingsrattler]

He's using the same way.. but when you already are getting 6 cents.. and the dividend is 60 cents, then you are only getting an increase of 54 cents. 54 cents is not tenfold of 6 cents. So yes, you are getting 10 times as much as you would have been getting, but the increase from what you were getting is not.

To put another way, if you have a dollar, and tomorrow you have 10 times as much money, you now have 10 dollars.. but you did not increase your money by 10 dollars, you only increased by 9 dollars.

[jcgoble3]

I understand that, I'm just saying that that's not the definition I've always heard and used. The definition I've always heard is that a "tenfold increase" means "an increase to ten times what it was before" (e.g. from 6 cents to 60 cents), not "an increase of ten times what it was before", which is what Terpy is using (and in this case, would mean a new dividend of 66 cents). I've never heard the latter until this thread.

[jcgoble3]

Aha! Dr. Math says this:

Although some people might quibble over "twofold increase," arguing

that it has to mean the _increase_ itself is twice the original

value, and thus a tripling, a quick web search makes it clear that

the phrase universally refers to a mere doubling: an increase _to_

twice the original amount.

Also, eHow says this:

"Two-Fold" Increase

So, applying the definition to a "twofold" increase, this would mean that the new quantity is now twice as large as the original quantity. So, for example, if a stock worth $20 experienced a twofold increase, then the stock would be worth $40. Or, if a company experienced a twofold increase in demand for a product, then demand for the product would have doubled.

Debate

Although the definition of "twofold" is commonly used to refer to the doubling of a particular quantity, when speaking of an increase, it is occasionally used to refer to the tripling of a quantity. This is because the word "increase" is being modified by "twofold," meaning that the increase -- the amount being added to the original amount -- is twice the size of the original quantity. If you were to say that an amount experienced a twofold increase, then this might suggest that the amount is now three times its original size: the original amount plus an increase twice the size of the original amount.

So from the perspective of the most common definition, SIX is correct in their announcement of a "tenfold increase", but Terpy's viewpoint is not invalid either. eHow goes on to say that "professionals will generally avoid using" such terms, which is SIX's only real error here.

[The Interpreter]

Which is why I said fun loving legal beagles would quibble. The rules for securities disclosure are very precise. I would not be surprised to see some litigator do what they do.

Terp, who knows of these things (for some reason)