How to handle various stock thingies

[Eric Schwartz]

I'm just getting myself set up with Gnucash 1.6.0, and it's *much* easier and saner
than with the 1.4.something version I originally tried with.  So much so that I
honestly do feel I can do without Quicken now.  Many thanks!

So, in the process of getting myself set up, I'm trying to figure out how to handle
a little weirdness.  I used to work for Hewlett-Packard (and now I'm with Agilent),
so I have lots of HP stock, and I don't know quite how to handle the HWP-A spinoff.
The way it's described in the various FAQs, it was essentially a dividend that was
paid in stock instead of USD.  The cost basis of HWP was reduced accordingly, so 
there was no tax liability.  

I've gone so far as to enter all the transactions leading up to the split.  I know
how many shares of HWP I had, and how many shares of A I got.  Furthermore, I even
know the cost basis for the A shares.  I just need some help on how to represent
this in gnucash.

So:

* How do I represent the changed cost basis for my HWP shares?  Do I just re-enter
  the transactions with the new, lower cost basis?  (I know this isn't gnucash-
  specific.  I couldn't figure this out in Quicken either. :)

* How do I handle the spinoff of A?  My guess would be to create a new cash account
  under the brokerage account, and fill it with the value of the dividend, and
  then buy X number of shares of Agilent, using that account as the source of the $.

* That aside, this is easily the most usable version of gnucash I've seen yet.  Kudos,
  eh!

-=Eric