Scheduled Transaction - unusual case

[listreader]

On Fri, 20 Nov 2015 22:43:57 +0000
"Wm..." <tcnw81 at tarrcity.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> Fri, 20 Nov 2015 11:19:37 <564F4819.7080104 at mtdata.com>
> Mike or Penny Novack <mpnovack at mtdata.com> wrote...
> 
> >On 11/20/2015 4:03 AM, Maf. King wrote:
> >> On Thu 19 November 15 22:40:09 listreader wrote:
> >>>
> >>> I own a security that pays a monthly dividend on the next-to-last
> >>> Thursday of every month.  No, I don't know why they chose that
> >>> schedule but that is what it is.  Besides scheduling each month
> >>> individually in GnuCash, is there any way to better automate it?
> >>>
>> >>
> >> I don't think GC will let you create this sort of schedule, how
> >> about you set it to happen on say 20th of the month and either
> >> manually tweak the 
> >>date after
> >> it has been created, or just live with a +/- 3 day discrepancy
> >> between your records and those of the security?
> >>
> >Probably the best way. In my working days I designed a "calendar 
> >program" for one of the world's largest financials. The problem is
> >much more difficult than at first appears and THIS particular
> >problem a perfect example of why. You say the rule is "next to last
> >Thursday of each month" but I would be willing to bet that is NOT a
> >completely correct description of the rule.
> >
> >There can be five Thursday's in a  month, and when that month is 
> >November, the next to the last is Thanksgiving, a holiday on which 
> >bank's don't do business, yes? In that case, when do they do it? Day 
> >before? Day after? (originally Thanksgiving was the last Thursday in 
> >November, but that changed to 4th Thursday in 1942).
> 
> I'm with MikeN on this one.  I think the *perceived* period isn't the 
> same as the *actual* period.  Next to last Thursday doesn't make
> sense unless there's some weird religious [1] thing going on.  Is
> that a possibility?
> 


Thanks all for your ideas.  I think I will stick with creating 12
separate monthly Scheduled Transactions for this.  And, at the EOY,
create the next year's 12 Scheduled Transactions.

Yes, I am in the USA.  I should have mentioned that.

Regarding the "NOT a completely correct description of the rule", there
are I am sure some exceptions but in US securities markets the "normal"
current practice appears to be that if a cash payment date falls on a
non-business day then the payment is done at the open of the related
market on the previous business day or, if the payer is also the holder
of the payee's account, at the close of the related market on the
previous business day. (the latter might occur if a brokerage pays
monthly interest on cash balance in a customer account and the
end-of-month falls on a weekend or holiday.)  Since virtually all cash
transfers are electronic now, this is easy to implement for both payers
and brokers.  Whether any of them try to hold onto it for a day or two
to snag the float is another story...

No, Wm, no "religious" interests involved, unless capitalism is
considered a "religious" thing.  Might be for some, I suppose.  In this
case the payer is a BDC (Business Development Company), a public
business whose business is lending money to other (non-public)
businesses.  In my youth they were called "loan sharks" but now they
are perfectly legal and even respectable ;-)

Thanks again to all for your thoughts on the scheduling question.

Ralph