Viacom/CBS

Hi, Paul.

Oft-repeated 2-step process:

1. Find out what happened in the Real World.

1. Record that in Quicken.

Trying to do 2. before 1. is a recipe for disaster - or at least for having to redo the entry when you find out what really happened.

The starting point is in at least two places:

1. That pile of legalese that the company should have mailed to all shareholders. Yeah, I know it's bulky and murky, but they pay lawyers, accountants and others big bucks to explain it.

1. The company's web site, probably under a heading like Investor Relations. Sometimes we get very lucky and we find not only a complete narrative of the transaction, but even a worked-out worksheet that we can use as a roadmap for Quicken.

In just a few seconds, I typed "viacom" into my browser (IE) and pressed Ctrl+Enter to have it wrap http://....com around it and take me to Viacom's home page. Sure enough, there's a button for Investor Relations, but I didn't even have to use that. Under "Latest News", there's a link to this page:

NEW YORK, January 1, 2006 -Viacom Inc. has completed the transaction to separate the Company into two publicly traded entities: CBS Corporation and "New" Viacom Inc.

See if anything on that page helps answer your questions. Then come back here if you need more guidance.

We don't need to know how many share you have, or how long you've held them, probably. But we could help more if you told us a little more about your situation. ""Best way to handle" is pretty vague.

RC

M. Scott Cole and I are (so far vainly) seeking a canonical recipe for executing this Viacom/CBS transaction in Quicken. Once executed, they become extremely difficult to unwind and correct, therefore we we should like to be able to do it right the first time. I am still amazed that no one has responded to our plea. I haven't given up hope yet. Someone please answer! -MartyR