The board of directors of Wilson Sporting Equipment met this afternoon and passed a resolution to pay a cash dividend of $.42 a share next month. In relation to this dividend, today is referred to as which one of the following dates?

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The declaration date is the day that the board of directors announces and approves the payment of a dividend to stockholders. Therefore, the board of directors' resolution to pay a cash dividend of $.42 a share today indicates that today is the declaration date. The decision date is not a commonly used term in relation to dividends, and the date-of-record and payment date are both later dates in the dividend process. The ex-dividend date is the date on which a stock begins trading without the value of its next dividend included, which is typically two business days before the date-of-record.

The Board of Directors of Wilson Sporting Equipment Met This