Market-Timing Payouts May Come In December

Investors hurt by market-timing activity may get a gift from the government in time for the holiday season. Then again, maybe not. Though the mutual fund scandal is virtually over, the pain and suffering is not, as the Securities and Exchange Commission has been grinding exceedingly slow to figure out who gets how much. Morningstar columnist Russel Kinnel says specialists at the SEC are reviewing all the various investor claims forms and then must recommend to the agency how much to dole out per investor, a task that could take until the end of September just for the first group, with payouts coming in December or in the first quarter of 2007. Another yet-to-be-determined issue, says Kinnel, is whether the Internal Revenue Service will tax the money.