When companies announce a stock split, it can act sometimes as a tremendous catalyst that causes the underlying stock to gain momentum. For that reason alone it is certainly useful to understand the stock split process. To do this, it is important to know the requirements before a stock may split as well as the general profile of a company that may decide to announce a split of their stock.

First we need to be clear about what a stock split really entails. A stock split is a division of corporate stock by the issuance to existing shareholders of a specified number of new shares with a corresponding lower of the market value of each outstanding share. This of course is opposed to an actual stock dividend, which is usually a payment by a corporation of its own stock without a change in the market value of the underlying asset.

Typically, before a corporation, along with their board of directors, decides to split, the stock needs to be in a strong uptrend and also have a comfortable anticipation that the stock will continue the trend. Naturally, the company must have enough unissued authorized shares to split the stock, and then the board of directors must meet and declare a stock split.

If authorized shares need to be added, then the corporation must seek approval from shareholders, which requires a shareholder meeting for a vote to support additional shares being issued. At that point

Both my husband and I are in our early 50s and participate in our company's 401(k). My account is slightly smaller than my husband's. We have some additional funds and are wondering whether to open a Roth IRA or make a catch-up payment to my 401(k) account. What would be best for our future retirement?



As you may have guessed, the answer depends on a few more variables.

First question: Does your 401(k) plan match some, or all, of your contributions? If so, you should make a high enough 401(k) contribution to capture all matching funds. To get you to sock away a chunk of your pay in a 401(k) or other defined-contribution plan, your employer typically will offer to match your savings -- often by 50% for contributions of as much as 6% of your pay. So, if you put $60 of a $1,000 paycheck into your account, your company would kick in $30. A lot of workers misinterpret the math, mistakenly thinking they can put in 3%, or $30, and the company will match it by 100%.

You can also miss the match by stashing away large portions of your salary early in the year, because many employers only make the match paycheck to paycheck. So, if you put the entire $1,000 paycheck in

Philosophy 101 students are often asked to consider whether a tree falling in the forest makes a sound if no one is around to hear it. Morningstar analysts have often pondered a similar question in relation to fund investing. If a manager puts up great returns that real human shareholders weren't around to earn--either because the fund was ultrasmall at the time or because the fund was so volatile that investors bought and sold at poor times--is he or she really a great manager?

Maybe. After all, closing a fund to preserve future returns for shareholders is one of the most shareholder-friendly actions that a fund could take.

But those managers whose efforts have enriched many shareholders over a long period of time also deserve praise. Morningstar's three Fund Managers of the Year for 2007 fit that description. All have delivered strong absolute and relative returns for huge numbers of investors over many years. Their terrific Morningstar Investor Returns, which demonstrate that their shareholders have actually pocketed the lion's share of their published total returns, attest to their ability to steer steady ships that have kept shareholders aboard in all types of weather.

When making our Fund Manager of the Year selections, our deliberation process doesn't stop with a consideration of the number of shareholders that a fund has enriched and a fund's investment results in

DETROIT (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. overtook Ford Motor Co. to become the No. 2 automaker by U.S. sales in 2007, using new products and relentless strategy to break Ford's 75-year lock on the position.

Toyota sold 2.62 million cars and trucks in 2007, which amounted to 48,226 more than Ford, according to sales figures released Thursday. Toyota's sales were up 3 percent for the year, buoyed by new products like the Toyota Tundra pickup, which saw sales jump 57 percent. Ford's sales fell 12 percent to 2.572 million vehicles.

General Motors Corp. remained the U.S. sales leader, selling 3.82 million vehicles in 2007. But that was down 6 percent from the previous year as customers turned away from some large sedans and sport utility vehicles and GM cut low-profit sales to employees and rental car agencies. GM's car sales fell 8 percent for the year while truck sales were down 4 percent.

Overall, the year was expected to be the worst for the auto industry since 1998 as consumers fretted over high gas prices, falling home prices and the economy.

December also was a tough month for automakers despite a slew of holiday discounts. Toyota's sales slipped 2 percent for the month, while GM's sales were down 4 percent and Ford's fell 9 percent.

Nissan Motor Co.'s December sales were down 2.4 percent, while Honda Motor Co.'s December sales were