Nope, that's a very good idea. I personally don't think long-term investors should have to pay the same price to buy stock as speculators. But in finance this is still considered a very radical notion, so I think it will be some time before we see this idea adopted
Both NYSE and Nasdaq rules require the record date to be announced at least 10 days in advance, so a mainstream U.S.-listed company can't backdate it. Whether it'd pass SEC muster if we take exchange rules out of the picture, I don't know.
