ActionScript 2.0 :: Create Various MovieClips With TextFields?

I create various movieClips with TextFields in them using the following function.

function AddLabel(Label,L) // create a MovieClip with a Text Field.
{
obj = this.createEmptyMovieClip("mc" + L,L);[code].....

Lets say that I use the above function with the following statement:

JimMC = AddLabel("JimVision",1);

Then I try to assign a string to the above movieClip with some embedded html like so:

JimMC.txt.htmlText = "This is my test < a href='http://bogus.com'>link</ a>.";

When I try to run the above the results come out blank. When I list my variables I do see that my TextField is being assign the text and html code. What I also notice is that the textWidth and textHeight value become zero.why my results are blank? Why do the textWidth and textHeight values become zero?