Today, Oracle announced a plan to buyback $8 billion worth of stock in addition to an existing plan to buyback $9.3 billion of stock.
No timeline was given for the $17 billion deal and shares of Oracle rose 6.7 percent today.  Trading activity was pretty normal, just about 400,000 shares above the three-month average of 42.1 million shares per day.
I must admit, news of this nearly doubled buyback shocked me a bit.  In today’s market, where everyone is hoarding cash, here comes Oracle announcing a huge deal to buyback common stock.  If the board believed the stock was overvalued they wouldn’t buy it back and if the …read more

Last night, Coach (one of my favorite handbag designers!) announced plans to buyback up to $1 billion worth of its outstanding shares. 

The buyback will be completed by June 2010, in fact the company just completed a billion dollar buyback (started in winter 2007).  Prior to news of the latest buyback being released, the stock was down almost 5 percent yesterday.
If Coach insiders believe that the stock is undervalued, the markets agree.  This morning, the stock has gained 7 percent!

One by one, the nation’s largest investment banks are announcing plans to buy back auction-rate securities.   Thick as thieves, aren’t they?  ;)
Today’s announcement came from Morgan Stanley, which will buy back up to $4.5 billion worth of auction-rate securities from retail customers who purchased them before February 12th and sold the securities at a loss on or before August 11th.
Securities sold to institutional investors will not be a part of the buyback, but Morgan Stanley will attempt to help the largest of those led into the ARS market with other liquidity solutions.
Last week, Morgan Stanley agreed to pay $1.5 million to regulators in …read more

Another billion dollar settlement was announced today involving an investment bank and auction rate securities (ARS). 
UBS has agreed to a $19.4 billion settlement with federal and state regulators stemming from charges that the bank misled investors in the ARS market.
In addition to buying back the securities it allegedly misled investors into purchasing, UBS has also agreed to pay $150 million in fines to settle all state and federal complaints.
Many investment banks have been in the news for continuing to sell auction rate securities to investors after finding out that the market was going to collapse.  A wave of ARS buyback announcements began yesterday with …read more

In one of few bright points in today’s morning session, Eastman Kodak has announced plans to buyback up to $1 billion of its outstanding stock.
News of the buyback sent shares flying as high as $14.45, representing a 17 percent increase from yesterday’s close of $12.34 per share.
Buybacks usually indicate a firm’s belief that shares are currently undervalued and the stock is poised for an increase.  In recent days Kodak’s stock was trading at a 52-week low of $12.20, so it appears that this buyback couldn’t have come at a better time…say cheese :)