Out Fox The $treet

Last week, Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) announced an additional $3B buyback program (see article here on avoiding stock) that signaled to investors to be cautious. While the amount sounded significant, the details suggested the buyback wouldn't amount to much more than 1.5% of the outstanding stock each year. Now after the close on Friday, Bristol-Myers announced the agreement to purchase Amylin Pharmaceuticals (AMLN) along with AstraZeneca (AZN) for $5.3B. This deal surely suggests that the company won't buyback as much stock as expected at least in the near term. The timing of the two announcements has to be in question. Why increase a buyback with the stock hitting a ten year high? Not to mention right before announcing a cash intensive acquisition that will not only strain any cash that could be used for a buyback, but also that is dilutive making the stock less attractive. Investors buying last week have to feel duped. Read the full article at Seeking Alpha. Di...

Investors continue to focus on dividends as the best and in some minds the only way to return capital to shareholders. That remains a big mistake as the population of stocks with a high dividend payout ratio, not to mention ones that even pay dividends has been shrinking just about every decade. Several key factors have influenced these decisions. First, the historical tax disadvantage of dividends versus long term capital gains has worked to weaken the focus on dividends. Second, the SEC instituting rule 10b-18 back in 1982 made it easier for firms to implement buybacks without stock manipulation charges. Third, market participants place such a great emphasis on maintaining steadily increasing dividends that corporate boards prefer the flexibility of buyback programs over the negativity of reducing a dividend. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha. Disclosure: Long COP, GPS, KSS, TRV. Please review the disclaimer page for more details.