Buyback Binge Aimed at Hiking Share Prices

An array of companies unveil plans to repurchase stock this year. As the stock market tries to battle back amid huge volatility, a number of large companies have pledged to repurchase shares in the past few days with the hope of boosting share price. Bank of America said it plans to spend $3.75 billion to buy back up to 75 million shares of common stock during the next 12 to 18 months. The program replaces the expiring January 2007 repurchase authorization of 200 million shares. advertisement On Wednesday, Praxair Inc. said its board of directors had authorized a new repurchase program for up to $1 billion of its common stock, reflecting the company's strong balance sheet and free-cash-flow generation. British-based mobile phone giant Vodafone said it would step up and buy $2 billion of its shares, one day after its stock... [read full story]