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slightlylate's profile
Alex Russell
Alex Russell
Alex Russell
@slightlylate

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Alex Russell

@slightlylate

Chrome Project 🐡 & Web Standards TL; Blink API OWNER Named PWAs w/ @phae; probably making her ☕ DMs open. Tweets my own; press@google.com for official comms.

San Francisco, The Internet
infrequently.org
Joined December 2010

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    1. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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      Alex Russell Retweeted Dan Froomkin/PressWatchers.org

      The thing to understand about buybacks is that they serve no legitimate economic purpose. They're pure transfer; no surplus.https://twitter.com/froomkin/status/1029000777459802112 …

      Alex Russell added,

      Dan Froomkin/PressWatchers.orgVerified account @froomkin
      NYT editorial explains how Trump tax cuts have fueled stock buybacks, which further enrich the super-rich. Grotesque. But cool graphics. https://nyti.ms/2P0kAPo  pic.twitter.com/WrMRpdM9al
      3 replies 5 retweets 24 likes
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    2. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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      We use public policy to, in general, encourage firms to do things that create Economic Surplus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_surplus …

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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    3. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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      Not all surplus-creating transactions are socially valuable, of course, and we do lots with the public purse to pursue transfers to create equality of opportunity and the environment necessary for trade.

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
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    4. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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      But, in general, transactions that don't create a surplus are weird and suspect. And buybacks such a bad look, even by those standards. Why? A quick tour:

      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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      Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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      First, understand that investors provide their capital to businesses in the hopes that mangers will use it wisely to create a return on that investment. That is, they entrust money to others to invest.

      7:14 AM - 13 Aug 2018
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          Some managers believe they won't be able to grow their businesses further; can't find a good way to spend what they've got and no prospects to invest it well. The usual solution is a dividend: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividend.asp …

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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        3. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          Dividends do not affect the ownership structure of the firm. The same set of owners retain the same % interest in the firm before and after a dividend.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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        4. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          Buybacks, on the other hand, serve to shrink the pool of public owners (shares are bought from public owners and "taken private"). *IN THEORY* buybacks shouldn't affect the price of the stock more than a dividend of equivalent size would.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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        5. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          ...except the tax treatment is different: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/073015/dividend-versus-buyback-which-better.asp …

          1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
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        6. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          Further, in the very short term, buybacks look like demand for the stock ("information"), but do not reflect a material change in the prospects for the business. They're old news that looks like new-news. They game the market's information-gathering and pricing system.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
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        7. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          ...all while concentrating ownership, giving managers greater power, and depriving the firm of ways to invest in growth. Buybacks should be a red flag, and yet: https://us.spindices.com/indices/strategy/sp-500-buyback-index …

          1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
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        8. Alex Russell‏ @slightlylate 13 Aug 2018
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          It should also be disturbing to work at a firm that engages in this sort of thing. It means management is spending time engineering share price increases rather than using cash-on-hand to invest in future growth.

          2 replies 0 retweets 6 likes
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        9. End of conversation

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