That sentiment helped fuel a measure being proposed Sens. Charles Schumer of New York and Bernie Sanders of Vermont who said in a New York Times op-ed that they want to apply “preconditions” on buybacks that would force $15 an hour wages, paid time off and health benefits.
“At a time of huge income and wealth inequality, Americans should be outraged that these profitable corporations are laying off workers while spending billions of dollars to boost their stock’s value to further enrich the wealthy few,” the senators said.
While the measure seeks to address the wealth gap, Wall Street pros worry about its disruptive potential for markets.
“If the populist attacks become enacted, they will be meaningful,” said David Santschi, director of liquidity research at TrimTabs, which tracks where cash is going in the marketplace. “I don’t think it’s the government’s job to tell companies how they can spend money.”
Buybacks shattered a record in 2018, surging to $1.04 trillion and doubling 2017’s output.
Big tech companies and Wall Street banks are usually the leaders in gross purchases. Apple, for example has executed more than $250 billion in repurchases over the past decade through 2018, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Embattled banking titan Wells Fargo did more than $63 billion during the period, while Microsoft surpassed $100 billion.
The top 20 repurchasers alone bought back more than $1.1 trillion in the decade.
Even Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway, which almost never participates, announced some $928 million worth in 2018.
“That’s a lot of moves that have a lot of buying power,” Santschi said. “If you have a significant slowdown in buybacks, it would have a significant impact on markets.”
The buybacks have worked hand in glove with Federal Reserve monetary policy, which has kept interest rates at borrowing-friendly lows and for years pumped in trillions of liquidity to markets through an aggressive bond-buying program that pushed the central bank’s balance sheet to $4.5 trillion.
from Viral News Updates http://bit.ly/2Spe4qe
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