more data

Charles Brown CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us
Tue Mar 16 06:52:43 PST 1999


So, by buying up a lot of their own stock, they cause the stock prices to go up ? Does the debt impact the stock market prices too ? Is the debt in the form of bonds ?

Do banks benefit the most from more debt ?

Is the fact that Reagan started running up the national debt about the same time unrelated ?

What about the rise of consumer debt ?

I hate to ask a really elementary question, but what does speculating ..on margin mean ? Is that shorting ? What page is it explained on ? Is this the same thing that is done in the commodities futures market, betting against some future price somehow ?
:>).

Was there no pattern of retiring equity before 1982 ? What about raising debt ?

Debt, debt, debt. Is this a predictable pattern in superdeluxe finance capitalism ?

Charles Brown, just full of questions


>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> 03/16/99 09:32AM >>>
It confirms the thesis that the stock market doesn't have a lot to do with financing capital expenditures, that's for sure. It also goes a long way towards explaining the bull market, at least its most recent phase: corporate America is speculating in its own stock on margin.

Doug

Charles Brown wrote:
>Is this a paradox ? Does this confirm theses of _Wallstreet_ ?
>
>
>Charles Brown
>
>>>> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> 03/15/99 05:56PM >>>
>More data updates...
>
>In 1998, U.S. nonfinancial firms retired $263 billion in equity (through
>takeovers & buybacks) and added $343 billion in debt. Since 1982, they've
>retired $1.1 trillion in equity and added $2.6 trillion in debt. This has
>been very good for stock prices!



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