A Little Bit of Good News

It didn't get much attention, overwhelmed as it was by all the talk of bailing out Wall Street, but there was a tiny sign yesterday that things may be getting back to normal in the economy.

Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Nike announced they would be buying back some of their shares.

Given all the economic uncertainity, most companies have been conserving cash. The fact that these three firms are willing to spend some of their money, and have concluded that buying their shares is the best place to do it, is a good thing.

Companies buy back their stock when they think their shares are cheap, and/or are going to rise sometime soon. Executives at HP, Microsoft and NIke might or might not be right about the future of their stock prices. But it a bullish sign nonetheless. .

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