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Article: Pumping up short interest catches on as way of speeding share repurchases.(commercial banks)
- Article from:
- American Banker
- Article date:
- May 8, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1996 SourceMedia, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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No company wants to see the short interest in its stock rise, because that commonly indicates investors are betting against the company.
But earlier this year, Banc One Corp. surprised the industry by engineering a big increase in its own short interest. In fact, it was the largest increase in short interest among all companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange during that period.
Banc One, it turns out, is not alone. More than 20 banking companies have quietly turned to the strategy over the past two years as a way to speed up large share repurchase programs, traders and investment bankers say. "This is the most important new development in share ...