Bloomberg (August 28)
“US companies are planning to buy back shares at a historic pace, a sign of Corporate America’s confidence in the economy.” In July, “announced share repurchases totaled $166 billion, the highest dollar value on record.” Subsequently, these went on to surpass “$1 trillion on Aug. 20, marking the shortest amount of time needed to reach that level.”
Tags: $1 trillion, Buy back, Companies, Confidence, Corporate America, Economy, Historic, Record, Share repurchases, Shares, Surpass, U.S.
Financial Times (January 14)
“It’s the dawn of a new era of conservatism in corporate America, as executives embrace Trump and the new Republican Washington.” The president-elect “has a history of making personal attacks on companies and executives he doesn’t like.” Amid the rush to get into Trump’s good graces, “companies are reshaping how they interact with society…. It’s a mirror image of the surge in support for social justice causes after a police officer killed George Floyd in 2020.”
Tags: Conservatism, Corporate America, Era, Executives, George Floyd, Personal attacks, Republican, Reshaping, Social justice, Society, Trump
Wall Street Journal (December 28)
“Corporate America pulled back on diversity programs in 2024 under pressure from activists.” The new year will bring greater challenges as the incoming Trump administration gears up “to end diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies.” Many corporates “still support diversity efforts, even if they avoid the term, bend to the demands of activists or try to sidestep skirmishes with Trump’s administration. CEOs also risk backlash among customers and employees.”
Tags: 2024, Activists, Backlash, CEOs, Corporate America, Customers, DEI, Demands, Diversity programs, Employees, Equity, Inclusion, Pressure, Sidestep, Trump administration
Wall Street Journal (December 2)
“Like much of corporate America today, the Nasdaq is virtue signaling at the expense of someone else. This is far from its reason for being, which is a marketplace to raise money while spreading the benefits of capitalism and corporate ownership. Imposing its own identity politics on some 3,300 listed companies meddles in corporate management and will harm economic growth and job creation.” [Nasdaq is seeking minimum quotas of women and minority/LGBTQ directors on corporate boards.]
Tags: Capitalism, Corporate America, Growth, Identity politics, Job creation, Management, Marketplace, Money, Nasdaq, Ownership, Virtue signaling
The Week (April 9)
“Corporate America almost uniformly craves tax reform. But businesses are deeply split over whether to support the…20 percent tax on imports coming into the U.S….. Major U.S. manufacturers like Boeing and Caterpillar are behind the idea. But retailers like Target and Ikea, as well as other companies that import most of their goods, are lobbying furiously against it.”
Tags: Boeing, Caterpillar, Corporate America, Ikea, Imports, Manufacturers, Reform, Retailers, Target, Tax, U.S.
