Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Morgan Housel :: Townhall.com Columnist
Bank Buybacks Gone Bad
by Morgan Housel
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While Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) could probably figure out ways to turn lima beans into hundred-dollar bills, the company "lost $6 billion trading, of all things, its own stock," according to a recent BusinessWeekarticle.

How'd Goldman do that? By buying back its own shares during the boom years, then selling them after the economy tanked and it needed capital. It bought high, sold low, and lost a ton of money.

Intrigued, I decided to see how other banks fared on this front:

Bank

Share Buybacks, 2004-2007

Goldman Sachs

$21.6 billion

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC)

$19.4 billion

Citigroup (NYSE: C)

$16.1 billion

JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM)

$11.6 billion

American Express (NYSE: AXP)

$8.9 billion

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)

$8.5 billion Continued...
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About The Author

Morgan Housel is a Motley Fool contributor.

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