Commentary
Bloomberg, citing private newsletter publisher Birinyi Associates, reports that “announced buybacks more than tripled (in January) to $132 billion from a year ago, reaching the highest total ever to start a year.”
For those of us who follow these things, it’s not surprising: the record level of stock buybacks comes amid an earnings season that has been largely anemic.
It’s nothing new.
In December 2015, customers at Chipotle Mexican Grill, the Mission-style burrito and bowl restaurant chain, suffered one of the highest profile Norovirus outbreaks in history. A restaurant near the campus of Boston College sickened some 120 students, including many of the university’s NCAA Division I basketball team. The outbreak exacerbated Chipotle’s reputational damage after reports of earlier e-coli outbreaks in multiple states….