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Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GVTucker who wrote (174946)	6/1/2005 7:12:13 PM
From: Sig	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

..<<don't think that's true. But if it is, Dell owes his shareholders an apology for spending billions of their dollars buying back stock at what he thought were absurdly high prices.>> Which reminds me that Dell was in serious trouble in 2000, having bought calls and sold puts. So they had to buy a lot of stock back to cover the puts. That is they had the stock put to them, and had to pay over $40 per share to the putters for stock that was selling for much less. They had sold those puts for a dollar per share.!! I am vague on the details, which vanish from the Web records, but I believe the (privately sold) puts involved about 60mm shares. Which would be about $2.4 bil . I think Dell negotiated their way out of paying the full amount but the details were never given. And that was the end of Tom Meridiths options plays which had in one year made Dell an extra $1 bil. Sig

To: GVTucker who wrote (174946)	6/1/2005 8:54:13 PM
From: rkral	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 176387

GVTucker, re "If it is, Dell owes his shareholders an apology for spending billions of their dollars buying back stock at what he thought were absurdly high prices." In retrospect the prices paid look pretty good. Assuming you guys are referring to calendar 1999 and 1998, from Dell's FY2000 10-K ... "During fiscal years 2000 and 1999, the Company repurchased 56 million and 149 million shares of its common stock, respectively, for an aggregate cost of $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion" sec.gov ... which calculates to price per share of $18.95 ($1061/56)and $10.19 ($1518/149), respectively. There hasn't been a stock split was Mar '99, so I think the numbers are correct ... but I don't know how they paid such low prices. Ron