A portion of the Financing Activities section of PepsiCo's statement of cash flows for the year ended December 25, 2010, follows (in millions):
Financing Activities
Proceeds from issuances of long-term debt...................$ 6,451
Payments of long-term debt.........................................(59)
Debt repurchase......................................................(500)
Short-term borrowings, by original maturity
More than three months-proceeds.................................227
More than three months-payments................................(96)
Three months or less, net...........................................2,351
Cash dividends paid..............................................(2,978)
Share repurchases-common....................................(4,978)
Share repurchases-preferred.........................................(5)
Required
1. Explain why proceeds from debt are shown as a positive amount and payment of debt is shown as a negative amount.
2. During 2010, interest rates remained at low levels. Explain why the company might have paid off debt during such conditions.
3. What are possible reasons why the company repurchased some of its stock?