Treasury Shares During 2002 outstanding common shares of General Electric (GE) increased from 9,925,938,000 to 9,969,894,000. GE declared dividends of $7,266,000,000. The treasury stock account had a beginning balance of $26,916,000,000 and an ending balance of $26,627,000,000, representing 1,175,318,000 shares in 2002 and 1,219,274,000 in 2001. Treasury shares were sold for $595 million more than their cost. Retained income rose from $68,701 million to $75,553 million. 1. Did GE issue any new, previously unissued shares during 2002? 2. Compute the net cash received from sale of the treasury shares during 2002. 3. Compute GE's net income for 2002. 4. Comment on the decision to buy treasury stock instead of using the same dollars to pay additional cash dividends.