2. An article from Financial Times (with the title "US companies cling to share buybacks despite collapse in profits") talks about one kind of payout policy - share repurchases. (Yet, the tone does not sound like this is a payout method, rather, the author seems to think that companies use share repurchases for other purposes. Which of the following statement is most likely to explain "Buybacks have become a hot political topic in recent years and were in focus as Congress debated stimulus programmes this spring." ? A). Stock buybacks are not neutral, in theory, for a company's value, as every dollar handed back to shareholders is more than a dollar less in equity. C) By granting stock options to CEO's (that is, giving managers call options on the company's stock), it gives the managers the incentive to increase the stock price of the company by increasing earnings per share. One way to achieve that is by reducing the number of shares outstanding by massive share buybacks. B). If the buyback rates exceed the rate of dilution through new share issuance, then the increase in shares outstanding would reduce earnings per share, leading to a higher price of the company's stock