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I need help with my weekly discussion conference. Please see attached for details.

Thanks,

FIN 620 WK 10 - DisConf - Share Repurchase - This issue has three parts. An article in CFO Magazine entitled, \"The Buyback Catch,\" (seehttp://www.cfo.com/printable/article.cfm/2991921) discusses the concept of share repurchase as an alternative to payment of cash dividends. This article examines recent experience and offers insight into the factors that may drive a firm's stock repurchase decision. After reading this article, answer the following questions: 1. The ideal time to buyback a company's stock is when the market value has fallen appreciably. What is the \"Buyback Catch\" that is noted by the author? 2. Buyback activity rose significantly following the Asian flu in 1998. When this article was written in March of 2001, conditions were different, suggesting less stock repurchase even though stock prices have declined. What factors are different in the more recent environment? 3. The study by professors Badrinath and Varaiyat sighted in the article identifies five potential reasons for repurchasing stock. What reasons for stock repurchase do they identify? Dividends and Share Repurchases This issue has three parts. An article on http://www.dividendtree.net/investment-process/low-yield-dividend-stocks-whatdoes-it-mean/ examines the cash distribution policies of corporations relative to the levels of stock prices. The dividend yield, which is the annual cash dividend per share divided by the price of a share, has decreased to record low levels over the past decade. The author provides insight on factors driving that decrease in dividend yield. After reading the article, answer the following questions: 1. Why might a firm use a share repurchase rather than an increase in dividends (assuming that the cash was available to undertake either option)? 2. Why could a stock repurchase used for employee stock options have a different affect than a stock repurchase done as a pure alternative to a cash dividend? 3. Summarize the author's main conclusions. Agency Issues Related to Mergers - This issue has four parts. Recent research by Julie Wulf at the Wharton Graduate School finds that managers do not always act in the best interest of their shareholders. In her study, she examines a group of friendly mergers of equals and compares it to a group of mergers where the acquiring firms are larger than the target firms. She finds a significant difference in merger premiums for the two groups. A summary of her findings can be found in \"CEOs Serve Themselves First in Mergers of Equals.\" (see http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/ceos-serve-themselves-first-in-mergers-of-equals/) . After reading the article, answer the following questions: 1. How does Professor Wulf define a friendly merger of equals? Give an example from her article. 2. What is \"power for premium\" as it relates to managers in a firm being acquired? 3. What does the evidence show with respect to the size of the merger premium? 4. One of the suggestions that she made to improve the corporate governance was related to stock ownership by the CEOs. What was she suggesting