
Seems that Oracle has been buying back its own shares to keep its share price high <https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/03/22/oracle_buyback_programme/>. On its own, this is not automatically a bad thing. I remember reading about a conversation between Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett some years ago, along the lines of: WB: You think your company shares are undervalued? SJ: Yes. WB: You have plenty of spare cash on hand? SJ: Yes. WB: Then use some of that cash to buy back some of your own shares. If you can spend 80¢ and get a dollar, why wouldn’t you? However, the warning sign in the above article is this: The overall effect is that Oracle is now in a net debt position for the first time since 2008, the Wall Street Journal reported this week. In other words, it seems to be borrowing in order to boost its share price. This might not end well ...