It is likely that Glencore, in its bravado, has misjudged the situation
Glencore’s announcement of a $1bn stock buyback on Thursday was short on both wit and colour. So allow me to hazard a rough translation: "Don’t worry, we’re rich and our share price should be much higher." Faced with the unwelcome attention of the US department of justice, most companies would be inclined to batten down the hatches. But, just a couple of days after being ordered to hand over a decades’s worth of documents related to its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Venezuela and Nigeria, the world’s top commodities trader is splashing its cash. Glencore does bravado well — too well, perhaps, for its own good. Two recent examples are pertinent: not long after the company had overcome a nasty tussle with short-sellers, CEO Ivan Glasenberg quipped in 2017 that the balance sheet was now in such good shape that his firm could afford to pay a $20bn dividend. And earlier in 2018, Glencore announced it would restart royalty payments to its former DRC business partne...
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