Why is GE offering stock in the low $20's?

SallyG answered one year ago …

Buyback plans aren't, IMHO, what they used to be. "Back in the day" they were considered a good sign for a company, indicating that there was interest in containing the ownership in fewer hands, and confidence of the managers who authorized such buybacks. Now, it seems that stock shares are needed by management to pay execs and sometimes other employees stock bonuses or profit sharing, or buybacks are authorized to keep share prices rising by providing an artificial dampener on dropping prices when too many people want to sell, in effect possibly hiding bad news about the company.
Insider trading has been similarly disvalued as an indicator, as execs don't buy and sell in relation to their confidence in the company, as they seemed to in the past, but are affected by the price and expiration dates of stock options they have been awarded, or a need to sell shares prior to retirement. More and more, one has to do detailed research before investing.