"Afghanistan" is itself an extraordinary object, a limited-edition coffee-table book — massive to the point of ungainliness — bound in heavy cloth and stamped with a map of the country, lusciously printed on heavy stock, weighing more than five pounds, and priced at a hundred and fifty dollars.
The board hoped the stock buyback would resuscitate a $29 stock weighed down by Wall Street's skepticism that the old-line media company could fix its circulation and revenue problems.
* McDonald's November sales miss estimates, stock weighs on Dow.
Sharp declines in industrial and material stocks weighed on the market as commodities prices wavered.
But a drop in industrial and consumer staples stocks weighed on the other exchanges.
The cautious tone from Lehman Brothers on chip equipment stocks weighed on technology companies.
Losses in technology stocks weighed down the Nasdaq, which was 7.05 points, or 0.38percentt, lower at 1,853.08.
Financial stocks weighed on the broader market, with Citigroup declining 9 cents, to $3.67, and Bank of America falling 32 cents, to $12.32.
The rest of the stock market was modestly higher as weakness in Philip Morris and financial stocks weighed on the Dow Jones industrial average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index.
Among the stocks weighing on the Dow were American Express, which dropped 97 cents, to $40.45; Procter & Gamble, which fell $1.24, to $70.22, and Philip Morris, which fell 67 cents, to $45.17.
