I have to agree with 90 west here on the aspect that it is backwards to raise the AS and then perform a buyback. Kind of defeating the purpose of the buyback.
But according to the PR about the buyback in 2015, it was supposed to happen within a 2 year period ending in May, so the deadline is coming up, on the flip side of it, he did state that it could be ended for any reason, and we have heard nothing from him on it.
Something strange is going on, I do not doubt that, but I would like to know his intentions on this behavior, because from first glance, it seems shady.