FirstAm Okays Stock Buyback

The board of directors of The First American Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., has authorized the repurchase of up to 100 million shares of the company's common stock. The purchase of shares will be made in open-market transactions from time to time, the company said. "The current market price of our stock does not begin to reflect out success in transforming First American into a diversified provider of data and data-related products and services," said Parker S. Kennedy, chairman and chief executive officer of First American. "Given our current stock price and growth prospects, we believe a repurchase of our shares represents an excellent investment opportunity." Title insurance, mortgage information, and property information are among the company's primary businesses. First American can be found online at http://www.firstam.com.