Few things cheer shareholders like a stock split, and last week few share holders were as cheery as IBM's. At their annual meeting in Boston, 2,300 of the faithful (of a 359,495 total) heard Chairman Thomas J. Watson Jr. announce stockholder approval of the eleventh split in the company's 57 years.
Holders of IBM's 60 million shares will get one additional share for each one they hold, making it the biggest stock distribution in U.S. history.
IBM's split will help ensure a lively market in its stock by keeping per-share prices within reach of ordinary investors. Lately, that reach had be...