SiliconBeat

Oracle has decided to dedicate as much as $8 billion more to its stock repurchase program, raising the total available to it to $9.3 billion, according to a regulatory filing it made with the SEC today. The stock buyback is intended to help offset its employee stock plans as well as help it buy shares “opportunistically” — when they are selling at prices to low for the company to resist.

The company spent $7.14 billion buying back 24.1 million shares in its fiscal 2008 fourth quarter ended May 31, paying an average of $20.76 per shares. Oracle’s stock hit a 52-week low of $15.28 per share earlier this month. They gained $1.14, or 6.7 percent in regular trading Monday before the share repurchase was announced. They gained 29 cents, or 1.6 percent, more in after hours trading, according to Yahoo Finance.

If you look at a stock chart for Cardima, the Fremont maker of medical devices used to
diagnose and treat cardiac arrhythmias., you’ll see a line that resembles the heartbeat of one of the patients its products might be meant to help.

Its shares dropped 4 cents Tuesday, but that was 7 percent, the same day the company said in a filing that its auditor quit last week. According to the company, the former accountant’s reports on the company “did not contain an adverse opinion” except that they “expressed substantial doubt with respect to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for the last two years.”

Well, Cardima is still “going.” It’s board even announced welcoming a new chief medical
officer the same day it disclosed that its auditor had skedaddled. But earlier this month two of Cardima’s directors resigned from the board without offering the public even the merest fig-leaf of a reason why. Both were former employees of the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche. They were replaced by a physician and the company’s senior vice president of product development.

That came just days after Cardima settled an outstanding debt for some $20 million dollars plus warrants to buy its stock it owed Apix International by issuing 88 million shares. And in response to an SEC concern regarding the accounting for its debt, Cardima said it would need to restate results for its fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2006.

Cardima fired its chief executive and acting chief financial officer, Gabriel Vegh, on Aug.
31. He was replaced that same day by Robert Cheney, a director on the board since February 2006 who is also an Apix shareholder. While Vegh was not deemed fit to continue as CEO, he will continue to serve as a director on Cardima’s board, allowing him more time to exercise options that are currently mostly under water.

On July 31 the company completed a one-for-ten reverse stock split to try and hike its stock price up. It closed that day at a split-adjusted 64 cents and hasn’t been higher since.

Cardima, the Fremont medical device company, disclosed in an 8-k filed on Friday that it had ”terminated” CEO Gabriel Vegh. Only, he was fired last Friday — August 31. There was no press release issued at the time, and as far as we can tell, this is the first public announcement.

Granted, since Cardima is on life support, it’s probably not the most widely followed of companies. Its stock trades over the counter and you can buy a share for a quarter. But still, someone somewhere surely most own the stock, right? And wouldn’t they want to know?

Vegh, who was also founder/chief financial officer/president, was replaced as CEO by director Robert Cheney. Chris Mak, the corporate controller was promoted to CFO. We left a message with Vegh and Mak to ask them about the delay, but haven’t heard back yet. And we e-mailed the investor relations department and just got this form letter back:

“Thank you for your interest in Cardima, Inc. and its products. While we are unable to respond to your email individually, Cardima will soon be adding an Investor Relations FAQ page to the website. This FAQ page will provide IR information for shareholders, investors, potential investors and the general public. Please check our website, http://www.cardima.com, in the coming weeks. Again, thank you for your interest. Sincerely, Cardima, Inc.”

Guess we’ll wait for a call.