Wall Street has a one-size-fits-all answer for what insurance companies should do with any extra capital - buy back shares. Hartford Financial (HIG) had frustrated the Street's push for a buyback all year, and at least some investors and analysts were disappointed that the company didn't announce a buyback with second quarter earnings, and now they've gone and announced a $2.1 billion acquisition of another insurance company (specialty insurer The Navigators Group (NAVG), or Navigators). As you might expect, the shares sold off on the announcement.
I'm not completely sold that