Cash from Financing Activities
Debt. Debt decreased by $797 million in 2009, to $2,298 million at year-end 2009 from $3,095 million, and reflected a $544 million decrease in borrowings under our Credit Facility, the repayment, upon maturity, of $79 million (including interest) of Series C Senior Notes in 2009, the repurchase of $119 million in book value ($122 million in principal amount) of Senior Notes across multiple series, and other debt decreases of $57 million. Debt increased by $130 million in 2008, to $3,095 million at year-end 2008 from $2,965 million at year-end 2007, and reflected $969 million of borrowings under our Credit Facility, mostly offset by the decrease in commercial paper outstanding of $585 million, the repayment, upon maturity, of $91 million of Series E Senior Notes in the 2008 first quarter, repurchase of $109 million of Senior Notes across multiple series, and other debt decreases of $54 million.

Our financial objectives include diversifying our financing sources, optimizing the mix and maturity of our long-term debt and reducing our working capital. At year-end 2009, our long-term debt had an average interest rate of 4.9 percent and an average maturity of approximately 4.7 years. The ratio of fixed-rate long-term debt to total long-term debt was 0.8 to 1.0 at year-end 2009. At the end of 2009, we had long-term public debt ratings of BBB- from Standard and Poor's and Baa3 from Moody's.

See the "Cash Requirements and Our Credit Facilities," caption within this "Liquidity and Capital Resources" section for additional information on our Credit Facility.

In 2009, we repurchased $122 million principal amount of our Senior Notes in the open market, across multiple series. We recorded a gain of $21 million for the debt extinguishment representing the difference between the acquired debt's purchase price of $98 million and its carrying amount of $119 million. In 2008, we repurchased $109 million of our Senior Notes in the open market, across multiple series. We recorded a gain of $28 million for the debt extinguishment representing the difference between the acquired debt's purchase price of $77 million and its carrying amount of $105 million of the debt.

Share Repurchases. We did not purchase any shares of our Class A Common Stock in 2009. We purchased 11.9 million shares of our Class A Common Stock in 2008 at an average price of $31.18 per share and 41.0 million shares of our Class A Common Stock in 2007 at an average price of $43.32 per share. We purchase shares in the open market and in privately negotiated transactions. As of year-end 2009, 21.3 million shares remained available for repurchase under authorizations from our Board of Directors. We do not currently anticipate share repurchase activity in 2010.

Dividends. The Board of Directors declared a cash dividend on February 4, 2010, and stock dividends on May 1, August 6, and November 5, 2009, respectively. As a result, for periods prior to the stock dividends, we have retroactively adjusted, as of the dates of record, all share and per share data in this report. See Footnote No. 1, "Summary of Significant Accounting Policies" for additional information on these stock dividends.

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