Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (ARI) responded to the volatile stock market by launching a plan to repurchase up to $35 million of common stock over a the next 12 months. Apollo, which invests in commercial real estate loans and commercial mortgage-backed securities, decided to roll out the stock repurchase program to give the firm more flexibility when it comes to its capital structure. “In determining how and when to use the repurchase program, we will consider and evaluate the best use of available cash and anticipated principal payments from our CMBS investments, ” the firm’s CFO Stuart Rothstein said in a statement. The timing and pricing of the purchases will be based on market conditions, the firm said. Apollo Commercial Real Estate’s stock bounced up and down over the course of the past five days as the stock market felt the pangs of Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade the U.S. government’s sovereign debt. The firm’s stock rebounded Friday, trading at approximately $15 per share after falling as low as $13.63 per share earlier in the week. Write to: Kerri Panchuk.