The 3 Reasons Why Stocks Have Skyrocketed Over the Past Couple of Years
by George Washington
ZeroHedge.com
05/25/2013
Stocks have soared since 2009 because the Fed’s quantitative easing has – intentionally – pumped them up.
They’ve also skyrocketed because central banks are directly buying stocks.
NBC News reports on a third major reason that stocks took off … corporate buybacks:
It’s the narcissist rally.
***
You may want to spare a thought, and a healthy dose of worry, for what is one of the biggest, and least appreciated, reasons for the rally: buybacks.
Flush with cash and a world of opportunity at their doorstep, companies have decided there’s nothing more attractive than themselves. So, they’re offering big money to buy back their own stock. This year, big U.S. companies have given the go-ahead for $286 billion of buybacks, up 88 percent from the same period last year, according to Birinyi Associates, a market research firm. If the pace continues for the rest of the year, the tally will exceed the record set in 2007.
Every manner of company is caught up in the buying binge, including home-improvement chains, makers of farm equipment and jet engines, airlines, sellers of soft drinks and of hard liquor alike. Not one to miss a hot trend, Apple recently authorized as much as $50 billion of buybacks.
Investors like buybacks because they suggest companies think their stock is cheap. They also help reduce the number of shares outstanding, which automatically increases earnings per share. And higher earnings per share often, though not always, lead to rising stock prices.
The Rest…HERE
