In this short video we explain what has happened with earnings in the first quarter.
While U.S. earnings have show robust growth and strong EPS momentum, Europe -again- falls short.
This video was published on April 27th 2018 with 251 companies in the U.S. already reported and 28 in Europe.
There is little doubt that a large number of stock buybacks in America are supporting the crazy high market valuations. Buybacks should be viewed as a double-edged sword with great power in that they reduce the number of shares over which earnings are divided at the same time they add to market demand.
To be perfectly clear, buybacks are a tool corporate boards and CEOs use to manipulate the prices of their own shares higher. This means insiders can get out or hedge their positions before reality sets in and prices fall back to earth. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2018/03/stock-buybacks-driving-market-its.html