Some are attributing a great deal of the stock market move to buybacks by companies.
With interest rates at historic lows for the better part of a decade, coupled with a rising stock market, many companies saw it as an opportune time to buy back it's own stock. Returning money to the shareholders as they call it.
Now that the market is pulling back and, perhaps, entering bear territory, things look a lot different. These companies did not "return money to the shareholders" but, rather, lost their money.
The challenge now comes in the fact that, with things tightening, balance sheets are losing their liquidity. Companies are going to be forced to raise money which means entering a higher rate environment.
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