Companies spent $598.1 billion on stock buybacks last year, according to Birinyi Associates in Westport, Conn. That was the second highest annual total in history, behind only 2007, Birinyi calculated. The pace picked up in the first quarter of 2014, when companies spent $188 billion, the highest quarterly amount since 2007.
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/06/29/stocks-biggest-gains-are-an-inside-job/
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