Since the Fed stopped printing money to buy stocks aka. "QE3", corporations have been using 0% poverty capital to buyback $500 billion of stock per year to paper over the revenue and profit "recession". Giving buy-and-hold zombies the false impression that everything was A-Ok. It's all been 100% smoke and mirrors. Another Jedi Mind Trick for stunned dunces...
The same trick was used in 2007. Aggregate profits (red) stopped growing well before the top, however, Earnings per share (green) were artificially boosted with stock buybacks. When recession hit, buybacks fell off a cliff, because uninflated earnings had already been receding for several quarters.
In this cycle aggregate profits peaked back in 2011:
Back in 2008, earnings per share fell back to 1975 levels practically overnight, without stock buybacks to support them...
Companies with the largest buybacks are already starting to underperform the overall market.
