Buyback Blackout Leaves U.S. Stocks on Own Prior to Earnings
Blackout in Lower Manhattan and Wall Street as seen from Brooklyn.
Photographer: Reggie Lavoie/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
U.S. stocks are entering part of the year when one of their biggest support systems is turned off.
Buybacks, which reached a monthly record in February and have surged so much they make up about 2 percent of daily volume, are customarily suspended during the five weeks before companies report quarterly results, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. With the busiest part of first-quarter earnings seasons beginning in April, the blackout is getting started now.