For the 12 months ending 1/31/14, S&P 500 firms spent $478 billion buying back outstanding shares, and in the quarter ending 1/31/14 spending on buybacks rose 29% compared to a year earlier. Seems the higher the stock price, the more committed firms are to buybacks. During the last bull market buybacks peaked in the quarter the stock market did. In the quarter stocks bottomed, companies spent 83% less on buybacks.