As we head into earnings seasons, we also enter a blackout period for corporate share buybacks. This week’s chart of the week shows the percentage of S&P 500 companies that are currently in a blackout period, which prevents them from buying back their shares. The blackout period for an individual company starts a couple of weeks prior to their quarterly earnings announcement, and last a couple of weeks after. Over the next couple of weeks, a rather large percentage of S&P 500 companies will be in the blackout period. While one would not expect this to have a significant impact on markets, it does take away some demand for equities with some uncertainties lingering.
Source: Bloomberg