US companies borrowing record debt to buyback shares

ZeroHedge reports “the persistent bid under the US equity market during Q1 came courtesy of price insensitive corporate management teams who, in a rush to take advantage of rock-bottom borrowing costs just in case the Fed decides to go crazy and actually raise rates later this year, have issued a record amount of debt and plowed the proceeds back into their own shares, artificially inflating the bottom line and boosting their own equity-linked compensation in the process. As we noted earlier today, repurchase authorizations hit a record $141 billion last month, providing investors (and the SNB) with an excellent opportunity to frontrun corporate buybacks and giving the centrally-planned, 6-year rally one more excuse to continue for a few more months.” (VIEW LINK)