US shares buyback

Is this a possible area for research? Does the market reward the purchase and calcellation of shares?

FT.com / Markets / Investor's notebook - Market Insight: Show of strength with US shares buyback: "Combined with the fact that companies are under no legal obligation to follow up the announcement of a buyback programme with the actual repurchase of stock, this makes buybacks a poor yardstick for stock selection, says Mr McVey, who contends that the market has not rewarded shrinkage of share count since 2002.
Tobias Levkovich, the chief US equity strategist at Citigroup�s Smith Barney unit, would beg to differ. He says that his analysis shows �such companies tend to outperform and thus we contend that such [buyback] programmes are a good use of cash�. Alongside dividends, investment strategists see buybacks, as a method to deprive management teams of cash they would otherwise use for investments that turn out to be wasteful in the long run."