Stocks higher today
The S&P 500 is up 17 points to 3003 today and is just 0.6% from a fresh all-time high but Goldman Sachs warns that one source of strength is dissipating -- share buybacks.
Q2 S&P 500 buybcaks totaled $161 billion, about 18% less than in Q1. Year-over-year buybacks are down 17%, they say.
In 2020, they see another 5% decline.
There's more at CNBC, who also notes that overall spending is contracting for the first time in a decade:
Total cash spending fell by 4% year-over-year in the first half of the year, according to the firm, and they anticipate cash spending for the entire year will decline by 6%, making it "the sharpest annual decline since 2009.
