Behind The Rally: The Two Largest Weekly Buybacks On Record

In retrospect, the faceripping 11% S&P rally of the past four weeks could have been even bigger.

Recall that back on November 2, when the S&P was trading in the mid-4200s, just above a five-month low hit days earlier, we cautioned bears that the selling avalanche was about to end as a result of two key technical reasons: i) a flurry of stock buybacks - some $5BN per day - had just been unleashed now that the Q3 blackout period had ended, and ii) CTAs who were about go "apeshit" buying stocks purely on vol signals.