Note that starting total shares outstanding must actually be reduced by said transactions, meaning the argument does not apply to buybacks used to sop up new stock that CEO's and them issue to themselves as "equity compensation". Those thieving pigs, as you may have read in these pages before, are stealthily looting our savings and belong in freaking jail after a highly visible perp walk covered by every last paparazzi camera in the Civilized World and Iceland.
Here's the link: