A recent S&P 500 research report showed that corporate buybacks have risen to a record $116 billion in the second quarter this year, up 175% in only two years. Put another way, this number is very close to index companies' capital expenditures during the same period! This comes as a byproduct of another trend in corporate America - record amounts of cash in the bank, which has caused many companies to face more and more difficulty justifying the amount of cash they have tucked away. As a result, many investors are demanding that more be done to maximize shareholder value in the form of dividends and share buybacks. This is a good things for investors as it causes less shares to be on the market, which (in theory) increases the stock price.

Here are a few companies that recently announced buybacks:
Pep Boys (NYSE:PBY) - $100 million
Cascade Corporation (NYSE:CAE) - $80 million
Shuffle Master (NDAQ:SHFL) - $30 million
Sunco (NYSE:SUN) - $1 billion
Amazon.com (NDAQ:AMZN) - $500 million