The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday edition that stocks started 2024 with a limp, but that could change this week as earnings season kicks off and companies start announcing their plans for share repurchases, something investors hope will help the market keep last year's rally going. A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post says that the bulls may need the support amid defensive buying. Buybacks have fallen for five straight quarters after hitting a record in 2022, but with the U.S. Federal Reserve potentially getting ready to cut rates and earnings growth forecasts to improve, investors expect more companies to manipulate their stock upward with newly available capital. Buybacks appear ready to make a comeback. Capital spending as a share of sales has recovered to the prepandemic five-year average. Despite Apple's challenges in China, its repurchase plans mean its shares continue to have upside after their near 50-per-cent gain in 2023, said Nancy Tengler at Laffer Tengler Investments. "Buybacks are a way to solve problems for companies when their profit growth slows," she said. "We aren't buying Apple for the fundamentals. We buy it because the company will put a floor on the stock every single time it falls."