https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/23/one-way ... eriod.html
One way for investors to play the end of the 'buyback blackout' period
George Manessis | @gsmanessis
Published 1:47 PM ET Thu, 23 Feb 2017
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Under SEC rules, companies can't buy back any of their shares during the roughly five-week period which ends two days after the company's results are released.
Using hedge fund analytics tool Kensho, CNBC conducted a study to find out which Dow Components and sector ETFs perform well once the stock repurchases resume.
United Health and Nike trade consistently higher, up 72 percent of the time, with average returns of 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.
Home Depot trades positively 57 percent of the time, with an average gain of 2.2 percent.
Taking a broader look at sector performance:
The Financial Select Sector SPDR XLF and the Energy Select Sector SPDR XLE both traded positively 63 percent of the time.
The XLF notched the highest average return, gaining 1.7 percent, with the XLE better by 1.4 percent.
The Utilities Select Sector SPDR XLU was the most consistently positive of the group, trading positively 71 percent of the time with an average gain of 1.4 percent.