The smartest insight and analysis, from all perspectives, rounded up from around the web: A rising stock price used to mean a company was doing something right, said Alain Sherter at CBS News: releasing great products, conducting trailblazing research, even benefiting from visionary leadership. Today, though, the company might just be "buying a boatload of its own shares." Stock buybacks, which help juice a company's short-term stock price by reducing the number of outstanding shares, are nearing historic levels.