The only segnificant difference is that with stock buybacks, they have a bit more control over how and when it happens. Investors have turned dividends into a

The only segnificant difference is that with stock buybacks, they have a bit more control over how and when it happens. Investors have turned dividends into a religion. They must come every quarter like clockwork and never decrease; otherwise, it seems like there's a five-alarm fire and the place is on the brink of bankruptcy. It is irrational but reality.