Stand Strong With the Buyback Kings

This column was originally published on RealMoney on May 22 at 5:27 p.m. EDT. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

Citigroup(C Quote), ExxonMobil(XOM Quote), United Technologies(UTX Quote) and Bank of America(BAC Quote) all worked well today.

One might ask what these companies have in common. I would tell you one word: buybacks. They, along with Sears Holdings(SHLD Quote), which didn't do badly considering the Lowe's(LOW Quote) debacle and last week's strength -- hold in better than most stocks I follow.

The buyback as a method of cash deployment doesn't work that well in a non-volatile stock market. There are always buyers somewhere in a decline in a non-volatile market.

Not so in this market. There's not enough of a chance for buyers to be there underneath. The velocity of the decline is just too swift.

But when you have companies that are adept at buying back stock, it is a godsend. These companies all buy back stock through thick and thin. They are underneath constantly, making sure that no sellers can overwhelm the market.

I think that the buyback is a bit of a lost art. Companies announce them all the time, but most don't mean it or don't do anything with it. Not so Citi, Exxon, Bank of America and Sears: They are there to sop up the selling, whether it's from real sellers, futures sellers doing arbitrage or the latest, mad-bombing selling from ETFs.

Think of these companies the next time we get a whopping day down. They will be the place to go.