Shares of Accenture (NYSE: ACN) are trading in the red in after hours trading today following the company's fiscal fourth quarter earnings release and a weaker than expected first quarter forecast.

For the quarter, the company reported that it had earnings of 39 cents per share. Excluding a previously disclosed restructuring charge, earnings were in line with analyst estimates for 63 cents per share for the quarter.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB) plans on executing a nice buyback program for its stock. The company will repurchase perhaps as much as 10% of its shares over time. Also, earnings will probably come in near the top point of the previously stated range. So, should you rush in and invest in Campbell just because of this buyback?

My opinion: Probably not if you're looking to merely trade the name, but if you're looking to hold for the long term, you'll probably be all right. Although Campbell Soup's stock isn't near a 52-week low as of this writing, I notice that Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP), and Kraft (NYSE: KFT) aren't too far from theirs. It's been a crazy time for the markets, and it amazes me that a stock like Coke isn't being perceived as a safe haven. I know there are some reasons out there for its weakness in terms of growth prospects and the like, but still, I've watched it drop quite a bit in very recent times (I own Coke), and I'm a bit surprised at its current price action considering the recession.

So, even though Campbell's buyback is great news for shareholders who already own the stock, I'm not sure I'd initiate a position myself. Although I am looking for stocks to buy, I just haven't been able to ignore the technical damage that's been inflicted upon the big averages by the bears and am reticent at putting new money to work in short-term trades. I think management might be doing the right thing with its buyback from a shareholder standpoint, but from a trading perspective, I would not be buying along with them.

Disclosure: I own Coke; positions can change at any time.

I've written about share buybacks a fair amount in the past: whether insiders were using them to prop up share prices while they dumped, what role they have played in sustaining past bull markets, and whether they create long-term value for shareholders.

In Sunday's New York Times, Mark Hulbert wonders whether they're still good for investors. According to Hulbert:

S&P focused on those companies within the S&P 500 index that repurchased shares between the beginning of 2006 and June 30, 2007 - a total of 423 companies. It found that, as of Sept. 30 this year, 320 of them - or 76 percent - would have been better off had they not repurchased their shares and instead invested in an index fund benchmarked to the S&P 500.

There are a number of possible reasons for this: companies may be buying back their own plummeting stock in desperation as insider options fall farther and farther out of the money. For instance, Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) actively repurchased stock, even as its CEO dumped huge numbers of shares and the company's prospects weakened.

Few deny that the current market contains considerable uncertainty: a subprime mortgage and related asset default issue which seeks a solution, declining corporate earnings, high energy prices and a wary consumer have put investors and citizens on guard.

Sound business decisions in these choppy waters require research, careful planning and verve, and on Tuesday, AT&T (NYSE: T) may have accomplished just that.

AT&T announced that it would buy back $15.2 billion of its stock, and also said it would increase its quarterly dividend by 12.6% to 40 cents from 35.5 cents. AT&T's shares surged $2.02 to $39.92 Tuesday at mid-day on the news.

The company also set a long-term target of 30 million subscribers by 2010 for its TV service, which is delivered over phone lines.

In today's WSJ, there is an article discussing the potential lightening up on the pace of share buybacks from public U.S. corporations. The reason is simple: the tightening of capital and lending is causing a liquidity crunch and putting balance sheets more at risk. The WSJ stated that Standard & Poor's estimated that $122 billion was spent by U.S. companies to repurchase stock in Q2 2007 alone. Right now Wall Street is in love with share buybacks. After all, a share buyback in the open market can create a substantial floor in a stock. If it doesn't create a floor it can at least offset some major selling.

Companies that buy their own shares do not necessarily retire the shares permanently. These shares become treasury stock that can be used to fund future buyouts that maybe the company thinks aren't feasible today. The shares can also be used as a form of currency to fund other ventures down the road. But the shares bought back are not in the common stock that receives dividends from the company.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) reports its quarterly and fiscal year earnings on Tuesday. First Call is looking for $0.35 EPS and $9.29 billion revenues. Next quarter estimates are $0.36 EPS and $9.38 billion in revenues. We may get fiscal July-2008 targets, and estimates are $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) and $39.7 billion in revenues, so 2008 expectations are an implied 16.5% gain in EPS and a 14% gain in revenues.

Cisco's shares have held up quite well outside of today, with shares trying to remain above $30.00. But the challenge of the $30.00 stock hurdle goes back to January 2004. Now it has Scientific-Atlanta, Webex, and others under its umbrella. In fiscal 2004 the networking giant posted $22.04 billion in revenues and it is expected to have roughly $34.75 billion for this fiscal year (and estimated at $39.7 billion for 2008). The company has also been retiring stock in a big way, even though this last buyback announcement right before earnings seems odd timing.

The average analyst price target is now around $32.00 to $33.00. Back in January, we ran some forward valuations and the scenario that could give Cisco shares a $34.00 stock price mid-year. It is not fair to use options pricing as an estimate several days ahead of the event with erosion of time value and harder in a volatile market, but as of today it appears that options traders are prepared for the stock to move up to 3% in either direction. Cisco was also one of Jim Cramer's TOP PICKS FOR 2007.

Here is a May 8 preview I gave if you want to see any comparisons to then. Shares ended the last quarter under $27.00, so the stock is up about 11% since then ahead of today's sale.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.

Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG) today reported strong fiscal fourth quarter profits, improving margins and raised a stock buyback. Shares are rising in pre-market action even though the world's largest consumer products company also gave disappointing earnings guidance.

Profit rose 19% to $2.3 billion, or 67 cents per share, from $1.9 billion, or 55 cents, helped by gains in Blades & Razors, Fabric & Home Care and Beauty and Health Care. Revenue rose 8% to $19.3 billion. Results beat analysts' forecasts which called for profit of 66 cents on revenue of $19.11 billion.

Procter & Gamble also announced plans to repurchase between $24 billion and $30 billion worth of company shares over the next three years, at about $8 billion to $10 billion a year. This represents an increase over the $5.6 billion acquired in the last fiscal year.

"They're not shooting the lights out, but they're doing the right things to increase sales,'' Procter & Gamble shareholder John Kornitzer, chief investment officer at Kornitzer Capital Management, told Bloomberg News.

Earnings will be $3.44 to $3.47 for the current fiscal year, which is below the $3.47 analysts had expected. Sales are expected to rise between 5 to 7%. Analysts were expecting a rise of 5.8%, according to Thomson Financial.

The 88-cent to 90-cent profit forecast for the quarter, lags the 91 cents Wall Street had expected. Procter & Gamble sees sales rising 6 to 8 percent while analysts saw a gain of 6%.

Are companies exceedingly confident in the financial outlook for themselves and the industries that they operate in to a level that will initiate some of the largest amounts of share buybacks in recent memory? Example: shareholders of Anheuser-Busch Cos (NYSE:BUD) have requested gobs of share buybacks and the company has been listening and acting on those wishes. But why?

Anheuser-Busch wants to change the cash flow to total debt ratio it has to between 25% and 30%, from the prior target of 30% to 40% -- ah ha (or so it seems). Anheuser-Busch also approved the repurchase of 100 million shares (about 13% of stock outstanding). Total buybacks amounts for 2007? $2.5 billion.

Some companies are actually taking on debt at the same time they are buying back their own shares in droves. These companies appear to want to reward shareholders through buybacks or dividends (whichever is cheaper, trust me). But, as the BusinessWeek article notes, investors may want to consider whether the short-term benefit from share repurchases merits the added risk of more debt being added to the balance sheets of these companies. Where is your comfort level?

So Microsoft is going to buy some shares back? That's fine, but it's no big deal. In fact, it's long overdue.

The stock moved upward on the news that MSFT was going to basically establish their own support levels for the share price. This is better for people that hold stock options than it is for shareholders. They will be in the money sooner.

Everything I heard on the earnings call indicates the company is doing fine and will continue to do fine and that profit margins and cash flow are amazing. However, Microsoft is huge, bloated and average in so many ways. I would be happier to hear that they had a fantastic new plan for growth, Vista was going to be released earlier than expected and that their dividend was going to be increased to a level higher than the market average.

What we did not hear about was what they intended to do with their billion$ and billion$ because they have the good fortune of doing the buyback over time and still maintain staggering cash reserves. If they were going to spend their cash reserves -- that would have been a BIG DEAL!