The $1 trillion force lifting this bull market

Published Fri, Apr 17 20156:00 AM EDTUpdated Fri, Apr 17 20159:02 AM EDT

More than $100 billion in buyback authorizations were approved last month, according to Birinyi Associates, as corporate America continues to purchase its own shares at a record clip. Based on that data, the total amount of buyback authorizations will reach $1 trillion, far surpassing the previous record set in 2007. In fact, March was the third-strongest month ever for buyback plans, pushing the year-to-date figure to $257 billion or the highest dollar amount to a start of a year on record, according to Birinyi. As the market remains stuck in place over the last month on concerns about a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and poor earnings, there's a trillion dollars on the way this year to wash away all ills. CNBC Pro has some of the names to play this trend. Source: Birinyi Associates The Money Play: Last quarter, technology dominated with $36 billion in share buybacks, followed by consumer discretionary and financials with a combined $54 billion, according to Birinyi. Even more important than announcing a buyback is actually following through on it, which companies don't always do. The following companies were among biggest purchasers of their own stock last quarter. So they not only talked the talk, they walked the walk. Some of the stocks that made the cut include Apple , Intel , General Motors , Microsoft and Home Depot . To be sure, skeptics will say these returns—especially the buybacks—are just smoke and mirrors fueled by the Fed's zero interest rate policy, which companies used to borrow at record low rates and pay for the shareholder returns. "Corporate debt has gone from $3.5 trillion in 2007 to $7 trillion today," said Stanley Druckenmiller, the now retired founder of Duquesne Capital Management, explaining that most of the mix has been in highly leveraged transactions used for "financial engineering." What has Druckenmiller and others worried is what could happen if the Fed raises interest rates and breaks the cycle, putting an end to what they call a shell game. The use of cash by corporations in the post-crisis era has been centered on buybacks, mergers and acquisitions, bond issuance and, at a lesser extent, dividend payments. Read More 10 stocks to buy as M & A booms Cash holdings used for buybacks and M & A activities, for example, are up 287 percent and 180 percent respectively since the post-crisis low, according to Strategas Research. That compares to a 44 percent gain in capital spending. "A combination of continued regulatory uncertainty and accommodative monetary policy is likely to continue to lead companies to take financial risks (e.g., issuing debt to buy back stock) rather than economic ones (e.g. capex)" wrote Jason Trennert, chief investment strategist of Strategas. Stock prices are supposed to follow earnings, not buybacks, the critics point out, but earnings are expected to fall 2 percent this quarter for the first time in six years and only rise by 1 percent in all of 2015. However, as the shorts have found out over the last six years, it's not easy to fight against $1 trillion in buying power, artificial or not. Read More Is this how the bull market ends? Disclaimer

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In fact, March was the third-strongest month ever for buyback plans, pushing the year-to-date figure to $257 billion or the highest dollar amount to a start of a year on record, according to Birinyi.

As the market remains stuck in place over the last month on concerns about a Federal Reserve interest rate hike and poor earnings, there's a trillion dollars on the way this year to wash away all ills.

CNBC Pro has some of the names to play this trend.