Why investors should check the outstanding share count before buying a stock

More than half of the stocks in the S&P 500 hit new 52-week highs in the first quarter, leaving us to puzzle over how this all happened. We act as if it’s all about the earnings or the actions of the Federal Reserve. But maybe it is something else. Maybe it’s the share count that trades versus the portion that doesn’t? It’s a strange commonality that’s never talked about. $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$