While Amazon did not mention it anywhere in its earnings release, in the AMZN 10-K filed this morning, the company disclosed that it had repurchased half a million shares of common stock for $1.3bn between January 1 and February 2. It probably also repurchased (a lot) more after the close on Feb 3, when the stock price exploded 18% higher in very thin volumes, effectively repricing the stock entirely after Facebook's implosion earlier in the day, but we'd be guessing.

Why is this important? Because as Morgan Stanley strategist Brian Nowak writes, "while more symbolic than material, we think it is a positive signal. Our work shows AMZN has timed past buybacks well too (averaging a theoretical 100% average 12 month return)."