trends...

Here's a trend that I noticed is still going on. I remember three examples: HP announced today that they're buying back $8 billion in stock. That's about 7.5%. Another thing in this category is Dow Chemical's decision to abandon their AAA bond rating in favor of more leverage. The third thing is the general corporate trend of borrowing to buyback stock.

This tells me two things: 1. Debt is cheap compared to returns. 2. This will stay the same until spreads widen or returns diminish.

I wonder, is this trend a leading, current, or lagging indicator?