Apple’s latest release, the iPhone 8, is a complete failure and could spell disaster for investors… at least, that’s what the talking heads on the financial news networks want you to believe. One of the pundits even said that the short-term prognosis “doesn’t look good” for the stock.

Now it’s true that their latest release isn’t selling as well as it predecessor, the iPhone 7. In fact, the demand for the iPhone 8 was so low that you could still buy phones days after pre-sales started. To give you an idea of just how bad that is, the iPhone 7 sold out minutes after pre-order selling began – setting it an all-time record for Apple.

But that doesn’t mean the company – or the stock – is in trouble. Quite the opposite, actually.

And the media’s “doomsday” prediction is now putting you at risk to miss out on the next triple-digit profit opportunity…

On Tuesday, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) announced a $20 billion stock share buyback, which simply means they’re planning to buy $20 billion worth of their own stock from the market.

Now investors and traders generally love buybacks because they drive a company’s market value, earnings per share (eps), and dividend payout higher.

But – despite Wal-Mart’s announcement – we’re smack dab in the middle of about a year-long “buyback drought.” In fact, the number of buybacks by S&P 500 companies only reached $120 billion in this year’s second quarter. 

While $120 billion may seem like a large number, it’s down nearly 10% from the first quarter alone and 5.8% from this same period a year ago.

And that could have huge impacts on your portfolio – especially this earnings season.  

Here’s how…