Ok whatever bro

You're just assuming that I subscribe to trickle down economics, which I don't btw. I would support an initiative for the government to invest some money for each high school student so that they have some wealth to start out. All I'm trying to point out is that stock buybacks are not the enemy you are making them out to be. They are nearly identical to dividends in their effect. Just because you don't understand it doesn't make it evil.

I'm not 100% sure, but a lot of people probably own AAPL as a part of the S&P 500 as an ETF or pensions fund or something. Also they're financial tools that everyone can use. It just so happens that the wealthiest people in society are the ones that use them. I'm not saying that everyone has equal opportunity or access to them, but there's really nothing stopping people from investing outside of a lack of capital which is easily solved using ETFs or even a margin account for the less risk averse.

Just cause the share price goes up doesn't mean it's time to sell lol.

What do stock buybacks have to do with short term gains? All a stock buyback does is increase the share price by buying shares at whatever the current share price is.

I gotta say, a cash flow statement conveys the exact same information much more effectively

A stock buyback is effectively the same as a dividend. It's just a way to reward investors.