Chart assignment

Charts to read and discuss

Read each chart, then answer its questions. Every chart shows its source and date; open it for a table of the numbers and the data to download.

  1. Which companies spend the most buying back their own stock?
  2. Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

Chart 1 of 2 · Companies

Which companies spend the most buying back their own stock?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

Apple spent $90.7 billion buying back its own shares in its latest fiscal year, about 2 times as much as Alphabet ($45.7 billion), with Nvidia next ($40.1 billion). A buyback returns cash to shareholders and leaves fewer shares, so each remaining share owns more of the company. Together the 50 companies shown spent about $590 billion in their latest fiscal years, as reported in their cash flow statements. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust's figure is shares its investors asked to sell back, not a buyback on the market.

Questions to discuss

  1. In one sentence of your own, what does this chart show?
  2. Find the biggest change or difference in the chart. What might explain it?
  3. Who collected these numbers, and how recent are they? What else would you want to know before drawing a conclusion?

Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGAR company financial data (XBRL) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Jun 28, 2026

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Chart 2 of 2 · Road safety

Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.

In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, down from 3.35 in 1980. The lowest rate was 1.08 in 2014; it jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions to discuss

  1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
  2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
  3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024

Open the chart and its numbers

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