aron755, The way I understand it, it would work like this. Retired shares are removed from the A/S-O/S share count and put back into the company treasury. They could be re-issued at a later time. Cancelled shares are removed and can't be re-issued unless re-registered. Company buyback is the company owns them and they can be reissued. I could be wrong, but hey it makes sense too me LOL.