General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums1/3rd of cash is owned by 5 companies
Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Oracle (ORCL) are sitting on $504 billion, or 30%, of the $1.7 trillion in cash and cash equivalents held by U.S. non-financial companies in 2015, according to an analysis released Friday by ratings agency Moody's Investors Service. That's even more cash concentration than in previous years, as these five companies held 27% of cash in 2014 and 25% in 2013. Apple alone is holding more cash and investments than eight of the 10 entire industry sectors.
Corporate America's rising pile of cash is becoming increasingly important to investors as profit growth and the stock market stalls. The amount of cash held by U.S. companies rose 1.8% in 2015. Unfortunately for U.S. investors, 72% of total cash held by all non-financial U.S. companies is stockpiled outside the U.S., up from 64% in 2014 and 58% in 2013, as companies try to avoid paying U.S. tax rates.
Investors are eyeing companies' growing cash piles as potential sources of dividend increases to maintain fat returns even if stock prices continue to go nowhere. Dividends rose 4% last year to a record high of $404 billion, while companies cut back on capital spending by 3% to $885 billion. Capital spending is the cash companies put into new plants and equipment with the hopes of driving higher profits in the future.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/05/20/third-cash-owned-5-us-companies/84640704/
Response to davidn3600 (Original post)
cyberpj This message was self-deleted by its author.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,265 posts)If it had been brought back into the USA, would it have decreased the deficit? The 72% of $1.7 trillion - about $1.2 trillion - is about 3 years' current account deficit. A lot of it built up in just the past few years, if it's largely from tech companies.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)It is that simple. These days the Democrats are the white hats. The only white hats who can put an end to this.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)The Democratic party establishment has no intention of fixing this.
Even Obama favors free trade agreements that will make corporations wealthier and hurt labor.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)on INTERNAL ISSUES? Absolutely no one thinks we should not be striving to improve ourselves, but THIS IS NOT THE TIME!
Who the hell are you listening to that you bring that destructive, fifth-column-type idea here to Democratic Underground?
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Hortensis
(58,785 posts)as possible. Then go to work, as much as the power we have gained allows, on getting money out of government and repairing the damage the past 30 years of conservative dominance has done.