A third of cash is owned by 5 U.S. companies

Very interesting statistic about how 5 American companies are cash rich and apparently "own" more than 30% of the cash outstanding !!!

Granted the "cash" is what the printed currency represents, and the cash on hand of these companies may not be in the form of physical currency stashed in safes.

But the comparison sure stirs up lots of controversy and creates some questions.

Perhaps these big companies are preparing for near future financial crunches and/or future government tax increases and costly regulations?

A third of cash is owned by 5 U.S. companies

The rising cash holdings of U.S. corporations is increasingly in the hands of a few U.S. companies, with just five tech firms having grabbed a third of it. And nearly three-quarters of cash held by non-financial U.S. companies is stashed overseas, outside the long arm of Uncle Sam.

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.

Maybe a function of not having enough alternative investments to generate any kind of yield with minimal risk? Probably also a function of the anti-business climate. Companies don't like to invest when there is a lot of uncertainty, especially when that uncertainty is generated by government

And we wonder why the economy is crap, these corporations are sucking the economy dry and storing it in offshore bank accounts that can't be taxed and circulated back into the economy.

This is what is destroying America, not stupid bathroom laws or the PC crowd.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Big Government failures.

a reply to: xuenchen

Currencies are meant to be circulated, not stockpiled. When stockpiling occurs, so does printing, inevitably causing inflation. This is the biggest issue with capitalism. It will always lead to the need to print more money.

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: xuenchen

Currencies are meant to be circulated, not stockpiled. When stockpiling occurs, so does printing, inevitably causing inflation. This is the biggest issue with capitalism. It will always lead to the need to print more money.

I don't think this is all "currency".

It's "on paper" anyway isn't it?

a reply to: xuenchen

I agree, but those corporations have had a huge hand in the governments' failures. They are the ones "donating" money to politicians to serve them and their agendas, passing laws that benefit their bottom line.

The government and politicians are to blame for taking the money but more importantly those corporations are to blame for paying them.

originally posted by: Edumakated
Maybe a function of not having enough alternative investments to generate any kind of yield with minimal risk? Probably also a function of the anti-business climate. Companies don't like to invest when there is a lot of uncertainty, especially when that uncertainty is generated by government

All these companies are like the shopping mall, car park and office block owners who bulldozed all the mom'n'pop shops on the downtown high streets and now charge a premium for office or retail space.

Need some servers? see Oracle. Need a database? See Oracle.
Need some network kit? See Cisco.
Want to develop mobile applications? See Apple.
Need an OS? See Microsoft or Google/Alphabet

Want to create a start-up that creates mobile apps that share data between customers? Ask all five.

originally posted by: xuenchen

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: xuenchen

Currencies are meant to be circulated, not stockpiled. When stockpiling occurs, so does printing, inevitably causing inflation. This is the biggest issue with capitalism. It will always lead to the need to print more money.

I don't think this is all "currency".

It's "on paper" anyway isn't it?

Actually that's something I've been thinking about looking into. Does the FED distribute digital currency? One would think that for every dollar a megacorp has would mean one dollar was printed. But then again storing trillions in physical currency could become, well, an issue simply because physical currency does take up space.

originally posted by: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
And we wonder why the economy is crap, these corporations are sucking the economy dry and storing it in offshore bank accounts that can't be taxed and circulated back into the economy.

This is what is destroying America, not stupid bathroom laws or the PC crowd.

This is Capitalism, ehm Corporatism in effect. Even College or Uni force you to learn to use programs create by corporate enterprises. What happened to the old days?

Simplicity = Reliability. I don't see any simplicity in today's world. It is blocked up and full of jammed course rather than directly teaching.

a reply to: xuenchen

How is it Big Government failures? Are you saying that Big Government is not taxing these huge corporations enought?
Is it that Big Government is not regulating prices enough so that all this money doe's not end up in the hands of a few?
Just how is all this cash in the hands of a few corporations a result of Big Government?

originally posted by: Vector99

originally posted by: xuenchen

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: xuenchen

Currencies are meant to be circulated, not stockpiled. When stockpiling occurs, so does printing, inevitably causing inflation. This is the biggest issue with capitalism. It will always lead to the need to print more money.

I don't think this is all "currency".

It's "on paper" anyway isn't it?

Actually that's something I've been thinking about looking into. Does the FED distribute digital currency? One would think that for every dollar a megacorp has would mean one dollar was printed. But then again storing trillions in physical currency could become, well, an issue simply because physical currency does take up space.

Sitting on cash does not mean the money is out of circulation. Everybody "sits on cash"... that is what your checking account is doing. It just means these companies have not invested in stocks, bonds, and other investments. The money is being invested by the banking institution that holds their cash so it indirectly is being circulated.

Because of fractional banking and the debt it it creates, there isn't enough cash on hand so that everyone who claims to have cash could access it all at the same time. In other words, if everyone wanted to liquidate their checking, savings, and stuff the money under a mattress, the banks could not do so because the money doesn't really exist. The system is dependent upon not everyone needing all their cash at the same time.

a reply to: Edumakated

I know, and that's where it gets complicated, banks can and do loan out money on this fractional banking system which essentially creates money, hence the creation of the FDIC. The 10% reserve fraction though is what I speak of. It's NOT circulated money, it's simply supposed to be collateral. The other 90% is basically made up money that can disappear at any moment. It's the 10% that isn't being circulated I meant.

Money is not just a tool for the average man, its a form of mind control for those who control it from the source.

This does not surprise me one bit and personally I will just let the egg heads crunch numbers all day long on this sort of stuff and still never really get to the bottom of it all.

a reply to: TerryMcGuire

If you want to counter a failure, start by listing some successes.

a reply to: xuenchen
Just as I did not understand your reply of Big Government failures, I also do not understand your reply to my query on what you meant by it. If you want to make it clearer for me please do. If not, never mind.

originally posted by: TerryMcGuire
a reply to: xuenchen
Just as I did not understand your reply of Big Government failures, I also do not understand your reply to my query on what you meant by it. If you want to make it clearer for me please do. If not, never mind.

I prefer the "never mind".

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: xuenchen

Currencies are meant to be circulated, not stockpiled. When stockpiling occurs, so does printing, inevitably causing inflation. This is the biggest issue with capitalism. It will always lead to the need to print more money.

How about two monies? One for transacting and one for saving, T-dollars and S-dollars. T-dollars can be expanded as much as necessary for expanding the economy, printing and inflation, day to day spending. S-dollars are only for stockpiling, no need to print more once established because there are already stockpiles of S-dollar savings. If people save too many then there is a shortage of S-dollars and savings of S-dollars go up in value. The exchange rate between S and T reveals the heath of the economy each day. Expand T-dollars to expand the economy, create opportunity and savers move from savings(S-dollars) to investing(T-dollars) and the system balances itself. No more economic crises, business cycles. Happy bankers with as many T-dollars as they need or even want, S-dollars will be useless to them leaving my savings safe and growing in value per S-dollar.