, Columnist
Warren Buffett's Giant Pile of Cash
When Warren Buffett has more than $50 billion he cannot find a reasonable way to invest, it is time to worry about corporate America's enormous cash pile.
This article is for subscribers only.
When Warren Buffett has more than $50 billion he cannot find a reasonable way to invest, it is time to worry about corporate America's enormous cash pile. This surfeit no longer signals uncertainty, but a lack of reasonably priced acquisition targets.
At the end of last year, U.S. non-financial companies held a record $1.94 trillion in liquid assets (mainly cash and money market or mutual fund shares). The latest Federal Reserve data -- from the end of the first quarter -- show a somewhat slimmer cushion of $1.85 trillion, the result of companies paying out fat dividends and running generous share buyback programs. Even so, the stock of liquid assets held by U.S. corporations is up 34 percent from 2008.