- Cash Balance Grows 1.1% YOY; Slight Decline from Q1: The S&P 500 (Ex-Financials) cash and short-term investments balance was $1.456 trillion at the end of the second quarter (May-July), which represented a 1.1% increase from the year-ago quarter, but a 0.2% decline from Q1. The balance in Q2 represented the second largest cash total in at least ten years.
- Microsoft and Alphabet with Largest Cash Balances: Microsoft and Alphabet ended the second quarter with the largest cash and short-term investments balances ($113.2 billion and $78.5 billion, respectively).
- Cash to Debt Ratio Continues to Fall: The cash to debt ratio for the S&P 500 (Ex-Financials) index fell 6% yearover-year to 33%, which marked the lowest ratio since Q2 2009.
- Capital Expenditures Decline 7.9% Year-Over-Year: Fixed capital expenditures in the second quarter amounted to $144.7 billion, which represented a 7.9% decline from the year-ago period. The Energy sector led the decline with a 40.4% year-over-year drop in quarterly CapEx.
- Shareholder Distributions Favored Over Capital Spending: Compared to the TTM period ending in Q2 2010, growth in share buybacks (+151.5%) far exceeded growth in dividends (+95.6%) and capital expenditures (+52.2) for the TTM ending in Q2.
We have the highest number of cash balance and the lowest number of quarterly share buyback in US, therefore we encourage investors to be cautious on the market. But, basically the market has no reason to sell for at the moment. Everything still need to wait until the election of US new President finish.
