View from the Observation Deck  

1. The S&P 500 Old Industrials companies have more than doubled their cash and equivalent holdings from $606.6 billion in March 2007 to $1.25 trillion in September 2014. The all-time high is $1.30 trillion (Q4'13).
2. S&P 500 companies have spent approximately $4.6 trillion on stock buybacks and dividend payouts combined since September 2007.
3. Despite spending a total of $342.6 billion on stock dividends and another $550.1 billion on share buybacks over the past 12 months, the $1.25 trillion is exactly where it stood in September 2013.
4. We have been pro-Corporate America for the better part of the past six years and, as a result, have been resolute in our enthusiasm for the market. We remain so at the onset of 2015.

This chart is for illustrative purposes only and not indicative of any actual investment. The illustration excludes the effects of taxes and brokerage commissions or other expenses incurred when investing. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. The S&P 500 is a capitalization-weighted index comprised of 500 stocks used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance. The S&P 500 Old Industrials approach to measuring cash and equivalents excludes Financials, Utilities, and Transportation issues. 

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