Cash Balances

When things get risky and uncertain, cash is king. Many companies seem to be following this advice. In fact, the cash balance for the S&P 500 companies is approaching $1.5 trillion. CNBC recently compiled a list of 10 cash rich companies. For example, Priceline has $2.4 billion in cash, which is 63 percent of the company's assets, compared to an industry average of about 20 percent. And Altera Corp. has $3.44 billion in cash, which is 80 percent of assets, compared to an industry average of 27 percent.