Companies Are Hoarding Record Cash Amid Delta Fears

Summary:Companies are sitting on a record amount of cash amid lingering uncertainty about disruptions from Covid-19, defying expectations earlier this year that a waning pandemic would unleash a spending spree. Cash and short-term investments on corporate balance sheets globally are at an all-time high of $6.84 trillion. But global capital expenditures are expected to slow in the third quarter after a strong start to the year.

Questions:

1. Why are companies apparently hoarding cash?
2. How did companies manage to raise so much cash? What options were available to them?
3. What have been the main drivers of high yield bond issuance?
4. According to the article, what do second-quarter earnings potentially signal about the current and projected state of the economy?