Biggest US companies' coffers filling up. - US companies are in flourishing. According to Standard & Poor's, these companies now have cash accounts of more than $1,000 billion. The liquidity position of industrial companies in the S&P500 (stock market rating based on 500 major companies quoted on the US stock markets) at the end of 2011 increased by 8% compared with the same period the previous year. Compared to 2007, there was a 64%, which, the rating agency says, has never been experienced before. In total, 380 companies account for this figure. Apple alone accounts for $100 billion, a tenth of this amount. This windfall can be explained by the good results achieved by the companies in the S&P500, which generated $902 billion in profits (excluding exceptional circumstances). This is a rise of almost 16%, the highest for five years. Profit margins peaked at 10.3%. This cash windfall is directly linked to cost-cutting efforts made by companies since the crisis but also to operational results that have sharply risen. The most significant capitalisation exercises were recorded by companies specialising in technology or petrochemical companies (Apple, Exxon Mobil, IBM and Chevron). On the other hand, companies producing consumer goods or agri-foods, such as Procter & Gamble, have suffered from rising material costs. Financial companies have also carried out fewer operations. Specialists are, however, more cautious with their forecasts for 2012, following a trend that displayed rather mixed results in the final quarter of 2011. The growth in results and revenues will be more modest, in an environment affected by the crisis in Europe and a slowdown in emerging countries, accompanied by hikes in oil prices. (IL/transl.fl)