Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Strange Sign that there is Lots of Excess Money Sloshing Around in the Economy

I was reading an article on the best performing alternative investments and I came across this line.

The same forces propelling markets are also raising prices for companies private-equity firms want to buy. Dry powder -- buyout money that has yet to be deployed -- stood at a record $1.16 trillion as of June 30, according to Preqin. 

“Prices are very high,” Black said at the Milken Conference. “It’s still not a robust environment for private equity. We are continuing to sell more than we are buying.” 

The combination of too much dry powder and a great deal of demand has created a dilemma for executives such as Blackstone President Tony James, whose firm manages a total of $279 billion in alternative investments. He says Blackstone has been turning away money because the New York-based firm can’t find prudent ways to spend it. 

So there is $1.16 trillion sitting on the sidelines because prices are too high? On one hand that is quite bit of money left to pop things higher. I mean that is a real first world problem to have so much money to be deployed you are turning away new investors. On the other hand if prices are so high that no one will deploy that money then maybe things are just over valued. Hopefully, we can get a nice 10% or more correction and this dry-powder will power us to new highs. 

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