A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. But America’s publicly traded companies are flashing a key sign of economic uncertainty — they’ve been hoarding cash. And companies with existing and expensive debt in a high-interest rate environment would likely want to use their cash to pay it down. “We interpret this correlation as evidence that cash reserves act like insurance against sudden economic shocks,” wrote the researchers. The missing bolts are apparently not the only problem.

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