Public companies were under pressure to survive when the big crunch hit in Q4 2008. They were under pressure to maintain profits when purchasing slowed. They were under pressure to reduce staff when the downturn revealed bloat in their organizations. They have done all of these things, with the result that they have amassed huge cash reserves and slowed their growth. Now they will be under pressure to either deploy cash for growth (primarily through M&A), or return it to shareholders via dividends and share repurchases. Which do you think they will choose?