Darren Clarke and 29 Companies with More Cash than the Treasury

 First, I would like to say congratulations to Darren Clarke for his Open Championship.  One of my favorite players, he overcame some personal roadblocks to win the oldest tournament around.

The Open 2011: Darren Clarke wins first major aged 42

Darren Clarke holds aloft the Claret Jug after winning the Open Championship at Royal St George's. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Darren Clarke, Open champion. Easy to say, hard to believe. But that was the story told on Sunday as the big man from Dungannon walked strong and proud through the squalls, all the way up the final hole theatre at Royal St George's to claim the greatest prize in golf. At the age of 42, in the supposed twilight of a distinguished career, the Northern Irishman followed his countryman and one-time protege Rory McIlroy into the role call of major champions with a three‑shot victory. It was a victory for pure talent and for the Everyman. In an era of the golfer athlete, Clarke is the cigar‑smoking, Guinness‑drinking proof there is more than one way to make history in this crazy game of ball and club. The winning putt, uproariously greeted in the stands around the 18th green, dropped in from all of three inches. But the journey to that moment had taken Clarke through triumph and despair both on and off the golf course. He had won more than 20 tournaments around the world, but never won the big one. He had played a distinguishing role in five Ryder Cup teams, never more so than in 2006 at the K Club, when he performed brilliantly for Europe just a few weeks after the death of his wife, Heather. Yet for all that he had never gained entry into the exclusive club reserved for major champions – a rotten injustice for a golfer acknowledged by his peers as one of the most naturally gifted of his generation. Injustice, be gone. Afterwards, he paid tribute to his deceased wife and to his two sons, Conor and Tyrone. The boys watched from home in Northern Ireland as their father showcased the skills he learned in his youth and which he recently became reacquainted with after moving from London back home, to Portrush. "In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me. She'd probably be saying, I told you so," he said of the late Heather Clarke. "But I think she'd be more proud of my two boys and them at home watching more than anything else. It's been a long journey to get here. It's incredible – it really is. It's for the kids." ***************************************************************************** I can be called "negative" by some, but I looked a real numbers and statistics.  This isn't good...  Here Are The 29 Public Companies With More Cash Than The US Treasury
As was pointed out yesterday, courtesy of a blistering $80 billion cash burn in the first half of July, Tim Geithner managed to reduce Treasury cash balances from $130 billion to $39 billion. Granted this number will increase next week after this week's $66 billion in Treasury auctions settle, only to drop once again when another batch of Bills mature and are not rolled. So in response to various inquiries we present the 29 public companies that hold more cash than the US Treasury does as of July 13 (Geithner is tied with Google at $39 billion). Not very surprising, two of the top 3 are Chinese companies. The third? Bank of America... Surely there is a good reason why BAC is preparing for rainy days.