Merck & Co., Inc. and Johnson & Johnson Sit on Piles of Cash

As it turns out, giant companies like Prudential Financial and Johnson & Johnson aren’t so different than average consumers unnerved by the nation’s economic uncertainty. Some of the largest companies are holding onto huge stashes of money because, like American families, they’re worried about the economy and its impact on their future finances. Prudential Financial and Merck have each added $1 billion in cash this year to their troves. And Johnson & Johnson has socked away $3 billion since January. "Companies feel like they don’t have strong confidence that things will be better in the next year," said John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas. "Why take risks right now?"