Companies are sitting on more cash than ever before

Corporations are stowing away cash at record rates, reluctant to invest in their businesses or hire new workers as uncertainty clouds the future. Amid a lackluster earning season that has

featured many companies missing sales expectations, cash balances have swelled 14 percent and are on track toward $1.5 trillion for the Standard & Poor's 500, according to JPMorgan.

Both levels would be historic highs. The buildup contrasts with an earnings picture in which 61 percent of the 127 companies that reported through last week have missed revenue expectations

though more than half have beaten estimates. With unemployment mired at 7.8 percent, economic growth at 1.3 percent and the stock market getting no lift from earnings, the larger question

is when companies will start putting that money to work. (_Read More_: What the Jobs Report Really Says About the Economy) "Companies aren't making the capital investments because

they don't see the growth to make the investment," said Jim Paulsen, chief market strategist at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis. "They're not making long-term

investments without a feel for sales growth. That's what's got to come." Since the 2008 financial crisis, investors had been content to watch companies use government stimulus

to build up liquidity in case the economy should double-dip back into recession. But with  the S&P 500 breaching important support levels and an economy hungry for a growth engine,

it's only a matter of time before that patience wears thin. "It's going to take on more significance for investors. They're going to get more and more upset about sitting

on hoards of cash. You may be hearing more activist investor calls," Paulsen said. "People are getting less concerned about financial risks and more concerned about growth,"

he added. "If you're not going to grow, at least pay it back in returns. It's going to go from a badge of honor (for accumulating cash) to representation of poor

management." CEOs have a variety of concerns to keep them from deploying cash. Chief among them is the much-discussed "fiscal cliff," which is Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's

term for the series of spending cuts and tax increases that will kick in if Congress and the White House fail to reach deficit-reduction targets by year's end. (_Read More_: Why

'Fiscal Cliff' May Be Bigger Threat Than You Think) Another primarily political concern is the broader issue of taxes, in particular how investment income will be treated. Analysts

have begun chattering about special dividend releases to get ahead of possible tax increases, according to Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Annuities in Newark, N.J.

"There's an expectation that you may see some special dividends being offered because of the questions regarding taxation," Krosby said. "We should be seeing that

particularly in the tech sector." Krosby does not sense a critical level of impatience among investors — so far.