Also Brean's Peter Tchir added that...>

US CORPORATES: Also Brean's Peter Tchir added that "in any case, Oracle went

from having cash of almost double their borrowing, to something just over one to

one coverage. I think it is safe to assume that the build-up in cash and short

term investments over time was at least partly due to offshore versus onshore

tax constraints. If the cash was easily accessible on-shore cash, they likely

wouldn't have borrowed so much (it is relatively difficult to generate net

income from holding cash and short-term investments while borrowing longer term

- not impossible necessarily, with the deductibility of interest expenses, but

still difficult)."

- He adds that "assuming the new tax laws provide a one-time incentive to

repatriate cash held overseas, there is still likely to be some tax applied" but

"it will likely be a very attractive deal for companies, but would still reduce

the value of the cash and short-term investments once it is brought back."