Nope. According to the Federal Reserve, it's the companies themselves. They have been busy "investing" their profits to keep the bubble going. After years of telling CEOs that the _only_ thing that matters is their company's stock price, and tying their salaries to it, it seems they got the point.
Intel made $6 billion in profits last year. It spent $6.7 billion buying back stock, so that it actually has less cash than it did a year ago. Dell, one of the most profitable companies in America, actually borrows money every year to buy back stock. In effect, the management is looting their companies to keep up the ridiculous stock prices. And these are two real companies with real businesses that make real money. I shudder to think what's going on elsewhere.
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique