by Tyler Durden Sunday, Jul 18, 2021 - 08:00 PM 2021 has been a blockbuster year for virtually every banking product: from IPOs and equity offerings, to investment grade and junk bond sale and yes - even M&A: according to Goldman, through July 15, some $1.9 trillion of deal value for US-based acquirers has been announced, the highest volume of M&A by this point in the year since at least 2000. Specifically, among the strategic deals over $100 million that have been announced by US-based acquirers, Tech, Leisure & Recreation, and Telecom firms account for a combined 56% of total deal value. Why? Because thanks to the 2020 depression and subsequent Fed nationalization of the bond market, we saw record debt and equity issuance resulting in trillions in cash new cash. Now, corporate cash balances are among the highest ever and S&P 500 managements are deploying some of the cash on M&A deals.