Placing a Bet on Where Repatriated Profits Will Go

If you’re a dividend investor, which I assume you are, and you buy into the assumptions I’m about to make about the repatriation of American corporate cash parked overseas, you’re likely to be happy in a few minutes.

Let’s start with the numbers.

Currently, American companies are holding $2.5 trillion abroad, an increase of nearly 20% over the past two years, according to the latest calculations from forecaster Capital Economics. That’s clearly a lot of money – equivalent to nearly 14% of total U.S. gross domestic product. Apple (AAPL ) alone has billions in cash overseas (find out how much here).