Percentage of financial industry professionals who say too much cash is currently on the books of large, publicly owned U.S. companies, according to a survey by Convergex: 72
Ranks of capital expenditure, incremental hiring and acquisitions as their preferred use of excess cash: 1, 2, 3
Source: Convergex.
Percentage of those with a savings plan with specific goals who say they are making good or excellent progress in meeting their goals, according to the American Savings Education Council: 57
Percentage of those without a plan who say the same: 22
Percentage of those with a plan who say they are spending less than their income and saving the rest: 90
Percentage of those without a plan who said the same: 50
Source: American Savings Education Council.
Percentage of single moms who are likely to report that they are at least "somewhat" stressed, compared to 64 percent for moms who are married/cohabiting, according to a survey of moms ages 18 and over conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of the Clinton Foundation: 78
Percentage of moms with a household income below $50,000 who report at least being "somewhat" stressed compared to 63 percent for moms with a household income of $50,000 or over: 73
Ranks of managing their money/finances and thinking about their children's future on the list of the top two sources of stress: 1, 2
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs RS.
Number of people who were treated in hospitals in 2013 for a winter sports-related activity, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: 343,000
Number that were related to skiing: 138,559
Snowboarding: 95,348
Sledding: 63,000
Ice skating: 47,031
Source: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
Percentage of CFOs who say that remote working opportunities have increased at their companies over the last three years, according to a survey by Accountemps: 36
Ranks of higher morale and retention as the reasons for instituting remote working: 1, 2
Source: Accountemps.
Percentage of marijuana users aged 18 to 25 who said they have been high at school, according to a nationwide survey by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's Center for Public Advocacy: 35
Percentage who said they have been high at work: 23.1
Source: Hazelden.
Number of calories burned in a one-minute kiss, according to New York-based Manhattan Dental Arts: 26
Number of guys the average woman will kiss before she's married: 79
Percentage of all people who have their first kiss before the age of 14: 50
Source: Manhattan Dental Arts.
Percentage more time that Americans eating all-natural proteins spent exercising than the average American, according to Packaged Facts: 21
Percentage more time that Americans with household incomes above $100,000 spent exercising than the average American: 55
Source: Packaged Facts.
Year of the first successful organ transplant in the U.S., performed in Boston by Harvard's Dr. Joseph Murray, who transplanted a kidney from one identical twin to another, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1954
Estimated number of kidney transplants performed each year in the U.S., the most common and successful of the organ transplant procedures: 17,000
Estimated number of people who are on waiting lists to receive a transplanted kidney: 94,000
Source: U.S. Census Bureau.
Percentage of American adults who now believe that terminally ill patients who are in great pain should have the right to end their lives, according to a Harris poll: 74
Number of states -- Oregon, Washington and Vermont – that currently have right-to-die laws that allow physician-assisted suicide: 3
Source: Harris Interactive.
Idle Thought
"Familiarity is a magician that is cruel to beauty but kind to ugliness." -- Ouida (pen name of Marie Louise de la Ramee)
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)