As the saying goes in the investment community cash is king Generally speaking the saying is one that applies to cash flow and where the accrual of dollars and cents to corporate coffers means that firms have ample firepower to weather downturns and act strategically though all phases of growth But now amid market swings that would make the most trenchant investor skittish cash is king in different ways Where stocks once held favor increasingly the hard stuff holds sway The Wall Street Journal noted this week that many investors are looking beyond equities to assets that tend to have a bit of stickiness to their value thats our terminology here not the papers The volatility seems a part of daily life make that hourly life when it comes to equities and even bonds so perhaps it is no surprise that some seek shelter from the storm in cash Consider the fact that as we have a day off on Wednesday from market vagaries amid former President George HW Bushs funeral yesterday the bellwether Dow sank more than 3 percent Geopolitics took and takes center stage again with sabre-rattling over tariffs and trade Amid that downdraft Treasurys gained ground and safety of government-backed securities was top of mind In the US at least cash and cash equivalents are currying favor as interest rates rise which means the return on those once staid holdings looks enticing As noted by the Journal the S P US Treasury Bill 3-6 Month Index tied of course to shorter dated Treasurys is up 17 percent for the year thus far Thats relatively better than any other number of asset classes cryptocurrencies need no mention here As the Federal Reserve looks to continue to boost rates cash becomes all the more attractive There could be torque to those returns too as asset fund managers have 47 percent of their holdings in cash at least as measured last month a bit above average but below the 51 percent levels seen in immediately preceding months Yes the longer-term trend shows that stocks have outperformed cash but amid the volatility of todays markets may we submit that the longer-term game might require a cooler calmer mindset If cash outperforms the aforementioned asset classes it would be the first time since 1992 as Bank of America analysis has shown Heres another saying In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king One percent-plus returns might once have made investors scoff but now Seems like cents makes sense LATEST INSIGHTS Our data and analytics team has developed a number of creative methodologies and frameworks that measure and benchmark the innovation thats reshaping the payments and commerce ecosystem Check out the latest PYMNTS report on driving gas pump payments to the C-Store Cash currency economy federal reserve Interest Rates News stock market stocks treasury Wall Street