Wall Street guys love dry powder.

“Dry powder,” noun phrase, a reserve of cash.  Usage note:  Within the financial field, this popular yet dreadful expression can be used a couple of ways.  For example, an investment banker, looking for some excuse to propose a value-destroying yet fee-generating corporate finance action, might say of a client:  “They’ve got over $50 million of dry powder on the balance sheet, let’s pitch them on buying that typewriter company in Detroit.”  Continue reading →