Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: Can I have your sage advice on the prospects for Caterpillar? Thanks again.

Article Excerpt

Caterpillar Inc., $77.27, symbol CAT on New York (Shares outstanding: 630.5 million; Market cap: $48.7 billion), is the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment. The company has three main divisions: Machinery, which supplies 56% of Caterpillar’s overall revenue, Engines (35% of sales) and Financial Products (9%). Caterpillar’s machinery includes tractors, scrapers, graders, compactors, loaders, lift trucks and pipe layers. Caterpillar machines are used for road building, mining, logging, agriculture, petroleum exploration and general construction. The company also designs and makes engines for its own equipment, as well as electric-power generation systems, trucks and trains. Its engines are used for marine, petroleum, construction, industrial and agricultural purposes. Cat Financial provides financing to customers and dealers for Caterpillar machinery. Cat Insurance sells insurance to customers and dealers. That helps support sales and leasing of the company’s equipment. Cat Power Ventures invests in independent power projects that use Caterpillar’s power-generation equipment and services. The company mainly sells its machines through a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar has 56…