Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: I would appreciate your comments on the following stocks: Caterpillar, Clearwater Paper, Mesabi Trust, TransGlobe Energy and Compania Minas Buenaventura. Your comments are much appreciated.

Article Excerpt

Caterpillar Inc., $107.80, symbol CAT on New York (Shares outstanding: 650.4 million; Market cap: $70.5 billion; www.cat.com), is the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment. Its products include tractors, scrapers, graders, compactors, loaders, and pipe layers. The company also makes lift trucks and diesel and turbine engines. Caterpillar gets 70% of its sales from outside the U.S. Its clients are mainly in the road-building, mining, logging, agriculture, oil and gas, and construction industries. The company sells its machines through a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar also provides dealers and customers with equipment financing and insurance. The recent recession hurt heavy-equipment demand. In response, the company cut 19,000 jobs, or 17% of its workforce, and suspended share buybacks. These moves helped Caterpillar stay profitable, and strengthened its balance sheet. In the three months ended March 31, 2011, Caterpillar’s revenue rose 57.2%, to $12.9 billion from $8.2 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share jumped to a record $1.91 from $0.37. Results improved across all…