I read that CAT had a good last quarter. My stupid question is:

[CTyankee]

is this what is called a "leading indicator" of things to come or is it just what it is, a quarterly report?

I'd really like to know...thanks!

[Po_d Mainiac]

1. They beat estimates, but not a good quarter.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Caterpillar-Delivers-prnews-3554008320.html?x=0&.v=1

The above company statement is a pretty clear, no bull quarterly. They deserve a hattip

The second-quarter profit of $371 million was down $735 million from $1.106 billion in the second quarter of 2008. The decline was largely a result of lower sales volume and $85 million of redundancy costs.
<snip>
Sales and revenues of $7.975 billion were down 41 percent from $13.624 billion in the second quarter 2008.
<snip>
The second-quarter profit of $371 million was down $735 million from $1.106 billion in the second quarter of 2008. The decline was largely a result of lower sales volume and $85 million of redundancy costs
<snip>
Our 2009 sales have been hurt by weak end-user demand and significant reductions in dealer inventory. In fact, dealers have reduced their machine inventories by about $1.5 billion through the first half of the year and could reach close to $3 billion by year-end

It's a good indicator....They are hunkering down.

Their sales are way down and profits are off even sharper. Since December they've eliminated 34,000 full-time/contract/temporary positions. (Thus the reason for the $85 million redundancy costs) They stayed in the black by selling off inventory already in the system.

They are not forcing dealers to buy stuff they can't sell (ALA GM and Chrysler) so their dealers reduced inventory and are expected to continue to do so.

[CTyankee]

2. Thanks. I appreciate your wisdom here. nt