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Federal law enforcement officials searched three facilities of heavy machinery manufacturer Caterpillar Inc on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney Office for the Central District of Illinois said, and the company's stock fell. The spokeswoman, Sharon Paul, confirmed that federal law enforcement activity was conducted at locations in Peoria, East Peoria and Morton. It was not immediately clear why federal agents raided the three locations. Caterpillar spokeswoman Corrie Scott said in an emailed statement that the company was cooperating with authorities. "Law enforcement is present in various Peoria-area Caterpillar facilities executing a search warrant. Caterpillar is cooperating," Scott said....

PEORIA — Federal officials executed a search warrant at three Caterpillar, Inc. facilities in the Tri-County Area — including the corporate headquarters — Thursday morning. Company officials confirmed the presence in a statement without specifying which agency was performing the search or what the search was in regard to. A spokeswoman declined by email to provide further details. "Caterpillar is cooperating," the brief statement said. The spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois confirmed that facilities in three communities were the subject of the activity — Peoria, East Peoria and Morton. At the Downtown Caterpillar global...

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) said on Tuesday it would move its global headquarters to the Chicago area from Peoria, Illinois later this year to move closer to a global transportation hub and make it easier to recruit executives. A limited number of senior executives and some relocated from Peoria will be based at the new headquarters, and about 300 will be based there once the facility is fully operational, the company said in a statement. The company did not specify the exact location of its new headquarters.

For Caterpillar, the great recession was bad, for about 19 months. In May 2010, after declining sharply for just under two years, CAT posted it first positive global retail sales comps and never looked back... until December 2012 when comp sales once again turned negative and have been negative ever since. For the past 41 months! The breakdown showed that contrary to popular opinion, there has been no pick up in demand for heavy industrial machinery anywhere around the globe.

Arhopala japonica. Credit: Wikipedia A trio of researchers with Kobe University in Japan has found that lycaenid butterfly caterpillars of the Japanese oakblue variety, have dorsal nectary organ secretions that cause ants that eat the material to abandon their fellow ants to instead hang out with and defend the caterpillar against enemies. In their paper published in the journal Current Biology, Masaru Hojo, Naomi Pierce and Kazuki Tsuji describe their research into the relationship between the two creatures and why they believe the nature of that relationship needs to be reclassified. Scientists have studied Japanese oakblue butterflies before, noting that...

Azka Fayyaz was probably being ironic, but what she said was closer to the truth than she would probably be willing to admit. Islamic Jew-hatred has taken over UC Davis, with the willing collusion of the administration. But in this, UC Davis is not different from most campuses in the U.S. today: the Brownshirts rule. “Student Leader: ‘Hamas & Shariah Law Have Taken Over UC Davis,'” by Daniel Mael, Truth Revolt, January 30, 2015: A resolution calling for the University of California at Davis to divest from “corporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in...

U.S. stocks dropped sharply on Tuesday, with the Dow positioned for its worst hit since October, as corporations reported earnings that disappointed and orders for U.S. business equipment unexpectedly declined in December. "If you live in the northeast, and you work from home, you're trying to figure out why the market is down 400 points," Art Hogan, market strategist at Wunderlich Securities, referring to the snowstorm that halted transit in and around New York City overnight before ending earlier Tuesday. It's a combination of an increase in volatility when you have a decrease in volume, and a transition period between...

Myles Udland January 27, 2015It is officially a horrible morning for the economy. After the global manufacturing giant Caterpillar had poor fourth-quarter results and gave a gloomy outlook for 2015, economic data from the US has added to more bad news for the economy Tuesday morning. Durable goods orders were a HUGE miss, declining 3.4% against expectations for a 0.3% increase. Durable goods orders excluding defense and transportation orders, referred to as "core" capex, declined 0.6% in December. Last month's numbers were also revised sharply lower, with November's orders revised down to -2.1% from a prior number of -0.7%. Following...

Caterpillar Inc. shares tumbled Monday as the company became the latest victim of the sliding price of oil. Caterpillar’s stock CAT, -0.55% tumbled almost 6% after J.P. Morgan downgraded it to underweight from neutral on concerns about the company’s direct exposure to oil and gas, and indirect exposure to mining, U.S. construction and emerging markets. The maker of diggers and dozers’ direct exposure to the sector is equal to about $6.5 billion, or 12% of revenue, while its indirect exposure may be as much as 15% of revenues, analysts wrote in a note. That means almost 30% of its total...

"Our confidence is justified both by our past experience and by the knowledge that society will forever need massive investments in both transportation and energy." -- Warren Buffett, 2013 letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders According to the company's most recent fact sheet, Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary BNSF Railways ships enough coal every year to power 10% of America's houses, and enough crude oil to fill the gas tanks of nearly 650,000 cars every day. Transporting energy is pretty important to BNSF, and BNSF is pretty important to Berkshire, having generated some $3.8 billion in net income in 2013. At the same...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Caterpillar Inc. executives defended a tax strategy Tuesday that has saved the manufacturing giant billions in U.S. taxes. They got support from Republican senators, including one who said the company deserves an award. Caterpillar has avoided paying $2.4 billion in U.S. taxes since 2000 by shifting profits to a wholly-controlled affiliate in Switzerland, according to a report released by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin chairs the Senate investigations subcommittee. On Tuesday, Levin grilled Caterpillar executives and their accountants at a hearing on the company's tax strategy. "Caterpillar is an American success story that produces iconic industrial machines,"...

Caterpillar avoided $2.4 billion in taxes thanks to a reorganization that housed its most profitable business in Switzerland, according to a Senate report. While the report, from the Senate Permanent subcommittee on Investigations, said Caterpillar had done nothing illegal, it criticized the manufacturing giant for trying to avoid paying U.S. taxes. “Caterpillar is an American success story that produces tremendous industrial machines,” Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the head of the investigatory panel, said Monday. “But it’s also a member of the corporate profit-shifting club that has shifted billions of dollars in profits offshore to avoid paying U.S. taxes,” Levin said....

No Dead CAT Recovery On This Sales Chart (Where Caterpillar Asia Sales Post Biggest Drop Since November 2009) There was some hope two months ago when CAT global retail sales posted a modest uptick between February and May, rising from a recent low of -13% Y/Y to "only" declining -7%. Alas, it turned out to be nothing but a dead CAT bounce, as a month ago hopes the global recovery would continue were dashed after the -7% global dealer retail sales dipped once again to -8%. Moments ago, the downward trend continued its acceleration, when the company reported global retail...

Currently the left is boycotting Nestle, Caterpillar, BP, Bank of America, Florida, Arizona and every company on earth. Not to mention Israel.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Caterpillar Inc. is no longer giving money to the Boy Scouts because the organization discriminates against homosexuals, a spokeswoman for the Illinois-based heavy equipment manufacturer confirmed Thursday. The company's move wasn't directly tied to the recent Boy Scouts decision to continue to bar homosexual adults from roles within the organization while allowing openly gay children to be scouts. Instead, spokeswoman Rachel Potts said, the company decided to cut off funding while reviewing a request for $25,000 that came in last year from a local group in Illinois. That decision was never announced publicly or communicated to...

Caterpillar Inc. no longer giving money to Boy Scouts, cites ban on gay leaders Caterpillar Inc. is no longer giving money to the Boy Scouts because the organization discriminates against homosexuals, a spokeswoman for the Illinois-based heavy equipment manufacturer confirmed Thursday. The company's move wasn't directly tied to the recent Boy Scouts decision to continue to bar homosexual adults from roles within the organization while allowing openly gay children to be scouts. Instead, spokeswoman Rachel Potts said, the company decided to cut off funding while reviewing a request for $25,000 that came in last year from a local group in...

Boy Scouts of America says it is disappointed Caterpillar Inc. will no longer give money to the group. But public relations director Deron Smith on Thursday thanked the Peoria-based heavy equipment manufacturer for its past support. Caterpillar spokeswoman Rachel Potts said Thursday that the Caterpillar Foundation has decided to withdraw its supports for Boy Scouts of America. Potts says the company believes the group's policy barring homosexual adults from serving as scout leaders is discriminatory.

Caterpillar North America Sales Collapse Suggests US Economy Back To 2010 Levels Tyler DurdenZero Hedge 05/20/2013 11:50 -0400 While we have wondered on numerous occasions previously if the collapse in lumber prices is the far more accurate indicator of end demand for housing (as confirmed by the recent collapse in multi-family housing starts), perhaps an even better indicator of trends in housing (and by implication the broader economy) is private sector intermediate end demand, such as Caterpillar North America sales, which unlike government data, are far less subject to political intervention, interpolation, guesswork, seasonal adjustments and otherwise, general manipulation. And...

CATERPILLAR: Here's What The World Will Do This YearSam Ro April 22, 2013 Global economic bellwether Caterpillar just announced Q1 revenue and earnings that fell short of analysts expectations. Management also reduced its guidance for the year. Because CAT is so closely tied to the economy, it has unparalleled insight into what's really going on. Fortunately for us, CAT provides a pretty comprehensive and granular outlook for the global economy with its earnings announcements. Here are a few key points: Global GDP will grow 2.5% this year. Central banks will lower interest rates further. Copper prices will average $3.25 per...

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) plans to lay off more than 460 workers at a central Illinois plant that produces big mining trucks. The layoffs will shrink the work force at the Decatur plant by about 11%. The company said the reduction is needed to bring production at the plant in line with lower demand for mining equipment caused by falling prices for mined commodities and decisions by mining companies to shelve expansion projects. "While some cost-reduction measures such as temporary layoffs, shutdowns and shortened work weeks have already been implemented, more permanent measures must be taken in the near term," the...