Cat Stock Blog

Caterpillar set a dreaded 52-week low today as dismal news on durable goods, new home sales and unemployment blistered the bulls. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader markets took the news about as expected: Dow, down 2.7%; Nasdaq, down 3.24%; S&P 500, down, 3.31%. Today’s wrap-up at Market Watch.

Cat’s volume of 14.4 million shares was notch above normal, but not really enough to tell us much. Selling inched the support level down but did not blast through it, which seems at least borderline positive. Still waiting for that Obama bounce everybody promised.

Caterpillar gapped up a couple percentage points at the open and took a long winter’s nap the rest of the day, drifting downward to close a bit off its high for the day. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Financials led the broader markets higher as traders convinced themselves the bad news is all priced in. Dow, up, 2.46%; Nasdaq, up 3.55%; S&P500, up 3.36%. Wrap-up at Market Watch.

Cat’s volume was back to normal at 12.9 million shares. Two small up days in a row feel like a playoff win after what we’ve been through. I’m skeptical of any bull run led by the financials, which got is into this mess and will not get us out, but there’s good cheer in the tech stocks outperforming. That’s at least a semblance of normalcy.

Caterpillar looked like it might spend the day in the green till a dive in crude oil futures sent it back underwater. After yesterday’s mauling, though, 1 percent down feels like a day off from school. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader markets are acting like they’re chained to a Cat D11, but managed to close positive. Dow, up 0.72%; Nasdaq, up 1.04%; S&P 500, up 1.09%. Wrap-up at Market Watch.

Cat’s volume, 20 million shares, was a sharp drop-off from Monday, but still almost twice the average. It feels like the market’s ready for a breather. Cat could catch a bid from pure seller exhaustion in the next few days, I suppose.

Wall Street piled the hurt on Caterpillar today after it predicted a likely 20 percent reduction in sales and 50-plus reduction in profit for 2009, plus 20,000 lost jobs by first quarter’s end. As gawdawful as that was, imagine how bad things might’ve been if the Conference Board hadn’t announced a surprise uptick in December’s index of leading indicators. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader markets tried to rally but couldn’t get much, uh, traction in light of Cat’s news and a spate of layoff announcements. Dow, up .48%; Nasdaq, up .82%; S&P 500, up .56%. Wrap-up at Market Watch.

Caterpillar’s volume was over 45 million shares, double Friday’s volume and four times the average, though a barrage of sell orders at the open gave way to listless action into the close. Support level is around $32 a share and it’s safe to say Cat is oversold.

Caterpillar stunk up the stock market at the open after Komatsu’s ill tidings compounded yesterday’s CNH gloom. The bulls went shopping when Cat dipped below 36 and they managed to run the shares up to near yesterday’s close. Then they got sheepish about holding Cat over the weekend and sent things back to the deep end. A disenchanting close to yet another downward weekly grind (39.55 at last Friday’s close to 35.66 today), subtracting another 9.8 percent from Cat shares. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader markets were mixed: Dow, down .56%; Nasdaq, up .81; S&P, up .02%. Wrap-up at Market Watch.

Volume on Caterpillar was a hair-raising 22 million shares — double the average. That could mean we’re nearing a selling climax, or it could just be everybody rushing for the exits. Tune in Monday, there’s gonna be fireworks.

CNH’s lousy earnings report rained redness on everybody in the construction sector Thursday. Caterpillar got spanked pretty hard in the early going but rebounded a bit as the day wore on. News that Microsoft planned to lay off 5,000 didn’t help the mood much, either. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

The major indexes weren’t nearly as bruised: Dow, down 1.28%; Nasdaq, down 2.76%; S&P, down 1.52%. Closing wrap-up at Market Watch.

Nothing good to say about Cat’s volume today (unless you’re short): At 19 million shares, it’s way, way over the average of 11 million — about 80 percent above normal. Not what bulls want to see on a big down day.

Does Obama have magical powers or what? First full day in office and it’s a moonshot. Caterpillar started out green, dipped a toe into the red and then fell in all the way before muscling its way up out of the mire to finish a full 5.4 percent higher than its low for the day. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader indexes were similarly upwardly mobile: Dow, up 3.51%; S&P 500, up 4.35%; Nasdaq, up 4.60%. Wrap-up at Market Watch.

If I were cynical — which I’m not because I’m all about he audacity of hope these days — I’d think the market wise guys tried to get all the fools to sell their stocks cheap yesterday so they could buy ’em up at a discount today because everybody knew there’d be an O-rally.

Caterpillar’s volume was below average and CAT underperformed the Dow by a pinch, suggesting today’s move was more relief rally than anything else. After all, if the No. 1 infrastructure poster child isn’t leading the charge higher, who would be?

You knew the markets were closed today for the Martin Luther King holiday, right?

Incidentally, I won’t be able to do the market wrap-up Tuesday because I’ll be at work helping the paper produce a whole bunch of extra pages for the Obama inauguration (which, coming right after MLK Day, seems fitting. King is my next-favorite person in U.S. history, after Abe Lincoln).

A mild pingpong into the green today couldn’t disguise the scorecard of a nasty week: Caterpillar sank 8 percent from last Friday’s close (43.20) to today’s (39.55). Cat is now off more than 15 percent from its Jan. 2 high of 46.9. Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

The indexes also ground their way back into plus territory after a down day. Dow, up .84%; S&P500, up .76%; Nasdaq, up 1.16 % Today’s wrap at Market Watch.

Caterpillar’s volume drifted down to 12.8 million shares, closer to its 11.7-million share daily average. Chartists will want to check out the last couple days’ action, which both feature “hammer candles” that tend to foretell moves to the upside. Just a few more days till the Obama bounce.

Whiplash cures must’ve been flying off the shelves Thursday: Caterpillar opened down and dived deeper, till the prospect of free billions from the federal government sent the ticker marching back into the green in the late afternoon, when a few decided to cash in whatever easy profits they’d accumulated. (Like there’s any such thing as easy money in this market.) Full quote at Yahoo Finance.

Broader markets ended up in the green. Dow, up .15%; Nasdaq, up 1.49%; S&P 500, up .13% Today’s wrap at Market Watch.

I’m tempted to dismiss today’s action as a headline-driven distraction from what ails the markets. Cat’s volume fell notch from yesterday to 15.4 million, still considerably above average. I’m thinking there will most likely be some kind of Obama bounce next week, so we may be seeing a preview.