[Nervous Tick]

>> That just means more Americans can now afford to buy Caterpillar stocks.

They’ve been on my “watch list” for awhile. They pay a 3.3% dividend at their current price (match THAT at your local savings and loan!) and they’re down ~$30 on the year. P/E of about 13 now.

Of course they could cut that dividend if they fall on hard times, but in ten years their dividend has only grown (from $0.21/share in 2005 to $0.70 now). They didn’t even cut their dividend in 20019 when their shares lost >50% of their value (which they soon recovered, and then some).

[abb]

The last time CAT cut their dividend was in 1991, after losses (don’t know for how many years) and a strike.

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/12/business/company-news-dividend-cut-in-half-by-caterpillar-board.html