About the Caterpillar group:
The American group Caterpillar is currently the international leader in the manufacturing and production of materials destined for the construction sector. Its activities can be divided into a variety of different sectors, the major activity being the sale of machines and motors but also including the provision of financial services albeit at less than 5%.
With around a hundred production sites around the world, Caterpillar works in the American market as well as in Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The major competitors of Caterpillar:
The Caterpillar Group, although it operates in a highly specific activity sector, still has to face certain competition. Despite the opportunities offered by emerging countries and the acquisitions of competitive companies that enable the group to remain the leader in its sector, it is threatened by various competitors and setbacks due to policies implemented by different governments. This is why we offer you the opportunity here to learn about Caterpillar’s different competitors throughout the world. We recommend that you study these companies carefully, together with their financial reports and movements in their shareholdings and price before implementing your investment strategies. Here therefore are the major companies you should monitor:
- BIA
- O&K
- Unit-Rig
- P&H Mining
The major partners of Caterpillar:
In 2008 Caterpillar announced an agreement with Trimble for the creation of a collaborative company named VirtualSite Solutions, as well as a distribution agreement.
- Caterpillar and the Ariel Corporation created a joint venture in 2012 to supply complete pressure pump solutions to global petrol and gas clients.
- In 2013, Shell Canada and Caterpillar signed an agreement in order to test a new engine and fuel mixture notably composed of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that could reduce operating costs and lead to a reduction in emissions from the mining of the tar sands in the north of Alberta.
- In 2016 Redbird signed a partnership agreement with Caterpillar. To be more precise, it actually implemented two types of partnerships. One relative to technology as it worked with Caterpillar on the development of solutions that enabled the combination of machine data with data available from drone flights, and a sales/marketing partnership that enabled them to sell their product throughout all the countries of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Analysis of the rates of Caterpillar shares:
Quoted on the Euronext non Euro zone stock market, Caterpillar shares are also included in the calculation of the Dow Jones stock market index.
Historically, it can be seen that the price of Caterpillar shares has shown a strong stability, even during periods of crisis. It can therefore prove advantageous to trade in them over the long term.
Economical and financial history of the Caterpillar Company:
Here are some of the major events that have marked the financial and economic history of the Caterpillar Group over the last decade:
- In 2006 Caterpillar reduced its workforce by 600.
- In 2008, the Caterpillar manufactory became the unit experiencing the fastest growth with a turnover of over one billion dollars.
- In 2009, after the 2008 crisis, Caterpillar restructured and reduced the workforce by 814 jobs at its Mossville factory and also announced the possible redundancy of 733 people in Isère.
- In 2011 the group purchased Bucyrus International for 8.8 billion dollars.
- In 2013, the group created 1,400 redundancies in Belgium.
- In 2015 the company announced the loss of 4,000 jobs before the end of 2016. In the same year the group announced the closure of its Belgian factory.
Important stock market data relating to Caterpillar shares:
To conclude here is some basic but extremely important stock market information relating to Caterpillar Company shares and their position on the international stock markets.
- In 2017 the total stock market capital of the Caterpillar Company attained U.S. $59,528.33 million.
- The number of shares issued by the Caterpillar Company that are currently in circulation on the stock markets is around 18,358,089.
- The Caterpillar share price is currently quoted on the section A of the Euronext Paris stock market in France.
- The Caterpillar Group share price is also integrated in the French National stock market Index, the CAC 40.
- The shareholdings of the Caterpillar Company comprise the following: 9.14% by the State Street Corporation, 6.39% by the Vanguard Group, 3.58% by the SFMAIC, 3.52% by the Capital World Investors, 3.46% by BlackRock, 2.78% by Capital Research Global Investors, 2.59% by the FMRC, 2.56% by the Wellington Management Company, 1.92% by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and 1.78% by Harris Associates.
Some advice for effectively trading Caterpillar shares using CFDs:
If you plan to invest in the share price of Caterpillar using CFDs we recommend that you follow this simple advice:
Firstly, it is imperative to know how to recognise the best moment for your investment basing your decision on fundamental data and analytical techniques. More specifically, ensure you check that any major event is not susceptible to change the direction of a strong trend that you have identified. In the case to the contrary, you can also benefit from this event and market expectations to take a strategic position taking into account the effects that this will have on the stock market share price of the group. Among the events that should be closely monitored are the following:
- The publication of the group’s financial accounts that you will be able to access each quarter or annually.
- The dividend payment calendar.
- Mergers, acquisitions or disposals by the group.
- Official announcements by the group concerning economic, financial or strategic current events.
- Finally, new markets, redundancies or production sites.
Of course, you should always check the chart trend before taking any decisions as the effects of fundamental data are generally well anticipated by the markets. This basically means that you need to determine here if the market forecast is well founded, exaggerated or, on the contrary, too low.
We recommend that you use a reasonable leverage effect ratio to ensure you limit the risk of losing your capital due to an ill-advised decision. It is actually better to take several simultaneous or successive positions rather than one single risky position.
It is also important not to forget that CFDs offer you the opportunity of trading on the rise as well as on the fall in an asset price.