Trade Caterpillar Stock

Caterpillar Inc. was founded in 1925 following the merger of two California-based manufacturers of steam-powered tractors and harvesters. The newly formed company opened a manufacturing plant in Illinois, US – a location that would become its headquarters, until today. In the 1930s, Caterpillar is known to have perfected the use of diesel in their engines in place of gasoline, something that would become the standard in heavy-duty automobiles. Caterpillar played a significant role during World War II, as the company developed diesel engines that powered the famous M4 tank. After the war, the Caterpillar brand became synonymous with bulldozers as countries embarked on the building and reconstruction of massive infrastructural projects.

From 1925, the company was known as The Caterpillar Tractor Company, and it adopted its current name, Caterpillar Inc., in 1986. As of November 2020, the company is now the world’s leading manufacturer and seller of earthmoving machinery used in construction, mining and forestry. Caterpillar has over 110 local and overseas production plants, and it sells its products in over 180 countries worldwide. Caterpillar debuted on the NYSE on December 2^nd, 1929, and it trades under the ticker symbol CAT. The stock is listed in the Industrials sector, under the Farm & Heavy Construction Machinery industry.

Caterpillar Stock History

Caterpillar has had 5 stock splits in its history with the last one being a 2-for-1 on June 14^th 2005. The CAT stock has always mirrored the global infrastructure efforts. A sideways trend around the turn of the millennium saw the Caterpillar stock trade at around $20, but this paved the way for an uptrend that started towards the end of 2002. The multiyear uptrend sent the stock to highs of above $85 by April 2008, after which the economic collapse at the time triggered a plunge to lows of circa $20 by March 2009. The stock, however, recovered and jumped to highs of circa $115 by Q1 2012. The resistance, however, proved to be too strong and a dip bottomed out at just below $60 in January 2016. After that, the stock embarked on a strong rally that saw it print its all-time high at above $170 in January 2018. Caterpillar has paid quarterly dividends since 1933 and has a history of hiking cash payouts during good business times. Dividend stocks such as CAT are ideal for investors because they guarantee income even during negative markets.

How to Trade Caterpillar Stock

Here are some of the major factors to consider when trading the Caterpillar stock:

• Legislative and Taxation Issues
  Caterpillar has operations in over 180 countries with over 2,100 dealer branches. This has always been hailed as a major strength of the company, but operations in different jurisdictions leave the company’s overall revenues and margins vulnerable to changes in legislative and taxation policies.
• Global Economic and Political Conditions
  Caterpillar investors have witnessed first-hand the cyclical nature of the stock. The company benefits from good underlying global economic conditions because that is when companies and governments embark on ambitious infrastructural projects that will be fuelled by Caterpillar products. Political stability is also a positive fundamental for the Caterpillar company. Major projects in individual countries or across different jurisdictions are likely to happen when there is political harmony among various countries. For instance, a major headwind for the CAT stock since 2016 has been the ambitious intercontinental projects implemented by the Chinese government.
• Commodity Prices
  Caterpillar has massive exposure to the prices of commodities such as oil and gold. Its mining machinery usually attracts demand when the prices of these commodities are high. That is when miners are encouraged to perform exploration and other mining activities. Since 2016, the prices of oil have been particularly suppressed, and this has been a massive headwind factor for the mining segment of Caterpillar. However, commodity prices have always been cyclical throughout history. Investors can always track their prices and determine the best times to buy, sell or hold the CAT stock.
• New Markets and New Products
  Caterpillar is pretty much a mature company, with healthy growth and sustained profitability. But there is still room for growth in both developing and emerging markets where there is a huge drive towards urbanisation. This will require major infrastructure developments, such as roads, railways and airports, which will open up massive opportunities for Caterpillar.

There is also a great opportunity for Caterpillar to roll out new products that will meet the evolving needs of its customers. The company has invested heavily in research and development, especially in the digitisation of its predictive analytics. There is also a growing demand for automation technologies, and Caterpillar can take the lead in areas such as industrial automation. The company can also innovate on its products to make them more efficient as well as reduce their fuel consumption.

The Benefits of Trading CAT on the Friedberg Direct MT5 Platform

• Award-winning and reputable broker with international regulation in various jurisdictions
• Access leveraged trading and competitive spreads on a selection of powerful trading platforms
• Short sell the CAT stock through CFDs

Disclaimer: Please note these are stock CFDs (Contracts for Difference)

When you enter into a CFD trade you don’t buy the actual stock itself but instead agree on a contract with the broker to settle the difference in value between the entry and exit price of the Stock based on the price the stock is trading at on the Exchange it is listed. That means when you trade Stocks CFDs with Friedberg Direct you get a flexibility that stock market rules often make very difficult or even impossible for some.