From Zero Hedge, you still wouldn’t want to be in mining services:
Caterpillar just reported that in January, it suffered its worst retail sales month since Lehman, with global sales plunging 14% from last January (when sales in turn had dropped 8% from a year before, while the year before had slid 3% from the year before that and so on).
The chumps who run that worthless company did not leverage into the new growth industry of public surveillance, clearly the only kind of mining that matters! Shareholder revolt!
China-Bob
frankly I’m surprises that CAT’s results are not worse. several of my richer Chinese friends are actively buying used mining equipment most of it only a couple of years old and all of it is branded CAT. At the moment they are paying about 50% of the devalued price. Raises the issue why would anyone buy new when when such cheap good quality used equipment is available. Of course there is the option of CAT offering half price new equipment and from what I’ve heard that’s also happening. Its hard to make a profit under these operating conditions.
StomperMEMBER
especially with Komatsu competing with a devaluing yen in opposition to an appreciating USD
The chumps who run that worthless company did not leverage into the new growth industry of public surveillance, clearly the only kind of mining that matters! Shareholder revolt!
frankly I’m surprises that CAT’s results are not worse. several of my richer Chinese friends are actively buying used mining equipment most of it only a couple of years old and all of it is branded CAT. At the moment they are paying about 50% of the devalued price. Raises the issue why would anyone buy new when when such cheap good quality used equipment is available. Of course there is the option of CAT offering half price new equipment and from what I’ve heard that’s also happening. Its hard to make a profit under these operating conditions.
especially with Komatsu competing with a devaluing yen in opposition to an appreciating USD