UNITED STATES

Sector Glance: Heavy equipment
NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of a variety of heavy-equipment companies tumbled Tuesday, along with the broader market, as a decision by the Federal Reserve to cut a key interest rate failed to ward off worries of a U.S. recession. Here's how heavy-equipment stocks traded Tuesday morning:

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) fell 80 cents to $62.01.
Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) fell $1.21 to $75.19.
Terex Corp. (NYSE:TEX) fell $2.28, or 4.5 percent, to $48.64.
Manitowoc Co. (NYSE:MTW) fell $2.42, or 6.8 percent, to $33.18.
Illinois Tools Works Inc. fell 10 cents to $47.05.
Astec Industries Inc. (NASDAQ:ASTE) rose 18 cents to $27.13.
Agco Corp. (NYSE:AG) fell $2.28, or 3.9 percent, to $55.53.


Finning celebrates a heavy-duty anniversary
Earl B. Finning started Finning Tractor & Equipment Co. Ltd. in 1933 with six employees and a $50,000 bank loan. Now, the Vancouver company is the world's largest Caterpillar dealer with more than $5 billion annual revenue.

Last Friday, Edmonton-based Finning Canada celebrated 75 years by firing up some vintage equipment at the west-end location -- including a 1933 Caterpillar crawler tractor, 1935 pickup truck and 1952 D8 tractor.


GE profit meets expectations, infrastructure key
General Electric Co posted a 4 percent rise in net profit on Friday, matching Wall Street expectations, with strong demand for heavy equipment from outside the United States offsetting the effects of a slowing domestic economy.


Cleaning up after the flood
Crews from two state prisons were among the workers this week as heavy equipment has begun being used to remove piles of ruined possessions stacked in front of flood-damaged Pontiac homes.


Police find 40 pieces of stolen equipment at rural home
Indiana State Police have arrested a man in the theft of more than $1 million in heavy equipment from eight central Indiana counties.

Police arrested 55-year-old Thomas P. Skene (SKEEN) on Tuesday at his rural home south of Greencastle. They found more than 40 pieces of stolen heavy equipment, including backhoes, bulldozers, tractors, pontoon boat and freight containers.

Investigators say the equipment was reported stolen from construction sites and private businesses over the past year. Police anticipate more arrests...


AUSTRALIA

IronPlanet announces first australian online auction to be held on February 14, 2008
IronPlanet , a leading online auction company for used heavy equipment, has announced the date of the company’s first auction in Australia — 14 February 2008. IronPlanet’s initial Australia online auction will feature in excess of 170 items with both low and no reserves.

“We are excited to bring IronPlanet’s very successful online auction of used heavy equipment to the Australian market,” said IronPlanet Australia Managing Director, Graeme McPherson. “I am confident that we will deliver on what is most important to our Australian customers – quick disposition of their equipment, market leading prices, low selling costs, and IronPlanet’s guaranteed inspection reports.”


INDIA

Army's footsoldiers get raw deal
The highlights of Army Day 2008 parade were the tanks, missiles and heavy equipment that the army fights its wars with. Interestingly, the last time this equipment was actually used was in 1971, thirty-six years ago...


INDONESIA

Indonesia's United Tractors heavy equipment sales rise 53.5 percent in 2007
Indonesia's leading heavy equipment distributor and mining contractor, PT United Tractors, said Tuesday its sales of Komatsu heavy equipment rose 53.5 percent in 2007 from a year before.

Sales to the mining sector remained the biggest contributor to the total, but sales to the agriculture sector posted the largest increase. The company sold 3,454 pieces of heavy equipment in the year, up from 2,250 a year before. Sales of heavy equipment for mining rose 30.7 percent to 1,315 and sales for agriculture nearly doubled to 1,144 units. Other machines sold in the year were for the construction and forestry sectors...