The Business Journal has a follow-up piece on the looming Caterpillar layoffs, with comments from a Robert W. Baird analyst who is not surprised by the announcement.
Check out the story here. From it:
Caterpillar’s mining customers shrank their capital spending budgets this year, and many have even been spending below that lowered budget line, Dobre said.
“That, along with quite a bit of uncertainty for miners with regards to which projects they’re going to expand and continue versus the ones that they’re going to cancel, has created a near-term environment that is quite difficult for all mining (original equipment manufacturers),” Dobre said.
He pointed out that Caterpillar competitor Joy Global Inc. has faced these same challenges. The Milwaukee-based mining equipment maker has been going through a couple of rounds of restructuring, which you can read more about here.
Dobre told me he expects a “challenged” mining environment for the foreseeable future.
“But it remains to be seen as to whether or not incremental demand from slightly better growth in China is going to have a little bit of impact in lifting sales,” Dobre said.
South Milwaukee Blog 
I doubt China will give cat any business after what their CEO did to their workers over there not too long ago. It’s more than past due for the security guards to escort him out the door.