@billybob :Speculation isn't fact, oh sage of the East Coast! When sales continue to lag below expectations under new CEO Jim Umpleby, I guess the Board will have him go as well.

As any retail manager can relate to... the guy at the top has a few very simple objectives. First, be profitable. Secondly, grow your top line and grow your profit. That's it. Every year this must be met against sometimes impossible odds. You might get a year or two reprieve while you develop and execute a plan for growth. Might... you need a plan for growth! Hundreds, thousands, of retail managers lose their jobs every year for failing to meet these simple objectives. It is the nature of the business.Four years of declining numbers across the board and no plan for growth. He had to go. The strong head winds are regrettably never a sufficient excuse. They are paid the big outsized bucks to innovate, adapt, and improvise. No retail manager would survive in their job for four years like that. It is the nature of the business. If Umpleby can't deliver, he will/should be out too. Digging into David Calhoun's background leaves me intrigued by what he has in mind for the direction of Caterpillar.

@Mahkno :Do you think a private equity buyout of CAT is one of the options that David Calhoun might have in mind? I certainly agree that reading and digging into his background is indeed quite interesting.

@Mahkno :Caterpillar has remained profitable during the downturn. No CEO can control demand. Under present conditions, all you can do (as Oberhelman did) is "right-size" to remain profitable. Hopefully, Umpleby will be lucky and the mining market will turn around during his tenure. Come to think of it, the next POTUS might get lucky as well, regardless of his/her policies.

It's interesting to see Barton being canonized after all the negativity directed at him over the river front apartment project.

I was thinking the same thing, Vonster.

Me too.I was wondering, now that he has passed, if the project could be cancelled.