Caterpillar Inc. (CAT)’s Surge Pushes Dow (.DJI) 15K

Another big player in the industrial sector, General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), has picked up gains of 1.6% after it received American antitrust approval for its purchase of Lufkin Industries, an oil field pump-producing company that General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) announced it would acquire for nearly $3 billion in April. General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is looking to expand its presence in the American energy resurgence in places such as the Midwest, and Lufkin’s purchase will give it a major inroad into the shale field boom.

Finally, Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) hasn’t had such a good day, with shares falling 1.8% today to lead the few Dow laggards lower. The stock is still smarting from a disappointing earnings report that prompted management to lower earnings guidance. Despite that whiff, Pfizer is still well-positioned among the leading big pharma players. The company’s robust pipeline should counteract the hit of patent-expiration-related sales declines in the future, and its spinoffs and sales of non-pharmaceutical businesses — such as its multibillion-dollar sale of its infant-nutrition segment to Nestle last year — have Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) focused on the high-margin drug industry. In the long term, this is still a strong health-care stock to follow, lowered expectations or not.

The article Caterpillar’s Surge Sparks Dow 15,000 originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Carroll.

Fool contributor Dan Carroll has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric Company.

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