Briefs for Saturday

Caterpillar’s fourth-quarter sales dropped 15% as an unchecked pandemic continued to sap demand for big machinery, but the damage was not as bad as most had expected.

Sales were $11.24 billion, down significantly from last year’s $13.14 billion, yet far better than Wall Street projections of $11.18 billion, according to a survey of analysts by Zacks Investment Research.

Construction sales fell 16% in North America and they were basically flat in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

The Deerfield, Illinois, company earned $780 million, or $1.42 per share, in the quarter. Excluding one-time charges, however, per share earnings were $2.12, which is 66 cents better than industry analysts had expected.

Reddit posters target silver

Silver jumped for a second day as the market remains on high alert after a call by Reddit posters to create a short squeeze sparked sharp moves on Thursday.

Spot silver rose as much as 4.3% as prices resumed an earlier climb after dollar gains eased. Silver futures increased as much as 7.1% on the Comex, and gold prices advanced.

On Thursday, silver miners’ shares spiked and the largest silver exchange-traded fund, iShares Silver Trust, saw a frenzy of options buying after the market emerged as a target on the Reddit forum r/wallstreetbets.

From wire reports