ST. CHARLES, Illinois (Reuters) - A handful of protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Take responsibility and do the right thing" on Wednesday disrupted the annual meeting of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT - News), prompting the company to adjourn 30 minutes early.
The disruption came after the Peoria, Illinois-based heavy construction and mining equipment manufacturer had reaffirmed its full-year sales and earnings outlook and voted on all shareholder proposals tabled for the meeting.
The protesters, who oppose Caterpillar's sale of tractors that are used by the Israeli Army to demolish the homes of Palestinian civilians, were quickly hustled out of the remote country club conference center 40 miles west of Chicago.
Ironically, Caterpillar had moved its annual meeting to the small town of St. Charles from Chicago last year, in part to avoid protests that have marred that event in recent years.
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Shareholders and others attending this year's annual meeting had to run a tight series of security checks before gaining admittance to the event, including two security checkpoints and magnetometers.
Oh! The humiliation!
Protesters at the meeting included those who rallied in memory of Rachel Corrie, a 23-year-old American peace activist who was killed a few years ago by Israeli soldiers driving a Caterpillar bulldozer while she was protesting a home demolition in Rafah, a Palestinian town in the Gaza Strip.Corrie's parents are suing Caterpillar over their daughter's death in a drawn-out lawsuit.
"Drawn-out?" I guess this idiotic lawsuit is still on appeal to the 9th Circuit, though there hasn't been any news about it since an appeal was filed in March, 2006, after the case was thrown out by the trial court. "Peace activist?" Oh. Yeah. This is Reuters.
Caterpillar closed up 2.37 percent, or $1.85, on the New York Stock Exchange at $79.93, a new 12-month high for the stock.
The more they protest, bluster, fume and threaten, the better this stock seems to do. It's hard to argue with this
(Full disclosure -- I own some, which I bought the day I first heard of Stop Caterpillar. Thanks, morons!)
