NEW YORK (Standard&Poor's) July 31, 2013--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Caterpillar Inc. (A/Stable/A-1) are not affected by the company's accelerated share buyback announcement following its weak second-quarter results and lower revenue and earnings guidance for 2013. We expect that Caterpillar's credit metrics will continue to weaken throughout 2013 before they stabilize and subsequently gradually improve in 2014. The company's profit margins should benefit from its cost saving initiatives and recover from the impact of inventory reductions, even if demand remains somewhat soft. We believe that demand for Caterpillar's mining equipment (which accounts for one-third of total sales) could remain weak into 2014, but we expect better performance in the construction and power
