Merck & Co. Inc. and Caterpillar Inc. in race to be DJIA top bottom performer of the day

Merck & Co., Inc. engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services, and Alliances. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products. The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets animal health products, such as pharmaceutical and vaccine products, for the prevention, treatment and control of disease in livestock and companion animal species. The Healthcare Services segment offers services and solutions that focus on engagement, health analytics, and clinical services to improve the value of care delivered to patients. The Alliances segment includes results from the company’s relationship with AstraZeneca LP related to sales of Nexium and Prilosec. The company was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, NJ.

Caterpillar Inc. (Change -3.27% Priced at $224.7)

Caterpillar, Inc. engages in the manufacture of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. It operates through the following segments: Construction Industries, Resource Industries, Energy and Transportation, Financial Products, and All Other. The Construction Industries segment supports customers using machinery in infrastructure and building construction applications. The Resource Industries segment is responsible for supporting customers using machinery in mining and quarrying applications and it includes business strategy, product design, product management and development, manufacturing, marketing and sales and product support. The Energy and Transportation segment supports customers in oil and gas, power generation, marine, rail, and industrial applications. The Financial Products segment offers a range of financing alternatives to customers and dealers for caterpillar machinery and engines, solar gas turbines, as well as other equipment and marine vessels. The All Other segment include activities such as the business strategy, product management and development, and manufacturing of filters and fluids, undercarriage, tires and rims, engaging tools, and fluid transfers. The company was founded on April 15, 1925 and is headquartered in Deerfield, IL.

Microsoft Corp. (Change -1.43% Priced at $250.9)

Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes; Intelligent Cloud; and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment comprises products and services in the portfolio of productivity, communication, and information services of the company spanning a variety of devices and platform. The Intelligent Cloud segment refers to the public, private, and hybrid serve products and cloud services of the company which can power modern business. The More Personal Computing segment encompasses products and services geared towards the interests of end users, developers, and IT professionals across all devices. The firm also offers operating systems; cross-device productivity applications; server applications; business solution applications; desktop and server management tools; software development tools; video games; personal computers, tablets; gaming and entertainment consoles; other intelligent devices; and related accessories. The company was founded by Paul Gardner Allen and William Henry Gates III in 1975 and is headquartered in Redmond, WA.

Amgen Inc. (Change -1.15% Priced at $233.9)

Amgen, Inc. is a biotechnology company, which engages in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of human therapeutics. Its products include the following brands: Aranesp, BLINCYTO, Corlanor, ENBREL, EPOGEN, IMLYGIC, KYPROLIS, Neulasta, NEUPOGEN, Nplate, Parsabiv, Prolia, Repatha, Sensipar, Vectibix, and XGEVA. The company was founded by William K. Bowes, Jr., Franklin Pitcher Johnson, Jr., George B. Rathmann and Joseph Rubinfeld on April 8, 1980 and is headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Salesforce.com Inc. (Change -0.95% Priced at $234.6)

salesforce.com, inc. engages in the design and development of cloud-based enterprise software for customer relationship management. Its solutions include sales force automation, customer service and support, marketing automation, digital commerce, community management, collaboration, industry-specific solutions, and salesforce platform. The firm also provides guidance, support, training, and advisory services. The company was founded by Marc Russell Benioff, Parker Harris, David Moellenhoff and Frank Dominguez in February 1999 and is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.