Then, as much to their surprise as to their joy, they noticed sales increasing substantially.

FORBES: Leadership and serendipity

Coal mining accounts for 90% of sales at Joy's underground division and 33% at its surface-mining unit (copper and other ores account for the rest).

FORBES: The Big Dig

On the surface side, Joy has nearly twice the sales of its nearest competitor, Bucyrus International.

FORBES: The big dig

High unemployment rates and lack of available credit will not help car sales, notes David Joy, chief market strategist at RiverSource Investments.

FORBES: Intelligent Investing Panel

Hanson aims to forge multidecade contracts that, he says, will lower his customers' costs and give Joy the best crack at future sales of equipment.

FORBES: The big dig

Hanson aims to forge multi-decade contracts that he says will lower his customers' overall costs and give Joy the best crack at future equipment sales.

FORBES: The Big Dig

This is cause for some joy, since Q4 and early Q1 sales were in steady decline, and participants are concerned that recent increases may not continue.

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Wall Street analysts likewise are falling all over themselves in joy, upping EPS estimates and price targets as they start factoring in iPhone 5 sales into their numbers.

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