The Railroad Week in Review:
Fourth
Quarter 2009


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  • [No Week in Review December 25, 2009]
  • Week in Review, December 18, 2009
    RailAmerica November carloads down 8% thanks in part to an accounting change; absent this vols down only 2%. AAR Nov carloads also down 8%. Intermodal boxes as a consumer confidence indicator. Greenbrier and GE agree to cut car order. What may be behind it. Positive short line news from Pennsylvania. Fertilizer outlook improves. P&W Treasurer retires.
  • Week in Review, December 11, 2009
    Short Lines face a tough row to hoe rebuilding traffic to 2006 levels.Notes from three analysts re the re-reg bill and its effect on short lines. AAR "Rail Time Indicators" video worth a look. Question: How to win back biz now lost to the rails? Don Phillips on why the Army-Navy Special did not run to the game this year.
  • Week in Review, December 4, 2009
    Further thoughts on changing shopping habits and how they can affect rail transportation usage. Jim McClellan on what's ahead for the railroads in this economic environment. David Brown tapped as Chief Operating Officer at CSX succeeding Tony Ingram who is retiring Dec 31. Ral traffic slips again though not as much; short lines still taking it in the shorts.
  • [No week in Review for November 17 - Thanksgiving]
  • Week in Review, November 20, 2009
    Why I don't think railroad revenue units will increase very quickly over the next two years. How short lines grow doing the same things better, buying other properties or making an energy play. Why short lines have three choices: buy, get bought, or go away. Morgan Stanley on eliminating the retail middle-man. Rick Patterson on what people think will happen if or when the re-reg bill passes. Buffett on capex.
  • Week in Review, November 13, 2009
    RailAmerica's first quarterly earnings call since going public last month was informative and encouraging. GWR third quarter results show continued core strength. Car builders having a tough time of it. A word on insider ownership as an indicator of company performance.
  • Week in Review, November 6, 2009
    The proposed Berkshire Hathaway purchase of BNSF is good news for the rails in general and could be a positive for short lines. Wolfe Research has released an in-depth study of the RailAmerica IPO: Act II ought to be better than Act I.
  • Week in Review, October 30, 2009
    Earnings week concludes with "cautious optimism" re fourth quarter and beyond. Commentary on NS, CP, KCS results. Comparing RA 2Q09 results with its peers; priced right or rich?
  • Week in Review, October 23, 2009
    CN, BNSF and UP all tell the same story: revenue units and revenues still down, though improved from first and second quarters. Railroads running faster, better, smarter so as biz comes back revs go right to ops income gains. Jim Giblin on some trucking facts of life.
  • Week in Review, October 16, 2009
    How some eastern regional railroads are making lemonade of this lemon of an economy. RailAmerica goes public at $15. CSX third quarter results nothing to write home about, though heading in the right direction. Short line lessons.
  • Week in Review, October 9, 2009
    Out on the road again: a preview of the Pan Am Southern rehab in eastern Massachusetts. Freight railroads' reaction mixed to adding passenger trains to already crowded freight mains. STB sets railroads 2009 cost of capital at 11.75 percent. Morgan Stanley Truckload Index excerpts. Railway Association of Canada's new Monthly Carload Trends Monitor.
  • Week in Review, October 2, 2009
    Notes from the UP short line meeting. CSX sells Boston lines. R W Baird on freight outlook. Gabelli ups stake in P&W to more than six percent of shares.

 

 

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