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Warren Buffett: outfoxing the wise men of Wall Street? Or preparing for the Obama economy?
Railroads (freight and passenger) as part of America's infrastructure
February 8, 2010
By Wes Vernon
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/vernon/100208
"Watch what we do, not what we say."
That helpful hint — once let slip years ago by a high government official — was meant to convey the message that we do smart things but that doesn't mean it's always smart for us to brag about them. The always cynical media interpreted it to mean that we're actually ashamed of things we do, and it's not smart for us to advertise them.
The message in quotes was uttered early-on by President Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell. (When Watergate became a scandal a couple of years later, it appeared the media had — perhaps inadvertently — stumbled into the truth, but that's another story.)
Back to the first explanation
When Warren Buffett — America's most famous investor — bought up all the stock in Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad (BNSF), the "wise men [and women]" of Wall Street began a figurative head-scratching exercise that continues to this day.
The latest manifestation of that puzzlement came this past week when Standard and Poor's cut its credit rating of Buffett's parent firm Berkshire-Hathaway from the honored and coveted AAA to the next wrung down the financial ratings ladder to AA+.
That may or may not be a big deal for Berkshire — at least in the short run — but it is Wall Street's way of saying the Oracle of Omaha perhaps is losing his Midas Touch.
If that does in fact reflect Wall Street's conventional wisdom, it may be ill-placed (not that this would be the first time the keepers of the "Big Board" were caught napping).
Blame BNSF?
If Wall Street is merely saying Berkshire is not perfect anymore, that's a "so what?" What entity is? Many of us earthlings thought Buffett was misguided when he backed Barack Obama for President. But, hey, it's a free country. (S&P is only the latest of the credit agencies to downgrade Berkshire. Moody's and Fitch did so early last year — months before anyone knew of Buffett's "all in" headlong dive into the railroad business).
But S&P's rating reduction reportedly is in fact a reaction to Buffett's purchase of BNSF. If that's the case, the decision-makers at S&P may be exhibiting their own imperfections.
The deal
The "street" was dumfounded at the news last November that Buffett — in his "biggest deal ever" — purchased the remaining 77.4 percent of the BNSF that he did not already own. At the time, he was quoted as saying, "It's a bet on the country, basically" and as soon as the U.S. is out the recession there will be a higher demand to move goods — which is what the freight-hauling BNSF is in business to provide.
Of course, any high-profile investor would be cutting his own throat if he were to say he made an investment because he had some deep concerns about the future. No matter how you couch those reservations in diplomatic language — if Warren Buffet actually were to utter them, many other investors would "head for the hills," and the market would likely tumble, if not crash. And since the market had not been on anything resembling a "roll" since September 2008, it is understandable that the wisest course of action is seen as putting a positive spin on the move.
Not that there are no positive reasons
The hope that the freight business will ultimately pick up big-time is not totally wishful thinking. But if that were the main or only reason for Berkshire-Hathaway's move on BNSF, Buffett could well have held onto his large minority holdings in that railroad, plus the stock he also owned — and has now sold — in Norfolk-Southern (NS) and Union Pacific (UP) — both of which are also solid, healthy railroads.
So what was he thinking?
We make no claims to special insight as to the Omaha Oracle's thought processes. If it were that easy, we could all be billionaires (in which case, the very commonality of the experience would devalue it).
So why BNSF? Well, one could cite the railroad's expenditure in double-tracking its Chicago-Southern California mainline. Wall Street — ever focused on the needs of the next quarter's earnings — didn't like that expenditure at all. But it is proving every day to have been a wise move in delivering BNSF shipments to customers in a more timely manner, thus attracting more business.
That may be one reason for Buffet's bullishness on BNSF. But the only reason? No, there has to be something else. Somehow, there's this gut feeling that a piece of the puzzle is missing. Why would a long-term investor sink all those dollars into one of America's very oldest industries?
Is this the story?
A rail-savvy friend of this column has an interesting take on that — a perspective which we found is shared by others. This school of thought says that Mr. Buffett traded tens of billions of depreciating dollars for a "hard asset" that will be worth something as dollars continue to lose value. When one owns tens of billions of them, depreciating dollars represent massive losses, and trading them now for a railroad is a wise move. Whether or not he could trade that cash for an equivalent supply of gold is doubtful. Where could one find that much gold for sale?
But then —
If Buffett is not thinking along these lines, then perhaps (1) He thinks the Obama economy will in fact turn around (as of this writing, he has not withdrawn support for the president); (2) He thinks that — as has happened in so many past crises — Washington will appoint another commission and attempt to solve the politics of the problem without actually solving the problem itself (however, the country senses that this time "Washington" has run out of wiggle room); or (3) A declining economy can take railroads with it. Then again, perhaps Berkshire-Hathaway reasons that even in the worst of times, a railroad — as "hard asset" — is still the safest bet.
On the rail's passenger side...
That enables us to segue into a discussion of the other half of railroading — passenger trains. One "green" blogger expressed the hope that Warren Buffet's interest in freight railroads would lead him into the rail passenger business, as well. Not likely. Buffet is a railfan (he reportedly has an extensive toy railroad collection in his home), but that is separate and apart from his business life. Private investment in freight rail is a good buy these days. But the passenger rail business? That is another story, and has been for years.
A conservative case can be made for support of passenger trains:
Citing such free marketers as Adam Smith and Alexander Hamilton, the late Paul M. Weyrich collaborated with his longtime associate, William S. Lind, at Free Congress Foundation (which Weyrich founded) to author the book Moving Minds. Their case is that infrastructure and defense of the nation are two legitimate functions of the central government.
The authors believe that a critical part of the nation's infrastructure — its railroads — was neglected in the Post World War II era. That is when the Interstate Highway, they contend, exacerbated a situation whereby unsubsidized railroads had to compete with subsidized highways.
By 1980, the nation's railroads — unsurprisingly — were flat on their backs. That was remedied with passage of the Staggers Act, which deregulated the railroads. That revived freight railroading, and today those Class 1 carriers make up the only mainline transportation system in the world that pays for both its operations (in this case, above the rail — the trains and their crews) and its infrastructure (in this case the "hard asset" rail tracks themselves, plus signaling and other support mechanisms that enable the trains to operate.)
The conservative case for passenger rail
That works well for freight. Rail passenger traffic is another issue. No mainline passenger train operation anywhere in the world makes a profit. The Weyrich/Lind book makes the argument that public backing for passenger trains can be justified on several fronts: (1) Infrastructure as a factor in the nation's commerce; (2) National security (reducing our oil dependence on foreign nations that hate us); and (3) Economic development: A rail passenger operation — through its tracks and stations — usually will spur commercial development that is not as easily attained by a highway or a bus line that can more easily be yanked at will. The infrastructure of tracks and stations represents a long-term commitment.
Moreover, Weyrich and Lind say the suburban sprawl that gave birth to our present-day automobile-centric culture was actually of left-wing origins, as government mandates on local building codes separated where we live from where we work and shop.
Moving Minds offers a remedy: A National Defense Public Transportation Act, which would use a system of nationally-coordinated trains and connecting buses. The aim would be to enable anyone to travel from anywhere to anywhere else in the continental United States without having to drive or fly.
As per the conservative preference for local control, the authors write that under their plan, every county in the nation could decide whether or not to participate in the program. They are that confident that it would work simply through its popularity at the ballot box or local government backing.
Bumps in the (rail)road ahead?
Infrastructure will be a big issue ahead, as it merges with the issue of joblessness in the current economy. It is not just the railroads that have infrastructure problems. Our highways are beginning to show their age, as well.
So what to do?
In mid-January, three members of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board wrote in the Wall Street Journal that our aging infrastructure (including all forms of surface transportation) would ultimately constrain our economic development. And they added, "It's time that we accept that government alone can no longer finance all the nation's infrastructure requirements."
All the more reason for this administration to admit (to itself, if not to the public) that Americans are soured on its scheme to put government between you and your doctor, as well as its cap and tax "climate change" program.
For starters, Washington instead would do well to focus on tax cuts for all job creators — not just some of them. Tax credits for the freight railroads would help them beef up their infrastructure. The Weyrich/Lind plan for better mobility through availability of passenger rail would enable construction firms to put lots of jobless people to work — lots of them.
And if the economy benefits thereby, Warren Buffett's investment in BNSF will have been justified — not just as a hedge against bad times, but for the best of times, as well.
© Wes Vernon
Look at today's chart:
OT: The Romance of the Rails
DECEMBER 13, 2008
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122877524153989295.html#articleTabs%3Darticle
A generation that grew up with model trains is renewing its love affair with Lionel and others.
When Jay Woodworth was growing up in the early 1950s, he couldn't wait to get the latest Lionel catalog. "I would take it to bed and dream about all those great trains," he says.
Mr. Woodworth doesn't have to dream anymore. Now, the semi-retired former bank executive commands a model-train empire at his house in western New Jersey. As many as a dozen passenger trains race along the tracks. At one end, Mr. Woodworth is building a scale model of New York's old Pennsylvania Station.
As he stands at the bar on the edge of his sprawling train room, he says he enjoys "sipping on a tall frosty and watching trains whizzing around the layout."
Mr. Woodworth is one of many baby boomers renewing their love affair with trains. They have the time and money to build the train layouts they didn't have as kids -- and have access to new and more exotic trains than ever before. These are updated versions of the trains that the 50-plus set remembers from its childhood: the three-rail "O gauge" trains that families set up each year around the Christmas tree, or if they had room, on plywood tables.
Fueling the revival is a big increase in the number and variety of O-gauge trains. Manufacturers are building trains that have never been built before in O gauge, including large steam locomotives and modern diesel engines. And they are making O-gauge trains longer, more detailed and truer to scale than the old, more toy-like Lionel trains, which were compressed to squeeze around tight curves. Part of the appeal of O-gauge trains is that they are easier for older adults to see and handle than smaller models, such as the popular HO-scale trains, says Carl Swanson, editor of Classic Toy Trains magazine.
Daniel Machalaba
PERSONAL TOUCH Carl Chancey and his New England-theme layout
"I couldn't believe my eyes," says Will Allen, a 60-year-old management consultant in Raleigh, N.C., who took his son to a model-train show in 2002. "I was hooked right away." Mr. Allen was so impressed that he enclosed the family's car port to build the Duckunder Terminal Railway, a three-rail O-gauge layout measuring 25 feet by 40 feet that has track on five levels, and three large passenger terminals, one of them an exact replica of Chicago's Dearborn Station. He operates more than 800 passenger cars and 143 locomotives; they are stored on and under the layout and on adjacent shelves.
O gauge has also gotten a technology boost. Manufacturers are now marketing hand-held wireless controllers that enable hobbyists to command each locomotive remotely and individually. And they are outfitting some of their locomotives with digital sound systems that mimic the motor noise, horns and whistles of real trains.
Costly Fun
The hobby has its drawbacks, chief of which is sticker shock. Highly detailed die-cast locomotives sell for $1,000, or more, and some hobbyists have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their layouts. The nation's faltering economy could hit the hobby hard. Lionel, for one, says that for new customers, it must look beyond aging boomers.
Still, the hobby draws on deep-rooted memories and the powerful Lionel name. Joshua Lionel Cowen, who founded Lionel in 1900, targeted returning veterans of World War II who were starting families, and stoked the country's fascination with trains. Lionel catalogs pictured flashy passenger trains, fast freights and smiling boys -- and pitched model trains as good for father-son bonding and child development. Soon a large number of families had electric trains made by Lionel or its chief rival, American Flyer, a manufacturer of the somewhat smaller, two-rail "S gauge" trains.
"Train sets were as ubiquitous in houses as Xboxes are now," says Lionel Chief Executive Jerry Calabrese. Some Lionel trains even became icons of the era, most notably the company's Santa Fe F-unit diesel engine and its Super Chief passenger train.
But Lionel and American Flyer went into a steep decline. Railroads faded from the national consciousness in the 1960s, along with most long-distance passenger trains. Baby boomers went on to cars, college, families and careers. Lionel bought American Flyer, and the Lionel name and products were licensed to food giant General Mills Inc. in 1969. Lionel, now closely held, continues to produce some S gauge trains under the American Flyer name in addition to its broad line of Lionel O gauge trains.
Interest in Lionel trains as collectibles increased in the 1970s and 1980s, says Charles Ro, founder of a large train store in Malden, Mass., that bears his name. Today's buyers tend to be "runners," as Mr. Ro calls them -- people who prefer to operate, or run, model trains, as opposed to collecting them.
The Return of O
Some hobbyists credit O-gauge enthusiast Mike Wolf for re-energizing the production of O gauge. Mr. Wolf launched MTH Electric Trains in 1993 and began making a wide range of realistic O-gauge locomotives and trains. This year, MTH, based in Columbia, Md., introduced the Orient Express locomotive and cars. Atlas Model Railroad Co., of Hillside, N.J., a longtime manufacturer of the smaller "HO" and "N gauge" trains, entered O gauge about 10 years ago with detailed models of trains other companies hadn't produced. A cottage industry cropped up to supply realistic scenery, buildings and accessories.
Meanwhile, Lionel got a boost from rock star Neil Young. Mr. Young had rigged up a remote-control system so his son with cerebral palsy could operate trains on the family's O-gauge layout in California. Mr. Young then worked closely with Lionel to incorporate the technology into Lionel trains.
Now, Lionel is trying to reclaim some of its 1950s mass-market allure. The company, which emerged from bankruptcy protection in May after settling a legal battle with MTH, has opened a New York office and showroom and is reaching beyond hobby shops this holiday season to stores such as FAO Schwarz, Macy's and Target.
Train collection from Jay Woodworth
Lionel's Mr. Calabrese, a veteran of Marvel Comics, says the company will continue to make highly detailed scale model like its Union Pacific Big Boy steam locomotive and Amtrak Acela. But, inspired by the success of its Polar Express trains, the company will ramp up production of starter sets for children. Mr. Calabrese is also launching a series of the kind of Lionel trains that lured boomers after World War II, using some of the same molds and dies left from the 1950s.
Mr. Calabrese is hoping that the remakes will entice more adults in their 50s and 60s to buy Lionel trains for themselves or to give to their grandchildren. "It is something they can set up and do together, or something the kid will remember them by," Mr. Calabrese says.
Memories to Scale
Meanwhile, boomers are already building their dream layouts. Not surprisingly, some of these undertakings evoke the postwar years, when railroads were king and before expressways, shopping malls and sprawl changed America.
"We grew up in the 1950s, when America was at its best," says Jim Steed, 66, who retired from the Georgia Department of Economic Development in 2002. The Blairsville, Ga., resident says he built his O-gauge layout with 19 churches and "lots of factories and smokestacks."
Carl Chancey, 61, is an O-gauge enthusiast who loves to put detailed, personal touches on his layout. Mr. Chancey, who works for a pharmaceutical-industry consulting firm as a senior consultant and lives outside of Boston, tried to capture the flavor of New England railroading with mountains, rivers, mill buildings, an oil depot, scrap yard, skid row and outfitters store.
Train collection from Marty Fitzhenry
He placed a miniature welder at the junkyard. Tiny bulbs flash below the welder to simulate a blue arc welding light. He also added hand-crafted pewter figures of his fellow O-gauge lovers Marty Fitzhenry and Lou Caponi. The figures were created from photos that Mr. Chancey sent to a specialty maker of figures.
Then there is Mr. Woodworth, 65, who is building the large layout near Clinton, N.J. Mr. Woodworth says he remembers riding such famous trains as the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited, the New York Central's 20th Century Limited and the Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha in the 1950s and 1960s, and he wanted them on his layout.
He got help from David Shaw, an owner of the Train Station, a Lionel train store in Mountain Lakes, N.J., in rigging up the sophisticated circuitry and signal systems that keep his trains rolling at high speed without colliding. On a recent day the system worked perfectly, stopping the Broadway Limited before it got too close to the Hiawatha. "That is really cool," Mr. Woodworth says.
—Mr. Machalaba is a writer in Woodstock, Vt. He can be reached at encore@wsj.com.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Reports Third Quarter 2008 Results
Thursday October 23, 4:01 pm ET
FORT WORTH, TX--(MARKET WIRE)--Oct 23, 2008 -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) (BNI - News)
-- Quarterly earnings were $2.00 per diluted share, which included a $0.09 per share impact related to a favorable tax settlement. This compares to third-quarter 2007 earnings of $1.48 per diluted share.
-- Freight revenues increased $818 million, or 21 percent, to $4.77 billion compared with the third quarter of 2007, and included higher fuel surcharges of approximately $570 million.
-- Operating income of $1.21 billion increased $206 million, or 21 percent, compared with the same 2007 period.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) (BNI - News) today reported quarterly earnings of $2.00 per diluted share, compared with third-quarter 2007 earnings of $1.48 per diluted share.
"The U.S. and global economies are facing very significant challenges. Despite the economic uncertainty, BNSF continues to perform well. In the third quarter, BNSF achieved our best quarterly earnings per share in the history of the Company," said Matthew K. Rose, BNSF Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "While we are all concerned about the current financial and economic situation, we continue to be optimistic about the future of our diverse franchise and we remain confident about our long-term prospects."
Third-quarter 2008 freight revenues increased $818 million, or 21 percent, to $4.77 billion compared with $3.95 billion in the prior year. The 21-percent increase in revenue was primarily attributable to improved yields and an increase in fuel surcharges of approximately $570 million driven by higher fuel prices.
Agricultural Products revenues were up $227 million, or 33 percent, to $909 million, predominately due to strong unit volumes in ethanol, corn and feeds and improved yields. Coal revenues rose $198 million, or 23 percent, to $1.05 billion, as a result of higher unit volumes, contractual inflation escalators and improved yields. Industrial Products revenues of $1.12 billion were $162 million, or 17 percent higher than the third quarter of 2007. Improved yields and increased demand for construction products more than offset the lower unit volumes for both building products and chemicals and plastic products. Consumer Products revenues rose $231 million, or 16 percent, to $1.69 billion due mainly to growth in domestic intermodal unit volumes and improved yields, offset by lower international intermodal unit volumes. Increased fuel surcharges driven by higher fuel prices further benefited each of the business units.
Operating expenses for the third quarter of 2008 were $3.70 billion compared with third-quarter 2007 operating expenses of $3.07 billion. The $631 million increase in operating expenses was primarily driven by a $501 million increase in fuel expense due to higher fuel prices on relatively flat fuel consumption.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation's subsidiary BNSF Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks, with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF Railway Company is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur coal to generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United States. BNSF Railway Company is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer transactions at http://www.bnsf.com.
Financial information follows:
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation
Consolidated Income Information *
(Dollars in millions, except per share data)
[continued in following link]
http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/081023/0445933.html
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If Warren Buffett Takes a Train,
Should You Go for a Ride, Too?
By JAY PALMER
August 10, 2008
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121834079190027499.html
Across America, the train whistle is a-blowin'.
Amtrak ridership is at a record, and local transit systems from Washington, D.C., to Oakland, Calif., are scrambling to add cars and track. Freight trains, too, are barreling into a new, more promising future.
Put simply, with roads congested and gas prices sky-high, Americans are getting fed up with driving. Flying is hitting similar problems.
Little wonder that local authorities expect passenger-train ridership to keep climbing, even as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce expects freight railroads to see an 88% increase in demand over the next quarter-century.
Investors may want to hop aboard before the train leaves the station. Warren Buffett, for one, has done so. Over the past 18 months, his Berkshire Hathaway has built up an 18% equity stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, along with smaller but substantial holdings in a number of other freight lines.
Though the weak economy has curtailed freight volumes, the stocks of many freight railways have moved up markedly, as investors look down the tracks to better days. But given the long-term growth prospects -- do you ever expect to see $1.50-a-gallon gas again? -- the group still looks reasonably priced, especially since its earnings outlook is strong.
Some bulls see some freight stocks climbing 10% to 15% over the next year -- and much higher over the long haul.
In rail freight, seven lines -- Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern -- handle close to 90% of the nation's freight rail traffic. Business has been very good. That's in part because locomotives today get roughly 80% more mileage from a gallon of diesel than they did 30 years ago, making them much more fuel-efficient than big trucks when the amount they can haul is figured into the equation.
On the passenger side of the business, there are no U.S. railways with publicly traded stocks, but investors can find some intriguing plays among equipment makers like Canada's Bombardier (BBD-B.Toronto), which makes locomotives, passenger cars and more, and Pennsylvania-based Wabtec, which makes brake systems for the mass-transit and long-distance rail markets.
And there are opportunities overseas. China, for instance, is quadrupling its spending on its railroads to $160 billion over the next three years. That's why China Railway Group (0390.Hong Kong) and China Railway Construction (1186.Hong Kong) are attracting attention as promising plays for the long term.
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Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides freight rail transportation services in North America. The company transports various products and commodities, including consumer, industrial, coal, and agricultural products. The consumer products include automotives, such as motor vehicles and vehicle parts, as well as perishables and dry boxcar products, including beverages, canned goods, and perishable food items. It also transports other consumer goods, such as cotton, salt, rubber, and tires. The company offers transport services for industrial products, including construction products, such as clays, sands, cements, aggregates, sodium compounds, and other industrial minerals; and building products, including lumber, plywood, oriented strand board, particleboard, paper products, pulpmill feedstocks, wood pulp, and sawlogs. Burlington Northern Santa Fe also transports chemical and plastic products, such as caustic soda, chlorine, industrial gases, acids, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride used by automotive, housing, and packaging industries, as well as feed stocks to produce other chemical and plastic products; and petroleum products, including liquefied petroleum gas, diesel fuels, asphalt, alcohol, solvents, petroleum coke, lubes, oils, waxes, and carbon black. In addition, the company provides transport services for agricultural products, including wheat, corn, bulk foods, soybeans, oil seeds and meals, feeds, barley, oats and rye, milo, specialty grains, ethanol, fertilizers, oils, malt, and flour and mill products. As of February 15, 2007, it operated a railroad system consisting of approximately 32,000 route miles in 28 states and 2 Canadian provinces. Burlington Northern Santa Fe was founded in 1849 and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
