The Blanchard Company--Week in Review Second Quarter 1998

The Railroad Week in Review:
Second Quarter 1998

Week ending June 27, 1998
How Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) assesses delay costs; Railroad downgrades across the board; Kansas City Southern announces reverse split; Making money on railroad stock covered calls; RailTex acquires Central Properties; Truck driver in South Shore crash flunks drug test; Recent changes at Johnstown and Trinity; Amtrak crew outlaws, abandons passengers.
Week ending June 20, 1998
The booming business in west coast imports challenges BNSF, UP; General Motors strike hits carloadings on UP, NS, CSX, CN; Canadian National ahead of the curve this year in grain traffic; Wall Street rates CSX, WC, CP; Canadian National inks long term agreement with WC for overhead traffic; The latest on Emons preferred; Another look at ABC Rail; More on the span of control thread.
Week ending June 13, 1998
STB unanimously (two-to-zip) approves the Conrail transaction with more than 40 conditions, shortlines do well; Gruntal reiterates "strong buy" for UNP; Conway named SVP-Ops at CSX effective later this month; further notes on "span of control" thread developed earlier.
Week ending June 6, 1998
Merrill Lynch downgrades the major rails; UP's long-time CFO quits "to pursue other opportunities;" Notes from the STB hearings re Conrail transaction; Dividends: do you pay them or not; Impact on EMON common if preferred were eliminated; commentary on mergers and a managers' efffective "span of control."
Week ending May 30
Danny Machalaba's Union Pacific Railroad paralysis analysis as spread from the UP; Are railroads victems of their own success; Unhappy UP shippers bring lawsuits; RailTex management changes; Rhode Island port potential threat to New York; Railroad stocks end May still trailing the S&P average.
Week ending May 23
CN's Paul Tellier tells shippers about his long-term views; J. P. Morgan initiates coverage of NS with a BUY; CSX continues B&O upgrades; STB issues CR merger environmental study; CR merger timetable update; WC news here and abroad; NTSB says dispatcher error caused UP's Texas crash; UP trucking firm to be sold; WAB gets transit equipment order from Atlanta; TRN gets 850-car order from FINA chemicals division; GBX and Bombardier to build freight cars in Mexico.
Week ending May 16
Kodak files letter of support with STB re Ex Parte 575; CN to exit 1,600 miles of branchlines via sale and abandonment; Views from the BNSF analysts' train ride over Stampede Pass; Report of a visit to GNMR's Oregon lines.
Week ending May 9
Applying the "200-day Moving Average" to rail stocks; Pols fear rail service disruptions will hurt grain moves, seek alternatives; RTEX posts record quarter; Vendors group does well as HRMN, JAII, and MPO all post record quarters; NS and CSX named to operate long-moribund Staten Island Railroad by Port Authority.
Week ending May 2
WCLX reports 1Q98 income up 16% over 1Q97, discussion ofd WCLX stock price behavior; RTEX to buy privately-held Indiana shortline group; RAIL gets CSX line in Michigan; BNSF makes tracks in Missouri; GBX doubles earnings for quarter just ended; Railroad stock summary YTD; Changes in and YTD results for railroad vendor list.
Week ending April 25
First quarter results were presented to analysts in NYC last week. Burlington Northern Santa Fe $1.47 per share, up 55% from 1Q97; CSX 47 cents a share down from 69 cents a years ago; Kansas City Southern Industries earned 41 cents a share, up 62% over 1Q97, while its rail unit's profit tripled to $9 mm after TFM exposure; NS earnings hit another quarterly record, 61 cents a share, though up just 2% over the year previous; UP loses $62 mm for the quarter while Dadivson and company predict improvement based on better performance numbers; NS and KCS open joint intermodal facility in Port Arthur, Texas; Two takes on the STB and Linda Morgan from Barron's and the Washington Post.
Week ending April 18
Canadian National, Illinois Central, and Kansas City Southern announce 15-year marketing alliance; Comparing stock price performance of CN and CP; Illinois Central first quarter and YTD results; Merrill Lynch begins coverage of Wisconsin Central with long term buy; WC gets BBB- rating from S&P; Harmon annual report is good reading; St Joe paper contemplating sale Apalachicola Northern Railroad.
Week ending April 11
RailTex results for March; further discussion of RTEX' track porgram; RaiAmerica results and profitability analysis; shortline contributions to NS total revenue picture grows with merger; MotivePower Industries solidifies position as a provider of low-horsepower locomotives; chemical companies contemplating suits against UP; STB to reconsider revenue adequacy computation.
Week ending April 4
More on truck diversions in NS/CSX; background on UTU, BLE merger; STB mulls changes to the UP/SP merger format; giude to the UP website on the service recovery process; more on UP's Mexican Stand-off; BNSF offers permit system to expedite southbound Mexico traffic; NS derails in Virginia; NS and Guilford announce intermodal pact; KCS value in a spin-off revisited.
Index for Jan - Mar 98
Index for April - Dec 97
Index for Dec 96 - March 97

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