The Blanchard Company--Week in Review Fourth Quarter 1999

The Railroad Week in Review:
Fourth Quarter 1999
(This newsletter is e-mailed to subscribers every weekend and archived on the web site with a delay of up to four weeks.)

Week ending December 25, 1999
BNSF, CN anounce merger plans, vested interests react; CSX share prices fall on earnings announcement; NS falls below $20 a share; e-commerce inevitable for railraods.
Week ending December 18, 1999
Investors bypassing rails and other value plays in favor of the go-go tech stocks; RailAmerica makes Fortune magazine's "Top 100 Fastest-Growing Companies" list; EWS taps new chief executive; Porvidence & Worcester in $1 mm settlement with Bestfoods; BNSF extends share repurchase program; Using cash flow statements to take a railroad's temperature; Shortlines to look for increase yields for class 1 interchange.
Week ending December 11, 1999
Canadian National reduces reduces transit times; WSJ says trucking prices are going up; CSX strives for managing faster, simpler, closer to the customer; RailTex reports increased carloadings for November 1999; Genesee & Wyoming posts November 1999 traffic volumes for its North American and Australian operations; Kansas City Southern stock upgraded.
Week ending December 4, 1999
Capital improvements and shareholder value; more on London's passenger train disaster; the continuing high cost of the Conrail breakup; Emons' new York Railway Company; Genessee & Wyoming in OZ
Week ending November 27, 1999
Wisconsin Central's web site; the Amtrak self-sufficiency issue; NS,CSX post merger operating performance measures; CP's bid for NYC trackage rights; customer value drivers and rate requests.
Week ending November 20, 1999
RailAmerica third quarter results; stock prices and future earnings; interline rate request woes; Amtrak in the perishables business; Finkbiner leaves NS.
Week Ending November 13, 1999
Emons quarterly results; KSU, Railtex selloffs; Genessee & Wyoming, Providence & Worcester results; Belt Railway single-sources locomotive maintenance parts; web-based rates at CN site.
Week Ending November 7, 1999
New FEC common stock; putting a price on the Kansas City Southern; more Conrail fallout at NS, CSX; Wisconsin Central -- looking beyond the earnings; Siegel and Buffett as applied to the railroads.
Week Ending October 30, 1999
Earnings week: More on the UP; BNSF, Railtex,NS, CSX. CSX on increasing responsiveness.
Week Ending October 23, 1999
FLA quarterly results; UP beats estimates by a nickel a share; NS infrastructure improvements; CN posts gain for quarter; more on RAIL + RTEX, Tony Hatch shortline speech posted to www.rblanchard.com.
Week Ending October 16, 1999
Dissecting the RAIL purchase of RTEX; Comment on class 1 dealings with shortline "partners" continues; JP Morgan knocks back NS to LT Buy from Buy; FLA progress on the rail side; WC tidbits; new power for UP; GNWR quarterly report.
Week Ending October 9, 1999
Feedback on Parkinson; Nobody disagrees with my rate-making premise; Shortline-class 1 partnerships less than meets the eye; BNSF taps e-railroad head; Carbuilders flourish.
Week Ending October 2, 1999
Recent RTEX stock price fluctuations; Rail stock performance YTD; Feedback on rails not mattering any more; Southern Tier argument Redux; NIT League service survey results; WABCO and MPO revise merger agreement; Shortline operator Dave Parkinson asks, "Where is the rail industry headed?"

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