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Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A +1.1%) Burlington Northern railroad plans to increase capital...

  • Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 2:19 PM ET
    Berkshire Hathaway's (BRK.A +1.1%) Burlington Northern railroad plans to increase capital spending to $3.9B this year in order to boost capacity for coal shipments as demand increases with oil pipelines maxing out. The proposal includes $2.1B for the core network and another $1.1M on locomotive, freight car and equipment acquisitions.
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This news story has 5 comments:

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    Source?
    1 Feb 2012, 02:24 PM Reply Like
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    WB after convincing his buddy Obama to kill the pipeline.
    1 Feb 2012, 02:27 PM Reply Like
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    $1.1M doesn't buy too many GE or EMD locos.

    railfax.transmatch.com
    1 Feb 2012, 02:34 PM Reply Like
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    I wouldn't be surprised if Obama and Buffett had an agreement that he would help the President with PR to raise taxes and such in return for killing the pipeline. His railroad will become far more valuable and profitable if energy cannot be cheaply sent by pipeline. It also encourages alternative energies such as coal, which obviously needs to be shipped by train.
    1 Feb 2012, 02:43 PM Reply Like
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    Despite all the feel good PR by Warren, his BNI acquisition was a play on Chinese coal, pure and simple. He realized that Obama's regulations would shut down coal fired plants (it did) and much of the new coal would end up getting burned in China, where we don't care about pollution (doesn't it all goes into the same atmosphere?). Warren's windfall is Obama's curtailment of drilling and pipeline production as well.

    In 1987, Buffett famously stated, "I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty."

    Why people think Warren is an American hero is beyond me. Same with Steve Jobs, who did more to outsource jobs than any other CEO in history.

    The genius here is telling you I'm for the America dream, and then seeking out the vulnerabilities of our economy and our consumers, for profit. Nothing wrong with that, it's just the incredible hypocrisy that seems to elude most people (liberals).
    1 Feb 2012, 03:35 PM Reply Like
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