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  • Stone Fox Capital 
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  Stone Fox Capital 

  

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  Stone Fox Capital graduated from the University of Tulsa with a double major in accounting & finance. He's been interested in the stock market since college and began managing investments for friends and family more then 10 years ago. He now has a goal of starting his own investment firm -... More

  • Company: Stone Fox Capital
  • Blog: stonefoxcapital.blogspot.com

  
  don't forget Asian growth and the lack of competition in the rail sector.

  2009 Nov 03 02:29 PM Reply
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  • mb2 
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  mb2 

  

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  BNSF hauls a whole lot more than just coal.

  2009 Nov 03 02:40 PM Reply
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  • H.J. Huneycutt 
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  H.J. Huneycutt 

  

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  Jake Huneycutt has a deep value orientation in investing and likes to analyze companies in many different sectors. He particularly likes to focus on REITs, energy, cleantech, banking, and manufacturing. His approach to analyzing companies tends to rely on valuation, forecasting, and cost... More

  • Blog: The Upward Society: Laying the Foundations for a Post-Oil Age Economy

  
  I don't know that it's a bet on coal as a centerpiece of energy policy, so much as a bet that coal won't disappear from the American energy spectrum.
  
  I can't find precise statistics, but according to CSX in late '08, coal shipments were about 25% of their revenues. That was right after a huge coal boom, during the current economic crisis, and CSX might be the most coal-dependent of the railroads. So realistically speaking, coal might make up somewhere between 15% - 25% of BNI's cargoes.
  
  Coal doesn't really have to grow for BNI to continue growing. It merely has to 'not disappear at a rapid rate.' The railroads should grow regardless as oil prices continue to rise and the American states are hard-pressed to continue subsidizing the highway system. I wouldn't be surprised if tolls become more common in the coming decades in order to meet funding shortfalls --- big trucks just happen to be some of the heaviest users of the roads and they cause the most wear and tear.

  2009 Nov 03 02:47 PM Reply
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  • Goonghaeng 
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  Goonghaeng 

  

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  It's an interesting spin on Warren Buffet's move, though I have to say it's a little bit out there. May be Mr. O'Donnell has been tanning on solar panels a little too much.

  2009 Nov 03 02:55 PM Reply
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  • Neil459 
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  Neil459 

  

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  Investor or trader depending on the market. Sailor at heart, boatless at the moment. Hails from the Windy City.

  • Blog: perceptivemind.com

  
  A little reality meets theory happen'in here!

  2009 Nov 03 03:01 PM Reply
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  • Poor Texan 
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  Poor Texan 

  

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  Retired corporate tax manager.

  
  On Nov 03 02:47 PM H.J. Huneycutt wrote:
  
  "The railroads should grow regardless as oil prices continue to rise and the American states are hard-pressed to continue subsidizing the highway system. I wouldn't be surprised if tolls become more common in the coming decades in order to meet funding shortfalls --- big trucks just happen to be some of the heaviest users of the roads and they cause the most wear and tear."
  
  Trucks also pay an excise tax on fuel which goes to the highway fund. Before we get tolls, the excise tax will move from per gallon to a percent of the selling price, much like a sales tax. It will hit automobile drivers also but, as a hidden tax, the oil companies will be blamed for the higher price. The consumer won't be able to deduct it as an operating expense as the truckers will so look who winds up getting the bill.

  2009 Nov 03 03:55 PM Reply