By Todd Sullivan of Value Plays
Total N. American rail traffic rose to 705K last week from 701K the week before. Remember before we expected traffic to start to slide going into the holiday season. The fact it is staying above the 700k level (higher than the highs of 2010) is very positive for Q4 growth prospects. Note: we are only 1/3 through Q4 so we can’t simply say we’ll get 2%-3% Q4 growth but the signs are very positive.
Of the carriers, $CSX, $NSC, $BNI ($BRK.A), $KSU and $UNP all showed minor gains for the week. As for the “what” was hauled, grains and chemicals showed improvements while the other categories were only modestly changed.
The chart:
