But... But... Buffett bought railroads!

Hobos starting to pile up at train stops.

My mom, born in 1926, said that during the depression they were a little better off than most because her Dad always had a job. He retired after 50 years with Santa Fe Railroad (later bought by Pacific Railroad). I think all he got was a dinner and a gold watch when he retired in the 60's....

ova:

slow work day around your parts? I swear half of DC has decided to take the entire week off (at least in spirit if not body). They're showing up, but not actually doing anything.

And today the Jesus folks came to town...

Basel Too writes...

yep. Completely dead. Won't last. The Jeebus people always make the worse mess. Be twice as much trash from them as was from the Obama party.

Inbetween West Glacier and Columbia Falls.

"elmer fudd writes:
a commode in every caboose!"

With a nice big roll of commercial paper. Soft yet absorbent.

From the article:
Railroads reporting to AAR account for 89 percent of U.S. carload freight and 98 percent of rail intermodal volume. When the U.S. operations of Canadian railroads are included, the figures increase to 96 percent and 100 percent.

That means this includes autos.  Autos are actually low weight and thus high volume loads.  I'd be interested to see how much is an auto industry echo. 

crispy&cole --

Mortgage rates climbing today...5.5% on a 30 yr...the Fed has failed, again

Oh, they haven't even gotten started...

Seriously, though, the decline in A2/P2 spreads looks like genuine improvement. According to the CPFF FAQ :

The commercial paper must be rated at least A-1/P-1/F1 by a major nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) and, if rated by multiple major NRSROs, must be rated at least A-1/P-1/F1 by two or more major NRSROs.

So unless they are lying (or have silently changed policy), the rates on A-2/P-2 CP are still set by the market, not by Fed intervention.

Basel Too - too...heck anyone....

Re: previous thread...

Thanks for the kind words and interesting links.

I think planning and working to grow our own food is also very meditative. When I start worrying about the entire universe (which is out of my control), I can stop and focus on something as simple (and complex) as picking out a new kind of squash to try, or just watch my steers play.

"just watch my steers play"
sort of a brokeback mt. type ranch

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) swung to a $1.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter, driven by considerably higher consumer loan losses

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Capital One Financial Corp. (COF

It's ok. They are a bank now.

The H.3 is out, anyway. Reserves up another $50 billion in the past 2 weeks...

"considerably higher consumer loan losses"
once the consumer stops consuming, there is nothing but profit as far as the eye can see

Seriously, though, the decline in A2/P2 spreads looks like genuine improvement. According to the CPFF FAQ:

"The commercial paper must be rated at least A-1/P-1/F1 by a major nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) and, if rated by multiple major NRSROs, must be rated at least A-1/P-1/F1 by two or more major NRSROs.

So unless they are lying (or have silently changed policy), the rates on A-2/P-2 CP are still set by the market, not by Fed intervention.
Nemo"

Are these the same types of agencies and markets that were bullish on just about any damn piece 'o crap "investment" a couple of years ago? Sorry but my bogosity meter is on tilt lately...

@“There is no comparison — an order of magnitude difference in what we're seeing — in the slowdown and the financial stress we're seeing in this economy and what happened in the 1930s,” Bernanke said. “So let's put that out of our minds."

Of course, that might be because it's still the equivalent of early 1930, and the real "slowdown and financial stress" is still in the future.

(Pop quiz: If the market has just lost 50% on its way to a 90% decline, and you buy in, how much does your investment decline before it hits bottom? Clue: it's not 40%.)

Damn. I am getting old. People don't scare me and real life is interesting. I keep forgeting that there is an abyss between virtual and real.

"an order of magnitude difference in what we're seeing"
and what about: world population higher, globalization more tightly linked, technology both more complex and more fragile, energy resources seem to be stressed, same with food, nuclear weapons, etc.

yeah, I'd say like an order of magnitude worse, but like the poster above said, still 1930ish

Ya'll never be revolutionaries. You won't be able to leave your keyboards.

LOL Elmer....
no happy ending for these guys either.

I wish we still had a passenger rail system. Sometimes I take Amtrak dow nto Seattle for the hell of it, and it's nasty. Stained seats, broken down everything, and the train has to wait for cargo trains to pass when they meet up.

Not long aog, there was a rail stop 1/2 mile from my house that connected the reservation and homesteaders to the big city of Bellingham for cheap. Now the tracks are gone and I have to drive 15 miles each way to work.

Maybe we need to convert the cargo lines back to passenger....

Rail is so 18th century. We can just download everything now.

Nostrovia,

Joanna

I always thought the railroads killed passenger services because there was no money in it. It won't come back again until there is.

Passenger bus cut its service also. Little towns are dying for more than one reason.

Pavel:

Sorry, didn't mean to offend anyone. My mom (whose an extremely devout Catholic) participates in similar marches. That being said, I'm originally from Deep South, and the marches down there are often more political than they are religious.

Answer = 75%.
Turbo | 01.22.09 - 5:02 pm | #

Bzzzzt.

80%.

Money killed a lot of good things. I'd trade big screen TV's for a cheap, efficient railpass system.

When good banks go bad.

When banks go bad. on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Pavel Chichikov | 01.22.09 - 5:02 pm

There is jeebus. Which I use because I do not wish to take his name in vain. Also, because it represents the narrow minded, hater christ that the fundies love to fling around. That is not Jesus to me.

I have participated in that march. I am against abortion which makes me very uncool. It is murder. I have protested in front of abortion clinics and stood witness.

The God I believe in does not hate. He would not be a Republican. Actually, I always imagine if Jesus was born in the US he would be a UPS driver. Maybe born in a gas station.
He would to Wall Street and flail on some hedge fund types also.

"So you see, it is not the 1930s that frames our problems but those of the 1790s"
--Barley

LOL. Go long guillotines.

Anonymous writes:
Goldman out with a report that interest rates are too high and need to drop to -6% over the next year.

Nice!

Actually, about six months ago I asked this: Under what economic circumstances would negative interest rates result?

Not long aog, there was a rail stop 1/2 mile from my house that connected the reservation and homesteaders to the big city of Bellingham for cheap.
Joanna | Homepage | 01.22.09 - 5:00 pm | #
No rails up here by Lake Padden, I'm afraid...

Thanks for the post to the Ways and Means report on the tax changes.

I gotta wonder how they come up with their cost estimates. Are these "pro forma" like in CRE?

Does anyone really think that extending the net operating loss carryback (aka "tax handouts for unprofitable corporations") will only cost $1.72 Billion/year for 10 years? I thought not...

5-year carryback of net operating losses. Under current law, net operating losses may be carried back to the two years before the year that the loss arises (the “carryback period”) and carried forward to each of the succeeding twenty years after the year that the loss arises (the “carryforward period”). For 2008 and 2009, the bill would extend the maximum carryback period for net operating losses from two years to five years. This benefit would be denied to companies that received money from the Temporary Asset Relief Program, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. This proposal is estimated to cost $17.183 billion over 10 years.

"For 2008 and 2009, the bill would extend the maximum carryback period for net operating losses from two years to five years."
to bad many of the corporations haven't been paying much in taxes

LOL! Only a $4 billion "stimulus" for California. I wonder if the Governator has a plan B for the other $36B he needs?

404 - Not Found - sacbee.com

Nova might be a 14 yr old girl with a news crew waiting
Anonymous | 01.22.09 - 5:01 pm | #

Or Chris Hansen:
Have a seat. Do you have the trading software with you? Why don't you put it on the table. Have another seat.

LOL! Only a $4 billion "stimulus" for California. I wonder if the Governator has a plan B for the other $36B he needs?

Max | Homepage | 01.22.09 - 5:17 pm | #

You need a scorecard to keep up.  $45.3b and counting.  Understand, until the $45.3b is backfilled there is no stimulus.  The obvious answer is for the Feds to bypass the State and do it themselves. 

Foreclosure comment on dead thread below.

Most of the old tracks are long gone. Whatcom county had a rather well-developed rail system back in the day. I got a look at some old maps and was astounded at what used to be.

Homesteaders paid a flat rate to get out near the sticks, then paid native porters to canoe their stuff via the Nooksack.

Almost as advenurous as 'camping' in an RV

Crispy,

I know shorting the bonds seems like the play of the decade right now, and I don't doubt it will be at some point, but I think a lot of bond shorts are going to be cleaned out before they get to be right. It may seem like there isn't much room left for yields to fall, but that isn't really true for the prices.

"I always imagine if Jesus was born in the US he would be a UPS driver. Maybe born in a gas station."

Would he also look a lot like George Burns?

CC balances stayed up despite much lower than expected purchases thanks to lower than expected payment rates and a reduction of balance transfers away from Capital One. That sounds encouraging.

"Gary will discuss our significant liquidity position in a moment." I can't wait.

Republicans propose CA tax -

After months of holding firm on a "no new taxes" pledge, some Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that they are willing to consider a tax hike as part of a wider-ranging deal to close the state's budget gap.

That'll work - higher taxes, fewer jobs, and fewer public programs. That should stimulate something.

Kopechne - now THAT was a stretch.

Caroline Kennedy
Anonymous | 01.22.09 - 5:33 pm | #

I am disappointed it did not have anything with her being vapid and totall unqulified.

trivializes the young woman's death -

totally agree

I just want to point out that I called the problems with the railroad sector about 2 months ago...

Anybody who listened to my call to but puts on BNI and UNP would be up considerably by now.

Shoot, if you had waited a half day I could've told you that rail traffic was waaaaaaaaay off.

Drove I-40 for the 2nd time in 6 months from AZ to TN and there was almost no traffic. 1 train of coal hoppers headed East and 2 or 3 trains of TEU's going west. That's it.

There was no truck traffic either until I got to Arkansas when it went to summer levels, then dropped off again until I got to Ohio-Pennsylvania.