Edit topic

Updated your discussion topic below.

Subject
Enter a subject for your topic. Maximum 150 characters.
Post Body
Enter your post below.
Below is todays article on UP earnings for 3Q 2004 that were released today. Note that UP Management is falling down on the job, again. They only managed to hedge 8% of fuel costs while even CSX managed 25%. NS led with 71%. And you wonder why investors like NS. Who is minding the store at UP. Better not be any management bonusses this year... LC UP railroaded by high diesel costs Bloomberg News Union Pacific Corp. will report today that higher fuel costs contributed to lower third- quarter profit, as the biggest U.S. railroad trailed rivals in purchase contracts and other hedges against rising diesel prices. Union Pacific hedged 8 percent of its diesel fuel in the quarter, compared with 71 percent for Norfolk Southern Corp., 57 percent for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and 25 percent, through July, for CSX Corp., according to the companies. Retail diesel prices rose 25 percent in the quarter. "Over the past few years, most railroads have hedged one-third to one-half of forward fuel prices to protect against oil spikes," said Morgan Stanley analyst James Valentine in Chicago. "Union Pacific has chosen not to take that conservative route and now they are feeling the volatility of oil prices." Railroads, like other transportation companies, are seeking to cope with rising prices for fuel, which according to the U.S. Energy Department reached a record $2.18 a gallon for diesel last week. Fuel prices also are contributing to third-quarter losses at major U.S. airlines. The nation's U.S. truckers have paid $7.3 billion more for diesel this year, the American Trucking Associations trade group said. "As prices went up, we felt that getting more involved in hedging at that point was not a good decision," Union Pacific spokeswoman Kathryn Blackwell said in a interview. "We didn't expect fuel prices to keep creeping up as they have." Westar Energy Inc. has named a Kansas City, Mo., executive and a Topeka college president to its board of directors. Sandra Lawrence is senior vice president and treasurer of Midwest Research Institute, a nonprofit laboratory that conducts scientific research and technology development for industry and government. Jerry Farley is president of Washburn University, a 7,000-student university that provides liberal arts and professional degrees.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag
E-mail Subscribe
Check the box below if you want to receive e-mail notifications when replies are made to this thread.

Receive notifications