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News Wire: CSX claims first-quarter operating ratio crown

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Posted by BaltACD on Monday, May 14, 2018 7:02 PM

Miningman
Yeah well we Canucks have our act together and the USA dosen't stand a chance against superior intellect. 

Behold

https://mobile.twitter.com/ezralevant/status/969748252080812032/video/1

Our leaders deserve each other. Our populations deserve better!

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Posted by Miningman on Monday, May 14, 2018 5:53 PM

Yeah well we Canucks have our act together and the USA dosen't stand a chance against superior intellect. 

Behold

https://mobile.twitter.com/ezralevant/status/969748252080812032/video/1
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Posted by Ulrich on Monday, May 14, 2018 10:51 AM

Miningman

The ongoing NAFTA negotiations have the USA claiming a trade deficit with Canada and Canada claims a trade deficit with the USA. 

Somebody is cooking something, probably on both sides. 

The contention seems to be over whether 'services' should be included along with hard items like metals and lumber. 

So it all depends on the way you look at it. 

 

 

This is because one leader knows nothing at all about business and the other thinks he knows alot but really only knows alot about running hotels, casinos and golf courses. At least, so far, its been entertaining. Maybe both leaders should look to Ontario. With a 300 BILLION dollar debt, Ontario financed a giant inflatable duck. At least it was BIG..

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Posted by Ulrich on Monday, May 14, 2018 10:09 AM

A low OR is nice, but there's really too much attention given to this number, perhaps at the expense of others. The most important metric would be  "value to customer".. Any business can bolster its OR by cherry picking the good stuff and simply not bothering with the less profitable work. In effect the railroads did just that when they got rid of their network of branchlines and distribution capabilities years ago. Sure, some of that needed to go; however, we now have a network that is less versatile than what we had 60 years ago. Would it be better to have a solid network of trunk lines and branches with an OR of 85%.. or a network of mainly trunk lines.. what we have now with an OR of 65%? I would argue that from a customers' perspective the former, a more robust and versatile network,  was better..  

 

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Monday, May 14, 2018 8:41 AM

BaltACD
Charlie Hebdo can't understand satire?

Your attempts at satire are as almost as lame as your cliche-ridden comments about statistics, research and accountancy.  But what else to expect from a "trickster"?

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Monday, May 14, 2018 7:09 AM

I remember a prior job I held many years ago with a bank in its computer room.  It was in the beginning of the calendar year and auditors from the independent accounting firm were crawling over every nook and cranny to verify the existence of various assets.  It would have been nearly impossible to claim non-existent assets.

This was also at a time when banks were much more conservative than they are now.  You didn't have to be smart to run a bank successfully, only conservative.

The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, May 13, 2018 9:53 PM

charlie hebdo
 
zugmann
 
BaltACD
Thank you Donald for your twit! 

Donald the Duck?  Or Donald the steam engine?  I went to school with a Donald, come to think of it.   He wasn't a duck or a steam engine, though.  Not that I can remember.  

He was probably thinking of his pal Donald the Trumpf.

Charlie Hebdo can't understand satire?

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Sunday, May 13, 2018 9:17 PM

zugmann

 

 
BaltACD
Thank you Donald for your twit!

 

 

Donald the Duck?  Or Donald the steam engine?  I went to school with a Donald, come to think of it.   He wasn't a duck or a steam engine, though.  Not that I can remember. 

 

He was probably thinking of his pal Donald the Trumpf.

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Posted by zugmann on Sunday, May 13, 2018 8:54 PM

BaltACD
Thank you Donald for your twit!

 

Donald the Duck?  Or Donald the steam engine?  I went to school with a Donald, come to think of it.   He wasn't a duck or a steam engine, though.  Not that I can remember. 

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, May 13, 2018 6:27 PM

charlie hebdo
PJS1:  Please understand that BaltACD is an expert on every topic, whether all aspects of railroading, business, finance, accountancy, statistics, medical research, etc.  and has apparently made it his mission post-retirement to try to ridicule all factual posts he does not like.

Thank you Donald for your twit!

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Posted by charlie hebdo on Sunday, May 13, 2018 5:46 PM

PJS1

 

 
BaltACD

 

 
PJS1
 
SALfan
 I think it was Mark Twain who said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".  Accounting is just financial statistics.  

The financial statements of an entity must conform to General Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States and International Financial Reporting Standards in most other developed countries.  They are the outcome of robust processes and procedures that stem from centuries of development. 

In the case of a public corporation, the financial statements and underlying accounting processes are checked and re-checked by internal and external auditors.

Responsible persons who commit accounting fraud, especially in the case of a public corporation like CSX, are lining themselves up for some serious time in prison.  

Accounting includes estimates.  For example, depreciation expense is a function of estimating the service life of the assets being depreciated and the selection of an appropriate depreciation methodology.  But the estimate must be based on a transparent set of criteria.  Once set they cannot be changed at will to suit the purposes of management. 

 

 

PJS1:  Please understand that BaltACD is an expert on every topic, whether all aspects of railroading, business, finance, accountancy, statistics, medical research, etc.  and has apparently made it his mission post-retirement to try to ridicule all factual posts he does not like.

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Posted by PJS1 on Sunday, May 13, 2018 8:30 AM

BaltACD

 

 
PJS1
 
SALfan
 I think it was Mark Twain who said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".  Accounting is just financial statistics.  

The financial statements of an entity must conform to General Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States and International Financial Reporting Standards in most other developed countries.  They are the outcome of robust processes and procedures that stem from centuries of development. 

In the case of a public corporation, the financial statements and underlying accounting processes are checked and re-checked by internal and external auditors.

Responsible persons who commit accounting fraud, especially in the case of a public corporation like CSX, are lining themselves up for some serious time in prison.  

Accounting includes estimates.  For example, depreciation expense is a function of estimating the service life of the assets being depreciated and the selection of an appropriate depreciation methodology.  But the estimate must be based on a transparent set of criteria.  Once set they cannot be changed at will to suit the purposes of management. 

Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, May 13, 2018 7:38 AM

PJS1
 
SALfan
 I think it was Mark Twain who said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".  Accounting is just financial statistics.  

The financial statements of an entity must conform to General Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States and International Financial Reporting Standards in most other developed countries.  They are the outcome of robust processes and procedures that stem from centuries of development. 

In the case of a public corporation, the financial statements and underlying accounting processes are checked and re-checked by internal and external auditors.

Responsible persons who commit accounting fraud, especially in the case of a public corporation like CSX, are lining themselves up for some serious time in prison.  

Accounting includes estimates.  For example, depreciation expense is a function of estimating the service life of the assets being depreciated and the selection of an appropriate depreciation methodology.  But the estimate must be based on a transparent set of criteria.  Once set they cannot be changed at will to suit the purposes of management. 

GAAP allow enough wiggle room to swing several dead elephants by their trunks within their parameters and arrive at widely divergent reports.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, May 13, 2018 2:38 AM

When I have a locomotive rebuilt with a new prime mover, is it overhaul and thus operating expense, or is it a capital investment?

Suppose the degree of what is new and what is old is new for me.  I have not done this type of overhaul earlier.  Don't I have the option of deciding between these two catagories?

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Posted by PJS1 on Saturday, May 12, 2018 10:57 PM

SALfan
 I think it was Mark Twain who said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".  Accounting is just financial statistics. 

The financial statements of an entity must conform to General Accepted Accounting Principles in the United States and International Financial Reporting Standards in most other developed countries.  They are the outcome of robust processes and procedures that stem from centuries of development. 

In the case of a public corporation, the financial statements and underlying accounting processes are checked and re-checked by internal and external auditors.

Responsible persons who commit accounting fraud, especially in the case of a public corporation like CSX, are lining themselves up for some serious time in prison.  

Accounting includes estimates.  For example, depreciation expense is a function of estimating the service life of the assets being depreciated and the selection of an appropriate depreciation methodology.  But the estimate must be based on a transparent set of criteria.  Once set they cannot be changed at will to suit the purposes of management. 

Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII

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Posted by SALfan on Saturday, May 12, 2018 10:31 PM

I think it was Mark Twain who said "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics".  Accounting is just financial statistics.

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 12, 2018 3:43 PM

Murphy Siding
 
Euclid

 

 
BaltACD

 

 
Euclid
 
Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.   

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books?

 

If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons.

 

 

 

It was a rhetorical question, so I really don’t need an answer.  Shadow the Cats Owner referred to “cooking the books” which Investopedia defines this way:

"Cook the books is an idiom describing fraudulent activities performed by corporations in order to falsify their financial statements. Typically, cooking the books involves augmenting financial data to yield previously nonexistent earnings." 

 

 

 

Why ask rhetorical questions?

 

 

To restate an obvious flaw in reasoning in order to make it more obvious so it might be recognized and addressed by the person making the flaw. 

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Saturday, May 12, 2018 3:32 PM

Euclid

 

 
BaltACD

 

 
Euclid
 
Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.   

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books?

 

If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons.

 

 

 

It was a rhetorical question, so I really don’t need an answer.  Shadow the Cats Owner referred to “cooking the books” which Investopedia defines this way:

"Cook the books is an idiom describing fraudulent activities performed by corporations in order to falsify their financial statements. Typically, cooking the books involves augmenting financial data to yield previously nonexistent earnings." 

 

Why ask rhetorical questions?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by Miningman on Saturday, May 12, 2018 3:27 PM

The ongoing NAFTA negotiations have the USA claiming a trade deficit with Canada and Canada claims a trade deficit with the USA. 

Somebody is cooking something, probably on both sides. 

The contention seems to be over whether 'services' should be included along with hard items like metals and lumber. 

So it all depends on the way you look at it. 

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Posted by jeffhergert on Saturday, May 12, 2018 3:18 PM

Euclid

Of course books get cooked.  The point is that it is not "100% legal," as was stated above.  Cooking books = less than 100% legal.

 

According to some definitations.  Myself, I include in the definition legal ways allowed to manipulate numbers.  Legal doesn't necessarily equate ethical.

I'm not surprised that sites dealing with investing and business would only want the strictist definition, that only illegal manipulation fits.

Jeff 

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 12, 2018 2:44 PM

Of course books get cooked.  The point is that it is not "100% legal," as was stated above.  Cooking books = less than 100% legal.

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, May 12, 2018 12:26 PM

Euclid
 
BaltACD
 
Euclid
 Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.   

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books? 

If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons. 

It was a rhetorical question, so I really don’t need an answer.  Shadow the Cats Owner referred to “cooking the books” which Investopedia defines this way:

"Cook the books is an idiom describing fraudulent activities performed by corporations in order to falsify their financial statements. Typically, cooking the books involves augmenting financial data to yield previously nonexistent earnings." 

Books get cooked for whatever dish the cook wants to serve.  The dishes are as varied as the persons to whom the dishes are served, gain favor with their individual tastes.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 12, 2018 11:42 AM

BaltACD

Euclid
 
Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.   

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books?

If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons.

 

It was a rhetorical question, so I really don’t need an answer.  Shadow the Cats Owner referred to “cooking the books” which Investopedia defines this way:

"Cook the books is an idiom describing fraudulent activities performed by corporations in order to falsify their financial statements. Typically, cooking the books involves augmenting financial data to yield previously nonexistent earnings." 

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Posted by zugmann on Saturday, May 12, 2018 11:36 AM

BaltACD
If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons.

 Oh well, hope the company he O/Os for is good at checking their books.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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Posted by BaltACD on Saturday, May 12, 2018 11:28 AM

[quote user="Euclid"] 

Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.   

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books?[/quote]

If you have to ask the question you are beyond understanding the reasons.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Euclid on Saturday, May 12, 2018 10:58 AM

Shadow the Cats owner

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.  

 

If it is all legal, why does he need three sets of books?

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Posted by Shadow the Cats owner on Saturday, May 12, 2018 6:16 AM

Well in the last 20 years he has been an O/O with us he has been audited 6 times in those 6 times he has never been charged with a crime never has the IRS found a fault with how he does his taxes or how his books look.  The auditors hate how he justifies some of his expenses but he always has a reciept to back up the claim so their hands are tied.  This man gets a reciept for anything he buys for his truck at all times when he is home.  Why so he can deduct the mileage his personal car got on it going to get the parts.  All 100% legal in the eyes of the IRS.  

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Posted by BaltACD on Friday, May 11, 2018 7:11 PM

zugmann
Give him credit for being a criminal?  Real nice.

All eventualities are supported under the various interpertations of 'generally accepted accounting principles'.  GAAP is what allows book cooking.  If it wasn't for differing interpertations of GAAP there would be very little need for Tax Court to adjudicate the varying interpertations applied to various situations.  Everything would be cut and dried, black and white.

 

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Posted by zugmann on Friday, May 11, 2018 6:59 PM

Give him credit for being a criminal?  Real nice.

It's been fun.  But it isn't much fun anymore.   Signing off for now. 


  

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any

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