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News Wire: CSX claims first-quarter operating ratio crown

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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 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 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 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 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.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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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 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 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!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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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. 


  

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 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 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?

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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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 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 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 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 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 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!

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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