TOP 100 TRANSPORTATION AND LOGISTICS SITES
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| Shipping Market, Afloat on Credit, Remains Volatile Sudden Debt submits: A curious thing happened on the way to the market. While global share prices lift and float, nicely above the lows registered last March, something else entirely is happening at sea. First, global share prices. The MSCI World Index (ACWI) of developed countries' stock markets is up a torrid 63% from the low reached some seven months ago, when even perma-bulls had turned into a bunch of chicken-littles. Since the sky did not, in fact, fall (quite predictably after the gushers of liquidity unleashed by central banks), prices rebounded. Shares have now regained three-quarters of the ground lost in the vertical plunge of September 2008 - March 2009. Data: MSCI Barra MSCI World Share IndexComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Rail Freight Traffic: Not a Good Recovery Sign Rail freight continues to report dismal figures despite improvement in the sequential data. The latest data showed carloads are down 10.2% vs 2008 and 18.5% vs 2007. Intermodal traffic is down 3% year over year and down 14.3% vs 2007. Despite the weakness, some industries are beginning to show some signs of relative strength. While 12 of the 19 carload freight commodity groups were down compared with the same week last year, increases were seen in grain mill products (16.1 percent), chemicals (14.8 percent), metallic ores (14.7 percent), motor vehicles and equipment (11.2 percent), grain (8.1 percent), waste and scrap metal (6 percent) and nonmetallic minerals (2.2 percent). Declines in commodity groups ranged from .7 percent for farm products excluding grain to 24.9 percent for crushed stone, sand and gravel.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Twin Disc Will Likely See Material Gain as Pension Asset Values Reverse Course Saj Karsan submits:What a difference a year can make! Last year at this time, as the market set low after low, investors were cautioned to be aware of companies with defined benefit pension plans. Since shareholders are on the hook for the pension obligations, any drop in pension plan assets (as a result of the market declines) should result in a drop to a company's valuation.This year, the opposite effect is taking place. As companies with fiscal years ending on December 31 will release their annual reports in the coming weeks, companies with defined benefit plans will likely see improved financial positions! Since pension asset values are only reported once a year, investors using 3rd quarter reports are likely underestimating the value of their companies under study. In other words, companies with defined benefit plans are likely worth more than investors are giving them credit for. As an example, consider Twin Disc (TWIN), a company we discussed as a potential value investment last year. Last year, the value of the company's pension assets fell by $24 million, pushing the company to cease accruing pension benefits for employees. For a company with a market cap of just $100 million, this change in the value of its pension assets is clearly material to the value of the stock. Since the broad market has gained significantly in last several months, Twin's assets have likely experienced a material gain as well. Unfortunately, until the 10-K comes out (and for TWIN, that is not for several months, as their fiscal year-end is not the same as the calendar year-end), all the investor can do is estimate the gains. Unfortunately, estimating gains is not easy. While companies do disclose their planned asset allocations, determining the rise in values of private equity or real-estate investments is not an easy task. Furthermore, in the interests of conservatism, investors are cautioned from being overly optimistic when estimating returns. However, in cases where pension assets are material, recognition of this issue can help the investor improve the accuracy of his valuation.Disclosure: NoneComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Boeing’s NewGen Tanker Could Generate 50,000 Jobs Zacks.com submits: Boeing Co. (BA) announced on Tuesday that it will create 2,500 jobs in Texas if its NewGen Tanker is selected as the U.S. Air Force's next aerial refueling aircraft. The company will also be able to generate an estimated economic impact of $125 million annually to Texas. Separately, Michigan will have 450 new jobs if Boeing wins the Pentagon's contract to build a new fleet of aerial refueling jets. This will also create an estimated $25 million in annual economic impact to Michigan.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Ford Builds U.S. Market Share Trefis submits: Ford Motor Company (F) is the second largest US automaker and the fourth largest in the world based on number of vehicles sold annually. Ford’s recently announced second quarter results show that the company continues to improve its financial position and gain share in US markets. We believe that Ford is on a solid growth trajectory with positive cash flows from automotive sales expected in 2010, followed by further progress in 2011. Based on these trends, we have revised our Ford stock price estimate from $12.92 to $14.26. Our analysis follows below.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |