The May Railtime Indicators report has been released and it is consistent with a rather sluggish economy:
“On the carload side, May 2011 was not especially impressive, following a not especially impressive April. U.S. freight railroads originated 1,159,328 carloads in May, an average of 289,832 per week. That’s up 0.5% (5,960 carloads for the month) on a seasonally unadjusted basis over May 2010, though it was up 16.4% (163,308 carloads) over May 2009.”
“For the year to date through May, total U.S. rail carloadings in 2011 were 6,110,554, up 3.2% (186,751 carloads) over the first five months of 2010. Neither 2011 nor 2010 include the Memorial Day holiday.”
Source: AAR
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.