BNSF Corp has been sold to Warren Buffet

gfisher

Old Hand
Just saw this on Squawk Box a few minutes ago. He is buying the rest of the railroad that he does not already own for $100 per share in cash and Berkshire Hatheway class B stock, which he is splitting 50 to 1. The stock prices of all the other Class 1 railroads are jumping in premarket trading.

Warren is calling this "a large bet on the future prosperity of America."

Personally, I think this is great news for BNSF as Buffet believes in long term planning and capital investment.

Here's a link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/33599584

More news at 11:00. :cool:
 
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i heard about this! insane, 40 billion dollars for it. he said something about how he wants to try to expand it and influence other railroad owners to expand. i bet railroading in america is goin to be the next big thing all over again.
 
Bingo! Excellent. I heard it he clearing something like a 10 billion dollar debt?

This can only get better!
 
I am strongly against this transaction and I am going to tell you why and we can even come around the camp fire and sing a song about the real future of America.

Warren Buffet’s transaction is being misunderstood by too many people. All Warren Buffet is doing is buying an ownership interest in the BNSF. There is not a whole heck of a lot you can do with Stock. You get dividends elect the Board of Directors, and latter you can sell some or all of it hopefully at a profit. The purchase of securities for the purpose of selling them at a higher price latter has a technical term called Stock Speculation. Stock Speculation has not now or ever created long term economic growth. On the contrary Stock Speculation causes recession and or depression. The fact of the matter is that not one dime of what Warren Buffet is spending on BNSF will make that property a better railroad not one dime. Buying stock on an exchange is not money invested in the business. When a company initially sells stock that is money invested in the business but the trading of stock is not money invested in a business. Long term economic growth is a factor of money spent in the country on projects that foster economic growth and that create jobs. Jobs are the base unit of an economy. No jobs no economy simple enough. Where Warren Buffet comes off thinking that America has a bright future of economic growth is beyond me but I come from the Northeast US. The US is exporting jobs overseas in record numbers the trend if anything is accelerating. Once enough jobs go overseas the United States will collapse into a permanent Great Depression from which it will never emerge.

Lets sing from The OWs DVD the Ontario & Western On Film the song is by either Paul Lounsbury or Dick Staber. () are my comments this is an excerpt of this song for commentary.

There’s no whistle in the Glen any more any more no railroad men to wave to from the old cabin door. They rode the narrow gauge back in the gilded age from Palinville (NY) to the Hudson Shore (Hudson River)

(The gilded age was the early 20th Century in the United States.)

All the hemlocks are cut down so the Tanner’s leaving town and the brickyard is running out of shale. Where they once cut the blue stone the birds now sing a song and the Mountain Tpke just a hiking trail.

Chorus

(Once the natural resources dry up business’s that depended on them close up shop. America has exhausted its once plentiful supply of timber, copper and iron ore. With the exhaustion of cheap high grade iron ore the once plentiful steel mills and manufacturing plants in cities like Youngstown, OH and Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland closed up and left the communities. In Cleveland and Youngstown are block after block of abandoned houses and businesses)


There tearing up the tracks and their selling them for scrap and we’ll never hear the Stourbridge Lion Roar.

(Once all the commerce and business served by a railroad has gone the railroad goes too)

What can happen to a town can happen to a city what can happen to a city can happen to a state and what can happen to a state can happen to a whole country.

Unless American’s quit moving money around and actually put it into their country there can be no hope. Because only when we as a country provide enough economic opportunity for our people can we as a people have a future. And the only way to provide economic opportunity is with jobs. Mr. Buffet’s purchase of BNSF does nothing of the sort.
 
I am strongly against this transaction and I am going to tell you why and we can even come around the camp fire and sing a song about the real future of America.

Warren Buffet’s transaction is being misunderstood by too many people. All Warren Buffet is doing is buying an ownership interest in the BNSF. There is not a whole heck of a lot you can do with Stock. You get dividends elect the Board of Directors, and latter you can sell some or all of it hopefully at a profit. The purchase of securities for the purpose of selling them at a higher price latter has a technical term called Stock Speculation. Stock Speculation has not now or ever created long term economic growth. On the contrary Stock Speculation causes recession and or depression. The fact of the matter is that not one dime of what Warren Buffet is spending on BNSF will make that property a better railroad not one dime. Buying stock on an exchange is not money invested in the business. When a company initially sells stock that is money invested in the business but the trading of stock is not money invested in a business. Long term economic growth is a factor of money spent in the country on projects that foster economic growth and that create jobs. Jobs are the base unit of an economy. No jobs no economy simple enough. Where Warren Buffet comes off thinking that America has a bright future of economic growth is beyond me but I come from the Northeast US. The US is exporting jobs overseas in record numbers the trend if anything is accelerating. Once enough jobs go overseas the United States will collapse into a permanent Great Depression from which it will never emerge.

Lets sing from The OWs DVD the Ontario & Western On Film the song is by either Paul Lounsbury or Dick Staber. () are my comments this is an excerpt of this song for commentary.

There’s no whistle in the Glen any more any more no railroad men to wave to from the old cabin door. They rode the narrow gauge back in the gilded age from Palinville (NY) to the Hudson Shore (Hudson River)

(The gilded age was the early 20th Century in the United States.)

All the hemlocks are cut down so the Tanner’s leaving town and the brickyard is running out of shale. Where they once cut the blue stone the birds now sing a song and the Mountain Tpke just a hiking trail.

Chorus

(Once the natural resources dry up business’s that depended on them close up shop. America has exhausted its once plentiful supply of timber, copper and iron ore. With the exhaustion of cheap high grade iron ore the once plentiful steel mills and manufacturing plants in cities like Youngstown, OH and Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland closed up and left the communities. In Cleveland and Youngstown are block after block of abandoned houses and businesses)


There tearing up the tracks and their selling them for scrap and we’ll never hear the Stourbridge Lion Roar.

(Once all the commerce and business served by a railroad has gone the railroad goes too)

What can happen to a town can happen to a city what can happen to a city can happen to a state and what can happen to a state can happen to a whole country.

Unless American’s quit moving money around and actually put it into their country there can be no hope. Because only when we as a country provide enough economic opportunity for our people can we as a people have a future. And the only way to provide economic opportunity is with jobs. Mr. Buffet’s purchase of BNSF does nothing of the sort.

Wow... you could replace Jim Cramer on CNBC.:)

Buffet, actually Berkshire Hathaway, bought the BNSF to haul coal. That way, BH can control the cost of freight from the mines in the North West to his Mid-West generating plants and to the ports for shipment to China.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Have fun,:)
 
"Roy O. Parker & Associates says it’s all BNSF’s fault. It has a duty to mark its property “Private Property - No Tresspassing.” How was Helen to know she was trespassing on private property without the owner’s permission? Do Mississippi’s schools teach that railroads are owned by the state government or Barack Obama, thus making them public property?"

So they think the railroad is public property?! Give me a break. Thats the stupidest thing I've heard when it comes to things like that. I believe their lawyer told them to say that so they don't get sued for tresspassing.

-Matt
 
What? I cannot believe this is really happening!:eek:
It is. It has. It was.

Yes, Indeed it has happened, and in my opinion this could be good for BNSF.
Let us just see how things shake out in the world economy total.

The good thing is, I heard freight is up a little, that is good.
Hopefully the economy will follow.


Cheers,
Woody
 
It is. It has. It was.

Yes, Indeed it has happened, and in my opinion this could be good for BNSF.
Let us just see how things shake out in the world economy total.

The good thing is, I heard freight is up a little, that is good.
Hopefully the economy will follow.


Cheers,
Woody

Thanks for helping me understand this situation and yes it was and I think it was a good move, I hope business continues to pick up which I know it can!:cool:
 
...Warren Buffet’s transaction is being misunderstood by too many people. All Warren Buffet is doing is buying an ownership interest in the BNSF. There is not a whole heck of a lot you can do with Stock...
Actually, once you own a controlling interest in the company, you can do a lot. that's why it's called a "controlling" interest.
You could not only vote for the board of directors, you can fire them if you don't like the job they're doing and appoint the ones you like. You can decide where to allocate resources and where to lay new lines and how much to charge customers. Once you own more than 50% of the stock, you effectively own the company.

:cool:Claude
 
Warren Buffet's not known for spending his money foolishly. Controlling interest gives him the opportunity to do a lot of things, but that could either be good or bad for the railroad. It just depends on what he sees on the horizon and how BNSF figures into his plans. Don't want to be a pessimist, but he could very well split the company into pieces and dispose of the unprofitable parts of it while keeping the part that he's really interested in.
BNSF could wind up being larger than it is now, but it could also be a more streamlined and smaller railroad with only his objective in mind. Too early to figure out what he's up to.
 
Hi All: I just read and interesting article about Warren Buffet, and it said nothing but things about him..It was about why he bought the railroad..He was thinking about how he thought the economy future was for bright for the railroad freight..He could see nothing but good things happening..


Bob Cass:) :)
 
Change....is good....

:cool: But Mr. Buffet is traditionally known to take a hands-off approach to his acquisitions....

He does his homework & selects well staffed & updated infrastructured business for his portfolio.

Some of the legal hassles unnecessarily created by BNSF may now not be able to be repeated...hopefully.
 
What gave the USA its economic dominance in the 20th Century was its abundance of cheap natural resources.

There all gone.

The Iron Range is mined out.
The copper is mined out.
The Forests are cut over.

And more and more jobs are being shipped overseas.

I really like the past very much because when your looking backwards you won't see what is going to kill you. I don't think the long range trends for the USA are very promising at all.

That is the view from Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Meadville, Detroit, Pontiac Toledo etc

And eventually the Poweder River Basin will play out what will happen to BNSF than?
 
Looking into a hole...

:cool: No & yes, most of your picked areas are worked out....

Trees grow up. We have signs all over the Southeastern part of the United States of America that tell you "Trees Grow Jobs."

We don't have a shortage of forest trees we can harvest, only an abundance of land that was not re-forested correctly. We call that land for development, that was located near mines where the forest provided capital for installation of mining.

So much population growth has occurred that we now use that land to build developments that house the working force for big cities.

New mining technology reopens mines that have been closed over a hundred years plus the outlying areas for coal, ore, copper, gold, platinum from raw dirt you can't even see the gold in.

The State of Wyoming, Montana, the Dakotas, Colorado, etc have coal reserves that will last far longer than your great, great grandchildren can enjoy...

Then don't forget Canada...they have a right to reclaim whatever resources they have to contribute to the Global Community as they see fit....& don't think for a minute it is not becoming so.

What we need to do is forget the gloom & doom forecast for this planet God gave us called Earth.

But I am sure Mr. Buffet knew this before he paid $44B for controlling interest in our nations #2 largest Class I railroad network...
 
Let us also keep in mind the hundreds of miles of land that, are available to be drilled in for oil and so on, but also look at the hundreds of miles of land that is off limits for to the industries. Just think what we could do if we opened up those areas as well......

Cheers,
JRT
 
Let us also keep in mind the hundreds of miles of land that, are available to be drilled in for oil and so on, but also look at the hundreds of miles of land that is off limits for to the industries. Just think what we could do if we opened up those areas as well......

Cheers,
JRT

We could open up the world for more pollution and bring the Ozone layer to it's knees most likely killing earth all in one blow.

I personally would rather see Cold Fusion become the power source of our world. It's much cleaner. All this coal and oil is harming the world. While it runs these machines we love dearly it also kills the world we live in. Timbering is wasteful. I watch hills in West Virginia get layed to waste by clear cutting and cutting down trees that are hundreds of years old.

Also I believe that the reason we are in a recession is because the Military Industrial Complex has fallen in America. The companies that made bullets that made the cars and the guns have gone over seas. If you look at our history you will the the second largest increase in the American Economy was during Vietnam.

Is buying BNSF shares out a good idea for Warren Buffet? Yes, while railroads aren't the thing they used to be with rail baron like JP Morgan, but their on an incline that has recently been more of a decline.
 
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