Rail traffic is just one of many real-time indicators providing us with a clear picture of the NON-RECESSIONARY United States economy. This week’s data showed a solid 4% increase in intermodal traffic. That brings our 12 week moving average to 6.4%. Not bad.
The AAR has more details:
“AAR reported mixed rail traffic for the week ending March 9, 2013, with total U.S. weekly carloads of 276,698 carloads, down 0.9 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal volume for the week totaled 235,174 units, up 4 percent compared with the same week last year. Total U.S. traffic for the week was 511,872 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.3 percent compared with the same week last year.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, led by petroleum products, up 46.5 percent. Commodities showing a decrease were led by grain, down 16.5 percent.
For the first ten weeks of 2013, U.S. railroads reported cumulative volume of 2,730,145 carloads, down 3.7 percent from the same point last year, and 2,386,882 intermodal units, up 7.2 percent from last year. Total U.S. traffic for the first ten weeks of 2013 was 5,117,027 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.1 percent from last year.”
Chart via Orcam Investment Research:
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.
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