Kansas City Southern (KSU)

"If I had some eggs, I could have ham-and-eggs, if I had some ham." KSU is by far the smallest of America's seven Class One railroads--and far different from its mega competitors. Connections from Mexico thru Texas and on to the American South are too dependent on the good graces of Union Pacific, with which it has absolutely vital track rights. But RR companies, like UNP, that are forced to provide such rights, like here, almost always treat their competitor's traffic as a poor relation -- there goes speed. I think KSU is a run-up stock price based on the expectation of huge Southeast Asian unloadings at Mexico's deepwater Pacific port at Lazaro Cardenas, most of which is still under construction or in planning.


Take a look at the P/E and the stock's up and downs over the past 10-12 years. Railroading is rarely hugely profitable(2005 and 2006 were happy exceptions), and KSU is too darn speculative to be anything but a "racetrack" stock ("C'mon, Seabiscuit!").