Railways are Safe Investments

Article Excerpt

Every portfolio needs a selection of mainstays that are safe investments, and we believe Canada’s two main railways can help provide these. High fuel costs, flooding in the U.S. Midwest and a slowing economy have hurt earnings at Canada’s two main railways. However, both CP and CN are doing a good job of passing higher fuel costs along to their customers, which helps these two railways remain safe investments. Ongoing efficiency improvements should also increase their long-term profitability. We feel that every Canadian investor should own at least one of these railways as one of their portfolio’s safe investments. CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY LTD. $61 (Toronto symbol CP; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 155.1 million; Market cap: $9.5 billion; SI Rating: Above Average) transports freight over a rail network between Montreal and Vancouver and connects to major hubs in the United States. Due to rising fuel costs and lower automobile and forest-product shipments, CP’s earnings in the second quarter…