BNSF(warren buffet) Than And Now?

Now that BNSF has been aquired by warren buffet, will BNSF see any changes such as improvements or expansions in equipment, trackage, and railyards?

Who knows.

Hopefully. The nice part about BNSF essentially being privately owned is it now does not have what-have-you-done-for-me-this-quarter mindset stockholders whining about how much BNSF spends on capital improvement projects. Buffet is very "hands off" in terms of management, and thinks long term, not about instant gratification.

Apparently, Warren Buffett suggested to BNSF that they should stop hedging diesel: "Well, when we buy the Burlington Northern, they're hedging diesel fuel. Now what I tell them is I wouldn't do it if I were them, but it's entirely up to them ... I tell them: if they really don't want diesel fuel on the market, we'll just close up the railroad and then all trade diesel fuel all day, you know."

(This was in his interview with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission last year, a transcript of which only began making the rounds a couple of weeks ago: http://www.santangelsreview.com/2011/03 ... -the-fcic/ )

That's a very tangible benefit of not having to worry about quarterly earnings. The other railroads are paying Wall Street a tidy sum for the privilege of smoothing out their earnings with derivatives. BNSF doesn't have to. They have permission to let their earnings fluctuate with the price of diesel.