• Priceline.com (NASDAQ:PCLN) reported adjusted third quarter earnings of $3.45 a share, 55 cents above consensus estimates, on better-than-expected revenues of $730.7 million, ahead of estimates of $$693.97 million on strong summer season travel. The firm provided fourth quarter guidance at about $1.06-$1.16

• Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) said it plans to cut 1500 additional jobs. The firm reported second quarter adjusted earnings of 6 cents, a one penny miss, on revenues of $1.15 billion, which slightly topped Street projections of $1.12 billion. The firm forecast 2010 earnings of $0.70-$1.00, topping estimates of 89 cents on revenues of $4.2-$4.4 billion versus estimates of $4.26 billion

• Cadbury (NYSE:CBY) rejected the latest Kraft (NYSE:KFT) bid calling it "derisory"

• Moody's (NYSE:MCO) commented that AIG (NYSE:AIG) will be able to repay its Federal loans

• Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) lifted its growth expectations for the semiconductor group following release of third quarter numbers. Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) remained its first

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Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP) third-quarter profit of 85 cents per share was ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents per share. The company had reported earnings of $1.19 per share in prior-year quarter. Earnings suffered due to a decline in volumes and lower fuel surcharge, partially offset by reduced costs. 

Total revenues for the quarter were $1.1 billion, down 20% from $1.4 billion last year. Lower volumes and fuel prices were the key drivers of the decline. Operating expenses were $827 million, down 20% from $1.0 billion. A fluid railway, strong cost management and lower fuel prices were the primary drivers.

Operating income was down 21%, other income and interest expense were in line compared to last year. Operating expenses were down 14.3% year over year. The largest contributor to the decline was lower fuel expense. Operating ratio increased 20 basis points to 76%.

For the year, Canadian Pacific

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While we have gotten several economic reports in a row that indicate the economy is stabilizing, if not starting to expand, there is one indicator of the real economy that is not budging, namely rail traffic.

The table below comes from Railfax, which tracks activity on the nation's rails http://railfax.transmatch.com/. It shows very little change in activity. Look at the 4-week rolling average (the weekly numbers can contain a lot of noise, the 4-week average smoothes them out) relative to the year-to-date numbers. For total rail traffic, there has been only a 0.2% difference in the year-over-year rate of decline, down 18.6% instead of down 18.8%.

The amount of rail traffic is not just important to the big railroads like Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP). They are a measure of how much stuff is being shipped. If stuff is not moving, the economy is not moving.

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The market has been looking to the financial sector for clues about the health of the economy and the strength of any pending recovery. But this is a departure from the past, mostly because of the group's role in the global economic meltdown that shook the markets last fall.

Historically speaking, other industries have offered more clues about the country's economic health, one of the best being transports.

Transports Are A Leading Indicator

Transports are considered early cycle indicators, with consumer and business spending quickly showing up in the group's results. So while the financials are squarely in the spotlight, the transports deserve some attention too in order to develop a more rounded view of the economic landscape.

Let's take a closer look at some major players operating in different segments of the transports sector.

Federal Express (

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For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – July 14, 2009 - Zacks Research Equity Strategist, Dirk Van Dijk says that S&P 500 earnings are continuing to show red ink. He tracks companies on the Zacks.com web site, naming names, while forecasting trends for the months ahead.

Key Points from Van Dijk's Latest Earnings Assessment

Second-quarter total net income expected to be down 34.9% year over year Staples only sector expected to post positive growth in second quarter Seven sectors expected to decline more than 25% Financials expected to rebound after disastrous 2008 Early positive surprises lead disappointments by 7:1 margin Third quarter expected to be down 22.9% year over year Estimate cuts for 2009 again outnumber increases slightly Full year 2009 expected to fall 13.6%, ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - July 7, 2009 - Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: CSX (CSX), Norfolk Southern (NSC), Burlington Northern (BNI), Union Pacific (UNP) and Sanofi-Aventis (SNY).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Monday's Analyst Blog:

Trainspotting

In looking for an economic recovery, one of the things to be looking at is rail traffic. While an increasing part of the economic output of the country (and the world) moves electronically, there is still a very important role for, to use a technical term, "stuff."

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In looking for an economic recovery, one of the things to be looking at is rail traffic. While an increasing part of the economic output of the country (and the world) moves electronically, there is still a very important role for, to use a technical term, "stuff." So far, nobody has figured out how to move a ton of coal or wheat over a fiber optic line.Granted the "stuff" that moves on the rails is mostly lower value, but it is also at the base of the economic pyramid. In short, if stuff is not moving on the railroads, then the economy is not moving forward.The volume of traffic is important for the information it provides about the economy as a whole, not just because it gives insight into what the earnings are going to be for the major railroads like CSX (...

Every time the United States goes through a recession, the pundits all race to be the first to proclaim that “Buy and Hold” is dead.  I can’t watch a financial news channel or read a financial website without some mention of this proclamation.  Well I’m growing tired of it, and if it were up to me, I’d prohibit anyone else from making this point for the rest of 2009.

Buy and Hold is not dead, and I’m on a mission to prove it.  Buy and Hold has worked brilliantly for decades, and it will continue to do so in the future.  The stock you bought in 2007 is worth less now than what you bought it for?  Oh boohoo, go cry me a river…somewhere else.  The economy has peaks and troughs, and we’re in the middle of one of the more serious

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A couple of days ago, I said I was looking at purchasing some railroad shares. They are a longer term play on the broader economy, and there are a couple of big factors I like in the industry. Those are efficiency, lower fuel costs than trucking, access to moving commodities, which I think will be coming back strong. You can see more of a href="http://briskycapital.blogspot.com/2009/05/prospects-strong-for-norfolk-southern.html"that analysis here/a.br /br /My update is that I did some more research, and I'd like to adjust what I'm looking to buy a bit. Norfolk Southern, which I mentioned before, is a good company with strong margins. But they have too much exposure to automobiles for me. I'm looking at some of the west coast names a little harder, and those are Burlington Northern Santa Fe (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=bniamp;.yficrumb=DHHJXdr.Qk4"BNI/a) and Union Pacific (a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=unp"UNP/a). They both have exposure to ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL - April 2, 2009 - Zacks.com releases the latest Zacks Industry Rank. Stocks featured in this week's analysis include Burlington Northern (BNI), Canadian National (CNI), CSX Corporation (CSX), Norfolk Southern (NSC) and Union Pacific (UNP).

Zacks Industry Rank Analysis is written by Charles Rotblut, CFA, Senior Market Analyst for Zacks.com.

Are Chipmakers Finally Stabilizing?

The Dow transports pretty much moved in lockstep with the broader markets during last month's rally. For followers of the Dow Theory, this was a positive sign.

The problem, however, is that there were nasty undercurrents at the same. Specifically, about 40% of the earnings estimates for Transportation-Railroad were cut in March. Among the companies targeted by the negative revisions are Burlington Northern (BNI), CSX Corporation (CSX), Canadian National (

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