Buffett buys Burlington for record sum

SHOOT: Smart move. The future is going to be more about rail and less about road. Why? Less energy = more expensive energy and rail transport not as expensive as road transport.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe is the country's second-largest railroad with a market capitalization — the market value of the company's outstanding shares — of about $25.9 billion.

clipped from news.yahoo.com NEW YORK – Making a $34 billion bet on the future of the U.S. economy, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Tuesday agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. "Berkshire's $34 billion investment in BNSF is a huge bet on that company, CEO Matt Rose and his team, and the railroad industry," Buffett said in a statement. "Most important of all, however, it's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States. I love these bets," he said. Berkshire also owns MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which controls power companies in the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. The railroad could be a strategic acquisition because its tracks run right through both regions, a major coal supply route for power plants. The chairman of MidAmerican Energy has come out vocally against climate change legislation which targets coal-fired power plants.