Study Group: Rail Car Leasing Experts

Council Members in this Study Group: 18

This study group may include experts knowledgeable on commercial banking, retail banking, asset management, mortgages, consumer finance, exchanges, capital markets, transaction processing, credit cards, insurance, and business services.

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Leading Experts in this Study Group

Toby Kolstad

President
Rail Theory Forecasts

Toby Kolstad is President of Rail Theory Forecasts, a firm providing consulting and forecasting services in North American rail freight traffic and railcar demand. Mr. Kolstad has more than 35 years of experience in the railroad industry. He also has...

John Salomone

Managing Director
Structured Finance International, LLC

John Salomone is the Founder and Managing Director of Structured Finance International, Florida based boutique investment and merchant bank, specializing in all forms of asset and corporate finance, including equipment finance, trade and receivable finance,...

James Husband

President
RailSolutions, Inc.

James Husband is President of RailSolutions, a railroad equipment consulting firm that provides a broad variety of technical and advisory services to financial institutions, railroads, shippers and fleet operators. Its services include railroad equipment...

Andrew Dickson

Manager Director
Spring Creek LLC

Andrew Dickson serves as Equity and Controlling Trustee for Aircraft Finance Trust, a securitization of leased commercial aircraft. Mr. Dickson is also a Managing Director of Spring Creek, and has also served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial...

GLG News^SM Analyses by this Study Group's Leading Experts (?)

Opinions and analyses expressed in GLG News are solely those of the author. See the Terms of Use for details.

Not All Real Estate Is the Same - 4 Different Issues

November 9, 2009

Analysis by:John Salomone, Managing Director,

Analysis of:Handling real estate loans will be a tough act | www.dallasnews.com

Real estate financing and refinancing poses 4 different levels of risk for lenders and owners, based on the project life cycle and its financing and overall structure. Broad statements about the looming problems are just that "broad statements" Real estate market participants must look at each transaction within the context of the 4 kinds of Real Estate Finance Structures, if they want to properly assess financing and refinancing values, issues and risk.

Mr. Buffet, buying a real railroad is not like in the board game.

November 6, 2009

Analysis by:Toby Kolstad, President,

Analysis of:Buffett: Railroad business is 'in tune with the future' | www.usatoday.com

Hardly anyone can resist the temptation to by a railroad in the game of “Monopoly.” They are reasonably priced, have OK earnings potential, and if all four are owned, they have outsized rental rates and the payment rates with sites on all four sides of the board. In real life however, railroads are rarely cheap compared to their earnings and the STB will keep anyone from owning more than one. So why would such an astute investor as Warren Buffet purchase one?

Freightcar America has a strong balance sheet; but that’s all!

October 3, 2009

Analysis by:Toby Kolstad, President,

Analysis of:FreightCar America: A Long-Term Bargain Today | stocks.investopedia.com

Freightcar America is a fine company with an old pedigree and a reputation for producing some of the best coal cars in America. Although the company has no debt, it also has few prospects for growth, since it seems that almost everyone, want to decrease coal usage in the future. While it has designs for other car types, it has never produced any of these in sufficient quantities to offset any substantial decline that it may be facing in its coal car business.

Continued Rise in rail traffic is far from certain

September 28, 2009

Analysis by:Toby Kolstad, President,

Analysis of:Back On Track? | finance.yahoo.com

The weekly AAR railroad traffic report is an excellent real-time indicator of the health of the economy. Unfortunately, the volume changes, even when measured over many weeks, are generally so small that they are dismissed by most observers. Moreover, the freight rate increases pushed by the railroads during the past few years have blurred the falling traffic levels behind a screen of rising revenues and profits.

NS is tooting is own horn too loudly on fuel efficiency!

September 16, 2009

Analysis by:Toby Kolstad, President,

Analysis of:Norfolk Southern's Sustainability Report Highlights Carbon Footprint, Improved Fuel Economy | finance.yahoo.com

Norfolk Southern rightly claims that it has increased it fuel efficiency by 10% during the past ten years; but that achievement is less than half of what the other major carriers in the U.S. have achieved during the same period. The BNSF has notched a 24% gain, the UP has made a 23% improvement, and its Eastern competitor, CSX has managed a 17% in just the last seven years. So what is there to brag about?

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Members in this Study Group include these company types:

Consulting Firm (ei)
Financial Services Company (ei)
Consulting Firm
Independent Consulting Firm
Market Research Company (ei)
Middle-Market Investment Bank
Private Client Services
Boutique Investment Bank
Specialty Finance/Leasing
Infrastructure/Project Financing

Members in this Study Group often have these job titles:

Principal
Consultant
President
Financial Planning and Analysis Manager
Chief Financial Officer
Managing Director
Owner
Operations Executive
Account Executive
Chief Executive Officer

Related Study Groups

Study Group Name	No. Members
Railcar Leasing Experts	121
Railcar Market Experts (EU)	70
Aircraft Leasing Professionals	172
Coal Railcar Experts in GLG Member Programs (US)	12
Coal Rail Shipping Experts	48
Intermodal Railcar Experts	61
Intermodal Logistics Experts	134
Rail Shipping Service Experts	155