CSX (NYSE: CSX), a railway company whose peers include Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP) and Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC), reported earnings for the second quarter on Monday after the bell. Net sales declined 25%, and earnings from continuing operations declined 24% to 72 cents per share.

Declines are never nice, but for a company like CSX, it's only to be expected. The recession continues to have an impact on operations. Management said that volumes decreased; it also mentioned how CSX is doing its best to run as efficiently as possible to combat the dropping top line. Maybe it's working out, because according to Reuters, the company beat Wall Street estimates by 10 cents.

In running a very tight stock screen recently for value plays Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) showed up on a list of 14 stocks. Interestingly all the large railroad stocks did. This reminded me of several stories I have done on the subject, the most recent being Chasing Value: Watch BNI -- the heck with Citigroup.

To summarize, about six weeks ago a Citigroup (NYSE: C) analyst declared it was time to sell the stock when BNI was trading in the mid $60s -- I said investors should do the opposite, it was a great value. Friday the stock closed at $76.98. Even at this price it is a value and ever more so with oil prices steadly creeping up.

Is it time to ride the rails? In Gordon Pape's The Internet Wealth Builder, analyst Tom Slee reaffirms his buy rating on Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), his top pick in the sector.

"Burlington Northern is my preferred choice in the railroad industry. At first glance, Burlington Northern had a particularly bad first quarter.

"Profit was $0.86 a share, down sharply from $1.30 a share the year before. However, when unusual items such as an unfavourable coal rate decision are excluded, operating earnings amounted to a much more acceptable $1.13 a share, well above the 96c analysts were looking for.

Time was – not long ago – the railroads were the darlings of Wall Street. Extraordinary demand for commodities from emerging markets and strong international trade increased demand for rail transport.

But then came the winds of September/October 2008: a financial crisis and the ensuing global recession stopped both commodity demand and trade nearly cold, and Wall Street soon soured on the railroads as well, including Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI). The Street drove UNP's shares down to about $50 per share from over $114 in less than eight months. Warranted? Hardly.

Last year most analysts proclaimed that the market would be up by the years end. The only accurate part of the analysis was that the year did end; although not well.

When Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) was trading at $114 analysts were silent. When it dropped below $100 and then $90 a share I do not recall anyone writing anything accept that "my pal Warren" was buying. At $80, and then $70 not more than a whisper.

Then yesterday when BNI was trading in the mid $60's (it closed at $64.97) Citigroup (NYSE: C) Investment Research analyst Matthew Troy cut shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. to "Sell" from "Hold."

CSX (NYSE: CSX), a railway company whose colleagues include Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE: NSC) and Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP), issued its Q1 report on Tuesday after the bell. As one might imagine, there was a drop in both sales and net income. The top line declined by 17%. The bottom line, on an adjusted basis (taking into account an item from last year's similar quarter), dropped 23% to $0.62 per share.

The economy is still taking its toll, obviously. Volumes were down during the quarter. However, the market sometimes cares about only one thing: beating expectations. CSX actually beat the analyst expectations of $0.51 per share. This significant difference led traders to push shares of CSX higher by 6.5% during Tuesday's after-hours session.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI - option chain) stock is falling today after the Surface Transportation Board ruled that the company overcharged two Western power companies for coal shipments. The agency gave BNI a $345 million penalty. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on BNI.

This morning, BNI opened at $61.70. So far today the stock has hit a low of $61.20 and a high of $63.98. As of 11:45, BNI is trading at $62.45, down $1.26 (-2.0%). The chart for BNI looks neutral and S&P gives BNI a 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

In reading recent stories that Warren Buffett continues to increase his stake in Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) -- now standing at 22.4% -- I started to wonder if some day the name might be changed to "Berkshire" Northern Santa Fe RR?

'My pal Warren' is no doubt looking long term, and for most of the past two years has been up on Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A) BNI investment. However that is not the case today as his most recent purchase at $75.00 per share (not bought in the open market) is under water; the shares closed at $66.04, down 12%. He is losing even more on his average purchase price.

In the News:

There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right time to get back into the stock market. Maybe that time will be after the Dow Jones Industrial Average tests 7000, or even 6000. Maybe it will be after quarterly reports start turning positive. I'm sure many people will not do anything until the housing market turns around. Then there are those that have sworn off the stock market or at least individual stocks entirely.

These and a multitude of other issues may be keeping you from investing for now and no one could blame you, but if it is your intention to get back in when the coast is clear then you should be making some preparations by putting together your watch list.

Here are some of the stocks on my watch list. I usually have about 20 stocks that I am interested in. Some of them I own already and I am interested in acquiring more. Some have appeared in my Chasing Value column, and some or all might appear there again.

Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY) is one of the stocks mentioned in Fortune Magazines "Ten Promising Stocks for 2009" and is currently paying almost a 15% yield at Fridays closing price of $14.92. The company borrows money at short term rates and only invests in long-term Federally backed mortgages. They have avoided subprime loans and derivatives entirely.

Boardwalk Partners (NYSE: BWP) is expanding and was highlighted today as another high yield value stock Chasing Value: High yield thru Boardwalk's pipes that you can acquire for less than the price the general partners paid in October.

Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI) can claim Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) as it's largest shareholder and you can buy shares for less than 'my pal Warren' did.

Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ: ISRG) is one of my top holdings and favorite companies. I have owned it for years and only selling some shares at $192. I recently started building a new position in a new portfolio in the past few months and I am interested in buying more. It closed at 134.38 on Friday.

This week started with a positive momentum as the auto industry bailout seemed to have a chance of passing, and President-elect Obama announced a huge stimulus plan, including infrastructure investment that could boost the weak job market.

For a few days, things seemed like they were almost back to normal. Until Thursday -- when the Senate failed to pass the bailout. This was aggravated by news of the ex-Nasdaq chair being accused of a massive $50 billion 'Ponzi scheme,' and economic indicators that actually were not as bad as expected.

Still, if the automakers manage to get assistance from somewhere else, we might see some sort of stabilization. If that happens, some investors may choose this time to return to the market. This week's theme among BloggingStocks contributors seemed to revolve not just around 'cheap' but also on yield. Competent management also plays a bigger role these days when picking stocks.

Here are some picks from this week:

Jim Cramer took a hard look at these high yielders: Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Du Pont (NYSE: DD) and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). He cautions against jumping in without considering "which companies have gone into survival mode to get there? Which companies will even make you money if they cut the dividend?"

This post is part of our feature on Money Winners of 2008. See all 20.

Well, "my pal Warren" did it again. "The richest man in the world" -- it has a nice ring to it.

Though the moniker did not last throughout the year due to the violent markets, and his significant holdings in insurance, Geico and General RE; banking, US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC); and credit card company American Express (NYSE: AXP), which all dropped, he is still viewed as the top investment guru in the world, deserving his title -- the Oracle of Omaha. These are likely only temporary setbacks and he may very well be back on top soon.

Warren Buffett has been alternating places with Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) founder Bill Gates over the past decade. Since Microsoft shares are only down about 35% this year, less than the overall market, and since that remains his largest holding, Gates edged out Buffett at last measure. Although Buffett is notorious for not investing in "tech-stocks," he has stated he did buy 100 shares of Microsoft after he and Gates became friends.

It has been quite a year indeed for Buffett because in all the market turmoil he has remained very active, and he has advised both presidential candidates when asked, though he has supported the Democratic Party and president-elect Barack Obama, who has more actively sought his advice as of late.

"It's hard to find any good news these days but I was pleasantly surprised with the third-quarter railway results, as almost all of the 'class 1 carriers' reported better than expected earnings," notes analyst Tom Slee.

The contributing editor to Gordon Pape's Internet Wealth Builder explains, "Several rail stocks are starting to look attractive at these depressed levels and Burlington Northern (NYSE: BNI) remains my preferred choice in the group." Here's his outlook.

"Even with the economic downturn starting to bite, reduced fuel costs and increased freight rates offset lower volumes. Equally important, the companies remain cautiously optimistic despite the miserable outlook.

"They are confident that further freight rate price increases in the 4% to 5% range are sustainable and will still allow them to undercut inefficient truckers.

"Unfortunately, none of this prevented the stocks from being battered during the market collapse. However, I think that fourth-quarter profits are likely to remain strong and the longer term outlook for railroads remains favorable.

"Burlington Northern continues to power ahead. A shrinking economy must eventually take its toll but there was no sign of any weakness in BNI's third-quarter results. Operating earnings came in at $1.91 a share, up 29% from $1.48 in 2007.

This post is part of a series featuring bargain stocks that are worth a look now. See more Cheap Stocks.

Maybe a railroad stock doesn't exactly seem like the cutting edge in investments. In fact, it might even strike you as old-timey. Fair enough -- but if you check out the year-to-date performance of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), it's hard not to be impressed. At the end of November, the stock was down just 8% for 2008, compared to a loss of 40% for the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX).

The Texas-based freight firm transports everything from lumber and coal products to canned goods and oats. While you may have a perception of trains as pollution-spewing dinosaurs, BNI happily defies those stereotypes. Not only is the company adding new rail lines, it has also recently won accolades for its environmentally friendly practices. (Environmentally friendly for a railroad, of course -- I won't kid you by saying these locomotives run on rainbows and happy thoughts.)

On the fundamental front, BNI reported third-quarter earnings in late October that crushed analysts' expectations, and offered a rosy forecast for the fourth quarter. CEO Matt Rose said he's optimistic about his company's future, despite macroeconomic uncertainty. A pullback in corporate spending could actually benefit BNI, says Rose, because it's cheaper to transport goods by rail than by truck. "As the economy slows down, customers are going to be paying a lot more attention to cost," noted the chief executive.

Except for the chosen ones -- CEOs and the like who have outrageous salary and benefit packages -- almost nobody has been able to escape the financial pain in the world today.

'My pal Warren,' Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A and BRK.B), who only draws a $100,000 salary, has watched his net worth diminished by billions of dollars as his stock has unraveled like everything else. I last read Buffett had a 31% stake in Berkshire so he understands his shareholders angst, even if he does not feel their pain. The stock has dropped from a 52-week high of $151,650 to yesterday's close of $77,500 for a loss of 49%.

Once again in quarterly SEC filings Berkshire's holdings were released and I could not help but wonder if this great holding company had not become one more giant index fund. There are a lot of quality names in the mix including:

• Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI)
• Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO)
• ConocoPhillips (NYSE; COP)
• Johnson and Johnson (NYSE: JNJ)
• Kraft Foods'A' (: NYSE: KFT)
• Procter and Gamble (NYSE: PG)
• U.S. Bancorp (: NYSE: USB)
• Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC)

The above referenced stocks are all down with the market and there are still more that might be considered fallen angels or turn-around plays within Berkshire's holdings that include:

• American Express (NYSE: AXP)
• General Electric (NYSE: GE)
• Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS)
• Home Depot (NYSE: HD)
• Lowe's Cos (NYSE: LOW)

In addition to these publicly traded stocks Berkshire holdings include privately held Geico Insurance, See's Candies, Dairy Queen, Florsheim Shoes, and a multitude of others. Since so many stocks have been accumulated over the years I started to view BRK as a stock index and with that in mind did some comparisons between the Standard & Poors 500 and BRK.

The following is a three-year chart that illustrates that buying BRK instead of the index anytime in the last three years would have been beneficial by a 30% margin.