Thursday, June 28, 2007

Buffett, Soros, railways - a thought

Many years ago, I read a series of books by a financial expert calling himself "Adam Smith". In one, he spoke to an investment manager who had bought a holding in a railway, I think the Santa Fe, and asked him why so, since the company was somewhere around bankrupt. The manager replied that he was looking at the value of the tangible assets still owned by the company - land, rolling stock etc.

Railways tend to own a lot more land than the bit the rails run on. Is this a reason for Buffett and Soros to have gotten into that kind of business?

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