(The Associated Press circulated the following on March 2, 2009.)
NEW YORK — Shares of the five largest U.S. railroad operators hit new year-lows on Monday, as the Dow Jones industrial average fell below 7,000 for the first time in more than a decade.
Investors reacted to the massive quarterly loss reported by American International Group Inc. and news the insurer would be getting a larger bailout from the government. The Dow fell more than 3 percent in early afternoon trading, hitting 6,829.
The Dow hadn’t traded below 7,000 – seen as a key psychological barrier – since Oct. 28, 1997.
In rail news Monday, Kansas City Southern named Mary Stadler senior vice president and chief accounting officer.
Stadler, 49, joined the railroad from Sprint Corp., where she spent 18 years and was most recently vice president and assistant controller. Stadler replaces Michael K. Borrows, who left the company last week.
Also Monday, Fort Worth, Texas-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. said it will spend $9 million this month to begin replacing more than 60,000 railroad ties and 11.5 miles of rail between Fort Scott, Kan., and Springfield, Mo.
In afternoon trading, Kansas City Southern lost $1.96, or 11.1 percent, to $15.73. Its 52-week low is $15.56.
Burlington Northern fell $3.82, or 6.5 percent, to a new year-low of $54.96. The stock’s previous low was $57.81.
Elsewhere in the sector, Burlington’s larger Western rival Union Pacific Corp. lost $2.02, or 5.4 percent, to a 12-month low of $35.51. Its previous low was $36.05.
Eastern rail CSX Corp. lost $1.99, or 8.1 percent, to $22.69 – just above a new low of $22.63 set earlier in the session. The stock’s previous low had been $24.05. Norfolk Southern Corp. sank $2.22, or 7 percent, to a year-low of $29.50. Norfolk Southern’s previous low was $30.77.