CSX

There is certainly a fair amount of gloom out there about the health of the U.S. economy. However, if the economy is so awful, then why are times so good for the companies that actually move stuff around? The two industries that are responsible for moving freight around the country are doing very nicely, according to their Zacks ranks.

The Zacks industry classifications are very fine, with 256 different industries tracked. It is not particularly noteworthy if a single small industry shows up doing well -- a single firm with good news can propel a one- or two-firm industry to the top of the charts. But it is interesting when you see a cluster of similar industries at the top of the list. The same holds true for the bottom of the list.

However, in this case, the industries are not particularly small in terms of the number of companies involved. The Railroad industry has 23 firms in it, yet it ranks 13th out of the 256 industries we track. Of those firms, just one, CSX Corp. (NYSE: [ CSX ]) has the coveted Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy). However, an additional 5 hold a rank of #2 (Buy).

Only the best 5% of all socks are awarded with a Zacks #1 Rank and the next 15% get Zacks #2 Ranks. Thus if it were totally random, one would only expect 20% of the firms in an industry to have ranks of #1 or #2 (this mirrors the number #5 and #4 ranks, respectively).

For the Railroads, 75% have ranks that make them interesting investment situations. The average Zacks rank of the industry as a whole is 2.13, versus 2.25 last week.

The main competition for the railroads are the Trucking firms, and they are looking good as well, so it is not just a case of the Rails picking up share from the Truckers. The Trucking industry is much larger in terms of the number of companies, with 23 firms. That makes its appearance in the 17th spot that much more impressive. The industry has 4 Zacks #1 Ranked firms and 10 number Zacks #2 Ranked firms.

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CSX