1. From the National Restaurant Association today: “Driven by a more optimistic outlook among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index (RPI) rose to its highest level in five months. The RPI – a monthly composite index that … read more >

1. Wards Auto’s early report for September cars sales is 14.87 million units, which is the best month for U.S. vehicle sales since March 2008, before the summer 2008 gas price crisis, before the September 2008 financial crisis, and the … read more >

1. From the American Association of Railroad’s weekly report on rail traffic: Lumber shipments were up by 19.8% vs. the same week last year (+12.2% YTD), petroleum products by 44.4% (+40.2% YTD), and motor vehicles and equipment by 19.2% (+21.4%).  … read more >

Here’s some interesting data from this week’s report on U.S. rail traffic from the American Association of Railroads: 1. On a year-to-date (YTD) basis through the week ending August 11, total rail volume of 9,005,952 carloads this year is down … read more >