CNI.US – I’ve been working on the railroad

My adventures with share trading through Superhero continue. And thanks to CNI.US, I’m starting the new year buying up sections of train tracks across Canada..

The important financial warning bit first

I am not a financial adviser nor do I pretend to be one on the internet. This post on CNI.US is purely my own very limited experience in owning a teeny tiny part of the company stock and is certainly not a OMG you need to rush out and buy this stock nooooooow before fomo kicks in type of deal. Please do your own research first before buying any stock/shares/investment or possibly consult a professional financial adviser first, not some random blogger like my good self here to keep the world entertained one post at a time.

Also if you don’t like the reading thing, allow me to share you this story over at our brand new YouTube channel!

Warning over, let’s go play with some trains. In Canada!

A few facts about me and trains

-Once in a blue moon I’d take a ride with my brother on the famous Puffing Billy (above) which is out somewhere in the Victorian countryside. We’d be hanging out the window (it’s fine, they have bars on it just for that purpose) and once the train left my grandma would drive her car to an overpass further down the track just so she could park there and waved as we chugged through.

Yes, my grandma was a dead set legend.

-I took the train to school. This however did not influence me to become a train driver later on. I also never had any romantic moments on the train to school unlike rom coms and the like would like you to believe.

-The most interesting person I’ve ever met on a train was a Vietnam Vet travelling via Amtrak in the US who shared his limited knowledge of his R&R time in Sydney after the war. Sadly I’ve never met anyone as interesting as that, on a train, ever again.

-My favourite train game of all time was A-Train on the Apple Mac from 1992 which I played in black and white. My favourite part of it was building a stop in the middle of nowhere, shunting supplies over to the station and watch them get slowly stolen by people building houses. I didn’t get too angry at them because they were building a community…which would eventually use my rail network and pay me money for the privilege, so win win!

-I rarely take trains anywhere anymore unless I can’t drive for whatever reason. However a good audiobook and plenty of snacks are a must, especially for the trip from Albury to Melbourne or back because that’s three + long hours..

And what do I know about Canada?

Er, precious little really. The closest I’ve gotten to the country itself would probably be a trip to Chicago and that was close to two decades ago. I’m a big fan of Canadian wrestler Lance Storm and less so of his former tag team partner Chris Jericho. I also know that Roddy Piper was actually Canadian and not Scottish and Bret the Hitman Hart was more Canadian than human.

This is what I picture when someone says ‘Canada’

Which means obviously I’ve never ridden a single Canadian train anywhere across any of the CNI.US lines anywhere. So why am I buying this stock?

CNI.US – It’s Bill’s idea originally (which I read on Reddit)

No not my uncle Bill who is a very wise man when it comes to finances (I really wish I picked his brain earlier over a few things but that’s life isn’t it?) I’m talking this Bill.

Bill Gates buys CNI.US stock and rides a train (AI)
What Railroad does Bill Gates own? CNI.US And lots of it!

Yes that is indeed Microsoft founder Bill Gates riding a Canadian train. Or at least Nightcafe AI’s version of it. Either way, my tiny slice of CNI.US action has now been added to the Superhero portfolio for the simple fact that it’s one of the stocks Bill holds. Given his bank balance (even with all the donations to charities each and every year) I think it’s safe to assume he knows a good stock when he sees one. And as much as the original article I read made me think he only have five in his collection, it turns out there’s more. So many more.

And in the case of CNI.US, it’s fair to say that he’s just a smidge further along the (train line) than I am.

Canadian National Railway Co (NYSE:CNI) CNI.US

Canadian National Railway, a top North American transportation and logistics company, is a significant part of Gates’s portfolio. He holds 54,826,786 shares, valued at about $6.33 billion. The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share leads to Gates’s annual income of $125,005,072.08 from this investment.

In comparison:

Canadian National Railway Co (NYSE:CNI)

Canadian National Railway, a top North American transportation and logistics company, is a tiny part of Almigo’s portfolio. He holds 0.07983 shares at the time of blogging, valued at about $10.03. The company’s quarterly dividend of $0.57 per share leads to Al’s annual income of $0.20 from this investment.

Well as Bill will probably tell you, you’ve got to start somewhere.

So now I’m buying up Canadian Railroads.

Which looks like some kind of alien blood flow system according to Wikipedia:

And while I’d like to think my initial investment of $10 US would net me a nice plaque on the walls of Union Station, it’s probably more likely to go towards a roll of toilet paper for the men’s room at Milworth station British Columbia…and that’s about it. And if you use that roll, please think of my meagre contribution to your journey’s comfort.
But hey, maybe if I buy another slice of CNI.US every time I invest, it won’t be too long before I’m honoured.
With a discontinued train seat or something.

Still, I repeat, you’ve got to start somewhere. Thanks CNI.US -maybe I’ll ride your trains one day.

Can’t wait to see where my investing journey chugs too next!

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