Here's another example of Warren Buffett's influence on people -- his mention of the little-known "freight train index" during an interview today appears to have led many to search for that phrase on Google.
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Buffett was asked on ABC's "Good Morning America" today what index he follows most closely. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO responded that he pays closest attention to the freight train index, which shows movement of raw materials around the country and can therefore be used as an indicator of economic activity.
Buffett told GMA that the index has declined 20 percent over the past year, and that worries him. It probably doesn't help Buffett's peace of mind that Berkshire has a multi-billion-dollar investment in leading freight transport company Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
A great way to judge what people are curious about is to check Google Trends, which lets you see which Internet search phrases are most popular. As of 3 p.m. today East Coast time, "freight train index" ranked as the 80th most popular search term. This search string peaked about noon, and about 8 percent of those search inquiries were coming from New York City.
My guess is that a bunch of Wall Street types, having seen the interview with Buffett, were trying to bring themselves up to speed on the freight train index during their lunch break.
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Comments
That is so funny, I did not find the index, but I did find your blog about the search term! Did you find it? Google trends did not have a graph of the term either - said 'not enough traffic'.
Hi, Chloe. Looks like it's now slipped out of the Top 100 on Google Trends. It was 80th at 3 p.m. and probably much higher than that at noon when it peaked. I just happened to notice it when looking at Google Trends today, which is always fun to do. I haven't been able to locate the actual index either. It's probably kept by some freight association and you have to pay to see it.
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