Industry & Services >> Analyst Interviews >> May 10, 2010
John Larkin, CFA, joined the Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc., research team in connection with Stifel's acquisition of Legg Mason's Capital Markets Group in December 2005. Mr. Larkin joined Legg Mason in 2001 to form and lead the firm's entry into the transportation industry. Mr. Larkin was recognized as an "All-Star Analyst" in both 2003 and 2004 and was rated as the number one stock picker in the 2003 Forbes.com/StarMine survey in both the road and rail, and the airfreight and logistics categories. He placed third in the 2004 Forbes.com/StarMine stock picking survey in the road and rail category. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Larkin was Chairman and CEO of RailWorks Corporation, a publicly traded transportation services company with revenues of $800 million. From 1987 to 1998, Mr. Larkin was a key member of BT Alex.Brown's transportation team. During that period, Mr. Larkin was recognized twice by The Wall Street Journal and twice by Institutional Investor as an "All-Star Analyst." From 1984 to 1987, Mr. Larkin held various positions in planning and economic analysis at CSX Corporation. Mr. Larkin began his career in the transportation industry in 1977, serving as a Research Assistant at the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas at Austin. He joined Day & Zimmermann, Inc., as a Transportation Systems Consultant in 1979, serving until 1982. Mr. Larkin earned a B.S. and an M.S. in civil engineering from the University of Vermont and the University of Texas, respectively, and an MBA from Harvard University. Profile
TWST: Let's begin with some general comments on the transportation sector. How is the space doing right now?
Mr. Larkin: Essentially, we are in the fifth year of the freight recession. It started in
