Railroad companies have been some the best performers in the recent rally of U.S. equities. Canadian National Railway (NYSE: CNI) CSX Corp. (NYSE: CSX), and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. (NYSE: BNI) – a favorite of Warren Buffett – are all up a about 30% since early March.

This promises to be a very busy week with a full calendar of economic reports and earnings announcements, so let’s dive right in and highlight some of the more important ones.

Chris Mayer with the Penny Sleuth says that railroad executives have been pretty confident in their ability to continue to raise prices on their customers in the middle of a recession – making these two buffet-backed railroad stocks attractive buys.

The only reports on the calendar this week are housing related, and it got me thinking: what’s left? Pretty much nothing. As the fairy tale goes, the big bad wolf doesn’t even need to huff and puff; the house has already been blown down.

When it comes to income investing, it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of forgoing growth in pursuit of juicy dividends. It’s a major problem when investing in U.S. stocks in particular, but internationally, investors can have their cake and eat it, too: There is no reason why you cannot have both income and growth.

Rail has a powerful tenfold advantage over trucking when fuel costs are high. Heavy Trucks require 3,357 BTU per short ton mile while Class 1 Railroads use only 341 BTU per short ton mile.

I hope you enjoyed the Memorial Day weekend – and that your wallet still has a pulse if you did any traveling.