Consumer Confidential: Credit cards, banks and trains

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Here’s your tardy-Tuesday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Sign o’ the times: MasterCard Inc. says its quarterly profit rose as consumers put more stuff on plastic, which is yet another indication that the economy is on the upswing. Robert Selander, MasterCard’s chief exec, said it looks like the worst of the downturn is now in our rear-view mirror. But he also said that things won’t be entirely hunky-dory until next year. So go easy with your credit card. We’re not through the rough stuff yet.

--These little town blues: Bank of America says it wants to attract a higher caliber of exec for its next CEO, so the company reportedly may move its executive suite from North Carolina to New York. Probably doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. But it shows that many of our too-big-to-fail companies are beholden to no particular community -- except, perhaps, Wall Street.

--Warren Buffett is buying a railroad -- the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., to be precise. Clearly the guy known how to play Monopoly. The railroads always pay off over the long run.

-- David Lazarus