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Posted
Sep 11 2009, 03:30 PM
by
Anthony Mirhaydari
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Airline stocks were big movers this week after the release of positive analyst reports from J.P. Morgan and Barclays Capital. This helped push up the airline sector in particular and transportation stocks in general. UAL Corp. (UAUA), the parent of United Airlines, gained 21.4% this week while US Airways (LCC) gained 19.2%. Compare this to the 2.6% rise in the S&P 500.
Transportation stocks tend to act as a leading indicator for both the broad market and the economy, so bullishness here is a good sign traders believe the economy is healing.
I snagged copies of both reports. The team at J.P. Morgan believes that we won't see any airline bankruptcies this winter based on better-than-expected revenue trends in July and August as well as stable fuel prices. In their words, they suggest "everyone makes it, this time." Barclays Capital believes many "underestimate the potential for a significant airline revenue recovery."
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Posted
Sep 04 2009, 08:43 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
 Airplane food -- the butt of a thousand jokes -- is getting upgraded this summer at some airlines. Soon, you might see sushi, ice cream and gourmet cheese served during your flight, The Wall Street Journal reports.
It's an odd thing to do, in this age of cost-cutting, and particularly as airlines are increasingly threatened with swine flu and the downturn in corporate travel. But better food is being eyed as a profit center for airlines. Food-for-purchase has been a bust (could the quality be any worse?) and any profits made usually went to cover the cost of the food that was thrown out. Bing: How to DIY airplane food
Now, the idea is to provide food in coach that actually tastes good -- for free or at a cost.
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Posted
Jul 27 2009, 02:52 PM
by
James Dlugosch
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
The single biggest risk threatening your portfolio has nothing to do with the economy, credit crisis, global recession, massive unemployment, easy monetary policy, green shoots or corporate earnings.
No, the single biggest risk to your portfolio is the swine flu. Health officials recently projected that up to 40 percent of Americans could contract swine flu this year and next.
One of the industries likely to be hardest hit by a swine flu pandemic is the airline industry. Airline stocks have been big losers so far in 2009, but green shoots are appearing in the form of firmer load factors and price increases that are sticking.
But don't be fooled. The perpetual bust cycle of the airline industry is likely to strike again as the flu season ramps up this fall. Given the spread of the virus through human contact, load factors will surely fall as individuals seek to defend themselves from contracting the flu.
Insulate your portfolio from a pandemic by selling these three airline stocks now.
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Posted
Jun 24 2009, 10:58 AM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
One of the few commendable trends to emerge in the last few years has been the push to "go green." Tal Pinchevsky elaborates on this notion in a featured slideshow on Minyanville.com.
Between canvas bags and hybrid cars, consumers have made an effort to reduce, reuse and recycle -- even going so far as to equate "environmental" with "hip." While the movement could always use a little more steam, some self-professed "green" businesses have been polluting it with smog.
Companies synonymous with chemicals, crude oil and toxic waste are confronted with an unfavorable public image and diminishing returns. Since the change to cleaner technology and waste reduction can be a costly -- possibly unaffordable -- endeavor, PR reps have to concoct creative interpretations of their companies' production. Sometimes it's as small as adding a leaf to the logo or topping a bottle with a green cap. Other times, it's as egregious as fudging carbon dioxide emissions standards or referring to landfill clogs as "biodegradable."
The process is known as "Greenwashing."
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Posted
Jun 23 2009, 09:50 AM
by
James Dlugosch
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
A funny thing happened on the way to Boeing's dominance of the aircraft-manufacturing industry…
Its new jet won't fly.
Tuesday, the airline maker announced that the maiden voyage of its 787 Dreamliner would be pushed back due to concerns about stress on its wings.
That doesn't sound good. Boeing (BA) needs more time to reinforce the wings to address the concern. Perhaps they are being overly cautious, but would you want to fly on this oft-delayed aircraft?
More critically for Boeing shareholders, would you want to buy one?
Seriously, at this late date, one would think that the designers and builders would have all factors accounted for. But Boeing's strategy with this plane of contracting out parts to suppliers and shipping them to Everett, Wash., for assembly seems to have created a planeload of problems.
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Posted
Apr 17 2009, 09:43 AM
by
James Dlugosch
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site InvestorPlace.com.
As a rational investor, I more or less need to be hit over the head with an opportunity before acting. That is, if I'm going to take action in the market, I do so because of the obvious.
That doesn't mean that I'm a buy-and-hold or buy-and-forget investor. Instead, I simply react to events that only the blind would miss.
Case in point was my urging of investors to sell shares in late September of 2008. In Why It's Not Too Late to Sell, I suggested that all indicators supported lower prices -- not higher prices. In my opinion, reacting to the credit crisis was the most obvious course of action for investors.
The same can be said for why I suggested a long/short absolute return at the start of 2009. The only certainty in the market was volatility. And what was most uncertain was direction.
That's why it made sense to buy undervalued stocks in equal weight to selling short overvalued stocks. So far that approach, depending on how much collateral is used to support the short positions, has generated a double-digit positive return.
Leading the way higher in what was a down market for the first quarter were my Top 10 Stocks to Avoid in 2009. So far the aggregate return of these 10 stocks is -28.5% as of March 31 as compared to -11.7% for the S&P 500.
This performance includes a recommendation to cover four of the ten shorts in February when those positions were down even more than the aggregate return.
What does the future hold for these top stocks to avoid? Here is an update on three of my Top 10 Stocks to Avoid in 2009
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Posted
Dec 03 2008, 03:09 AM
by
Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner site The Big Money.
A sum of $34 billion. That's the new magic number the General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler CEOs have calculated they'll need from Uncle Sam as part of a "turnaround plan" to continue operating, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Detroit Free Press write, leading off their business coverage today.
This time on Capitol Hill, the CEOs struck a more humbled posture. "All three companies' chief executives agreed to symbolic steps, including salaries of $1 a year and the elimination of corporate jets to make their case more palatable, and they were traveling to the capital in hybrid vehicles to underscore the point. It's 520 miles from Detroit to Washington," the Detroit Free Press writes. To add some urgency to their arguments, GM and Chrysler admitted that if they don't secure federal bailout funds they could collapse before the end of the month, the newspaper adds ominously.
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Posted
Oct 29 2008, 02:10 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Say goodbye to another airline, now that the Justice Department has approved Delta's $2.6 billion purchase of Northwest Airlines. And that's not a bad thing, given the miserable state of the airline industry these days.
The merger will produce the world's largest airline, which will continue to be called Delta. Northwest shareholders will get 1.25 Delta shares for each share they own in the all-stock deal.
Even though the companies have been meticulously planning the marriage, it'll still take up to three years to integrate them. There will be a bit of culture clash at first, particularly since Delta is mostly non-union (except for its pilots) and Northwest is unionized.
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Posted
Sep 22 2008, 10:12 PM
by
Matt Koppenheffer
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Falling oil prices will no doubt provide some breathing room for America's airlines, but bigger questions still loom for the big legacy carriers like Continental, American, and United.
In recent years, competition and costs -- both from fuel and outside fuel -- have caused most of the US's major carriers to cut back on many of the perks that made flying more comfortable and enjoyable. The effect has been that flying on Delta is mostly indistinguishable from flying on Continental.
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Posted
Jul 15 2008, 12:21 PM
by
Minyanville
Rating:
Money Blog: Top Stocks Blog - MSN Money
Coming soon to the airline boarding pass clutched in your hot little hand: advertisements.
Printing advertisements on the boarding pass is part of airlines’ continuing frantic search for new sources of revenue to offset higher fuel prices. Here’s betting it will be less painful than getting dinged $15 to check a second suitcase.
The effort, initially adopted by Delta Air Lines, is scheduled to begin Tuesday on flights to Las Vegas. However, ads will soon appear on the airline’s boarding passes to all domestic destinations.
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