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Posts for Ticker ‘LCC’

British Air And Iberia: Airlines Return To The Center Of M&A Stage

The rumor that US Air (NYSE:LCC) and American (NYSE:AMR) may merge is not so far-fetched today, or that Southwest (NYSE:LUV) might take over JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU).

British Air and Iberia, the flag carriers of the two nations whose fleets met at The Battle of Trafalgar, will merge, creating one of the world’s largest airlines. BA shareholders will control 55% of the new company which will have a market value of $7 billion and total sales of nearly $20 billion. It is noteworthy that just earlier this week, BA said it would fire 4,900 people because of a $485 million loss in the six months that ended on September 30. Read More »

Posted on: November 12, 2009 – 5:58 pm in Airlines, Mergers and Buy Outs, AMR, CSCO, DAL, JLBU, LCC, LOGI, LUV

Today’s Best Market Rumors (9/10/2009) (AMD)(AMR)(LCC)(CLWR)(MOT)

Updated throughout the day.

Update 2.52 PM EST: The antitrust disagreement between Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and AMD (NYSE:AMD) may be resolved by a private settlement (MarketWatch)

Updated 12.23 PM EST: Motorola (NYSE:MOT) may have sold 100,000 Droid the first weekend the handset was on the market (Bloomberg)

Updated 11.33 AM EST: Huge hedge fund SAC says it has found no improper trades. Media sources has linked the firm to the Galleon insider trading investigation. (Bloomberg)

Updated 8.48 AM EST: Hedge fund assets could hit $2 trillion worldwide by the end of 2010 (DealBook)

American Air (NYSE:AMR) and US Air (NYSE:LCC) may merge (TheStreet)

The International Energy Agency may be downplaying the need for greater oil supplies to prevent a market panic. (CNBC)

AT&T (NYSE:T) is publishing data to undermine Verizon’s (NYSE:VZ) claims about the better quality of its cellular network.

Time Warner’s (NYSE:TWX) AOL unit will lay-off 1,000 people next month. (AllThingsD)

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is not likely to close its media properties. (Ad Age)

A number of public pensions face bankruptcy. (Forbes)

Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) may use its China business as a template for expansion in India. (The Deal)

Even after a $1 billion cash infusion 4G WiMax company Clearwire (NASDAQ:CLWR) may need more money from Sprint (NYSE:S) and other partners. (BreakingViews)

Douglas A. McIntyre

Posted on: November 10, 2009 – 8:38 am in Rumors, AMD, AMR, CLWR, INTC, LCC, MOT, MSFT, S, T, TWX, VZ, WMT

Media Digest 10/29/2009 Reuters, WSJ. NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: House Democrats unveiled their healthcare bill.

Reuters: Senators may extend home purchase credits until April.

Reuters: China will launch a case against The Big Three auto companies.

Reuters: Galleon paid Wall St. bankers millions to give data that would allow a trading “edge.” Read More »

Posted on: October 29, 2009 – 3:56 am in Press Digest, AIG, AKAM, BAC, CIT, COST, DB, F, GOOG, LCC, MOT, PG, SKS

More Airline Layoffs (LCC, AMR)

If you are often in major airports, it is frankly hard to see how the airline carriers still have pressure compared to six to twelve months ago. The airports and planes are full to the point that when making reservations there are either only middle seats available or you have to get your seat when you get to the airport. But this is also because airlines have cut down their capacity. And with lower capacity comes lower servicing needs. And less servicing creates more opportunities for airlines to fire workers. That is what we are seeing from AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) and from US Airways (NYSE: LCC).
Read More »

Posted on: October 28, 2009 – 2:07 pm in Labor & Unions, Transports, AMR, LCC

Airline Delays: Southwest (LUV) Crushes Northwest

Southwest Air (NYSE:LUV) once again proved why it is the most admired carrier in America. Over 83% of its flights arrived on time in August, the latest month measured by US Department of Transportation.

Northwest, probably still working through an integration with its new owner Delta (NYSE:DAL) posted the worst record for arrivals among big carriers with 74% of its flights getting where they were going. Delta did almost as poorly with a figure below 79%. Read More »

Posted on: October 6, 2009 – 3:16 pm in Airlines, AMR, CAL, DAL, JBLU, LCC, LUV, UAUA

The Sucker Rally In Airline Stocks (UAUA)(CAL)(AMR)(LCC)

Try to balance the conventional wisdom about airline stocks. Audit Integrity has AMR (AMR) and Continental (CAL) on its list of large American companies most likely to go bankrupt. UBS upgraded several carriers to “buy” from “neutral”, and that has shares in AMR, Continental, US Air (LCC), United (UAUA), and Alaska Air (ALK) trading up sharply. United is trading up almost 6% to $9.34.

The UBS issued the upgrades because the carriers have shown that they can raise capital and because ticket prices may have stopped falling. Some of the airlines carry so much debt that bringing in money may be critical to their survivals. Read More »

Posted on: September 25, 2009 – 10:53 am in Airlines, Analyst Calls, ALK, AMR, CAL, LCC, UAUA

Why is American Airlines Rearranging the Deck Chairs?

By Robert Herbst of AirlineFinancials.com

American Airlines (AMR) recent announcement made one thing very clear.

–Sorry St Louis, it’s nothing personal it’s just business!–

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude St Louis (STL) is the big loser in AMR’s
newest business strategy. Picking the winners will be more of a challenge.

Thursday, AMR disclosed the destinations served from St Louis will drop from 39 to
just 9 by next summer. As a side-note, back in 2000, the year prior to AMR’s
acquisition of TWA, there were well over 400 TWA departures to both US
and International destinations. Read More »

Posted on: September 18, 2009 – 4:46 am in Airlines, AMR, DAL, LCC, UAUA

World’s Airlines To Lose $11 Billion In 2009

The global airline industry, still staggering from huge losses and bankruptcies late last year caused by oil prices that moved over $140 a barrel, is not doing much better in 2009. Low passenger traffic is the chief culprit, but crude at $70 after a sharp dip early in the year puts on significant addition pressure.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its new forecast for worldwide airline losses this year and it moved up $2 billion to $11 billion. “The bottom line of this crisis – with combined 2008-9 losses at US$27.8 billion – is larger than the impact of 9/11,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO. Read More »

Posted on: September 16, 2009 – 5:01 am in Airlines, AMR, CAL, LCC

Media Digest 6/16/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: The US outlined new financial market reforms.

Reuters: Obama lobbied MDs on his new healthcare package.

Reuters: Russia hosted the first BRIC summit.

Reuters: B of A’s (BAC) BlackRock (BLK) stake is more appealing.

Reuters: Samsung and Nokia (NOK) are pushing into smartphones. (MOT)(AAPL)(RIMM). Read More »

Posted on: June 16, 2009 – 3:01 am in Autos, Banking, Drug companies, Healthcare, Housing, Labor & Unions, Management Change, Media, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, AAPL, ADBE, AIG, AMR, BA, BAC, BLK, C, CAL, DAL, EMC, F, FRE, GE, GS, GSK, HD, HD LOW, HIG, HOV, JPM, LCC, LNC, LOW, LUV, MOT, MS, MSFT, NOK, NTAP, NWS, NYT, PRU, RIMM, UAUA, UBS, WFC

Media Digest 6/12/2009 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg

Reuters: Baclays (BCS) sold BCI to Blackrock (BLK) for $13.3 billion

Reuters: WHO declared a flu epidemic

Reuters: Congress bash Fed, Treasury, and B of A (BAC) on Merrill

Reuters: US is near tighter control of tobacco by FDA.

Reuters: New research shows mortgage delinquencies have bottomed

Reuters: World Bank sees a steeper global economy contraction. Read More »

Posted on: June 12, 2009 – 2:53 am in Airlines, Autos, Banking, China, Consumer Electronics, Defense, Drug companies, Economy, Financial Stocks, Housing, Internet, Management Change, Media, Mergers and Buy Outs, Oil & Gas, PC Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Press Digest, Technology, Wireless, AIG, AMR, BAC, BCS, BHP, BLK, CAL, DAL, DELL, EBAY, GSK, LCC, LUV, MSFT, NOC, RTP, TWX, UAUA, XOM, YHOO

Delta (DAL): The Noose Tightens Around The Airline Industry

All of the fuel-hedging, layoffs, capacity and route-cutting the airline industry did last year in an attempt to offset the rising price of fuel has gone for nothing. Delta (DAL) announced today that it would need to make more significant reductions in available seats and the process would cost many more people their jobs.

Posted on: June 11, 2009 – 11:25 am in Airlines, AMR, CAL, DAL, LCC, LUV, UAUA

Airline Stocks Become Reverse Proxy For Oil Again

The first week of May, crude moved around just over $50. Today it traded just above $69, a 38% increase over that period. Airline stocks have reacted badly to the news. No wonder, the International Air Transport Association recently said that the global airline industry would lose $9 billion this year.

Airlines stocks are on their way to becoming what they were a year ago. Read More »

Posted on: June 9, 2009 – 12:13 pm in Airlines, Oil & Gas, AMR, CAL, DAL, GS, LCC, LUV, UAUA

Airlines Hit By UBS & Swine Flu (CAL, AMR, LCC, UAUA, XJT, CPA)

Airlines are getting hit hard this morning before the open on two issues: swine flu and an analyst downgrade. UBS has downgraded the US legacy airline sector in a broad call and the impact on some of these stocks looks exacerbated by the swine flu news. The new sector ratings were taken to NEUTRAL from BUY. Among the downgrades were Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL). AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), US Airways (NYSE: LCC), and IAL Corp. (NASDAQ: UAUA). There is also a secondary tie here for both ExpressJet Holdings Inc. (NYSE: XJT) and Copa Holdings SA (NYSE: CPA).
Read More »

Posted on: April 27, 2009 – 8:12 am in Airlines, Analyst Calls, Entertainment, Luxury, Trading Alert, Transports, AMR, CAL, CPA, LCC, UAUA, XJT

Twelve Major Brands That Will Disappear

A number of well-known brands disappeared in the last year in large part due to economic forces. Many of them were in the retail industry, led by Circuit City. ATA and Aloha airlines are gone. Gateway Computers has effectively disappeared after being bought by Acer. It still has a website, but the brand is no longer marketed.

As the recession deepens and stretches out quarter after quarter, more companies will close or will shut divisions. More brands will disappear because their parents firms fold or can no longer afford to support them. Other brands will be obliterated by mergers.

24/7 Wall St. examined 100 large brands that are facing troubled futures. The analysis included records for those brands that are public companies or part of public companies. We considered sales information, information from industry experts, and brand histories. We also looked at the level of competition in each brand’s market and the extent to which that competition is growing. We examined the likelihood that a brand could be sold or spun off in cases where parent companies are in financial trouble.

We have compiled a list of 12 brands that will we believe will not survive until the end of next year. Each brand and the major reasons for its demise are listed along with some of the public information 24/7 Wall St. examined. Read More »

Posted on: April 15, 2009 – 8:39 pm in Airlines, Apparel, Media, Uncategorized, AAPL, AIG, AMR, BGP, CAL, CAR, CROX, EBHI, GAP, GM, HTZ, LCC, PALM, RIMM, UAUA

Saving Las Vegas One Airplane Ticket At A Time (WYNN)(LCC)(MGM)

One of the largest casino projects in history almost fell apart last week. CitiCenter, an $8.7 billion casino being built in Las Vegas, came close to losing a critical piece of funding from one of the two partners that owns it, MGM Grand (MGM). The publicly traded company came up with $200 million at the last minute, but CitiCenter will need more money to be completed, and MGM is close to being tapped out. Read More »

Posted on: March 30, 2009 – 3:56 am in Economy, LCC, MGM, WYNN

Airline Bankruptcies: A Great Tradition (DAL)(LCC)(CAL)(UAUA)

One of the recurring themes found in the history of the airline industry is the ability of carriers to go into Chapter 11 often emerging with little debt and fewer employees. Aloha Air, ATA, and Alitalia are among well-known carriers that declared bankruptcy this year. There has been much speculation that the Delta (DAL) buyout of Northwest was to help insure that both could weather higher fuel prices and falling traffic during the recession.

Posted on: November 7, 2008 – 4:00 am in Airlines, CAL, DAL, LCC, UAUA

US Air Raising Cash (LCC)

We are seeing something a bit unusual considering the current climate for airline stocks. US Airways Group, Inc. (NYSE: LCC) has announced today that it will sell 19 million shares of common stock in a secondary offering via Merrill Lynch & Co.

Posted on: August 14, 2008 – 11:02 am in Airlines, Secondary Offering, LCC

Top Pre-Market Analyst Upgrades (ALK, AMR, AAPL, CAL, DAL, DELL, JPM, LDK, PENN, SCR, SNSS, LCC)

These are some of the top analyst upgrades and positive calls we are seeing this Tuesday morning:

Alaska Air (ALK) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
AMR Corp. (AMR) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Apple (AAPL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse; reiterated Overweight at Lehman.
Continental Air (CAL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Delta Air (DAL) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Dell (DELL) Started as Outperform at Credit Suisse.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Started as Outperform at Bernstein.
LDK Solar (LDK) Raised to Neutral at Piper Jaffray.
Penn National Gaming (PENN) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.
Simcere Pharmaceutical Group. (SCR) Started as Buy at Goldman Sachs.
Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (SNSS) Started as Buy at Piper Jaffray.
US Airways (LCC) Raised to Overweight at JPMorgan.

Jon C. Ogg
August 12, 2008

Posted on: August 12, 2008 – 6:23 am in Analyst Calls, AAPL, ALK, AMR, CAL, DAL, DELL, JPM, LCC, LDK, PENN, SCR, SNSS

The Airline’s Recent –Death Defying Actions–(AA)(UAL)(DAL)(CAL)

Not long ago daily media stories were predicting which major airline would be the first in line to fail. Las Vegas type odds were given to a list of inevitable airline bankruptcies.

There should be no argument the US airline industry is facing unprecedented challenges as they restructure their business models to survive with record high fuel costs and a questionable forward looking Global economy.

Posted on: August 6, 2008 – 1:32 pm in Airlines, AA, CAL, DAL, JBLU, LCC, NWA, UAL

The US Air (LLC) Cuts: Airlines Run Out Of Runway

US Air (LCC) became the latest airline to cut a lot of people and routes in the hope of cutting enough costs to stay afloat. It is a valiant move, but will probably not save the carrier.

The market is wise, and most airline stocks dropped 10% to 15% yesterday, hitting new lows. Taking out capacity and people is not nearly enough. The government numbers showed the volume of people flying in March dropped.

Each of the largest airlines is faced with fuel bills that may be close to $2 billion higher over the next year than they were for the year just ended. If every employee at every carrier worked for $1 a year, the gas bills might be offset.

The airlines have only one chance, and it is a long one, to keep out of Chapter 11. So far, they have been making only modest increases to ticket prices and baggage handling costs. That is not nearly radical enough.

Will the people who need to fly still fly if ticket prices rise 20%? Companies like AMR and Continental (CAL) may not have any other avenue out of their current set of problems. They may have to gamble that the remaining population of fliers is mostly made up of those who will get on a plane even if the ticket cost is substantially higher.

The chance that raising fares can save airlines is a 100 to 1 shot, but the odds that the airlines can stay out of Chapter 11 may not be any better.

Make the customer pay. He already hate the airlines. Why go out with a whimper when a bang is more fun?