Insider buying at Orbitz (OWW) a good sign for the industry

Posted Aug 21st 2007 12:55PM by Eric Buscemi
Filed under: Insiders, Expedia Inc (EXPE)

Five Orbitz insiders bought close to $600,000 worth of Orbitz Worldwide Inc's (NYSE: OWW) stock between $9.55 to $10.10 last week. This is another sign that better days could be ahead for the online travel business.

Expedia Inc (NASDAQ: EXPE) earlier this summer announced plans to repurchase 42% of its stock through a tender offer, before the collapse of the high-yield market caused the company to reduce its share buyback.

Collapsed share buyback or not, the executives at the top online travel companies are becoming increasingly bullish. Barry Diller, Expedia's chairman, said in the most recent earnings call that this is a business that can handle leverage, suggesting pricing in this industry is improving. Additionally, Priceline.com Inc (NASDAQ: PCLN) also reported very strong results.

After having a severe industry downturn in 2006, the industry is beginning a nice upcycle. The trend is your friend in the online travel business.

Tags: expe, expedia, insider, inthenews, orbitz, oww, pcln, priceline, stock