Macquarie Securities upgraded Dow component Boeing (BA) to outperform from neutral Wednesday morning. The brokerage based its decision based on the fact that the aerospace company decided to increase production rates for some aircraft as airline traffic improves.

Macquarie cited BA's decision to up the rate on the 777 while keeping the pace on the 737 the reason for the upgrade. The brokerage house believes that these decisions will lead to a "9% increase in aircraft deliveries next year." Macquarie added that it appears that 787 flight testing "remains on track" and that it seems as if the company will land a tanker contract with the Air Force.

Friday's good news economic data point comes from the world's best commercial airplane manufacturer, The Boeing Company (BA), which announced it will boost production of its largest airplane to meet increasing demand.

Boeing said the production rate of the 777 will return to seven per month in mid-2011, instead of early-2012. Further, production of the jumbo jet standard, the 747, will increase to two a month, from about 1 ½ per month, starting in mid-2012, instead of mid-2013.

Today was potentially a fairly quiet trading day when you consider how volatile the day could have been. We had Tim Geithner and Hank Paulson both getting grilled over American International Group, Inc. (AIG) again in front a House Panel, we had an FOMC rate decision, and tonight is the State of the Union speech from President Obama. Throw in disappointing housing data in December new home sales and you had a potential powder keg. Stocks spent most of the day in the red, but a move late in the day wiped all that out.

Here were the unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 10,236.09 +41.80 (0.41%)
S&P 500 1,097.25 +5.08 (0.47%)
Nasdaq 2,221.13 +17.40 (0.79%)

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Investors and readers are probably aware of production snags that have delayed two next-generation airplanes, Airbus' A380 Superjumbo and Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

But now there's word of production delays for two existing aircraft, Airbus's A330 and Boeing's 777.

A shortage of seats, toilets, and galleys is slowing down A330 and 777 assembly lines, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday (subscription required). Managers at the world's two rival commercial aviation giants suggest the snags could affect this year's financial results, but neither company has issued an earnings warning.

Shares of Boeing (NYSE: BA) gained $1.87 to $66.56, while shares of Airbus' parent EADS rose 1.27 euros to 14.85 euros on the Paris Exchange, in Friday afternoon trading.

Contractor ramp-up issues

For Boeing and Airbus, the crux of the problem stems from the relatively small size of the contractors producing equipment such as jetliner galleys, toilets and business-class seats, The Journal reported. Stock Analyst C. Leonard Bauer told BloggingStocks Friday the problem Boeing and Airbus face is "an upside problem," but a problem nonetheless.

"It's called the problem of success. Jetliner orders and deliveries have risen more than 40% in five years and contractors are straining to keep up," Bauer said. "It had to happen sooner or later, because it's hard for contractors to in some cases double production of a part in two or three years." Bauer added that he does not have a rating on nor own shares in Boeing or Airbus.

All of the sales and order announcements of the past six months have shown up in Boeing Co.'s (NYSE:BA) second quarter earnings announcement. The company reported strong quarterly EPS of $1.35, well above Thompson-compiled analyst expectations of $1.16 and 2006's year/year adjusted EPS of $.56. Operating earnings broke $1.5 billion.

The strong performance came primarily as a result of more plane deliveries and strong orders for the 787 Dreamliner. Orders in turn can be credited to airlines upgrading aging fleets and increased fuel costs, which make the efficient Dreamliner more desirable. The company finished the quarter with $279 billion in orders to be filled.