Continue reading Closing Bell: The Market Advances Without Conviction (BA, YHOO)

Closing Bell: The Market Advances Without Conviction (BA, YHOO) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 16:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ray of light: Airlines say travel slump has ended

Ray of light: Airlines say travel slump has ended originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Under the radar: Airlines' no longer deferring deliveries is bullish sign for global economy

Under the radar: Airlines' no longer deferring deliveries is bullish sign for global economy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Boeing receives yet another big plane order

Boeing receives yet another big plane order originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Road Warrior: My first ride on the Airbus 380, one heck of a plane

Road Warrior: My first ride on the Airbus 380, one heck of a plane originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading United Technologies knows the development of emerging markets has only just begun

United Technologies knows the development of emerging markets has only just begun originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Boeing may re-wing 777 to snare jet, tanker orders from Airbus

Boeing may re-wing 777 to snare jet, tanker orders from Airbus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Airbus is asking for government assistance, which raises the question of how bad the airline manufacturing industry will get. Not only has Boeing (NYSE: BA) been hurt by labor problems and a strike, but the most damage to its finances will come as airlines around the world cut orders already in place and stop making new orders.

According to the AP, "A senior Airbus official says the plane maker wants financing help from other European governments following a $6.4 billion aid package from France last month."

Is it imaginable that Boeing could need money? A year ago, no one believed that Detroit would need a dime.

Continue reading Will Boeing (BA) need TARP money?

Will Boeing (BA) need TARP money? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 07:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Is that plane Boeing's 787 or the 7-Late-7 Dreamliner?

Is that plane Boeing's 787 or the 7-Late-7 Dreamliner? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading With 787, 747-8 roll-outs delayed, runway getting bumpy for Boeing

With 787, 747-8 roll-outs delayed, runway getting bumpy for Boeing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Boeing, Airbus may end up 'storing' 200 new planes in the desert

Boeing, Airbus may end up 'storing' 200 new planes in the desert originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Boeing delays 787 Dreamliner test flight to beyond Q4, citing previous strike

Boeing delays 787 Dreamliner test flight to beyond Q4, citing previous strike originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the little-noticed political endorsements from last week was that of former Ronald Reagan chief of staff, Kenneth Duberstein, who broke with his party to endorse Barack Obama. Why did he do this? The far more influential, Colin Powell, helped break the ice for Duberstein. And Duberstein was clearly not thrilled with the pick of the delightfully chipper, Sarah Palin, as VP, telling MSNBC, "Even at McDonalds (NYSE: MCD), you're interviewed three times before you're given a job."

But it could be that Duberstein had a much more practical business reason for endorsing Obama -- a $35 billion contract for Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) of which he is a director. And Boeing stands to lose that contract if McCain is elected. How so? John McCain's national finance committee chair, Tom Loeffler, is a lobbyist for a French company that is competing with Boeing for the contract to build airborne refueling tankers for the Air Force. McCain's campaign received $14,000 in contributions from workers at EADS, the parent of France's Airbus, which is competing against Boeing in a joint bid with Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) for the contract.

My sources suggested that McCain was behind the process irregularities that caused the General Accounting Office (GAO) to recommend that the bidding process be canceled and the contract rebid back in June. And there's little doubt that if McCain wins tomorrow's election, he is in the tanker tank for Airbus and it will cost Boeing the contract. So could Duberstein believe that Obama is a better candidate for the country? Absolutely. And would an Obama victory be better for Boeing than for France's Airbus? Sure.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. Portfolio will publish his book about Boeing, You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing, in December 2008. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.

Why Reagan's chief of staff endorsed Obama originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Potential Boeing 787 order delay for Japan ends sad September for investors

Potential Boeing 787 order delay for Japan ends sad September for investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 30 Sep 2008 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It is hard to do business, make sales, and drive profits when your company is shut down by a strike. It also aids the competition.

Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) is finding that out the hard way. According to Bloomberg, "Airbus SAS, starting its first aircraft assembly today outside Europe, said it may buy up to $1 billion of components from China by 2020, as the world's most populous nation may need 3,000 planes in the next 20 years."

By putting a plant inside China and offering to put money into the economy, Airbus is making best friends with the central government, a move that is almost certain to garner significant orders from the nation's commercial airlines.

Boeing management made a huge mistake by allowing its machinists to go out on strike instead of improving their compensation packages enough to keep the company operating. Boeing said that its margins could be hurt by the size of the deal the union wanted. The machinists knew better. They could see the size of the Boeing back-orders for products like the new Dreamliner going out for years and year driving higher and higher sales.

Each day that the strike goes on, Boeing risks losing more customers to Airbus. Management has not done the shareholders any favors.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Airbus gets a leg up on Boeing originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that EADS, the parent of Airbus, has suggested it may not bid for the $35 billion Air Force contract for airborne refueling tankers. Reuters quotes a senior EADS manager as saying, "We will only bid if we can be sure that we stand a fair chance." This threat mirrors the one that Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) made recently -- a threat that paid off for Boeing when the Secretary of Defense announced this week that the tanker competition would be canceled and rebid sometime after the November election.

This puts a French company as a player in this November's election. How so? Because one of the candidates, John McCain, is rooting for an EADS victory. That's because his former chief of finance, Tom Loeffler, is a lobbyist for EADS whose employees have contributed $14,000 to McCain's campaign. And those ties likely corrupted the previous bidding process that led the General Accounting Office (GAO) in June to report that the process was flawed -- leading to a rebid. It is too early to know whether EADS money will pay off in an election victory for McCain.

However, for Boeing, the news of EADS copying its tactic of threatening to withdraw its bid is the sincerest form of flattery. Meanwhile, Boeing's victory in getting the bid delayed could be a Pyrrhic one -- in other words it could win a short-term battle and lose the war as did "King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War," according to Wikipedia.

Continue reading Will Airbus leave the $35 billion tanker to Boeing?

Will Airbus leave the $35 billion tanker to Boeing? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boeing

Continue reading At this rate, a Boeing strike of 'only' a month would be a moral victory

At this rate, a Boeing strike of 'only' a month would be a moral victory originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Work stoppage could hurt 787 orders

Continue reading Boeing 787 Dreamliner backlog seen hinging on strike vote

Boeing 787 Dreamliner backlog seen hinging on strike vote originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"We've looked at several ways to play anticipated growth in wind energy; we've also considered titanium makers for that industry's ties to the production of lightweight, modern aircraft," notes Bill Martin.

In his BullMarket.com, he explains, "While the two trends might not appear to have much in common at first glance, Hexcel Corp. (NYSE: HXL) offers a way to play both the aircraft and wind markets.

"The connection is the lightweight, composite materials Hexcel makes that are used by producers in both sectors. Hexcel develops and manufactures advanced structural materials.

"It is the largest U.S. producer of carbon fiber; the world's largest weaver of reinforcement fabrics; and the number-one producer of composite materials.

"Its product was initially developed for the aerospace industry, but is now used in a wide range of applications -- from golf clubs to satellite arrays, and from the rotor blades of wind turbines to life-saving monocoques for Formula 1 race cars.

"It's been a rollercoaster ride for Hexcel's stock in the past 12 months. The shares hit their one-year peak of $27.19 in December 2007; by January 22nd they had plummeted to $17.. The shares rebounded through May, only to fade again. Year to date, HXL is off about 15%.

Continue reading Hexcel (HXL): Composite gains?

Hexcel (HXL): Composite gains? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) has been furiously negotiating with its machinist's union to avoid a strike vote by them that could come as early as September 3. Labor's greatest concerns is that Boeing has made a lot of money over the past several years, and workers have seen very little benefit from that.

According to Bloomberg, "The union says workers haven't had raises, except for cost-of-living increases, since 2004 and deserve to share in Boeing's $10.7 billion in profit since then." Boeing is taking the standard large company position: It cannot afford to sharply increase benefits without putting itself in jeopardy if its business slows.

Boeing might want to sharpen its pencil. A strike could cost it another delay for the launch of its new Dreamliner. It has already pushed back that date three times. Airline customers are so upset that some of them have asked for compensation. More delays could up the request for "damages" from carriers who still need the more fuel-efficient airplane.

The winner in a Boeing strike will probably be Airbus. It has had delays of some of its own products, including its huge A380 jumbo jet. But, most of those issues seem to be behind the European company. If Boeing can't deliver planes, Airbus can pick up market share.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

A strike at Boeing? An advantage for Airbus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.