AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR), the parent of American Airlines, expects to record a non-cash charge of nearly $1.3 billion in the second quarter, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company also indicated it may cut nearly 7,000 jobs, or 8% of its workforce.
A federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) doesn't have to turn over source code for the search function in its YouTube video service as part of an ongoing $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit filed by Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA), but it does have to turn over records of every video watched by YouTube users, including their login names and IP addresses, be turned over to the entertainment giant. If this doesn't seem like a consumer privacy violation, I'm not sure what is.
Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is also encountering some law suits. This time CEO "Steve Jobs and other managers were accused in an investor lawsuit against the company of backdating stock-option awards to maximize their personal profit." According to Bloomberg, Shareholder Martin Vogel and co-plaintiff Kenneth Mahoney said in the new complaint that Apple executives hid the cost of the backdated options from shareholders, leading the company to file false financial statements.
According to people familiar with the situation, the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is again talking to Time Warner Inc (NYSE: TWX), this time about taking over AOL, with Time Warner taking a stake in the combined entity. News Corporation (NYSE: NWS) has its eye on any Yahoo moves. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) is considering what its next move against Yahoo might be and is talking to News Corp.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that, as part of the company's plan to cut costs, Tribune Co's Los Angeles Times newspaper may look to cut about 250 jobs, including about 17% of its news staff.
The Financial Times reported that Chrysler, which has been searching for foreign partnerships, signed with China's Great Wall Motor a memorandum of understanding to explore long-term business ties in areas that include technology, distribution and components.
OTHER PAPERS:
According to the Dallas News, AMR Corporation's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines informed its flight attendants' union that is may lay off 900 flight attendants on August 31.
WEB SITES:
Yonhap reported that LG Electronics will release "Dare," a new touch-screen mobile phone in the U.S. that will compete with Apple Inc's (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest iPhone models.
How would one describe today other than as a real disappointment? The DJIA broke 12,000 for the first time since March and the pressure here makes one wonder if that magic psychological level will hold. Oil was up over $136/barrel late in the day over strikes in Nigeria and lower inventories.
AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) saw another drop of almost 5% by the final minutes, down to $5.42, after the company presented its estimates on fuel use, costs and hedges today at a Merrill Lynch Global Transportation Conference.
US Air (NYSE: LCC) is the latest airline to cut people and routes. It is a wonder it took so long.
The news that another carrier was trying to save itself by chopping expenses was bad enough. Worse was news from the government that airline traffic is falling. According to the AP, "The Transportation Department's Bureau of Transportation Statistics said Thursday that U.S. airlines carried 0.4 percent fewer passengers in March, compared with the year-ago period."
The one hope that U.S. airlines have is that, as expenses rush higher due to increasing oil prices, passengers will continue to fly and pay higher fairs to boot. No such luck.
The news pushed shares in AMR (NYSE: AMR) down over 14% to $4.79. That is against a 52-week high of $29.32. AMR is considered a special risk for Chapter 11 because of the size of its debt-load.
Airlines have continued to expand capacity over the last several years as passenger demand has continued to move up. That trend looks awfully stupid now.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
AMR Corp (NYSE: AMR) shares are trading higher today helped by oil futures prices that are showing signs of losing momentum. It is possible that the speculators are getting out of oil and the price may of crude may be finding a more reasonable level. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on AMR.
After hitting a one-year high of $29.32 in July, the stock hit a one-year low of $6.00 in May. AMR opened this morning at $7.36. So far today the stock has hit a low of $7.26 and a high of $7.90. As of 12:20, AMR is trading at $7.75, up $0.43 (5.9%). The chart for AMR looks neutral but improving, while S&P gives the stock a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold rating.
For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $6 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make an 11.1% return in just seven weeks as long as AMR is above $6 at July expiration. AMR would have to fall by more than 23% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.
Many institutional funds shy away from stocks that sell below the $5 mark. It is assumed that most low-priced shares are a sign of trouble. In many cases that is true.
As some airlines become small caps, driven down as the price of oil comes up, several could drop below the $5 threshold. That may hinder these stocks from rebounding by eliminating them from some fund portfolios.
It is hard to imagine that AMR's (NYSE: AMR) stock trades at $7.19 and has been as low as $6. That puts the company's market cap at $1.8 billion. Some biotech companies with almost no revenue are worth as much. Delta's (NYSE: DAL) are at $6.15 and its market cap is about the same as AMR's.
Airline stocks are now the province of speculators and day traders. Since some may face Chapter 11, the gamble on owning the stocks is high now.
The shares of these companies have been swept into the dustbin.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and author ofTen Stocks Under $10.
Stock futures were higher early Wednesday morning as oil and other commodities declined, providing some relief.
U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday, especially the tech heavy Nasdaq composite which rose 36 points, or a solid 1.5%. The Dow industrials and the broader measure S&P 500, rose 68 points, or 0.55%, and 9 points, or 0.68% respectively. A dramatic retreat in crude of more than $3 a barrel helped boost sentiment.
On the economic docket today is April durable goods order, which economists are expecting to show a further decline. The report is due to release at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
Weekly crude inventories, usually released Wednesdays, will be postponed due to the shortened week. Meanwhile, though, oil prices continued to decline, dropping below $127 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, extending the previous session's decline. It seems that the higher prices cut demand, which in turn, pressured prices back.
S&P and Moody's (NYSE:MCO) do not have the best reputation these days. They missed most of the calls on the danger of subprime paper. Some of that has been blamed on computer problems. And, the dog ate my papers.
Now, S&P says it may downgrade its ratings on nine airlines and review one more. According toThe New York Times, "In total, 10 airlines, including all the major carriers, are now under the CreditWatch negative designation." The companies include AMR (NYSE: AMR), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and United (NASDAQ: UAUA).
S&P says some of the airlines may even face Chapter 11.
It would be fair to ask where the ratings agency has been. Jet fuel prices are close to doubling in a year. Every airline faces huge losses throughout the rest of 2009. Some carriers have lost nearly 80% of their market value in a year. AMR now trades just above $6, down from almost $30. Its market cap is only 7% of annual revenue. In other words, the company trades close to its liquidation value.
S&P has image problems for a reason. It either gets its calls wrong, or it gives them out way too late.
The oil surge, which gives new indications daily that it's evolving into the world's third oil shock, bodes tougher times for airlines, and travelers alike, many analysts agree.
Moreover, those tougher times may propel "creative and avant-garde" ideas and strategies to cope with the more-challenging flying environment, by both airlines and travelers, so says C. Leonard Bauer, independent stock analyst.
American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) took the first, bold - - and controversial - - step in the 'era of new flying rules' by announcing that it would charge passengers $15 each way to check their first bag, The Dallas Morning News reported. American also reduced its flying schedule by 11-12% at the same time.
Bauer said travelers should brace for more a-la-carte changes from the major carriers, and some truly creative ones, at that. "The airlines will be looking at every way to reduce fuel usage and cover those expenses from added weight," Bauer said, "When oil was at $20 a barrel, weight was a cost factor, but now at more than $125 a barrel, it's a going-concern factor. These high fuel costs can and will force some airlines out of business if they can't recover these costs. 'Light flight' is in." Bauer added that he does not have a rating on nor own shares of any airline.
Shares of AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) crashed today on Wall Street on a string a bad news out of its principal subsidiary, American Airlines, as current record-high oil prices continue to wreak havoc on the airline industry.
Oil prices have been continuing to soar, and earlier today crude traded through the $133 mark, and nearly busted $134, trading as high as $133.82.
What does this mean for airlines? You guessed it... major changes in order to combat the rising costs of keeping their planes in the air, and after announcing a few new changes today, AMR took the full brunt of Wall Street, as nervous traders pushed the already beaten-up stock down another 24.2%.
So what exactly got the market so spooked? Well, I am not really sure which of the following was the final nail in the coffin; you can almost just take your pick:
The company announced that it would be slashing the number of flights that it offers
The company announced that it would start charging for all checked luggage
And, last but not least, the company is being forced to reduce its workforce
The notes out of the Fed gave no indication of rate cuts. Too much worry about inflation.
After a report showing that supplies have dropped, oil traded north of $132.00 per barrel today. Maybe T. Boone Pickens' call for $150 oil was intended to be by the end of the month rather than the end of the year. The minutes from the last FOMC meeting may say it all: increased inflation expectations, increased unemployment expectations, lowered GDP expectations. But no recession, at least not officially while the Fed describes the environment of stagflation. Below are the unofficial closing US index levels:
AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR) saw shares fall a sharp 25% after the company announced at its annual shareholder meeting that it was going to slash 11% or 12% from its flight capacity. To make bad matters worse, Soleil issued an untimely downgrade of the sector today.
We have all been there before, standing beside the luggage conveyor belt after a long flight, quietly praying for our luggage to magically pop out of that little window and slide our way. When our luggage finally shows up, it typically means the end of a long day that generally has the potential to stress out most travelers.
For me at least, as long as I get my luggage I am satisfied with my trip. But for a lot of us, there are several factors we use to grade the airlines, and a recent survey shows that customer dissatisfaction is running at near record level lows. These factors include anything from planes leaving and arriving on time, to the service inside the plane from fight attendants, to just how easily mishaps get handled by the agents at the ticketing desks.
Having lived in Europe the past few years, I have been no stranger to the long distance flight back and forth to the States. I suppose I have traveled roughly 100,000 miles on airlines over the past couple of years, and I have to say that for the most part I have had very pleasant experiences. My girlfriend was unfortunate enough to have lost some luggage for a week over this past Christmas, but other than that, I have been pretty lucky.
In a move that may be imitated by large US carriers like AMR (NYSE: AMR), Delta (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest (NYSE: NWA), British Airways will ground part of its fleet to save money because of the rising cost of fuel.
According toThe Times of London, "The airline would park its oldest, least fuel-efficient aircraft."
Analysts are concerned that British Airways may loss money for the next two years. By taking some aircraft out of service, the carrier could ameliorate some of that.
Wall Street may watch to see if big American companies have the sense to do the same thing. Most have debt loads large enough to move them toward Chapter 11, if fuel costs stay high and a rough economy hurts passenger traffic. Major airline mergers, some of which are fairly far along, will not solve the gas price problem. Taking jets out of service may, at least in part.
Gallery: Airplanes: To fly or not to fly?
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
AMR (NYSE: AMR) may have skipped key inspections of some of its planes to keep them in service. According toThe Wall Street Journal, "American made the procedural changes and revised its maintenance manual in an effort to prevent planes from being pulled out of service." The inspections were meant to look over planes that may have been hit by lightning.
American's defense for skipping the procedures is that, if a pilot reported that his plane was hit by lightning, mechanics will look into it. What if the pilot is napping? Further, the airline says no plane has crashed from a lightning strike in over 30 years. How convenient.
The airlines have one, weak reason for cutting back on inspections. They cannot afford them. The federal government has to deal with the fact that some carriers are near bankruptcy because of high fuel prices. The FAA may have to supply financial support for extra work by mechanics, or watch the industry fall apart.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com and the editor of Ten Stocks Under $10.
According to internal company and agency documents, the Wall Street Journal reported that the FAA is investigating into why AMR Corporation's (NYSE: AMR) American Airlines ordered mechanics to skip specific safety instructions to detect damage to planes from potential lightning strikes.
Yahoo! Inc (NASDAQ: YHOO) is trying to quickly put the finishing touches on a search advertising deal with Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) as billionaire Carl Icahn launches a proxy fight for control of Yahoo's board, according to the New York Post. Yahoo! hopes to announce a deal with Google to create an open platform system within the next week, two inside sources said.
The New York Post reported that a partnership of MGM Mirage (NYSE: MGM) and investment company Dubai World may seek to buy the Drake Hotel site from developer Harry Macklowe. If a deal is reached, MGM and Dubai World would assume $580M in defaulted debt and interest, inside sources said.
Before the bell: Futures mixed ahead of ECB, Jobs data; oil nears $146; NVDA plunges.gif){kind=logo}
Many institutional funds shy away from stocks that sell below the $5 mark. It is assumed that most low-priced shares are a sign of trouble. In many cases that is true.
Stock futures were higher early Wednesday morning as oil and other commodities declined, providing some relief.
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