Stock price is up 154% for 2012 based on good performance and the market's response to the potential LCC/AMR merger. Price is up again today so it doesn't seem the investors and analysts share your pessimism about the merger. AMR may drag their feet for as long as they can, but it seems pretty clear to most that AA/US need to merge to effectively compete against UA & DL, and also that AMR's stand-alone exist strategy falls woefully short of Parker's merger/acquisition scenario. This thing is far from over whichever way it goes.