I am not as well informed on this as I should be....but last years PUP payments, did they cash them out immediately? I remember stock went sky high around that time. I would find it curious that if and when PUP is triggered, they don't suddenly announce they have a buyer with an incredible price for Eagle. Can't this be considered a form of insider trading? If it happens again this year...I hope they will revisit the case that was filed against them last year, or a new one filed. Maybe, I am wrong. Does anyone want to enlighten me? And if PUP is triggered, anyone want to takes bets on the sale of Eagle being announced?
Just over one year ago, crude oil fell to $51/bbl and that same week, AMR hit $41/sh. Smartly, that same week, AMR sold 12 million new shares to gullible investors for about $41/sh, raising $500 million in new capital. Everyone was giddy about Delta's supposed $12 billion valuation as it emerged from Ch 11. Investors bid up UAUA, CAL, DAL, AMR and even LCC all to new highs. Every legacy airline stock was booming one year ago, not just AMR.
Right after that, crude prices began their slow climb to $100/bbl.
Here is a link showing crude prices:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/rwtcd.htm
Have no idea about claims of insider trading or whether AA execs have manipulated the price of AMR. Don't really see why they'd need to, given that the PUP/PSP payouts (about $255 million total for the two years so far) have been beyond any exec's wildest imagination so far. The other day, eolesen confirmed that AMR's price for 2007 relative to the peer group means that PSP payouts have again been triggered even though AMR's price is in the toilet at $12/sh.
When investors are in full denial and are exhibiting irrational exuberance over airline stocks (like they did one year ago), you don't need to manipulate the stock price to loot the place.
Airline stocks now pretty much move inversely to crude prices. Oil goes up, airline stocks go down. If oil drops, airline stocks will go up like crazy.