| Airlines: Rising Stock Prices vs. Otherwise Bad News Jim Delaney submits: Given that as of July, 2,535 Boeing (BA) and Airbus aircraft, or 14.2% of the world’s fleet, were in storage one might conclude that this is not the best time to be in the airline business. But as with so many of the things we have witnessed during the unfolding of the credit crisis and the subsequent slow repair of the damage, logic can be your worst enemy. Two of the most striking examples of this came recently as Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) raised $1.5 billion in loans and bonds, which was followed just a day later by AMR Corp (AMR), the parent of American Airlines, securing of $2.9 billion in financing. DAL is rated Ba2 by Moody’s and BBB- by S&P. AMR is rated Baa3 and BBB respectively by the two agencies.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Mixed Results for Rail Traffic Rail traffic continues to improve in the near-term, but long-term comps show a very meager recovery. Total carloads were down 5.4% compared to the very weak 2008 period and down 13.3% compared to 2007. Intermodal traffic declined 4.2% year over year and was down 13.6% compared to 2007. Although the move higher in traffic is encouraging, the year over year declines compared with 2007 and 2008 highlight just how weak the current recovery is. The economy remains very fragile. The AAR reports:Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Ford Overtakes Toyota in U.S. Market Share Zacks.com submits: According to a report by auto research website Edmunds.com, Ford Motor Co. (F) has become the second-biggest automaker in the U.S. behind General Motors. With this, Ford has overtaken Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) in the wake of Toyota's damaging parade of recalls. According to the website, Toyota is expected to lose more than 1 percentage point of U.S. market share to hit 16.45% in 2010 due to its global recall of 8.5 million vehicles related to their problem accelerator gas pedals and braking systems. Meanwhile, Ford is expected to achieve 16.57% of the market in the year, following General Motors with 18.12% of the market.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Rail Freight Volumes Begin to Level Off Wildebeest submits: The Association of American Railroads [AAR] released data for week 18, 2010 on Thursday. Data from the recent releases indicates a degree of leveling off in volumes. Perhaps this indicates a new normal at levels somewhere between the 2009 levels and pre-recession levels.The following charts show intermodal and carloads freight volumes since 2007, along with a 52 week moving average.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
North American Auto Production Update Gabriel Kaplan submits:North American auto-production output in June was 1.093m units (up 99% YoY). Re-stocking of inventories is still going on in the economy, but we are due for a slowdown unless we see an uptick in employment and consumer confidence. These macro-indicators will probably lead unit sales in the future.In terms of Japanese car companies, we expect a deterioration in earnings for Toyota (TM) given the strength of the yen and the end of government subsidies. Nissan (NSANY.PK) and Honda appear (HMC) to us as the best value in this environment.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |