| LAN Airlines Flying Higher Zacks.com submits: Earlier this week, LAN Airlines S.A. (LFL) and its subsidiaries released its preliminary monthly traffic statistics and punctuality indicators for October. Passenger traffic rose 15.7% year over year while capacity jumped 10.1%. Its load factor increased 3.9 points to 80.2%. International passenger traffic accounted for almost 69% of total passenger traffic, with the rest coming from domestic passengers.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Ford Beats Estimates, Posts a $2.7 Billion Profit TheCarConnection.com submits: Not so very long ago, CEO Alan Mulally said that Ford (F) wouldn't be "solidly profitable" until 2011, but investors will be happy to learn that the company just posted a profit from the fourth quarter of 2009 and a net gain for all of last year. Last January, Ford put down a $5.9 billion loss for Q4 of 2008, which contributed to a whopping $14.8 billion loss for the year. But twelve long, painful months later, the tide has turned: Ford saw a net gain of $868 million in Q4 of 2009, and the company finished the year $2.7 billion in the black. In a prepared statement, Mulally said, "While we still face significant business environment challenges ahead, 2009 was a pivotal year for Ford and the strongest proof yet that our One Ford plan is working and that we are forging a path toward profitable growth by working together as one team, leveraging our global scale."Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. Q1 2010 Earnings Call Transcript Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ)Q1 2010 Earnings CallApril 26, 2010 10:00 am ETComplete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Weekly Rail Report Makes It Clear, This is Not 2009 All Over Again Robert Loftus submits:I've commented on the numbers shown in the weekly rail report before and it's because the numbers in that report give an unbiased picture of the state of American commerce. Companies don't dump tons of materials onto rail cars and ship those materials about unless they have a very good reason, so when we see significant YOY increases in certain categories of the report, it means that the economy really is picking up steam, no matter what the cable news pundits say. The most recent report: Week 25: numbers for the week ending June 26th, 2010. indicates significant increases in rail traffic in several shipping container categories. The notion that US metals producers may see a significant increase in their business as a result of loss of Chinese competitiveness in aluminum and steel production finds support in lines 3. 15 and 16 respectively, which indicates that YOY increases in shipping volumes may be observed in Metallic Ores: up 172.2% YOY; Furnace Coke: up 36.9% YOY; and Metals and Products: up 75.4% YOY. The survey of Canadian railways indicates similar increases in Canadian markets. It is encouraging to note that Metals and Products manufacturing appears to be growing in the US-as it means that recent increases in Chinese labor and utility costs may have made it economically unfeasible to manufacture materials in the US, then ship those materials to China to be manufactured into finished goods, then ship those finished goods back to the US for distribution and sale. Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |
Boeing's Unimpressive Dividend Yield: Great Company, Overvalued Stock Stone Fox Capital submits:Boeing (BA) reported solid Q3 results and upped guidance (see conference call transcript here). Unfortunately, though, Boeing has done nothing to improve its net payout yield. The dividend yield has now slumped to 2.4% which isn't shabby but is by no means impressive considering that they lack a buyback component.For now, BA is a core holding of the Net Payout Yield Portfolio (coming to Covestor soon). Without a higher yield though, we'll likely trim the position on any advances in the stock price. Management did pay down $500M in debt during the quarter, which is positive, but without any moves on the stock it suggests that they are complacent with the current price.Complete Story » seekingalpha.com |