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Budget air carriers have been snatching up travelers and market share from troubled legacy carriers for the better part of two decades, and now they're whipping them on the Internet, too.

Airline stocks manage to eke out some early gains, bucking a mild retreat in the broader market as the price of crude oil pulls back below $77 a barrel.

Airlines Stocks Gain As Oil, Broader Market Dip

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Flights across the U.S. are expected to see delays and cancellations Thursday due to a telecommunications glitch that is hindering the automated processes for scheduling commercial flight plans.

BloggingStocks: For years, it's been evident that smaller airlines have had an operating advantage, particularly when they use less expensive airports. They've been able to post better numbers as a result, and in the current travel slump, they've outperformed the ... Read more

BloggingStocks: Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks: AirTran Holdings Inc. (NYSE: AAI) reported its third consecutive quarterly profit and will increase capacity. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares soared after ... Read more

Most of these setups relate to the idea that I think the US dollar will rally soon. There are times where a rounding top happens in the market and with no sign of the impending drop, and then BAM, the market produces one big red down week that takes out anywhere from 4-20 weeks worth [...]

On Tuesday, AirTran Holdings Incorporated (AAI) announced its intention to offer 9 million shares in an underwritten registered public offering. Along with this, it also intends to offer $75,000,000 aggregate principal amount of notes. The closing of the notes offering is expected to be concurrent with the closing of the share offering. The net proceeds from both [...]

($AAI) AirTran Holdings to Raise Funds in Public Offering

BloggingStocks: Today was one of those days where commodities and the dollar went all over. Gold still rose, yet oil fell on a very mixed inventory report. The markets started out with some strength, but the major indexes were mixed at the end of the day. Here are ... Read more

Schaeffer's Carly Schaeffer takes a look at activity on the Street ahead of the market open

JPMorgan slashed ratings on the key stocks airline companies yesterday and the stocks fell like a rock. Jet Fuel has increased 39% in the last 6 months, so it's time to short the industry and long the few stocks that will survive.

JPMorgan analyst Jaime Baker cut his ratings on seven major airline stocks, blaming uncertainty over the outcome of the proposed Delta-Northwest Airlines combination and forecasting major losses amid fears of a recession.

The industry may be redeemed if oil prices fall, he said, but he called that outcome unlikely.

"More likely, in our view, is that oil sits tight but revenue trends reverse," he said in a note. "Even a best-ever recessionary demand scenario results in a $4 billion industry loss."

American Airlines parent AMR Corp., Northwest Airlines Corp., Alaska Air Group Inc., US Airways Group Inc. and United Airlines parent UAL Corp. were all downgraded from "Overweight" to "Underweight."

Yesterday Northwest Airlines Corp. was among the sector's biggest decliners, dropping $1.17, or 9.6 percent, to $11.06. Alaska Air Group Inc. also fell sharply, falling $2.99, or 13.3 percent, to $19.51. No. 1 carrier AMR lost 89 cents, or 8.3 percent, to $9.78.

Baker also downgraded Continental Airlines Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. from "Overweight" to "Neutral." His ratings for low-cost carriers, such as Southwest Airlines Co. and AirTran Holdings Inc., remained unchanged.

Southwest, which Baker rates "Neutral," said Tuesday it suspended three employees and hired an expert to review maintenance procedures after the company was accused of flying planes that missed key safety inspections.

Here are the top 20 Airline stocks by market cap, happy trading.

Companies 1 - 20 of about 27 in Airline
Company	Quote	Change	Change%	Market Cap	P/E (ttm)	Ann. Revenue	Ann. Net Income
Ryanair Holdings plc (ADR)	28.88	-0.01	-0.03	8.64B	11.34	3,428.61	664.11
Southwest Airlines Co.	11.70	+0.21	1.83	8.61B	13.94	9,861.00	645.00
Lan Airlines S.A. (ADR)	13.75	-0.05	-0.36	4.66B	14.91	3,033.96	209.73
China Southern Airlines Limited (ADR)	41.08	-2.56	-5.87	3.59B	22.82	6,506.84	30.41
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (ADR)	15.20	-0.39	-2.50	3.07B	49.35	2,937.48	60.98
Delta Air Lines, Inc.	10.52	+0.39	3.85	3.07B	1.96	19,154.00	1,612.00
UAL Corporation	24.05	-0.24	-0.99	2.86B	10.91	20,143.00	393.00
China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. (ADR)	51.19	+1.42	2.85	2.49B	N/A	5,277.79	-515.40
AMR Corporation	9.93	+0.62	6.66	2.48B	5.81	22,935.00	504.00
Northwest Airlines Corporation	9.86	-0.39	-3.80	2.33B	1.71	12,528.00	2,093.00
Continental Airlines, Inc.	21.45	+0.99	4.84	2.11B	5.36	14,232.00	459.00
Copa Holdings, S.A.	33.43	+0.40	1.21	1.44B	9.06	1,027.26	160.41
SkyWest, Inc.	21.21	+0.73	3.56	1.29B	8.52	3,374.33	159.19
Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.	53.72	+0.86	1.63	1.16B	8.73	1,562.71	132.42
JetBlue Airways Corporation	4.79	+0.03	0.63	1.07B	52.62	2,842.00	18.00
TAM S.A. (ADR)	17.95	-0.86	-4.57	1.07B	3.46	4,306.87	475.22
US Airways Group, Inc.	8.76	-0.26	-2.88	804.77M	2.05	11,700.00	427.00
Republic Airways Holdings Inc.	20.23	+0.47	2.38	733.98M	9.93	1,292.68	82.76
Alaska Air Group, Inc.	18.60	+0.24	1.31	707.74M	6.15	3,506.00	125.00
AirTran Holdings, Inc.	6.11	0.00	0.00	561.49M	11.88	2,309.98	52.68

Ed Stenson takes a look back at the market activity today.