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[Miles]

Love this stock, but I sold over half my position today @ 5.03. Really hope she can make it to mid $5's end of day, but would rather have some cash on hand for other plays.

Possible breakout? (see attached)

Notice that LCC has been around this $5 mark twice this year already. Makes sense to me it will go a bit higher than in May, but as you can see this stock will retrace pretty quickly on you (like catching a falling knife).

[tradesman]

Looks like

LCC

on the verge of breakout again ? It holds well during the two day selldown on DJ last week...

[Miles]

This stock had been good to me since early 2009 and still my favorite for playing quarterly price swings or changes in oil prices and other news. Have bought and sold several times since my last post, with my last sell around $5.90. Having said that, they have just hit their 52 week high during the last session, so I would expect it takes a bit of a break or consolidates around this mark.

Fun stock for swing/day traders looking for a quick scalp, but longs should keep in mind how bad their financials are.

[tradesman]

yup... LCC volume isnt that impressive on the breakout.... UAL is different... breakout with such high volume.. time to change horse.. :)
Airline stock seem quite resilent to this selldown...

[Miles]

Ya both were a double from November. Keeps looking good for airlines on pending upgrades from JPM: United, American Airlines, US Airways close to upgrade; Delta/US slot swap tentatively approved | Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation

[pdtpatrick]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- A plan by US Airways and Delta Air Lines to make their New York and Washington, D.C., operations more profitable could get the axe unless they agree to open those markets to more competition.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation said it gave tentative approval for a plan to swap 125 pairs of US Airways operating slots at New York's LaGuardia Airport for 45 Delta slots at Ronald Reagan Washington National.

A slot grants the owner the right to schedule a landing or departure from an airport during a specific time.

But for the deal to move ahead, the airlines would have to first sell some of their slot interests to an airline with no or limited service to the two airports. That would lessen the harm to customers' wallets that might otherwise result from the carriers' increased dominance in those markets, the DOT said.

Neither airline is willing to make that concession, saying the transaction would not go as proposed by the DOT.

"Delta and US Airways are disappointed in the DOT's decision that, if implemented, would negatively impact the consumer and economic benefits created by the proposed transaction by divesting 16% of the transaction at New York's LaGuardia Airport and 33% of the transaction at Washington-National," the carriers said in a joint statement.

"This could scuttle the deal," said Henry Harteveldt, an analyst with Forester Research.

"It will be interesting to see if they can construct a deal by either swapping just some of the slots or by working out a compromise with the DOT," Harteveldt said in an interview. "It's also possible people could dig in their feet and there will be no deal, and the airlines get stuck with the status quo."

Harteveldt said the next move could take at least a month as the U.S. waits out a 30-day public comment period.

Washington National is critical for US Airways to open secondary markets and potentially new routes to Tokyo and Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is also a profitable airport for the airline, unlike their operations at LaGuardia.

In August, US Airways (LCC 6.35, -0.09, -1.40%) said the deal could add $75 million to its annual results.

For Delta (DAL 11.90, -0.49, -3.96%) , LaGuardia is critical for their strategy to tap more premium-paying corporate travelers. It already has a large presence at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport, but from LaGuardia it can take on Continental (CAL 18.52, -0.64, -3.34%) , AMR Corp.'s (AMR 8.34, +0.01, +0.12%) American Airline and JetBlue Airways (JBLU 4.95, -0.21, -4.07%) .

It will allow Delta to more than double its number of nonstop destinations and add more than a dozen new cities, potentially bringing in more than 2 million additional passengers annually.

[Miles]

Nice pop on the *possible merger* news:

US Airways (NYSE:LCC) and United (NASDAQ:UAUA) are reported to be in talks that could create the nation's second-largest carrier. This is the third attempt in the last 10 years for the two companies to attempt a merger.