Boeing (BA) Shares Soar as Striking Machinists go to End Walkout
Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ContrarianProfits/~3/435872619/7357Posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 | In Market Commentary
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union will vote this Saturday on whether to end its two-month strike against The Boeing Co. (BA). A tentative agreement to end the strike was reached Monday.
Boeing’s shares soared $6.55 each, or 15.5%, to close at $48.91. They are still down 50% from their 12-month high of $98.71 and are down 45% for the year.
It was the longest strike in 13 years: The union walked out for 28 days in 2005 and 69 days in 1995.
Both sides claimed victory this time around.The union said that it “won the battle and made some significant gains,” while Boeing claimed it had “retained the flexibility necessary” to manage its business, Reuters reported.
Saturday will be the 57th day of the walkout by unionized machinist workers, who have shut down Boeing’s commercial-jetliner-assembly business since they left their jobs on Sept. 6., in a dispute over contract provisions related to health-care benefits and job security.
The machinists had initially wanted a 13% pay raise over three years and to rewrite certain language in the contract relating to outsourcing. The agreement reached Monday gives workers a 15% raise over the four-year life of the contract and gives the union more scope for challenging Boeing’s use of outside contractors.
Boeing originally predicted the strike would last about a month, Money Morning reported. Back in mid-September, Tom Buffenbarger, the union’s national leader, told The Seattle Times that if the strike costs Boeing $100 million a day in lost sales – as many Wall Street analysts estimated – it would take strikers one month and one week to drain Boeing’s $10 billion cash reserve.
The union represents about 25,000 Boeing production workers in and around Seattle, another 1,500 in Gresham, Ore., and 750 in Wichita, Kan, TV station KXMB in Bismark, N.D. reported.
Source: Striking Machinists to Vote Saturday on Deal To End Boeing Walkout – Shares Soar
Last 5 posts by Contrarian Profits
- Gold – Not the end, but possibly a correction - November 24th, 2009
- How do retail sales stack up in an atypical recovery? - November 24th, 2009
- The Best Energy Investments in the World - November 23rd, 2009
- Transportation Sector: powered by recovery - November 23rd, 2009
- The Dollar, the Euro, and being Bullish on Gold - November 20th, 2009
Aerospace Workers Union, Bismark, contrarian profits, Gresham, International Association of Machinists, Kansas, Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union, Market Commentary, North Dakota, Oregon, Reuters, Seattle, The Boeing Co., The Seattle Times, Tom Buffenbarger, USD, wall street, Wichita
ContrarianProfits.com is a financial news and opinion website with a twist. As investment guru Rick Rule puts it, “You are either a contrarian or a victim.” In the financial world, most people are losers because they just don’t know what game they’re playing. They think they can just get “into the market” along with everyone else, do what everyone else does, and they will make money. Not likely. By the time you’ve paid commissions, spreads, fees, taxes – and suffered the consequences of inflation – you’ll be very lucky just to have as much money as you started with.
ContrarianProfits.com is a contrarian site, in the sense that we provide ideas, opinions and recommendations that often run counter to the mainstream financial press. We do this not just to be contrary, but because we’ve realized that Rick is right. You don’t make money by following the crowd; you make money by leading it.
Why is this so? Well, it’s obvious that if you do the same thing everyone else does you’ll get the same results everyone else gets. On average, and over the long run, real investment returns for the typical investor cannot exceed the rate of growth of the economy itself. Everybody can’t get richer faster than everybody else. Real economic growth in the US today averages about 3% per year; if you don’t make any mistakes, that’s about what you can expect. Few people may be satisfied with 3% per year, but most feel comfortable in the middle of the financial herd and are happy to take whatever that gets them. If you’re one of those people, you will probably not like our site. It will make you uncomfortable.
If, on the other hand, you’re willing to look at things a little differently, you’ll appreciate the views of many of our columnists, contributors and visionaries.
No recommendations, either expressed or implied, are being made to buy, sell, hold or short any of the mentioned stocks. No legal, tax or accounting advice is expressed or implied. Always contact your attorney, CPA, or tax advisor before acting on any legal or tax issues. StraightStocks.com is not responsible for the content, products, or services of any of the advertisers on this site. StraightStocks.com receives compensation from advertisers on this blog. Services and products referred to herein are trademarks, registered trademarks, servicemarks, and/or registered servicemarks of their respective trademark or servicemark owners.