Airline stocks are enjoying a sharp upswing today. The industry is recovering strongly as fuel prices tumble. And investors are also encouraged by the Delta (NYSE:DAL) and Northwest (NYSE:NWA) merger. But Andrew Snyder says this remains a high-risk sector for stock investors.

More from Today’s Financial News:

After nearly a decade of getting kicked around by the nation’s investors, airlines are finally starting to get some positive attention. More importantly, the barrens of the friendly skies are finally starting to look like profitable ventures.

Notice, however, that I “starting” to “look” like profitable ventures. As of last quarter, the only major airline to post a profit was AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR), the owner of American Airlines. And its earnings were a mere pittance of total revenues.

All the rest, companies like Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL), and United Airlines (NYSE:UAUA), all lost significant

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With oil trading so low, just about any of the airline stocks could be a great bounce play and the Masters favorite, JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU).  JBLU shares are up 6% today and once we get some calm back in the ...

Delta Airlines, Inc. (DAL) is on the verge of a very lucrative merger with Northwest Airlines. The carrier's international expansion strategy is working as analysts estimates have been rising. Delta is now the fastest growing major carrier in the United States.

Company Description

Delta Air Lines is an international airline with more destinations than any other global carrier. The company offers flights to approximately 311 cities in 52 countries. Delta added 60 new international flights in the past year, making it the fastest growing U.S. airline. The company employs more than 55,000 people, carries a market cap of $2.6 billion, and his headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Advisors Recommend Delta-Northwest Merger

On September 15th Delta announced that proxy advisors recommended Delta shareholders should vote for the proposed all-stock merger with Northwest Airlines. If the merger is approved by shareholders, the

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Stock Screen: Low Price, High STARS

S&P’s latest list has five attractive names with a share price under $10—and a strong buy ranking from its equity analysts

Track these picks at:

http://trackthepros.com/stocks/category/1705

and start tracking the category so you can be updated about the performance.

According to S&P, the idea is that even a small appreciation (in dollar terms) can translate into a big increase (in percentage terms) with a low-priced stock. For example, when a $10 stock rises by $1, it’s a 10% gain.

By contrast, when a $100 stock gains $1, it’s only up 1%. For the purposes of this week’s screen, they defined “low-priced” as any stock with a current price of less than $10, and five stocks had 5-STARS (strong buy) rankings from Standard & Poor’s equity analysts.

Not surprisingly, the upside potential for these stocks, as calculated using S&P analysts’ target prices, averages 43%—even though the target prices

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Orbitz Worldwide (OWW) plan on offering 39.1 million shares at a range of $16-$18. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Lehman are lead managing the deal