Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport

[Fiorenza]

how much influence can a hedge fund have when they hold less than 3% of delta's stock?

This got to be a publicity play by this hedge fund to try and close a forward position they undoubtedly have where they are underwater on Delta. A Delta-Continental merger may happen, or even a Delta-JetBlue merger, but never a Delta-United merger for pretty much the same reasons that a Delta-American merger will never happen.

[atl2phx]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

This got to be a publicity play by this hedge fund to try and close a forward position they undoubtedly have where they are underwater on Delta. A Delta-Continental merger may happen, or even a Delta-JetBlue merger, but never a Delta-United merger for pretty much the same reasons that a Delta-American merger will never happen.

gotcha. so, essentially today's news is a positioning statement/pr play from the hedge fund.

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by Dragonheart8588

Ok wait, why do the acquirer have to go the spoils with everything you named? I assumed if you acquire somebody than you can actually keeps the brand/HQ.

Despite some unlikable qualities of Delta, I certainly don't want them to be transfer from Atlanta to another city. I mean they do contribute a lot to the city b/c than Strek and I have nothing to disagree over.

Oh that was some sudden heart burn! We just got the Internal Memorandum from Richard and Ed. I think we can calm down now you will see the memo circulating thoughout the media very shortly if you haven't already.

Oh I just don't like it when I start hearing that someone might try to take away Our Delta. I about lost my religion reading what that Pardus company was suggesting. I was getting ready to dust off my KDMD banner. Star Alliance my foot. I'm all good now!

To answer your question. YES, the acquiring company calls nearly all the shots. Now I have very little negative to say about UA. Their ballance sheet is in shambles and their is no love for their executive leaders. But the people that I have worked with on the back end have been very nice and everyone I know over here that has dealt with UA employees in the past have said the same thing. There is that Legacy to Legacy respect thing going on. Now AA is a whole different ball of wax that I just will not go into as I suspect one of their employees is a forumer here.

[Fiorenza]

Somebody said this story first broke on PR Newswire. Ha.

[ThrashATL]

Originally Posted by STrek777

Now AA is a whole different ball of wax that I just will not go into as I suspect one of their employees is a forumer here.

IF Delta & United happens, you'll be able to hear the asses at AA pucker all over the world.

[Fiorenza]

Who the hell is "Jason"?

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

Who the hell is "Jason"?

Random thought party of one your table is ready. hehehehe Where did that come from?

[Fiorenza]

I took basically what I wrote above and posted it on the AJC discussion, along with the comment that some news idiots take anything and run with it with no confirmation.

"Jason" comes back at me with:
"Fiorenza, er, Carismar, is this how you spend your days? Logging onto every internet message board to find reasons to call people idiots? Heck, you were too lazy to even change the wording of your post. The consequences of Delta leaving Atlanta are huge. Even if the chance of it happening is only 10%, the consequences are large enough for people to still be concerned. Playing Russian Roulette with a six shooter only has a one in six chance of anything bad happening, but it's still no advisable to play the game."

I'm just wondering who's on my case.

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

I took basically what I wrote above and posted it on the AJC discussion, along with the comment that some news idiots take anything and run with it with no confirmation.

"Jason" comes back at me with:
"Fiorenza, er, Carismar, is this how you spend your days? Logging onto every internet message board to find reasons to call people idiots? Heck, you were too lazy to even change the wording of your post. The consequences of Delta leaving Atlanta are huge. Even if the chance of it happening is only 10%, the consequences are large enough for people to still be concerned. Playing Russian Roulette with a six shooter only has a one in six chance of anything bad happening, but it's still no advisable to play the game."

I'm just wondering who's on my case.

WOW! You could hear a pin drop in here.

This room has been buzzing with activity all day. Fiorenza you have to teach me how to do what you do. No one can fire up the troops quicker than you and apparently no one can stop them as fast as you just did. You never cease to amaze me.

[Fiorenza]

I pretty much stopped comments over at AJC as well. I guess I'm a hard act to follow.

[Andrea]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

This got to be a publicity play by this hedge fund to try and close a forward position they undoubtedly have where they are underwater on Delta.

Fiorenza, what does it mean to close a forward position?

[akiatl261]

I think this speeds uop the merger talks for Delta, and even the other airliners. I think we will see very soon announcements for who Delta really wants to merge with. Seeing how the stock went up and the buzz has been voracious it seems like, this in a will will give them even more of a greenlight. Lets hope they pic the right husband/wife. lol

[Fiorenza]

Andrea,

I'm not a fan of or expert on leveraged positions, but it seems that many were thinking because of the price of fuel, competitive pricing in the industry, and the uncertainty about the economy, that airline stocks would tank. So, many people sold Delta and United short. This hedge fund comes along, and sees a golden opportunity. Because the supply-demand curve is favorable and maybe short positions are oversold and the actual shares have become cheap, then it's an opportunity for a hedge fund to go the other way....maybe buy long (leverage)(more risk), or maybe just buy the shares outright and then do something to juice the price upwards. In fact, the share prices of both Delta and United spiked way up today, and then retreated. During that spike upward, it would have been the perfect opportunity at that moment to flip the shares or puts - if you're the hedge fund who had manufactured the news and knew it was garbage. Not saying that it did happen that way, but it could happen that way. On the other hand, the hedge fund could be in it for the mid-term and hold their positions, but keep in mind it was said the shares would merge at 1:1 so in that case the simple plan would be to cause market expectation to run up the pre-merger share prices on both companies.

Don't get me wrong, I think hedge funds have their place, but the Delta-United idea is bad for all parties including the shareholders in the long run.

[Andrea]

Thanks, Fiorenza. I'm not an investor so I just wasn't sure what the terminology meant.

[Andrea]

Okay, I was at the airport the other day and was thinking about this.

Let's say it's 1,000 feet between Concourse A and Concourse B. If I take the moving sidewalk, have I still walked 1,000 feet? If not, did the moving sidewalk actually shorten the distance between concourses? And wouldn't that qualify as a space-time warp?

If so, it would be extremely cool to change the signs and have a recorded voice come on over a flying saucer type noise that says, "You are now entering the Hartsfield-Jackson Inter-Concourse Wormhole. Resistance is futile. May you emerge at your intended destination."

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Okay, I was at the airport the other day and was thinking about this.

Let's say it's 1,000 feet between Concourse A and Concourse B. If I take the moving sidewalk, have I still walked 1,000 feet? If not, did the moving sidewalk actually shorten the distance between concourses? And wouldn't that qualify as a space-time warp?

If so, it would be extremely cool to change the signs and have a recorded voice come on over a flying saucer type noise that says, "You are now entering the Hartsfield-Jackson Inter-Concourse Wormhole. Resistance is futile. May you emerge at your intended destination."

LOL that was too funny!

[Andrea]

Re a Delta/United merger, here's what would really be a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. The new company moves its headquarters to Chicago and builds a supertall right in the middle of downtown, flanked by two 85 story luxury condo towers for senior management.

Gov. Perdue, please add to your prayer list that that won't happen.

[STrek777]

Originally Posted by Andrea

Re a Delta/United merger, here's what would really be a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. The new company moves its headquarters to Chicago and builds a supertall right in the middle of downtown, flanked by two 85 story luxury condo towers for senior management.

Gov. Perdue, please add to your prayer list that that won't happen.

Yeah this won't happen. Delta and United getting into bed together... ooohhhh they would not make a pretty baby. It's about as crazy an Idea as Coca~Cola and Pepsi~Cola getting together or Home Depot and Lowe's getting together. Whether you both fly planes make cola or sell home supplies some combinations are just not meant to be.

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by STrek777

Yeah it's everywhere of course I also hope that the

Associated Press
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/071114/delta_united.html?.v=21

Market Watch
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/de...B3%2D9A1B%2D0AF8BA4E28BA%7D&siteid=yhoof

Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119505714456992875.html?mod=yahoo_hs&ru=yahoo

New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/business/15air-web.html?ref=business

Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSN1436355220071114

Financial Times
http://us.ft.com/ftgateway/superpage.ft?news_id=fto111420071400453508&referrer_id=yahoofinance

CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/14/news/companies/delta_united/index.htm?source=yahoo_quote

FOX News
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Nov14/0,4670,DeltaUnited,00.html

are all wrong. The AJC has already amended its story but the original was very interesting. I really do not feel like moving to Chicago.

As someone who kind of misses Atlanta and the Southeast, I don't blame you.

But you'll learn to love snow. And you won't have to worry about water problems...

[STrek777]

I don't know if I have said it here before but Delta is second to United by a razor thin margin. Here are the stats that the AJC was good enough to compile.

Delta and United: how they stack up
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/delta/stories/2007/11/14/deltanumbers_1115.html

in other news Delta has announced that it has welcomed China Southern into the SkyTeam family.

SkyTeam Welcomes China Southern Airlines as First Chinese Carrier
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/071115/lath014.html?.v=101