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To: Petrol who wrote (2873)	9/26/2002 5:03:37 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57110

the really bad thing i 've been noticing is that each week they seem to be revising the previous week's unemployment numbers upwards. heard an economist this morning speaking about the deflationary threat, the interview looking for the silver lining said..."good news for consumers?" he answered..."consumers with jobs."

To: Petrol who wrote (2873)	9/26/2002 5:11:53 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57110

oh gee...looks like these guys are onto something.. United Unions' Plan Ignites Stock By DAVE CARPENTER 09/26/2002 14:21:58 EST CHICAGO (AP) - The offer by United Airlines' unions to slash labor costs by $5 billion to help stave off bankruptcy got a mixed public reception Thursday as the carrier's management and board huddled to review the proposal. Investors drove United's lagging stock up more than 30 percent, restoring several weeks of losses. But numerous analysts said the concessions might be too little, too late, for an airline that was seeking even bigger cuts to end its two-year money-losing streak. United chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton didn't publicly tip his hand whether the $1 billion-a-year concessions are enough or would likely satisfy the federal panel that's weighing United's application for a $1.8 billion loan guarantee. The board of directors discussed the plan at a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday but made no announcement. Spokesman Joe Hopkins said it probably will be several days before the airline responds. "We need to take some time to assess what they've presented to us," he said. If the cuts are deemed insufficient - Tilton's predecessor, Jack Creighton, had sought $1.5 billion in annual labor savings for six years, or $9 billion in total - the world's No. 2 airline can either try to swiftly negotiate larger ones or prepare for a bankruptcy filing it had warned could happen later this fall. Investors showed rare optimism following what experts said appeared to be the most substantial reductions ever proposed by an airline's unions, exceeding even the newly approved cost cutbacks at US Airways. Shares in United parent UAL Corp. jumped 67 cents, or 30 percent, to $2.88 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, although the stock price remains down nearly 80 percent for the year. "The company is in very serious financial difficulty, and it's good that labor is taking an increasingly serious view of the circumstances," said Rich Bittenbender, an airline analyst for Moody's, who called the plan "a good start." While details of the unions' plan were not released, it calls for not just labor reductions but other money-saving measures which they said will boost profitability by $2 billion to $3 billion per year. Credit Suisse First Boston analyst James Higgins, among others, called the proposal insufficient and said in a note to investors that he expects UAL to be forced into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing within a month. While the airline would keep flying if that happens, Higgins noted that bankruptcy talk has scared away business and United's September traffic has been weaker than expected. Helane Becker of Buckingham Research Group was similarly doubtful that the cuts are enough, although she said it may be if United's suppliers will grant similar concessions. Creighton's plan, which Tilton has not renounced since taking over the job in early September, was for $1.5 billion in annual cuts from labor and another $1 billion from vendors and lessors. If rank-and-file union members approve the newly proposed concessions and vendors come through with their $1 billion, that would still leave the airline 27 percent shy of the needed amount, Higgins said. Union representatives were stung by the criticism and doubts voiced by some industry analysts. Frank Larkin, a spokesman for the machinists union, said United's employees "have made a dramatic gesture here and deserve credit for that." "We're out to save the airline and the jobs that go with it," he said. "And handicapping the odds of doing that with negative comments hardly serves that interest." ___