Continental and all US major airline share prices leap on big day at the Wall St Casino.
In the frenzy which is Wall Street at the slightest sniff of un-bad news from Citigroup, the Dow Jones Index rose 5.8% yesterday, sling-shotting the sensitive airline industry up from the depths.
At the Casino the bells were ringing and lights flashing as Continental, whose "fundamentals" the day before had sent its market capitalisation down by 11.1%, became worth 19.6% more on Tuesday.
For speculators, this may be heaven, but it does little for serious investor interest in the industry.
US Airways was not far behind, with an 18.9% rise, AirTran shares gained 18.2%, United 17.2%, American 14.2% and Delta 13.3%.
LCCs JetBlue (+12.8%), Allegiant (+11.9%) were well in front of the overall rise, but Southwest (+5.6%) and Alaska (+4.0%) were more modest.
North & South America airlines daily share price movements (% change): 10-Mar-09