Alaska Airlines Stock (ALK)
 

Good time to buy, and any stock holders on this thread? I am a real estate investor and despise the stock market typically but my brother who is a CPA and avid stock market guy was telling me Delta and Alaska had dipped about 80%, seems like a no brainer to buy soon doesnt it? Curious to hear thoughts from existing shareholders!

I think at this point all cards are off the table, so I would go into this as a highly speculative move. That means you should be prepared and able to withstand losing everything. You need to consider a possible bankruptcy, Ch 11, or a massive injection of government money with strings attached around how recent shareholders are treated.

I own Alaska and Delta, through Index funds. I have no special insight into how Alaska’s business will perform that the rest of the market doesn’t have, so no desire to gamble on the or any other stock... especially not airline stock.

Do not try and catch a falling knife.

IMO, I would stick with Boeing (BA) at this point, heck folks were buying BA this month @$325. Long term fine, short term protect any equity, airline sector or not with Puts.

Incremental purchases of BA, ALK and DAL, backed up with TVIX.

I would treat an individual airline stock almost like a penny stock at the moment.

Agree that Boeing is "too big to fail."

What Donald Trump once said about AA is probably true for all airlines right now, "Good airline; bad stock."

This is a board for frequent flyers. Free advice is often overpriced.

Let me get this straight... you typically "despise the stock market" but now, in one of the absolute diciest markets in a decade, of the entire universe of stocks which are available to you, many of which are on sale and have much, much stronger businesses, you want your foray into the market to be with an airline stock. Seriously? :confused:

Airlines are generally bad businesses in the best of times and they are generally horrific businesses in the worst of times. You could certainly get lucky, should this be over in relatively short order, but if this drags on for longer than anticipated, then I completely agree with LondonElite, you'd better be mentally prepared to consider this gambling money and be okay with the stock going to zero (i.e. filing for bankruptcy protection)

Regards

P.S. In general, I strongly avoid taking investment advice from "avid stock market guys" even if (maybe particularly if) they are my brother.

Not to pile on, but the reason share prices are down up to 80% is because there is a very real possibility that the company enters bankruptcy, in which case the share price goes to zero. Just because the airline industry will be profitable again some day does not mean that the current shareholders will have any claim on those profits.

Full disclosure: I bought both ALK and UAL around $50, which until a month ago was looking good. I viewed it as less an investment and more of a hedge against continued declines in passenger experience.

Huh? I mean no personal offense, but that thesis doesn't strike me as a whole lot more rational than the OPs (honestly, maybe even less).

Honestly, I cannot fathom how, whether those two stocks go up or down, it "hedges against declines in passenger experience" I don't think "hedge" means what you think it means.

I must say, I'm continually perplexed that an industry which has had perhaps more combined, cumulative bankruptcies than any other industry in existence, continues to have a long line of "investors" ready and willing to hand their money over to the same clowns for another go 'round.

Short term trading of airline stocks I can understand, but "investing?" Yea, none for me thanks...

Regards

And big enough to split up.

I'd never take stock picking advice from a CPA.

I'll keep my experience to myself, but when looking for downtrodden stocks to buy, a good rule is look at their balance sheets.