Airline shares hit market turbulence

ATLANTA -- Airline shares and oil prices used to move together like kids on a teeter-totter, with one rising while the other falls. But the financial crisis affecting the U.S. and other countries has thrown that conventional wisdom out the window. Investing in airlines for the long-term can be a risky and not always rewarding proposition, as four major U.S. carriers have filed for bankruptcy protection since 2002, wiping out their pre-Chapter 11 shares in the process. Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, which avoided bankruptcy, has not paid a dividend to common shareholders since 1980, a spokesman said. For much of the third quarter, some short-term investors were able to make money from big swings in airline shares that had more to do with the price of oil than the fate of Wall Street firms. But... [read full story]