AMR <AMR> UP ON SMITH BARNEY OPINION
AMR Corp, the parent of American
Airlines, rose sharply in active trading after analyst Roland
Moreno of Smith Barney upgraded his opinion of the stock to buy
from accumulate and added it to the brokerage house's
recommended list, traders said.
    AMR climbed 1-3/8 to 55-5/8.
    A spokeswoman for Smith Barney said the recommendation was
made because the airline group looks cheap relative to the
broad market and the analyst feels AMR is the best in the
group.
    In a related action, Moreno downgraded his opinion of UAL
Inc <UAL> to accumulate from buy and took it off the firm's
recommended list, Smith Barney's spokeswoman said. The stock
slipped 1/2 to 71-1/2 on volume of 1.3 mln shares.
    She said the Moreno's downgrade of UAL was because the
"stock had risen to a level beyond what current fundamentals
can support." The stock has risen more on merger speculation
than on fundamentals, the opinion continued.
    In recent weeks, rumors UAL stock was being accumulated for
a possible takeover bid shored up the stock, traders and
analysts said. In addition, pilots of UAL's United Airlines
unit proposed a buyout of the airline for 4.5 billion dlrs.
    The Smith Barney spokeswoman said the postive
recommendation of AMR emphasizes the company's strong marketing
ability, its good management and customer loyalty to the AMR
name. She said the company has been the best financial
performer of the airline group.
    The AMR recommendation includes earnings expectations of
4.35 dlrs a share in 1987 as compared to earnings of 4.63 dlrs
a share last year, the spokeswoman said. In 1988, the company
is expected to earn six dlrs a share.
    Traders said other airline stocks moved higher today
primarily as a result of fare hikes announced Wednesday by
Texas Air <TEX>, United Airlines and AMR.
    Delta <DAL> rose 1/2 to 56-7/8, NWA Inc <NWA> 3/8 to 66,
and Pan Am <PN> 1/8 to 4-5/8.
 Reuter
