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Andy Serwer Commentary:
Street Life by Andy Serwer Column archive
Alcoa, Boeing, Disney up for gains today
Pension trim by metal maker, strong jet sales, China debate for theme park could amp these stocks.
By Andy Serwer, FORTUNE editor-at-large


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NEW YORK (Fortune) - ALCOA: Can't wait ... to cut its costs. It's now latest FORTUNE 500 firm to end its pension plan -- but in this case only for new employees. That effectively creates a two-tiered workforce. Newbies will get a 401(k); oldies -- all 129,000 of them -- will get the defined plan. Look for Alcoa (Research) stock to get a one-day bounce on the news. So if you're a day trader, you know what to do. (And what's with the company calling itself the world's "leading" producer of aluminum? Guess that means it's not the biggest.)

BOEING: So Airbus says today it's still No. 1! The Euro-planemaker says it sold 1,055 jets versus Boeing's 1,002. So what? Big deal! While precise numbers are hard to come by, Reuters reports that, "Airbus had to concede defeat to its fierce U.S. rival in the overall value of jets sold." And an analyst says that Boeing (Research) now has 55 percent market share in terms of sales volume. This is the old "units versus sales" debate writ large. And I'll take sales every time, folks! Boeing has been on an incredible run over the past three years (stock went from mid-$20s to $70 today), but I still like it. Remember, sad to say, the defense biz is still very hot.

DISNEY: Here's some good news. The most populated country in the world (yes Virginia, that would be China) is fighting over Disney (Research) products and services. Here's the skinny: Big Mouse opened Disneyland in Hong Kong last September and has said it would consider opening a park in Shanghai perhaps sometime next decade. But now reports say that Beijing is reserving land for its own Disneyland, even though the U.S. company says it has no plans to build there! I'll tell you what. It is nice to be loved! DIS has been on a wild ride over the past two years. It's significantly off its high, so may be time to buy.

Loose Change: Congrats to Denver/Steelers and Carolina/Seattle... And a big shout out to Skip Sussman, former drummer with Commander Cody who lives out in CALI and is one of the top producing brokers for Smith Barney in the U.S... Serwer's rules of dining: Avoid Mexican food in New York and Chinese food in rural Tennessee. Trust me on this......

Email Andy Serwer at serwer@fortunemail.com.

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