Airlines Garner More Acclaim

Airline stocks rallied Wednesday for the second time this week after another Wall Street analyst issued a bullish call on the sector's prospects.

Capacity adjustments, including reductions on U.S. domestic routes, should boost unit revenue next year, according to Bear Stearns' David Strine, who adds that a major beneficiary will be American Airlines' parent AMR (AMR Quote). Strine raised AMR to outperform from peer perform and increased his bottom-line estimates for other carriers.

Shares of AMR, the world's largest airline company, gained 73 cents, or 5.5%, to $14.05. Most other airline stocks followed, driving the Amex Airline Index 3.3% higher. ...