Boeing just announced it is cutting production of the 777 from seven to five a month and delaying plans to increase rates on the 767 and 747, effective next year, it was announced today. No rate adjustment is planned for the 737 at this time. The rate for the 737 is 31 a month.
The decision comes a month before BCA President Scott Carson previously said it would.
It’s odd to hear them talk about not increasing the production rate of the 747-8 before the program has delivered a single aircraft.
Boeing had planned to produce the 748 at two a month; it will now be one a month. The 744 rate was one a month.
Last Thursday, Boeing stock closed at 39.15, up 2,28, a significant rise given the market conditions.
Upon the close of the market, Scott Carson makes his 777 rate reduction announcement, and brings further bad news of charges against earnings for Q-1, due to heretofore unknown airplane pricing schemes giving customers deep discounts on soon to be delivered aircraft.
This cause Boeing stock to drop 1.35 in limited after hours trading.The markets were closed on friday due to good friday market holiday.
There is little doubt Boeing stock will take a severe beating on monday. Boeing, combined with GE (engine provider for 777) another DOW component, may well drag the entire DOW, perhaps even the entire market down. Standard and Poors promply put Boeing’s credit rating under watch for potential downgrade
So what does Boeing do?
Implements an ad hoc rule preventing employees from selling Boeing stock, or anyone else’s at the thursday closing price, OR the opening price monday.
Transactions from employee 401K plans will only be accepted at the prices established at the close of the market on monday.
Ot would seem that Boeing wants it’s employees to sit back and potentially suffer huge losses from their retirment accounts, for no reason other than PURE SPITE.
Boeing executives continue to enrich themselves via stock bonuses and options, which they dump the same day they are awarded:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=BA
Such insider activity indicates that they have no confidence in the company, or even their own words and actions. They simply convert the stock immediatly to cash and run away from Boeing as fast as possible.
There has not been a single open market purchase of Boing stock by any Boeing executive or member of the board, save ONE instance, in fifteen or more months.
And there will always be, in my mind, the extraordiary clairvoyance of Boeing’s CEO, James McNerney, who made a particularly timely sale of 8,588 shares on 2-Jan-09 at $45.25 per share, for a cool $388,607.
This coming after some very suspect activity in the options market concerning Boeing stock futures, that very temporarily cause a pop in the price of Boeing common stock.
Yet Boeing’s management demands, no FORCES it’s employees to take losses on the Boeing stock they own via their 401K VIP accounts.