Airline Stocks? No Thanks

Above: Baker Bowl's right field wall.

No disrespect to the world champion Philadelphia Phillies, my former home-town team. But I recall my father speaking about Baker Bowl, the Phillies' home at Lehigh Ave. and Broad St. from 1887 to 1938, when they moved six blocks west on Lehigh to join the Athletics at Shibe Park, later Connie Mack Stadium. The Phillies were, of course, famous for being one of the worst teams in baseball.

Old-timers in Philadelphia like my father recalled that Baker Bowl had a huge billboard forming the right-field and right-center wall. It was for Lifebuoy, a popular soap brand up through the 1960s that promoted itself delicately as a remedy for body odor. For decades, the sign said, "The Phillies Use Lifebuoy."

And Philadelphia fans being Philadelphia fans, the popular retort became, "And they still stink."

That's a long way around third base for this note on airline prospects and airline stocks, from Zacks Investment.

As Warren Buffett famously said of investing in the airline industry: "If we knew then what we know now, we'd have shot the Wright Brothers down."

###