Meet New Penny Stock: American Airlines

Shares of AMR Corporation—the bankrupt parent company of American Airlines—are soaring Thursday, as the embattled firm makes its debut on the over-the-counter market.

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Effective today, the company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because the average closing price of its shares fell below the exchange's continued listing minimum share price standard of $1 over a consecutive 30-trading-day-period.

The company now trades under a new symbol AAMRQ [AAMRQ  0.333    0.09  (+36.73%)   ] .

"Trading in AAMRQ has been steady, totaling over 29 million shares since market open this morning, showing that the ability to trade is still very much there," according to the OTC Markets.

But Michael Derchin, airline analyst at CRT Capital, says: “The company is still worth zero. Today’s moves are purely technical and speculative.”

AMR has said that it did not oppose the suspension and delisting of its securities. It also warned investors that “it will likely be difficult to sell AMR securities through the OTC market quickly or at the desired price, if at all”.

“Trading in the securities of companies in Chapter 11 is highly speculative. AMR cannot predict what the ultimate value of any of its securities may be, and it remains too early to determine whether holders of any such securities will receive any distribution in the Chapter 11 reorganization,” the company said in a press release.

On Wednesday, AMR shares closed at just 24 cents. A year ago, it closed at $8.10 per share. 

By: Karina Frayter  Published: Thursday, 5 Jan 2012 | 12:07 PM ET