False Bankruptcy Story Sends United Airlines Shares For A Ride

September 8, 2008 3:33 p.m. EST

Chicago, IL (AHN) - Shares of American Airlines operator, UAL Corp plummeted at 11 a.m. ET when a bankruptcy filing from 2002 surfaced on newspaper website. Trading in the stock was halted briefly to allow UAL to address the issue.

The old news report showed up on the website of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Income Securities Advisors got wind of the story and distributed the report to financial news provider Bloomberg.

Once the news came across Bloomberg, UAL Corp, along with its competitors, saw their stocks dive. When trading resumed in UAL Corp, shares were down 7 percent, well off the session low.

"The story was related to United's 2002 bankruptcy filing, and United has demanded a retraction from the Sun Sentinel and is launching an investigation," United said in a written statement, according to the Associated Press.