(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stocks were trading in a very narrow range on Thursday, as investors remained cautious following three days of gains.

AMR Corp. (NYSE: AMR): Shares of the company, which owns American Airlines and American Eagle,, jumped $1.25 or 17.01% to $8.60 on Thursday after it said that it has obtained $2.9 billion in new financing. AMR said the funds included $1.3 billion in new liquidity, including $1 billion in cash from the advance sale of AAdvantage frequent flyer miles to Citi (NYSE: C), and nearly $300 million via a cash loan from GE Capital Aviation Services. The remaining $1.6 billion comes from sale-lease finance commitments for Boeing 737 aircraft that were previously owned by the company, the company said. AMR said it will use the funding to purchase additional aircraft and to add first class cabins to existing aircraft. The company also said it will shift more capacity to hubs in Dallas-Forth Worth, Chicago, Miami and New York City. As of June 2009, AMR had $3.3 billion in cash and short-term investments as of June 30, including $460 million dedicated to specific uses.  

Rockwell Collins Inc. (NYSE: COL): The defense contractor and manufacturer of aircraft parts on Thursday lowered the high end of its 2009 earnings-per-share forecast to a range of $3.70-$3.75 from $3.70-$3.90. Excluding a $20 million charge related to plans to cut workers and close a facility in California, the company expects to earn between $3.78 and $3.83 per share. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based company also lowered its 2009 revenue guidance to $4.5 billion from $4.55 billion. For fiscal year 2010, the company expects to report revenue in the range of $4.6 billion and $4.8 billion and earnings per share in the range of $3.35 to $3.55. Analysts, on average, expect the company to report 2009 earnings per share in the range of $3.83 and revenue in the range of $4.54 billion. For 2010, analysts expect the company to earn $3.50 per share on revenue of $4.64 billion. However the company is still quite upbeat. CEO Clay Jones said in a statement "Despite continued weakness in the global economy, the balance of our business, as well as our continued use of acquisitions as a tool to profitability grow our company will enable positive revenue growth." Shares rallied 3.45% to $50.42 in midday trade on Thursday.

Sequenom (NASDAQ: SQNM): Shares of Sequenom got a big boost on Wednesday after the company said that it has officially launched its new SensiGene laboratory test.