"rig the stock price" is a pretty serious accusation to throw out there on your word alone, did you mean "engage in delta hedging"?
Sure. The intent behind the derivative overlay that an airline, grocer etc may employ will typically be to hedge unwanted risk (e.g. to crude, currency etc movements); that is outside their core competency (managing their underlying business). Example: Airline - let's call it XYZ XYZ decides to "collar" their crude exposure. If crude prices rise, an airline's cost of doing business increases. The hedge less costs (and exposure to the long strike) will offset this price increase. XYZ's fear has materialised and crude prices increase. In response, XYZ decides to increase the price of their airline ticket anyway. Crude prices have risen after-all; and other airlines (who decided not to hedge and maybe those like XYZ who did decide to hedge ) have raised their ticket prices to preserve margins etc. Customers can't complain; they can check Google to confirm that crude prices have indeed increased ! The result: XYZ has gained on its hedge and offloaded its exposure to crude to the end customer. That's one hell of an edge in my book . The extent that XYZ is able to pass the risk(s) to end-customers will depend on the competitiveness of the airline market. The scenario where crude prices increase but the airline industry absorbs the price increase (e.g. because the hedge compensates them for the loss of margin) will converge to the risk profile mere mortals like us trading vertical spreads are exposed .
Thank you for your helpful comments. As a full time trader, trading is my "business" and when appropriate I should hedge (or sometimes speculate on) my holdings. Last year, I mostly speculated. This year, perhaps I should hedge more than speculate. Anyway, I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my comments showing you care and your willingness to coach. Kind regards,