The iShares Transportation Average ETF (NYSEArca: IYT), the tracking exchange traded fund for the Dow Jones Transportation Average, is off nearly 22% over the past 12 months and slipped to a new 52-week low on Monday.
Transportation stocks were expected to benefit from lower oil prices and while that has been the case for airline stocks, other industry groups represented in IYT, including railroads, have struggled. Railroad operators, which are nearly 22% of IYT’s weight, making that the ETF’s third-largest industry allocation, are giving investors cause for concern with transportation stocks.
Stymied by tumbling shares of railroad operators and airlines that have surprisingly fallen in unison with oil prices, transportation exchange traded funds have recently been disappointments. [Transportation ETFs Need Help]
“Railroad cargo in the U.S. dropped the most in six years in 2015, and things aren’t looking good for the new year,” reports Bloomberg.
Last year, the railway industry weakened on lower rail traffic after the drop in energy prices, notably from oil and coal companies. Over the first 35 weeks 2015, U.S. railroads experienced cumulative volume that was down more than 4% year-over-year. However, the pressures may have already been priced in, and the industry has a number of factors that will help support further growth.