Immediately following Election Day, the U.S. Global Jets ETF (NYSEArca: JETS) was among the industry exchange traded funds that surged in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprising victory. However, JETS has encountered some unfriendly skies to start 2017 and that scenario is related to politics.
JETS, the only ETF dedicated to airline equities, is off almost 1% year-to-date and that stems from concerns that President Trump and the Republican-controlled congress are moving slowly on the widely anticipated tax reform effort.
“Much of the pain has been a result of increasing concerns about competition, which could push down prices and hurt profit margins. But the slow progress of tax reform, highlighted by Paul Ryan’s comments yesterday, could also be a problem,” reports Ben Levisohn for Barron’s.
Still, there are encouraging fundamental factors for airlines, including low oil prices. Fuel is the largest input cost for airlines. The improving U.S. economy could encourage more business and leisure travel and airlines are generating impressive amounts of cash.