Covid cases in the United States have fallen to their lowest levels since June as the United States prepares for the Memorial Day weekend, making the case for reopening trade stronger. This is especially true against the backdrop of a fast-recovering economy supported by continued progress in the development of more COVID-19 vaccines, rapid vaccine rollout, reopening of the economy as well as fiscal and monetary stimulus.
The combination of these factors has led to higher demand for all types of products and services in the economy. More than 37 million people are expected to travel from May 27 through May 31, marking a 60% uptick from last year’s record-low of 23 million travelers, AAA said, as quoted on CNN. Last year’s figure is the lowest recorded since AAA began tracking in 2000, the report said.
Almost 50% of all Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Most of the Memorial Day weekend travelers — 34 million — are expected to hit the road instead of flying, representing a 52% rise in car travel over last year. Though air travel will still be lower than 2019, the 2.5 million expected passengers will mark a 577% increase from last year. In any case, recent TSA figures point to a new pandemic-era air travel record.
The likely increase in holiday weekend travelers still represents 13% fewer travelers than in 2019 but shows that the travel pattern has improved quite steadily. Against this backdrop, below we highlight a few ETFs that could be gaining in the coming days.
ETFs in Focus
United States Natural Gas Fund UNG
Spending at the pumps will go up, partly due to the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack. AAA Travel experts indicated that pump prices could touch the highest since 2014.
iShares Transportation Average ETF (IYT)
The underlying Dow Jones Transportation Average Index measures the performance of companies from the Industrial Transportation, Airline and General Industrial Services industries of the U.S. equity market. The fund has exposure to railroads, trucking, air freight & logistics as well as airlines (read: Mixed Q1 Earnings Put Transport ETFs in Focus).
U.S. Global Jets ETF JETS
The underlying U.S. Global Jets Index tracks the performance of Airline Companies across the globe with emphasis on domestic passenger airlines (read: Sector ETFs to Win Despite Downbeat April Jobs Report).
AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF EATZ
The AdvisorShares Restaurant ETF is an actively managed exchange-traded fund that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies that derive at least 50% of their net revenues from the restaurant business (read: Time for Restaurant ETF on Solid Q1 Earnings, Fundamentals?).
AdvisorShares Hotel ETF BEDZ
The AdvisorShares Hotel ETF is an actively managed exchange-traded fund that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies that derive at least 50% of their net revenues from the hotel business.
First Trust NASDAQ Global Auto ETF CARZ
The underlying NASDAQ OMX Global Auto Index is designed to track the performance of the largest and most liquid companies engaged in manufacturing of automobiles (read: Can CARZ ETF Gain Despite Mixed Auto Earnings?).
Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF PBJ
The underlying Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index comprises stocks of 30 U.S. food and beverage companies. These are companies that are principally engaged in the manufacture, sale or distribution of food and beverage products, agricultural products and products related to the development of new food technologies.
Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox?
Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
FT-NDQ GL AUTO (CARZ): ETF Research Reports
US GLOBAL JETS (JETS): ETF Research Reports
INVS-DYN FD&BV (PBJ): ETF Research Reports
US-NATRL GAS FD (UNG): ETF Research Reports
ADVSR-RESTAURNT (EATZ): ETF Research Reports
ADVSR-HOTEL (BEDZ): ETF Research Reports
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report