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Contrarian Investors Flocks to Airlines Despite Buffett Exit

from Blooomberg June 8, 2020

Warren Buffett announced that his Berkshire Hathaway sold its entire stake in airlines in May. At the end of 2019, the company’s stakes in the big four carriers neared $10 billion, with greater than 10 percent ownership stakes in Delta and Southwest. “The airline business – and I may be wrong and I hope I’m wrong – but I think it’s changed in a very major way. The future is much less clear to me,” said Buffett.

Despite the legendary investors’ warning that airlines might not recover, contrarian traders are eager to capture a rebound by investing in the only airline ETF, reports Bloomberg. WallachBeth Capital’s Mohit Bajaj said, “The sector has already sold off pretty dramatically. By buying the ETF, it mitigates the risk from owning any single airline company.”

The U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) invests in the global airline industry and can hold up to 39 names. Since Buffett announced his exit from the space on May 1, JETS has rallied 27 percent as of June 3. Read more about the story on Bloomberg.com.

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The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting actions to control or slow the spread has had a significant detrimental effect on the global and domestic economies, financial markets and industries, including airlines. U.S. Global Investors continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19, but it is too early to determine the full impact this virus may have on commercial aviation. Should this emerging macro-economic risk continue for an extended period, there could be an adverse material financial impact to the U.S. Global Jets ETF.