As I noted in my “Bear Growls Louder for Consumer Stocks” post, consumer spending on services is looking weaker by the day and consumers seem to be trimming plans for summer travel. Bookings are slowing at airlines and hotels, for example.
And it looks like the summer travel rally that I’ve been looking for is going to be a damp squib rather than a Fourth of July rocket.
So I’m beginning to sell some of the stocks that I added in anticipation of that travel rally. And I’d like to get that selling done before the new earnings season commences in July because I’m worried that guidance from companies in the travel sector is going to be filled with caution.
Back on April 22, 2022, I added Booking Holdings (BKNG) either #1 or #2 in the online travel booking sector (depending on what metric you track), to my Jubak Picks Portfolio. The post-Pandemic travel boom that was a predicate for that buy is turning out to be much weaker than I expected so I think it’s time to take my losses–the position is down 14.85% as of the close on June 17 even after Friday’s 3.28% gain–and park a little more cash on the sidelines.
