Planes, Trains and Ships
With global trade booming, don’t forget to look at the companies that move all that stuff around.
Corporate America’s outsourcing to China’s giant manufacturing platform and our 2005 record trade deficit may have you wringing your hands but it also represents opportunities for shrewd investors.
About 10% of America’s GDP still represents manufacturing but an even higher 15% comes from the moving of goods and services (including imports) around the country and globe. A great play on this growth is the low-cost and tax-efficient iShares Dow Jones Transportation ETF (IYT) which is listed on the NYSE and has twenty holdings. This sector ETF is up % over the past 12 months and % so far this year.
Just over 19% of this basket contains Fed Ex and UPS and both companies are growing right with international trade. They are also helping companies improve service and cut costs through their consulting services. One example is work done by UPS for Harley -Davidson Motor Company. Based in my hometown of Milwaukee since being founded in 1903, UPS found that Harley was making a lot of shipments of less-then-truckload size and it helped them develop a system to cross dock shipments in Chicago to consolidate shipments. It also recommended larger orders of parts and accessories to be sent directly to dealers thereby lowering costs and speeding up deliveries. Next on the agenda is improving international operations.
Another big part of the ETF is rail services provided by companies like Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and CSX. With our ports jammed with imports, railways are playing a key role moving them inland to consumer distribution points.
A shipper in the basket is Hawaii-based Alexander & Baldwin (ALEX) which was founded in 1870 and incorporated in 1900. Its largest subsidiary Matson is a leader in shipping between Pacific ports and Asia.
Then there is Expeditors International of Washington (EXPD), a global logistics company with 10,000 employees and nearly $4 billion in revenue. The company offers air and ocean freight forwarding services, insurance and distribution services and its stock has gone from a 52 week low of $47 to a current price of $86.
While you could invest in these companies individually, it makes sense to use this ETF for a convenient, inexpensive, and well diversified basket that should grow right along with the trains, planes and ships moving commerce both at home and around the world..
Delfeld has 20 years of global investment experience including stints in Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo and served on the Executive Board of the Asian Development Bank in Manila. He was also a consultant to the U.S. Treasury and the U.S. Congress on international investing and is a columnist on global investing for Forbes Asia magazine.
For more information about Chartwell’s ETF investor advisory services, please go to http://chartwelladvisor.com/etf_investing.html or call Carl Delfeld direct at
(719) 264-1503.
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