Thanks to brewing momentum in Washington to end the political gridlock that contributed to the U.S. government shutdown, the equities market broadly settled higher. However, among the biggest beneficiaries were United Airlines (UAL) and its sector peers. Following a significant disruption to air travel, investors previously fretted about a sustained dark cloud ahead of the holiday season. But with that headwind potentially avoided, UAL stock swung northward.
Of course, the issue now is that the news has largely been baked into company valuations. While UAL stock popped more than 5% on Wednesday, the afterhours session saw the equity slip about half a percent. Moving forward, UAL and its ilk will need new information to justify continued optimism. From the perspective of quantitative analysis, though, the prevailing winds may favor a bullish posture.
