• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
FinanceInvesting

Airline ETF JETS has seen assets soar 2,930% thanks to ‘bored’ millennial day traders

By
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
and
Katherine Greifeld
Katherine Greifeld
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
and
Katherine Greifeld
Katherine Greifeld
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 3, 2020, 3:19 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

A once-obscure ETF tracking airlines soared past $1 billion, largely bolstered by day trading.

The US Global Jets exchange-traded fund, ticker JETS, posted its 64th consecutive day of inflows on Tuesday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Its growth has been staggering: The ETF held just $33 million in early March as the coronavirus pandemic grounded global air travel. The fund’s top holdings are the four major U.S. airlines, though it said last week that it will begin investing in Canadian carriers as well.

Much of that explosive growth in assets can be credited to day traders looking to “catch the bottom” in airline stocks, according to Frank Holmes, chief executive officer of JETS issuer U.S. Global Investors. After speaking with newly minted JETS holders, he says the boredom of being stuck at home and the strong rebound in carriers after the 2001 terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis are luring young traders.

“All these millennials, being stuck at home with no bars to go to and no beaches to travel to, took their money and became day traders,” said Holmes. “They’re bored, they want to make money.”

In particular, the growing popularity of JETS on retail trading platform Robinhood has “shocked” Holmes. The number of users holding JETS surged to nearly 30,000 this week, according to Robintrack, a website unaffiliated with the site that uses its data to show trends in positioning. That compares to 500 at the beginning of March.

Not even a warning from billionaire investor Warren Buffett has deterred the army of day traders. Buffett said in early May that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. completely exited its positions in airlines, cautioning that the prospects have changed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Since then, JETS has taken in roughly $294 million worth of inflows.

Despite a nearly 21% rebound over the past month, JETS is still nursing a year-to-date plunge of over 45%. The bulk of the fund’s losses came after mid-February once lockdown measures took effect around the globe in an effort to contain the spread of infections.

JETS’s recent recovery has further evaporated demand to bet against it. Short interest as a percentage of shares outstanding on JETS — a rough indicator of bearish bets on the fund — is currently 0.5%, according to data from IHS Markit Ltd. It reached 7.8% in February 2019.

However, JETS’s methodology deserves a second look from investors pouring into the fund, according to DataTrek Research.

Instead of using a market-cap based weighting system employed by most sector-focused ETFs, JETS seeks to assign a 10% weighting to the top four largest U.S. or Canadian airline companies. Additionally, the fund doesn’t have Boeing, despite holding General Dynamics and Airbus, co-founder Nicholas Colas noted.

“JETS may work from here, or it may not, but the important thing to know is that it’s not a passive fund with weightings based on market caps and it can entirely exclude mega-cap companies associated with air travel,” Colas wrote in a note Tuesday. “While the whole airline group may trade with a correlation of 1.0 for some time to come, you can’t just assume you know what’s in this product.”

About the Authors
By Bloomberg
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Katherine Greifeld
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

Latest in Finance

t
AIMarkets
Billionaire Mike Bloomberg warns Trump’s AI ownership plan would make ‘George Orwell blush’
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
4 hours ago
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sits and speaks at a Senate Committee Hearing
PoliticsDonald Trump
‘Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls’: Hegseth on additional defense spending following $37.5B Iran War price tag
By The Associated Press and Lisa MascaroJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
A ski worker in winter skiing gear strikes a pose in front of a ski slope in Lesotho.
Travel & LeisureDonald Trump
In Lesotho, the country’s only fully operational ski resort offers snowy slopes for Africa’s ski enthusiasts
By The Associated Press and Mogomotsi MagomeJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
Moldova’s parliament elects 44-year-old businessman investor Vasile Tofan as prime minister
PoliticsEuropean Union
Moldova’s parliament elects 44-year-old businessman investor Vasile Tofan as prime minister
By The Associated PressJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
UN’s worst-case scenario: Energy and fertilizer shock from Iran war could push nearly 19 million more into chronic hunger by 2030
EconomyUnited Nations
UN’s worst-case scenario: Energy and fertilizer shock from Iran war could push nearly 19 million more into chronic hunger by 2030
By Mia OsmonbekovJuly 21, 2026
5 hours ago
holland
Arts & EntertainmentMovies
‘The audience is telling the industry something’: even IMAX is stunned by Christopher Nolan’s runaway ‘Odyssey’
By Tatiana SatauaJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
1 day ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
2 days ago
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
Cybersecurity
OpenAI says its AI models secretly broke out of a secure test environment and hacked into AI company Hugging Face in order to cheat on an evaluation
By Jeremy Kahn and Emily ForliniJuly 21, 2026
6 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
3 days ago
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
AI
Mathematicians grapple with a ‘very rapid and very unsettling change’ as AI cracks yet another century-old problem
By Eva RoytburgJuly 21, 2026
10 hours ago
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
Success
Despite a $156 million contract, Knicks star Jalen Brunson still calls his parents for financial advice any time he makes a big purchase
By Emma BurleighJuly 21, 2026
11 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.