Have high fuel costs also impacted suppliers to airplane manufacturing companies yet?
High fuel costs have not yet impacted the results of the Aerospace/Defense companies I follow; in fact, they are, for the most part, doing quite well. On the other hand, the stocks of the Aerospace/Defense companies I follow are mostly in free-fall. For example, take a look at Triumph Group’s (NYSE: TGI) chart: it has lost some 50% of its value since the beginning of the year, which I believe can be attributed to the rise in fuel costs, which now represent over 60% of the total cost of running a domestic airline. Add to that the slippage of the 787 as well as the A400M, the ramifications of the mortgage crisis, the concerns about the ultimate effect of the upcoming election and the question regarding how long the rest of the World will continue to finance the USA, and you have really bad environment for these stocks. What are you expecting from second quarter earnings season, in general? As far as the quarterly earnings that have already started trickling out, they appear to be in the
