Terrorist Attacks Trigger Travel Sell-Off

Travel and leisure stocks are getting pummeled following the events in Paris

Josh Selway

Nov 16, 2015 at 11:24 AM

UAL
CTRP
WYN
PCLN
LUV
HLT
EXPE
DAL
CCL

It was a bumpy start on Wall Street, following Friday's terrorist attacks in Paris. While most of the major indexes have turned higher, though, travel-related names remain mired in red ink. Below is a roundup of some of the equities feeling the heat from Friday's tragic events.

Hotel stocks Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc (NYSE:HLT) and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:WYN) have given back 3.2% and 1.3%, respectively, and shareholders are also digesting some major M&A news within the sector. At $23.63, HLT is down 9.4% in 2015, while WYN sits on a year-to-date loss of 10.6% at $76.71.

For airlines, Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE:DAL) has taken a heavy blow, sliding 2.5% to $47.78. What's more, it appears someone sold to close a big block of January 2016 49-strike calls, per data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE). Elsewhere in the sector, Southwest Airlines Co (NYSE:LUV), American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL), and United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) are all off by more than 1%, with the latter seeing four times the average intraday put activity, as traders place long-term bearish bets in the January 2017 and 2018 series.

Elsewhere in travel, cruise concerns are taking a hit. Carnival Corp (NYSE:CCL) was last seen off 2.8% at $50.12, but seems to have found a foothold in the $50 area. Likewise, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (NYSE:RCL) is down 1.5% at $94.02, to test support at its 50-day trendline.

And inevitably, online booking sites are trading lower on the news, too. Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) is down 4% at $1,245.31. Meanwhile, Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) has given up 2.4% to sit at $122.22, and Ctrip.com International, Ltd. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CTRP) is down 2.4% at $94.96. What's more, CTRP puts are trading at twice the average intraday pace, as the company prepares to report earnings after the close on Wednesday.

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