It's another bad day for investors in Carnival (NYSE: CCL) (NYSE: CUK) , Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) , and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH) . In Thursday trading, the three major cruise line stocks all fell in near lockstep. As of 11:05 a.m. EDT, shares of Carnival are down 4.1%, Royal Caribbean is down 4.3%, and Norwegian is down 5.2%.
Why are cruise stocks down again today? Take your pick of the reasons. The U.S. Department of Labor just reported that claims for unemployment benefits are rising once more, up 4,000 to 870,000 in the week ended Sept. 19. Economists had been hoping jobless claims would decline, and the fact that they're moving the wrong way isn't great news for the economy -- or for the discretionary spending power of consumers who might like to take a cruise, if they only had the money.
Elsewhere in Washington, Congress still hasn't passed a second multi-trillion-dollar stimulus plan . The Fed is taking a wait-and-see approach to trying to stimulate the economy on its own, according to Marketwatch. And on the horizon, there's the approaching prospect of a contested presidential election that could throw the whole country into political turmoil for weeks.
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Why Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Stocks Are All Sinking Thursday