Auto Sector's Recent Pullback Could Signal Bigger Problems

By Odette Galli theStreet Columnist

The past month might've been a great time to shop for a car or truck, but you can't say the same if you were buying shares of automakers. In June the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost slightly more than 9%, but General Motors plunged 19% and Ford fell 11%. Selected suppliers like Dana , Delphi and Visteon are all down well into the double digits.

Some investors may have been waiting for a correction just like this to get into a booming consumer sector that's been one of the big positive surprises of this year. But this recent pullback in the auto stocks may more likely be the early stage of underperformance that could last a while longer.