General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStocks For Weapons Makers SURGE As Trump Moves Closer To War With Iran, (Cui Bono)
'If You Are Wondering Who Benefits': Weapons Makers See Stocks Surge as Trump Moves Closer to War With Iran. "Stocks for weapons manufacturers began to rise as soon as Soleimani was killed," said Rep. Ro Khanna. Common Dreams, Jan. 4, 2019.
Almost immediately after the United States assassinated Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike Thursday night, major American weapons manufacturers and defense contractorsfrom Northrop Grumman to Lockheed Martin to Raytheonsaw their stocks surge as investors sensed the growing likelihood of another costly and deadly war in the Middle East.
- "Defense contractors spent $84 million lobbying Congress last year, and it certainly wasn't to promote diplomacy and restraint," said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). (Photo: Jordan Uhl/Screengrab)
As the Los Angeles Times reported, "Even as the broader Standard and Poor's 500 index lost ground, the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry index climbed 1.8% on Friday."
According to the Times: Northrop Grumman Corp. stock jumped 5.4%. Based in Falls Church, Va., Northrop Grumman makes such aircraft as the B-2 bomber and the upcoming B-21 bomber and is the sole bidder to build the next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles.
AeroVironment Inc. advanced 6.9%. The Simi Valley company makes small, short-range reconnaissance drones that U.S. soldiers use. The increase in troop deployment to the Middle East could mean more business for AeroVironment, said Ken Herbert, managing director with investment banking and financial services firm Canaccord Genuity.
Shares of Lockheed Martin Corp., which makes the F-35 fighter jet, climbed 3.6%. Missile and radar technologies maker Raytheon Co.'s stock rose 1.5%.
The surge in defense stocks was readily highlighted on corporate television programs like Fox Business and in publications like Investor's Business Daily, which noted that "Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) were big winners in Friday's stock market trading, along with Raytheon stock."
Citigroup analyst Jonathan Raviv wrote Friday that "if Middle East conflict were to ratchet up...we think it could be tougher for Democratic Party electoral candidates to argue against a stronger defense budget in 2020."
"As is always the unfortunate case, defense stocks tend to benefit from perceptions of heightened risk and the potential for geopolitical conflict," Raviv added.
hi just your daily reminder that our country is in a military-industrial stranglehold and everyone trying to sell you war this morning is a key player https://t.co/e20DAbNbev Savannah Wooten (she/her/hers) (@SavannahEWooten) January 3, 2020
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who along with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) unveiled legislation to stop Pentagon funding for U.S. military action against Iran, tweeted late Friday that "if you are wondering who benefits from endless wars, take a look at how stocks for weapons manufacturers began to rise as soon as Soleimani was killed."
"Defense contractors spent $84 million lobbying Congress last year," Khanna noted, "and it certainly wasn't to promote diplomacy and restraint."
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/04/if-you-are-wondering-who-benefits-weapons-makers-see-stocks-surge-trump-moves-closer
jpak
(41,758 posts)"big can of whoopass"
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)request.
appalachiablue
(41,149 posts)Generic Other
(28,979 posts)Eisenhower warned us:
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influenceeconomic, political, even spiritualis felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.