Military Budget Changes Boost Defense Stocks

I noticed that defensive type stocks moved considerably higher yesterday after the WSJ printed this story about changes within the military budgets. Other stocks in this sector include GD, LLL, RTN, and NOC. While their longer term charts are still extremely weak, they would be a sector to watch with a few more strong outings like yesterday.

Let us hope that the government isn’t relying on the war machine to bring us out of this recession. That would be so typical and extremely wrong on many fronts. They should be cutting back the military spending and bringing our troops home from this nonsense in the Middle East.

Comments

[Philly Jim:]

Dude -- the defense stocks should all be dipping right now, not going up. The DOD is cutting future contracts and freezing projects that are over budget or behind schedule. In other words, It's crunch time for the DOD. Add SAIC to that list above and head's up.

Apr 07 10:32 AM

[Jeff Pierce:]

Maybe they know something we don't, such as Obama boosting our troop count in the middle east which would be awful and I'm totally against. They need to stop policing the world and bring everybody home.


On Apr 07 10:32 AM Philly Jim wrote:

> Dude -- the defense stocks should all be dipping right now, not going
> up. The DOD is cutting future contracts and freezing projects that
> are over budget or behind schedule. In other words, It's crunch time
> for the DOD. Add SAIC to that list above and head's up.

Apr 07 06:11 PM

[ArtfulDodger:]

Well said, Jeff. I hope you get your wish.

But many of us have been saying that since the early 1960s. And what has happened? We keep sending more troops to more places around the world, and now have them stationed in over 130 nations. And to fight whom?

This insanity is obviously not going to stop under Obama.

Remember what Nancy Pelosi said in the 2006 election which the Democrats won and took over both the Congress and Senate?

"Elect us and we'll defund the war in Iraq and bring the troops home."

They had the votes to do it, too, as they do now, but they're not going to do it.

On Apr 07 06:11 PM Jeff Pierce wrote:

> Maybe they know something we don't, such as Obama boosting our troop
> count in the middle east which would be awful and I'm totally against.
> They need to stop policing the world and bring everybody home.<br/>

Apr 08 09:26 AM

[Hmm?!:]

I am originally from Canada and I agree that America does WAY more than its share.......in trying to save the world.

However most Americans live in a media bubble ignorant to what America does do right and wrong and I could never bring you totally up to speed in this forum. However......

>> 35,000 US troops in South Korea means the worlds largest standing army (1 million men) in North Korea has never invaded. (no shots required)

>> a US naval base in Taiwan means that China will sabre rattle every year about that rogue province.... but never invade. (no shots required)

>> Star Wars was always a scam but it brought down Russian communism and created more than a dozen fledgling democracies (only a few shots required).

>> the second largest mass murder in history (5-8 million) by Ho Chi Minh... was actually a budget cut in congress......that effectively ended the Vietnam war. I am not saying, starting the Vietnam war was right or wrong. I am stating..... that once such a war is started, pulling out and Vietnam should NEVER be stated as the highest moral ground. (i.e. Charlie Wilson's war)

>> even after Pearl Harbor, America never got the necessary vote in congress to join a war with Germany. It was officially Adolf Hitler, who was tricked into declaring war on America (solving the problem). Lucky break for us all, since he was the only one working on the atomic bomb at the time.

>> 9/11 shouldn't really be considered a shock! It actually took years and two previous failed attempts to bring down the world trade center. This after two embassy bombings in Africa, the Cole, a military base attack in Saudia Arabia and Bin Laden was already offered to the US government by the government of Sudan.

"Sudan’s minister of defense, Fatih Erwa, has claimed that Sudan offered to hand Bin Laden over to the United States."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Foreign policy can only be ignored, by the ignorant for so long..........."Every time in history aggression has remained unchecked, it has grown." Colin Powell

Apr 08 06:21 PM

[Joe Q:]

One thing to remember about the big aerospace companies is that they are similar in engineering, marketing, and manufacturing to a commercial company like GM, but they are much less productive than a company like GM. Their overhead is far too high to produce products where you can "kick the tires" before you buy. They produce the absolute minimum quality and quantity of products for our military that they can possibly get away with. Their marketing just consists of endlessly gaming their customer, the Pentagon. They are a bad example for the country. Long term the best outcome could be to thoroughly reform the procurement process to promote higher quality, lower costs, and more appropriate products. Then allow these bloated bureaucratic behemoths to die off, just like GM is doing. If we ever got into another serious shooting war, these companies are albatrosses around everyone's collective neck.

Disclosure: I don't own any of that junk.

Apr 08 06:54 PM