Defense, Police, Prisons, Weapons etc. 02 (Mar 17 - Dec 25)

[winston]

WHEN TENSIONS RUN HIGH, WATCH THESE STOCKS

Today's chart highlights a basket of stocks breaking out...

Regular readers know that in the past, we've noted that the U.S. is always involved in military action. Defense contractors supply the weapons for these conflicts.

But with so much government spending on foreign conflicts, they might as well be called "offense" contractors. And the business of war is still going strong...

You can see this concept at work with the iShares U.S. Aerospace and Defense Fund (ITA). The fund tracks a basket of "offense" contractors like Lockheed Martin (LMT), Raytheon (RTN), and Northrop Grumman (NOC). And with tensions heating up in the Korean peninsula, these stocks are surging...

As you can see in the chart below, ITA's shares have been in a steady uptrend all year. They're up nearly 30% over the past year alone... and just hit new all-time high.

These contractors develop many of the tools needed to defend (or to provoke) new attacks. So when conflict is rising, so are ITA shares...

Source: Daily Wealth

[winston]

Here's Why The Defense Sector Is The Best Trade Today

by Patrick W. Watson

iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) total return doubled the market in the last five years.

Source: Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/patrickwwa ... a597c6d89f

[winston]

Best ETFs to Buy for the Santa Rally: iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA)

North Korea. ISIS. Tensions with Russia. Let’s face it, there is a lot of potential conflict in the world. And as a result, the best play could be a hefty dose of Defense. As in the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Def. ETF (NYSEARCA:ITA).

ITA tracks the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index– which is made up of all the defense stocks in the U.S. That includes all of the firms on this list, as well as other defense stocks such as Boeing (NYSE:BA) and General Dynamics Corporation (NYSE:GD).

The real beauty of ITA is that it includes plenty of smaller and mid-sized defense contractors and hardware producers.

These firms often only have a few product lines, so it makes them risky to own by themselves, as the ending of a contract can spell doom. However, they do offer plenty of growth and capital appreciation as M&A targets or in a major contract win scenario. By using ITA you get them all, as well as the established defense stock players.

Already, ITA has been a big winner for portfolios. But with an estimated higher defense budget and none of the major conflicts going away, it could still see plenty of gains in the fourth quarter.

Source: investor Place

[winston]

Beyond North Korea, 4 More Reasons To Buy Defense ETFs

1. Mergers and Acquisitions
2. Trump's Afghanistan Strategy
3. Strong Sector Fundamentals
4. Passage of a $700 billion Defense Bill by Senate

Aerospace and defense ETFs like iShares US Aerospace & Defense ETF (HM:ITA) , PowerShares Aerospace & Defense Portfolio PPA and SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense (NYSE:XAR) ETF (LON:XAR) are well positioned to capitalize on the above-mentioned factors.

Source: Zacks Investment Research

https://www.investing.com/analysis/beyo ... -200214466

[winston]

vested XAR

In Defense of Defense: Why the Sector Can Keep Climbing

By Teresa Rivas

Small-cap defense stocks are still up 46% since the election, and 26% in 2017 while the S&P 500 is up "just" 16%.

While investor sentiment has shifted to a more “show me” outlook on many defense stocks, we do not believe the rally is over; instead, we believe this is a near-term pause as execution catches up with the fundamentals and the budget overhang is reduced.

Source: Barron's Asia

http://www.barrons.com/articles/in-defe ... yptr=yahoo

[behappyalways]

mig-the-soviet-warplanes-the-west-feared-the-most
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/2017110 ... d-the-most

[winston]

The U.S. has a total of 11 aircraft carrier strike groups. Each strike group is led by a nuclear-powered aircraft supercarrier.

Ten of the supercarriers are of the Nimitz Class and one is of the new Ford Class, with improved technology and other operating efficiencies.

At any one time, as many as eight of the carriers may be in homeport undergoing repair and maintenance, for training or otherwise awaiting deployment.

Only four or five are actually underway in one of the U.S. Navy’s major areas of operation (AO) at once.

[winston]

Defense Investors Are About to Get Rich “1981-Style”

By MICHAEL A. ROBINSON

PowerShares Aerospace & Defense ETF (NYSE Arca: PPA)

This is a cost-effective ETF made up of 80% defense and aerospace stocks from companies that are proven leaders

Source: Money Morning

https://moneymorning.com/2017/12/28/def ... 981-style/

[winston]

Trump’s Budget Reveals Defense Tech’s Hottest Plays

Source: Tech Stock Sensei

http://techstocksensei.com/2018/03/tech ... ed-martin/

[behappyalways]

US, China and Saudi Arabia top list of military spending
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/ ... 24362.html