On April 9 John Bolton took over as National Security Advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump. The move signals a more hawkish tone for an administration that poked warnings at Russia, Iran, and Syria following an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma. Opposition forces claim that the attack took place on April 7, 2018.
Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN), which offers contractual services to the U.S. defence sector, saw its stock rise 0.91% in early afternoon trading on April 9. Raytheon stock has climbed 14.9% in 2018 thus far. Defence stocks have soared since the election of Donald Trump, and the administration recently announced that defense spending would reach $700 billion annually in its latest budget. Most recently, Raytheon announced that it would begin a strategic systems software services contract for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and the U.S. Materiel Command (AMC).
Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT) was up 1.39% in early afternoon trading. Shares of Lockheed Martin have climbed 4.2% in 2018 but it has been locked in a budget battle with the government over the F-35. In its latest program overview, the U.S. Defense Department made it clear that Lockheed Martin must find a way to reduce the $1.1 trillion estimate for the ownership and operation of the F-35 jet. Shares of Lockheed Martin have climbed 23.8% year over year.
Rising tensions in the Middle East come amidst anticipation for a coming meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Defense Secretary James Mattis recently said that the U.S. military was putting “great power competition” at the heart of its strategy. This will mean a boost to defence spending going forward.
