Defense Stocks Stay in Demand As Geopolitical Tensions Escalate

Hello,

below a summary of relevant events happened in the stock market in the last week

📈 1/ Stocks and sectors bought by US politicians last week

This week, the trading activity at Capitol Hill was substantial, with just 83 transactions taking place

Oil & Gas and Aerospace the most invested sectors

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🏦 2/ US Politicians potential insider trading: Senator Sells Off Entertainment Stock As Company Opens New Chapter

Having assumed office in 2021, Sen. John Hickenlooper has recently been reporting an array of sales in his trade disclosures since 2023. Trading predominantly in the Communications and Consumer sectors, he recently reported a sale of Liberty Media Corp SiriusXM Group (LSXMA:US) shares. Valued between $15,000 and $50,000, this trade came before the entertainment stock saw a price fall of just under 20%.

Amidst this stock price decline, Liberty Media has had a busy year so far. The company closed February 2024 by announcing its full 2023 results; the company’s ownership of SiriusXM reached 83.4% at the end of Jan 2024 and earned a yearly revenue of almost $9 billion.

 More recently, Berkshire Hathaway - owned by Warren Buffett - bought as many as 1.9 million LSXMA shares in the past week. On March 12, 2024, the renowned firm bought 3,720,082 shares at $29.95 each, underscoring Buffett's confidence in the media conglomerate's value.

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How to be notified when politicians buy / sell stocks

As seen before, some suspicious trades were made by Congress Members and their relatives

However, the GOOD NEWS is that their moves can be copied (politicians need to disclose their stock positions)

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📄 3/ Interesting stock market stories

STORY #1:  Defense Stocks Stay in Demand As Geopolitical Tensions Escalate

On April 13, Iran carried out a retaliatory strike against Israel, raising the risk of a wider conflict involving U.S. forces. Israeli sources report over 300 missiles and drones deployed in the attack, marking Iran's first direct military assault on Israel.

Iran launched the attack in response to a suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month.

This event represents a significant escalation in the longstanding tension between the two countries, which has intensified since Israel declared war on Hamas last October

Market Response

Despite its substantial scale, the Iranian attack resulted in minimal physical damage within Israel. However, the oil and energy markets have been bracing themselves for Israel's response to the missiles.

 Since Oct 7, the demand for defense stocks has escalated. Lockheed Martin (LMT:US) has risen above 4% in the past month. Rtx Corp (RTX:US) is up by more than 17% year-to-date.

Most recently, Lockheed Martin secured a $17 billion contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to develop the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI), aimed at countering ICBM threats from countries like North Korea and Iran.

Speaking of a well-timed investment stroke, Rep. Kevin Hern bought up to $15,000 worth of both LMT and RTX shares on March 29 and March 21 respectively. Additionally, he also stocked up on several energy issuers like Devon Energy Corp (DVN:US), Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM:US) and NextEra Energy Inc (NEE:US).

If you want to be notified when insiders trade stock, we send daily email alerts here 

STORY #2: Representative Clark's NYCB Stock Moves

In a recent congressional trade report, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, representing Massachusetts's 5th congressional district, disclosed two transactions involving New York Community Bancorp Inc. (NYCB:US), a troubled New York-based bank that has seen its stock price plummet by 70% year-to-date.

The first transaction, executed from the Judith S. Clark Irrevocable Trust, amounted to sales between $1,001 and $15,000. Simultaneously, another transaction from Katherine M. Clark Separate Share Trust mirrored a similar sale within the same financial range. Both transactions, occurring on March 1, 2024, were disclosed on April 2, 2024.

The Katherine M. Clark Separate Share Trust, inherited on April 5, 2019, indicates a familial financial structure, although details about the Judith S. Clark Irrevocable Trust remain undisclosed.

Since the lawmaker's sales, the stock is currently witnessing a value depreciation of more than 12% in its share price. 

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STORY #3:  A Summary of the Main Trades Placed by Politicians and Insiders this Week

Representative Josh Gottenheimer filed 9 security purchases including Perella Weinberg (PWP) - a financial services company. He also filed the sale of 24 securities including Apple (AAPL) pre-DOJ lawsuit, Tesla (TSLA), Taiwan Semiconductors (TSM), and more. Gottenheimer sits on the Committee on Financial Services.

Representative W. Gregory Steube filed a sale of Synovus Financial (SNV). Steube sits on the Committee on Ways and Means.

Representative Mark Green filed a sale of NGL Energy Partners (NGL). Green has been selling energy stocks, including NGL, in high quantities since December 2023.

Representative Lloyd Doggett filed four security purchases including Johnson & Johnson (JNJ). Doggett is the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health.

Representative Michael Burgess filed sales of Exxon Mobile (XOM) and Illumina (ILMN). Burgess sits on the Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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📄 4/ Political Trading Bot

As you may remember, we have a trading bot that buys the same stocks as politicians

The bot is offered by the SEC registered broker QB, which will perform the trades. We will just provide them with the necessary data to execute

This means that every time politicians buy sizable amount of stocks, the bot buys those stocks as well

If you want to learn more about how to get access to the Political Trading Bot, click on the video below.

We assessed its performance, and it has been delivering solid results so far.

• We launched in May 2022 and the performance was +24% return

• Performance since April 2020 was +237% return