Diamonds and Dogs

5/22/17

Saudi Arabia is good for defense stocks.  On his trip to the Middle East, President Trump announced a $110 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia that could grow to $350 billion over 10 years. Lockheed Martin is up 2.5% winning contracts worth around $28 billion during the state visit, which will see Saudi Arabia buying air and missile defence equipment from it, along with navy ships, aircraft and helicopters. Boeing (BA) is up 2% on the arms deal and Raytheon (RTN) is up a percent thanks to the Saudi Arabia Military Industries Company signing a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on defense-related projects and technology development.

The Health care sector is underperforming  led by Amgen (AMGN).  Amgen is down 2% back to its January lows after the company said that it has observed new cardiovascular risks for its Evenity drug, which is intended to reduce risk of fractures in patients with osteoporosis, and that it does not expect the drug to get approved this year. Amgen is in a tight range between $170 and $140 for the last two and a half years.