Gun manufacturer stocks rise after Trump assassination attempt
Shares in gun manufacturers surged Monday in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Shares in gun manufacturers jumped Monday in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
Smith & Wesson Brands closed up 11%, while Sturm, Ruger & Co. rose 5%. Both firms make pistols, revolvers, hunting rifles and semiautomatic rifles like the one used in the shooting at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Officials have not yet released information about who manufactured the gun.
In recent years, arms companies' shares have tended to see short-term increases in the wake of political and legal decisions seen as potentially leading to increased risk of domestic turbulence or which could be interpreted as heralding potential crackdowns on firearms ownership that would lead people to stockpile them.
But Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers financial group, said such stock moves are more often than not simply knee-jerk reactions by traders to current events and do not necessarily signal that more sales will occur.
"The question is does their stock rally persist, or does it fade," Sosnick said. "We don’t know the lasting effect and won’t really know until they make some sort of public comment or report their quarterly earnings."
Rating: 5