Why are gun stocks tumbling?
It's unclear what's triggering the recent plunge in shares of Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger. We may be seeing a correction after a runup around the presidential election.
Updated 5 p.m. ETGun stocks are seeing the post-election blues.
Shares of Smith & Wesson (SWHC) and Sturm Ruger & Co. (RGR) recovered slightly Tuesday from some pretty steep declines over the last week. Smith & Wesson's stock price finally turned up by 4% Tuesday after sliding 13% over two trading days. Sturm Ruger rose less than 1% after suffering a 17% drop in the last week.
It looks like these stocks are correcting to levels seen before the November presidential elections. Investors jumped into these stocks as the election approached, figuring they would rise as shoppers stampeded into gun stores. And that did happen: Gun dealers made a record number of background-check requests on Black Friday, with 154,873 requests going to the FBI's call centers.
No one totals the actual number of guns sold, but those background-check requests are a good sign that firearms were flying out the doors.
But as the Motley Fool's Sean Williams points out, gun orders tend to return to normal levels after the elections are over, and "investors realize that they've bid shares up far beyond the gun makers' potential."
Some gun buyers are fearing a crackdown on firearms by President Obama, who suggested in one of the presidential debates that he was in favor of reintroducing an assault weapons ban. The National Rifle Association is fanning those fears, featuring a commentary on its site from CEO Wayne LaPierre saying that "an anti-gun Supreme Court, a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, and a sweeping gun ban aren't just a possibility in a second Obama term. They're a near certainty."
Investors were speculating all day Monday about why gun stocks were down. "Ironically, the gun plays are quickly turning into falling knives," wrote one trader on Twitter. Another said that Sturm Ruger is "doing what it always does, runs like crazy then corrects very hard -- good poster child for why chasing is stupid." Still others said the correction was overblown, and that gun stocks would recover soon.
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I guess foxy your a yuppie of what ever the latest new word is. Now if you knew as much as you think you know you would understand what a RED NECK is. I am a RED NECK and I do make over 130 k a year, I work for a living.
How much do you make, or does it depend how long you spend on your back or knees.
As far as fanning the flames, the news media fans the flames better than any one.
I'll hold on to my guns and Bible and the constitution of the United States of America, thank you very much
Semper Fi
FOxymoron AZ said;
"I can tell you why gun sales are down.The rednecks are out of money.Maybe the 1st of the
month it will improve.They`ve spent their welfare money at Nascar."
You are a total idiot.
1. Gun Stocks are down, but sales are NOT. We rednecks have money, on account of the fact that
we're not afraid to actually work for a living, and we are still buying guns! hehe
2. NASCAR's season ended a month ago. Nobody's spending any money on that until Feb. hehe
3. Guns aren't cheap, and they aren't handing them out as entitlements. Thus, you don't have any.....
4. Gun Stock is down! You should sell your Dow Corning Silicone Stock, and buy Stock in Guns!!
Nuts on either extreme side hate facts. Pick any area that has lax gun laws and allows lawful citizens to arm themselves and you will see a much smaller crime rate. Criminals hate it when you shoot back. Car jackings are not as fun when the owner has a gun too.
Compare gun hating DC to the immediate Virginia areas that have lax gun laws and the crime rates are vastly different.
OK....so I am with many of the self proclaimed RED NECKS posting. I work hard every day. Pay my taxes, feed my kids, and make sure I save for my own retirement. I am proud to say I make sound decisions and do not need Uncle Sam to hold my hand. I also do not need Uncle Sam to tell me what to feed my kids, how to get them to do better in school, and what a work ethic is. Since my daddy was not rich...and no one paid for my college...I had to stop going. From a solid work ethic and common sense I have achieved the American Dream of making very good money...and enjoying my life.
I get tired of someone in some big city...telling me what I / WE need to do different to solve problems I nor my community have. Live your life and let me live mine. You don't want a gun...great...keeps the price down on the ones I want to buy. You want someone to tell you how to feed your kids or get them to attend school....find a help group (plenty of NGO's to help).
But understand...MRS FOXY...I DO NOT NEED SOMEONE TO HELP ME WITH COMMON SENSE THINGS. I grew up in a part of the country that common sense is still COMMON.
OBAMA IS DRIVING NAILS IN YOUR COFFIN AS WE SPEAK!!!!!
HELL - THE WHOLE US GOVERNMENT IS HELPING HIM - ALONG WITH THE MEDIA - STUPID VOTERS - HILLARY - MUSLIMS - THE 47% - DETROIT - AND TOO MANY OTHERS TO NAME!!!
ENJOY LIVING WITHOUT YOUR GUNS - HILLARY WILL SEE TO IT!!!!!
I purchased my first gun when I was 12 years old with money I made selling boiled peanuts in a small town in S.C. If it matters I am now 70 and own several guns and plan on buying a pistol for my wife and teach her how to use it so that if anyone makes an attempt to rob or kill her she will at least have a fighting chance. I am a Viet-Nam vet, own my own business, never received federal aid and worth several million dollars. If and when anyone comes to take my guns, my heart goes out to the first few because they will receive my bullets prior to my guns. So, which part of this makes me a "red-neck"? Or is it just because I happen to be white.
I am a 62yr.old Texan. I grew up with guns. I was taught to shoot how to hunt, and how to safely handle guns since I was a boy. I now have my own ranch, and I am teaching my nieces and nephews how to hunt and shoot ( they love it ). I do like the semi autos ( what you call assault weapons ). We have a serious wild hog problem here. If they get in your garden they will destroy it in minutes. They destroy wildlife habitat and range land. With the semi autos I can kill at least 2X-3X as many as with a bolt action. Coyotes are also a problem. With a semi auto I can tumble them on the run. You city apartment liberals do not walk in my boots. Do not dictate your city values on me. If you have a problem with Texas, do not come here. We all have guns and will shoot, I will watch my neighbors back and they will watch mine.
I LOVE TEXAS.
Same old arguments pro and against firearm ownership throughout this string of comments. Anyone want to check out a few truths, try this:
The main reason for the 2nd Amendment was to provide for an armed citizenry who would be able to resist a tyranical usurpation of the Constitution. This is confirmed in many of the private letters and writings of the very individuals that framed the Constitution. Further, I don't think the argument that the Amendment applied to "muskets and black power arms" holds water as these men were intelligent enough to realize that armament would improve in the future and that black powder weapons would eventually go the way of the bow and suits of armor..
The second reason for the 2nd Amendment was to allow the citizen to have a means of self defense. Again, while not specifically stated in the Constitution, the letters and writings of our founding fathers support this concept completely.
Gun control does NOT equal crime and violence control. Again, I grew up in the late 40's and 50's. In those days one could obtain a firearm off the back of a comic book by just stating that you were over 18 years old and sending in the required money. No proof of age, no background check, no license, no federal form to fill out. A few days later your gun showed up in the mail. I recall one particular ad that offered a 20mm anti-tank rifle if you had the money. Crime was at an all time low. A murder was front page news for days or weeks and there were no gangs or drug wars, but guns were much more available and easier to obtain then ever. Almost everyone I knew had some sort of firearm including my father, a WWII navy veteran, who had two of those awful semi-automatic .45's.
The anti firearms folks like to rant about the 20,000 or so people killed each year by firearms. However that number includes gang and crime related killings, suicides and justified homicides such as shootings by police officers and citizens defending themselves or their family.
Piers Morgan made an interesting statement on TV the other day and I had to agree with him. In Britain they have strict gun control and only have 20 to 30 gun killings a year, agreed. However, crime in general is up just as it is in gun controlled Australia and Britain is much smaller with a much lower population than the U.S. Consider this, as the citizens are not armed, the bad guys don't need guns either. A knife, hunk of pipe or a club will work just fine on an unarmed citizen especially if three or four skels jump a man with a wife and kid with him or break into his home Also, people still commit suicide and there is gang and drug violence, just no guns.
Our problem is not firearms, it is the continuing break down in our society created by the very people that we have placed in positions of trust and power who now abuse it and this nations people for their own interests.
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MARKET UPDATE
[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 ended this week with a bang, roaring to a new all-time high on the back of stronger-than-expected economic data, influential leadership, and an ongoing appreciation for the Fed's monetary policy support.
The bullish bias was evident in premarket action as the S&P futures pointed to a higher start without the benefit of any definitive news catalyst. Stocks indeed benefited from a blast of buying interest at the opening bell on this ... More
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All hail the bull market, which ended the week with a big rally. But it also is starting to look a little like 1987, which suffered an epic blow-out.
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