With news breaking out that Israel launched a strike against Iran, Dow futures fell more than 500 points (or 1.18% down) in response. However, not all sectors have shared in the red ink. In particular, WTI Crude shot up nearly 7.5% on fears of a rapidly escalating situation in the Middle East. Another prominent segment is aerospace and defense, with Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) moving sharply higher during Friday’s pre-market session.
Since the start of the year, LMT stock has been choppy, offering up a loss of 3.43%. This pales in comparison to the benchmark S&P 500, which has gained almost 3% during the same period. However, LMT stock has cynically benefited from a shot of relevance, moving up 2.77% on Thursday. A day earlier, President Donald Trump told reporters that U.S. personnel in the Middle East were being moved out due to rising tensions.
Before the opening bell earlier today, LMT stock shot up more than 4% as Israel launched an operation targeting Iran’s nuclear program. Adding to concerns of a global conflagration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that military actions “will continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat.”
Notably, LMT stock is on course to print four accumulative weeks and six distributive weeks. Statistically, this market breadth sequence materialized 29 times in the past decade, and in nearly 59% of cases, the following week’s price action results in upside, with a median return of 1.53%. Based on the price action witnessed in the pre-market session, the bulls could attempt to push LMT in a range between $496 to $500.
As a baseline, the chance that a long position will be profitable in LMT stock on any given week is only 50.73%. With the odds shifting statistically and fundamentally in favor of the bullish speculator, it may be reasonable to expect a rise in capital inflows toward Lockheed Martin.
