Raytheon Company (RTN) has posted strong third quarter earnings of $499 million or $1.25 per diluted share -- better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.16 per share. Last year, the company had reported a net income of $437 million or $1.01 per share.   Operating income in the reported quarter grew by double digits (11%) to $765 million over the year-ago period. The boost came mainly from higher operating income in Technical Services (33%), Network Centric Systems (13%), Space and Airborne Systems (10%) and Integrated Defence Systems (5%). However, Intelligence & Information Systems and Missile Systems registered no growth.   On the revenue front, Raytheon grew 6% during the quarter to $6.2 billion over the year-ago period. Top-line growth was fueled by all but the Intelligence & Information Systems segment, owing to lower volumes in the e-Borders program.   Raytheon reported total bookings of $5.1 billion for ...

Raytheon (RTN) announced better-than-expected 2nd quarter results. The defense electronics giant -- in contrast to the flagship of defense contractors, Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT) -- reported 25% higher EPS of $1.24 over the year-ago quarter. Lockheed Martin reported 13% lower EPS over the year-ago quarter. While Lockheed was swept away by pension blues, Raytheon gained $11 million during the quarter from pension adjustments. The Details Raytheon exceeded both our and market expectations of $1.13 for the quarter. Operating income fell marginally year-over-year (1.9%) in the Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) and Missile Systems (MS, 7%) segments. This was more than made up by Network Centric Systems (NCS, 12.6%), Space and Airborne Systems (SAS, 24.1%) and Technical Services (TS, 17.8%), along with steady Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS). On the revenue front, although Raytheon grew 4% during the quarter to $6.1 billion, it failed to ...

One minute Russia is talking about the potential for cooperation in mutual interests to help Washington discourage nuclear proliferation in Iran, while the next minute they are selling missile systems and assisting with nuclear technology.  From the energy perspective, this blog has long argued that the most important strategy for Moscow is the maintainence of tensions between the United States and Iran in order to prevent the awakening of a sleeping gas giant.  Further complicating the plot, today the Financial Times is reporting on Gazprom getting involved with Iran to help build a pipeline to Gazprom.  Moral of the story:  if Iran is going to increase its gas exports, then they had better go through Russian built pipes and away from their sphere of energy influence.  From the FT:

"Both we and Pakistan are talking

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I went tactically long of equities at the end of last week, expecting a sharp bear rally, and Monday’s one day move, particularly in Japan (up 14%) and the US (up 11%) was what I might have reasonably expected for this whole week, so I’ve booked some profits. We’re in a period of what veteran investor Barton Biggs has termed ‘condensed lunacy’. The speed and scale of moves across asset markets are stunning, and in stocks we have seen nothing like this volatility since the huge swings during the 1929-33 Great Crash. This hasn’t been a ‘buy and hold’ market for a very long time, as evidenced by the appalling returns generated by mutual funds over the last decade. So stepping back from the gut wrenching volatility, what’s the big picture? We’re still in a huge bear cycle for US equities. I wrote on 24 July that …

If you still haven't put any defense and aerospace stocks in your portfolio, you should seriously consider doing so before October. There are plenty of these 'war' stocks to choose from including ones that pay high yields. Here are some that you may want to site your scopes on and possibly pull the trigger. All of these have market caps over $1 billion.Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) manufactures and markets aerospace and defense products and ammunition. The stock has a PE of 16, and a PEG of 1.56.Boeing (BA) makes and markets jets, military aircraft, missile defense systems, satellites, and launch systems. The stock has a PE of 11, a PEG of 0.83, and pays a yield of 2.8%.CAE Inc. (CGT) makes and markets simulation equipment and services to the civil aviation industry, military organizations, and defense organizations. The ...