Over 250 stocks on the NYSE and NASDAQ had gains greater than 10% on November 9th, the first day the market was open after Trump won the election. 10% is a huge gain for a stock, so I wanted to see why Wall Street would be so excited about these companies under President Trump. What I found is very scary.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc., up 11.5%

Photo from NV DOE

This is a company that builds nuclear weapons, fighter jets, and a variety of other weapons. Trump bemoaned that our nuclear arsenal was falling behind Russia in the first debate (he was wrong) and repeatedly called for increased military spending on the campaign trail. This stock’s gains are especially troubling as nuclear weapons, if used, could lead to the destruction of humanity as we know it.

Corrections Corporation of America, up 43.1%, and The GEO Group, up 21.3%

These two companies run private prisons and immigration and detention centers. There is extensive documentation of abuse and mistreatment of inmates and a host of other issues. Trump has called for detention and deportation of millions of people residing in the United States who are not yet citizens and this could require use of additional private facilities. Law enforcement already disproportionately locks up black men. There is also evidence that law enforcement will racially profile POC and arrest them on bogus charges, only to hand people over to ICE for deportation. However, unfair targeting of people of color could get even worse. Trump has said he wants to bring back Stop and Frisk, appoint Rudy Giuliani, a proponent of racial profiling, and appoint Steve Bannon, a known white supremacist.

Weatherford International Plc, up 33.2%, Alliance Resource Partners, up 17.2%, and Energy Transfer Partners, up 11.1%

photo by Kerstin Langenberger

There were actually more than twenty fossil fuel stocks that had double digit gains on November 9th. They operate in coal, oil, natural gas using mining, fracking, and offshore drilling for resource extraction. Trump believe climate change is a hoax and wants to pull out of an international agreement to combat it. However, even the Pentagon has said that climate change will pose great risk to global security with increased threats from terrorism, global poverty, crop failure, and disease.

Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc, up 11.4%

USS Gerald R. Ford, a nuclear aircraft carrier. Photo: Huntington Ingalls Industries

This company builds ships for the Navy and specializes in nuclear powered aircraft carriers. These aircraft carriers cost about 13 billion dollars and are behind schedule. Trump outlined a promise during his campaign to increase the number of navy ships to 350 vessels. While not all new ships will be carriers, they have huge problems in terms of cost, mobility, and are big easy targets.

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, up 11.3%

Photo from Kratos.

Kratos builds missiles, surveillance tools, and military drones. They recently received a contract to build a drone fighter jet. Drone strikes have become a way for the US Government to assassinate people overseas without trial. Many experts believe that Trump will increase the use of drones, and it appears Wall Street does too.

American Public Education, up 21.9%

Photo from their website

This for profit educational company specializes in college courses for members of the military. And like all credible education institutions they list their stock price on their homepage. They run the American Military University. This and other for profit university stocks are rising because the market thinks Trump will ease regulations on them. Easing regulation is probably the wrong move, as many of these companies are under investigation for bad business practices. The majority of students that start don’t even graduate.

Arotech Corporation, up 21.3%

Video of Arotech’s simulation product

Arotech makes training simulations for military and police, including the MILO range shown above. The use of deadly force by police in America far outpaces other countries, and this program doesn’t seem like it trains restraint or deescalation based on the video. Police in the US killed more people in the first 24 days of 2015 than the police of England had killed in 24 years. Police are far more likely to kill people of color.

Where do we go from here?

As bleak as this is, you can make a difference.

Call your representative and tell them to oppose Trump’s policies.

Donate to orgs that will fight Trump.

Fight back, resist, and think of new ways to make a difference.

Take care of your self and others.

❤

Notes

Code and raw data for stock analysis

List of all companies with double digit gains