Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now

The Dow Jones Industrials (DJINDICES: ^DJI  ) fell five straight days last week, with the prospect of the secession referendum in Crimea potentially becoming a powder keg in the region. In particular, four Dow stocks looked like potentially big movers if more severe problems arose after the referendum. Yet news of relatively orderly voting helped send the Dow up by 163 points as of noon EDT. Let's at how the four Dow stocks I highlighted on Saturday are reacting to the optimistic news today.

Boeing (NYSE: BA  ) jumped 1.7%, with the aerospace giant facing plenty of other issues beyond the potential impact of the Crimean situation on its business. With Western nations contemplating their response to the vote, Boeing could still see greater defense spending in the long run resulting from the tension in the Black Sea region. Yet the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 continues to get far more attention, as authorities consider the need for a more extensive communications grid and measures to avoid allowing aircraft like the Boeing 777 from evading detection even with deliberate acts from pilots onboard the plane.

Top Heal Care Stocks To Buy For 2015: Spirit Aerosystems Holdings Inc.(SPR)

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, designs and manufactures commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates in three segments: Fuselage Systems, Propulsion Systems, and Wing Systems. The Fuselage Systems segment develops, produces, and markets forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems primarily to aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), as well as offers related spares, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services. This segment also offers rotorcraft comprising forward cockpit and cabin for military aircrafts. The Propulsion Systems segment engages in the development, production, and marketing of struts/pylons; nacelles, including thrust reversers; and related engine structural components primarily to aircraft or engine OEMs, as well as provides related spares and MRO services. The Wing Systems segment develops, produces, and markets wings and wing components comprising flight control surfaces and other miscellaneous structural parts primarily to aircraft OEMs, as well as offers related spares and MRO services. This segment is also involved in designing, engineering, and manufacturing structural components for military aircrafts, including low observables that are radar absorbent and translucent materials; and radome new builds and refurbishment. It also provides other military services, such as fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. serves large commercial airplanes, business and regional jets, and military/helicopter sectors of the aerostructures industry. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Shares of Textron have gained 1.2% to $36.63 at 1:09 p.m., while Embraer (ERJ) has risen 0.5% to $32.30, Triumph Group (TGI) has advanced 0.2% to $75.73 and Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) is off 0.8% at $33.90.

• [By Inyoung Hwang]

  Axel Springer AG (SPR) declined 1.5 percent to 43.43 euros. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its rating on Europe�� biggest newspaper publisher to sell from neutral, saying its valuation is the highest of the publishers it covers. Shares trade at 18.6 times earnings compared with 16.3 times for the DAX.

• [By Michael Cintolo]

  Spirit AeroSystems (SPR) is a dominant supplier of aerostructures (fuselages, wing systems, etc.) to both Boeing and Airbus��n fact, it makes 70% of the airframe content for the Boeing 737, and is the largest aerostructure provider to Boeing's newer 787.

• [By Michael J. Carr]

  Einhorn added RAD to his portfolio in the second quarter of 2013, the last quarter we have a full report of his activity for. During that time, he was also buying Spirit AeroSystems Holdings (NYSE: SPR).

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: Rockwell Collins Inc (COL)

Rockwell Collins, Inc. (Rockwell Collins), incorporated on March 1, 2001, is engaged in design, production and support of communications and aviation electronics for commercial and military customers worldwide. The Company�� products and systems are primarily focused on aviation applications, The integrated system solutions and products it provide to its served markets include communications, navigation, automated flight control, displays/surveillance, simulation and training, integrated electronics and information management systems. The Company also provides a range of services and support to its customers through a network of service centers, including equipment repair and overhaul, service parts, field service engineering, training, technical information services and aftermarket used equipment sales. The Company operates in two segments: Government Systems and Commercial Systems.

Government Systems

The Company�� Government Systems business provides a range of electronic products, systems and services to customers, including the United States Department of Defense, other ministries of defense, other government agencies and defense contractors around the world. These products, systems and services support airborne, precision weapon, ground and maritime applications and are used in line-fit applications on new equipment, as well as in retrofit and upgrade applications designed. The Company�� defense-related systems, products and services include communications systems and products designed to enable the transmission of information across the communications spectrum, including satellite communications; navigation products and systems, including radio navigation products, global positioning system (GPS) equipment, handheld navigation devices and multi-mode receivers; avionics sub-systems for aircraft flight decks that combine flight operations with navigation and guidance functions that can include flight controls and displays, information/data processing and communicat! ions, navigation, safety and surveillance systems; cockpit display products, including multipurpose flat panel head-down displays, wide field of view head-up and helmet-mounted displays; simulation and training systems, including visual system products, training systems and services, and maintenance, repair, parts and after-sales support services.

Avionics consists of electronic solutions for a range of airborne platforms, including fixed and rotary wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the associated aircrew and maintenance training devices and services. The Company provides complete avionics solutions (including cockpit avionics, mission system applications and system integration) and also provides individual avionics products to platform integrators. The Company serves various roles within these markets, including system and subsystems integrator, as well as provider of various electronic products. Communication products include spectrum voice and data connectivity for government and military use in the air, on the ground and at sea. Surface solutions include electronic systems applied to a variety of non-airborne market segments.

Commercial Systems

The Company�� Commercial Systems business supplies aviation electronics systems, products and services to customers located throughout the world. The customer base is consists of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of commercial air transport, business and regional aircraft, commercial airlines and business aircraft operators. The Company�� systems and products are used in both OEM applications, as well as in retrofit and upgrade applications designed.

The Company�� commercial aviation electronics systems, products and services include integrated avionics systems, such as Pro Line Fusion. Capabilities include synthetic and enhanced vision enabled flight displays, advanced flight and performance management systems, fly-by-wire integrated flight controls and information management! solution! s to improve operational efficiency; integrated cabin electronics systems, including cabin management systems, passenger connectivity and entertainment solutions, business support systems to improve passenger productivity and passenger flight information systems; communications systems and products, such as data link, high frequency, very high frequency and satellite communications systems; navigation systems and products, including landing sensors to enable automatic landings, radio navigation and geophysical sensors, as well as flight management systems; situational awareness and surveillance systems and products, such as synthetic and enhanced vision systems, surface surveillance and guidance solutions, head-up guidance systems, weather radar and collision avoidance systems; integrated information management solutions to improve the overall efficiency of flight, maintenance and cabin operations. These include on-board information management systems and connectivity solutions, airborne and ground applications and services, and ground infrastructure and services; electro-mechanical systems, including integrated pilot control solutions and primary and secondary actuation systems; simulation and training systems, including full-flight simulators for crew training, visual system products, training systems and engineering services, and maintenance, repair, parts, after-sales support services and aftermarket used equipment.

Air transport aviation electronics include avionics, cabin systems and flight control systems for commercial transport aircraft platforms. Business and regional aviation electronics include integrated avionics, cabin management and flight control systems for application on regional and business aircraft platforms. The Company develops integrated avionics, cabin and flight control solutions for business and regional aircraft OEMs and support them with the integration into other aircraft systems. Products offered for OEM applications in the business and regional aircraft cate! gory are ! marketed directly to the aircraft OEMs.

The Company competes with Honeywell International, Inc., Thales S.A., Panasonic, Raytheon Co., Harris Corp., BAE Systems Aerospace, Inc., General Dynamics Corporation, L3 Communications, Inc., The Boeing Company, Northrop Grumman Corp., CAE Inc., General Electric Co. and Garmin International Inc.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Katie Spence]

  Boeing's not the only one to benefit
  In addition to the good news for Boeing, partners on the Dreamliner are also probably breathing a sigh of relief. Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL  ) and General Electric (NYSE: GE  ) , both have a stake in the Dreamliner's success -- Rockwell supplies avionics equipment for the 787 and is expecting to increase production from four planes to 10 by the start of its fourth quarter, and GE supplies engines for the 787. �

• [By Rich Smith]

  The configuration described in DSCA's notification to Congress does not appear to be configured for ground attack, however. According to the notice, the French drones would be powered by Honeywell (NYSE: HON  ) turboprop engines, be equipped with Raytheon's (NYSE: RTN  ) AN/DAS-1 Multi-Spectral Targeting Systems and AN/APX-119 (or KIV-119) international friend-or-foe transponders, and also ARC-210 radio systems from Rockwell Collins (NYSE: COL  ) , but no mention is made of any munitions, or pylons for attaching them to the planes, being sold to France.

• [By Rich Smith]

  The U.S. Department of Defense awarded multiple contractors shares in some 17 contracts Tuesday, valued at up to $1.3 billion in combined dollar value. Most of the funds awarded went to a series of 13 contractors working on a single cyber-defense project -- but there were a few other winners. Among them:

• [By Rich Smith]

  The Department of Defense awarded more than $961 million worth of contracts to a total of 17 awardees on Thursday. Notable awards to publicly traded companies included:

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: Soditech Ingenierie SA (SEC)

Soditech Ingenierie SA is a France-based company that is primarily engaged in electronic and mechanical engineering services in various sectors. The Company�� activity is organized into three sectors: Defense & Research, Space and Energy & Nuclear. It provides specialized services in four fields: aerospace, covering communication satellites, observation satellites and space stations; automotive, providing such services as engine design and plasturgy for equipment manufacturers; aeronautics, offering structural research for aircraft makers, instruments or electro-mechanical systems for assisting pilots and others, and defense, providing engineering of numerous tests and trials systems, with or without implementations, among others. The Company also offers additional services, such as energy forecasting and environmental analysis, environmental management system, and others. In May 2014, it restructured company into three main divisions: Defense & Research, Space and Energy & Nuclear. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Patricio Kehoe]

  Over the past days hedge funds have been filing their form 13-F, which is a quarterly report of equity holdings by filed institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets under management, as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this article, let麓s concentrate in one particular hedge fund and try to see the principal holdings in its portfolio. I will look into Duquesne Family Office LLC from Stanley Druckenmiller, who closed his Duquesne Capital Management hedge fund in 2010, returned capital to investors, and converted it into a family office managing his personal fortune.

• [By Patricio Kehoe]

  Over the past days hedge funds have been filing their form 13-F, which is a quarterly report of equity holdings filed by institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets under management, as required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this article, let麓s concentrate in one particular hedge fund and try to see the principal holdings in its portfolio. I will look into Citadel Advisor LLC from Kenneth C. Griffin, a Chicago-based investment firm.

• [By Victor Selva]

  Over the past days hedge funds have been filing their form 13-F, which is a quarterly report of equity holdings by filed institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets under management, as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this article, let's concentrate in one particular hedge fund and try to see the principal holdings in its portfolio. I will look into Tudor Investment Corp in which Paul Tudor Jones (Trades, Portfolio) serve as chief investment officer.

• [By ovenerio]

  Over the past days hedge funds have been filing their form 13-F, which is a quarterly report of equity holdings by filed institutional investment managers with at least $100 million in equity assets under management, as required by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In this article, let麓s concentrate in one particular hedge fund and try to see the principal holdings in its portfolio. I will look into Abner Herrman & Brock LLC, which provides portfolio management for high net worth individuals, endowments, and corporate retirement plans.Recently the fund reported its equity portfolio, as at the end of June. The total value of the portfolio amounted to $331.2 million, up from $311.3 million disclosed at the end of the previous quarter. Consequently, the fund's total return was 6.4% in the last quarter. The filing revealed that at the end of June, the fund added 4 new positions to its equity portfolio, and sold out of 3 other companies. The top ten portfolio holdings as of the end of the quarter represented 30.85%. The largest changes from previous 13-F麓s fillings are in the energy sector (3.5%) followed by the reduction of financials and industrials.In this article, we have selected three companies, in which the fund holds the largest stakes, in terms of market value.The first on the list is Merck & Co. (MRK), in which the fund disclosed a $15.2 million stake with over 263,570 shares. The company is a leading global drugmaker, producing a wide range of prescription drugs in many therapeutic classes in the U.S. and abroad. It has improved earnings per share by 9.6% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. With respect to price performance, this stock has enjoyed a rise of 26.85% which was in line with the performance of the market. It has a proven commitment to returning cash to investors, with a current dividend yield of 3.0% which is considered good to protect investor麓s purchasing power. Other hedge

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: United Technologies Corporation(UTX)

United Technologies Corporation provides technology products and services to the building systems and aerospace industries worldwide. The company?s Otis segment designs, manufactures, sells, and installs passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and moving walkways, as well as provides maintenance and repair services. Its Carrier segment offers heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems, controls, services, and energy-efficient products for residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation applications. The company?s UTC Fire and Security segment provides electronic security products comprising intruder alarms, and access control and video surveillance systems; fire safety products, such as specialty hazard detection and fixed suppression products, fire extinguishers, fire detection and life safety systems, and other firefighting equipment; systems integration, video surveillance, installation, maintenance, and inspection services; and mon itoring, response, and security personnel services. Its Pratt and Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines for the commercial, military, business jet, and general aviation markets; industrial gas turbines; geo thermal power systems; and space propulsion systems, as well as provides fleet management, maintenance, repair, and overhaul services. The company?s Hamilton Sundstrand segment supplies aerospace products, such as power generation, management and distribution, flight control, engine control, environmental control, auxiliary power units, and propeller systems; and industrial products, including air compressors, metering pumps, and fluid handling equipment under the Sullair, Sundyne, and Milton Roy names. Its Sikorsky segment manufactures military and commercial helicopters, as well as offers aftermarket helicopter and aircraft parts and services. United Technologies Corporation was founded in 1934 and is based in Hartford, Connecticut.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  United Technologies provides valuable aerospace technology and services to a multitude of companies participating in various industries worldwide. The stock has been a strong performer over the last several years and is now consolidating near all-time high prices. Earnings and revenue figures have been growing but investors have expected a little more from the company. Relative to its strong peers and sector, United Technologies has been an average year-to-date performer. Look for United Technologies to OUTPERFORM.

• [By Rich Smith]

  United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) is going Down Under.

  On Wednesday (their time), Australian Minister for Defence Materiel Dr. Mike Kelly announced that the first of two dozen Sikorsky MH-60R "Seahawk Romeo" helicopters being built for Australia by United Technologies (NYSE: UTX  ) has passed its first test flight. Testing was conducted on-site at Sikorsky's production facility in Connecticut, and occurred six months ahead of schedule.

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  Today, however, investors are having none of it. As of 1:42 p.m., just three Dow components are in the red, and even the defense contractors are gaining, despite the fact that the government shutdown doesn’t look to be ending. Boeing (BA), for instance has gained 2.9% to $117.74, and United Technologies (UTX) has advanced 2.3% to $105.16. And if I’ve counted correctly, just 17 S&P-500 stocks are now in negative territory–led higher by companies such as Best Buy (BBY), which has gained 7.3% to $38.90 after Stifel Nicolaus said more people expecting to shop in its stores, and Invesco (IVZ), which has risen 4.9% to $33.75 after saying assets-under-management grew. Even Tower Group International (TWGP), the seriously troubled insurer, is up p 9.9% at $4.10.

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: Hexcel Corp (HXL)

Hexcel Corporation (Hexcel), incorporated in 1948, is a composites company. The Company develops, manufactures and markets composites, including carbon fibers, reinforcements, prepregs, honeycomb, matrix systems, adhesives and composite structures, for use in Commercial Aerospace, Space and Defense, and Industrial Applications. Its products are used in a variety of end applications, such as commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles and satellites, wind turbine blades, automotive, bikes, skis and a variety of other industrial applications. Hexcel has two segments: Composite Materials and Engineered Products. The Composite Materials consists of carbon fiber, reinforcements for composites, honeycomb core and matrix product lines. The Engineered Products consists of composite structures and specially machined honeycomb product lines.

Composite Materials

The Composite Materials segment manufactures and markets carbon fibers, fabrics and specialty reinforcements, prepregs, structural adhesives, honeycomb, composite panels, molding compounds, polyurethane systems and laminates that are incorporated into many applications, including military and commercial aircraft, wind turbine blades, recreational products and other industrial applications. HexTow carbon fibers are manufactured for sale to third-party customers, as well as for its own use in manufacturing certain reinforcements and composite materials. Carbon fibers are woven into carbon fabrics, used as reinforcement in conjunction with a resin matrix to produce pre-impregnated composite materials. Carbon fibers is also used in filament winding, hand layup, automatic tape layup and advanced fiber placement to produce finished composite components. Its carbon fibers��product applications include structural components for commercial and military aircraft, space launch vehicles, and certain other applications, such as recreational and industrial equipment.

Industrial fabrics and specialty reinforcements are ma! de from a variety of fibers, including carbon, aramid and other polymers, several types of fiberglass, quartz, ceramic and other specialty fibers. These reinforcements are used in the production of prepregs and other matrix materials used in primary and secondary structural aerospace applications, such as wing components, horizontal and vertical stabilizer components, fairings, radomes and engine nacelles, as well as overhead storage bins and other interior components. Hexcel�� reinforcements are also used in the manufacture of a variety of industrial and recreational products, such as wind energy blades, automotive components, boats, surfboards, skis and other sporting goods equipment.

HexPly prepregs are manufactured for sale to third-party customers and for internal use by its engineered products segment in manufacturing composite laminates and monolithic structures, including finished components for aircraft structures and interiors. Prepregs are manufactured by combining reinforcement fabrics or unidirectional fibers with a resin matrix to form a composite material with structural properties not present in either of the constituent materials. Reinforcement fabrics used in the manufacture of prepregs include glass, carbon, aramid, quartz, ceramic and other specialty reinforcements. Resin matrices include bismaleimide, cyanate ester, epoxy, phenolic, polyester, polyimide and other specialty resins.

Other fiber reinforced matrix developments include HexMC, a form of quasi-isotropic carbon fiber prepreg that enables small to medium sized composite components to be mass produced. HexTOOL is a specialized form of HexMC for use in the construction of high temperature composite tooling. HexFIT film infusion material is a product that combines resin films and dry fiber reinforcements in production and enables the manufacture of contoured composite structures, such as wind turbine blades.

Polymer matrix materials are sold in bulk and film form for use in direct pro! cess manu! facturing of composite parts. Resins can be combined with fiber reinforcements in manufacturing processes, such as resin transfer molding (RTM), resin film infusion (RFI) or vacuum assisted resin transfer molding (VARTM) to produce composite components for both aerospace and industrial applications. Hexcel manufactures and markets a range of Redux film and paste adhesives. These structural adhesives, which bond metal to metal and composites and honeycomb structures, are used in the aerospace industry and for many industrial applications.

HexWeb honeycomb is a cellular structure consisting of nested hexagonal cells. The product is similar in appearance to a cross-sectional slice of a beehive. It can also be manufactured in asymmetric cell configurations for more specialized applications. Honeycomb is primarily used as a lightweight core material and acts as an energy absorber. When sandwiched between composite or metallic facing skins, honeycomb increases the stiffness of the structure, while adding very little weight. The Company produces honeycomb from a number of metallic and non-metallic materials. Its metallic honeycomb is made from aluminum and is available in a selection of alloys, cell sizes and dimensions. Non-metallic materials used in the manufacture of honeycomb include fiberglass, carbon fiber, thermoplastics, non-flammable aramid papers, aramid fiber and other specialty materials. During the year ended December 31, 2011, revenues for the Composite Materials segment to third-party customers represented approximately 77% of its total revenues.

Engineered Products

The Engineered Products segment manufactures and markets composite structures and precision machined honeycomb parts for use in the aerospace industry. Composite structures are manufactured from a variety of composite and other materials, including prepregs, honeycomb, structural adhesives and advanced molding materials, using such manufacturing processes, as autoclave processing, multi-axis nu! merically! controlled machining, heat forming, compression molding and other composite manufacturing techniques. During 2011, revenues for the Engineered Products segment to third-party customers represented approximately 23% of its total revenues. The Engineered Products business unit has a 50% ownership interest in a Malaysian joint venture, Asian Composites Manufacturing Sdn. Bhd.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By John Persinos]

  The standout stocks in this segment are Hexcel Corp. (HXL), the leading producer of carbon composites, and Allegheny Technologies (ATI), which dominates the market in titanium.

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Hexcel (NYSE: HXL  ) reported earnings on July 22. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended June 30 (Q2), Hexcel met expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Rich Smith]

  This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines include a pair of aerospace upgrades for European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (NASDAQOTH: EADSY  ) and Hexcel (NYSE: HXL  ) . But it's not all good news, so let's start off by finding out why.

Best Defense Companies To Invest In Right Now: Safran SA (SAFRY.PK)

Safran SA is a France-based high-technology company which produces aircraft and rocket engines and propulsion systems. It divides its work into three segments: Aerospace, Aircraft, Defense and Security. The Aerospace Propulsion division provides engines, turbines and parts for aircraft, and rocket boosters for civil, military and spatial markets through several subsidiaries, including Snecma, among others. The Aircraft Equipment division produces landing gear, wheels and carbon brakes, aircraft engine nacelles and airborne power electronics through its subsidiaries, including Aircelle, among others. The Defense division includes the subsidiary, Sagem, and makes systems and equipment for inertial navigation and other defense applications to be used on military transport and combat aircraft, helicopters, warships, armored vehicles and artillery systems. In October 2013, the Company completed the sale of its United States-based subsidiary, Global Motors Inc to Allied Motion Inc. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Daniel Lauchheimer]

  Currently, three main companies supply security equipment to the TSA - Safran (SAFRY.PK), Smiths (SMGKF.PK), and Level-3 Holdings (LLL). All three of these companies sell the whole range of their products to the TSA, with an ETD offering included. Recently, however, a new company, Implant Sciences Corporation (IMSC.PK) received approval from the TSA to begin selling their ETD equipment to airport security professionals. This approval has opened the door for IMSC to begin taking some market share away from the more established players in the US and beyond.