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American Gun Owners Are Afraid of 2020: Gun Stocks are Rising

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By Sergey Ryzhov @ Shutterstock.com

Nearly all the Democrats running have expressed their desire to impose draconian gun control measures on Americans.

As the threats to Americans’ gun rights in 2020 become clearer, many Americans are taking my advice to get their guns and their training now. The number of background checks rose in May compared to the year before, meaning more Americans were out attempting to buy firearms.

Americans’ firearms buying habits are an indicator of their perception of political risk that I use as a part of my monthly RAGE Gauge computation. Another group paying attention to firearms purchases are investors in gun manufacturers. Those investors have noticed the changes in perception, and they are putting more money into shares of firearms producers. Asjylyn Loder reports for The Wall Street Journal:

Gun makers, on a losing streak since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, could be starting to recalibrate.

Smith & Wesson owner American Outdoor Brands Corp. AOBC 3.28% racked up a third consecutive day of gains, with the stock rising 3.3% to $9.44 a share. It got a boost after reporting Wednesday that it had seen a recent bump in sales.

Rival gun makers also rose. Sturm, Ruger RGR 0.79% & Co. added 0.8% to $52.47 a share, notching a three-month gain of 3%. Vista Outdoor Inc. VSTO 1.72% gained 1.7% to $8.28 a share, basically flat in the past three months. Vista is the nation’s biggest ammunition maker by sales but has put its gun business up for sale.

The companies’ longer-term prospects depend heavily on politics, and if Democratic presidential contenders gain traction, the prospect of tighter regulation is likely to send gun stocks higher. That is because shooting enthusiasts tend to stock up while they still can.

Shares of publicly traded gun makers American Outdoor; Sturm, Ruger and Vista have been hard hit by the gun-friendly policies of President Trump’s administration. Hillary Clinton’s anticipated victory in 2016 had sent gun sales soaring, but Mr. Trump’s surprise win left the firearms industry sitting on a sizable supply of unsold wares that it has been working through ever since.

Read more here.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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