It is time for the people of the United States to bridge the ideological divide, come together, and develop bipartisan solutions to the country's problems.
Plus, buy a truckload of guns.
That was the market wisdom Wednesday, as investors ran from most equities, but piled into the shares of weapons companies Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., up nearly 10 per cent, and Sturm, Ruger &Co., up nearly 6 per cent.
Whether fair or not, a significant number of America's weapons-loving citizenry believes President Barack Obama has a secret plan to seize all of America's guns. Or, more probably at least, he might propose legislation in his second term that bans civilians from military-style assault weapons.
We have seen this effect before, most sadly in the wake of the summer's mass shooting at the Aurora, Colo., movie theatre. The two companies outpaced the market in the trading days immediately after the killings. (The Denver Post reported a huge surge in gun-carry permits and lines outside firearms stores in the days following the shooting.)
Bloomberg News noted Wednesday that research firm Benchmark Co. says Firearm sales have grown at 10 per cent annually since 2008, when Obama was elected, compared with a 7 per cent rate from 2001 to 2007.
Smith & Wesson has now doubled so far in 2012, while Sturm Ruger is up 35 per cent.
David Milstead