Mystery Solved: Why Money Guys Were in Trump’s War Room

IMGP1919It was late Thursday night April 6, 2017 when news flashed out that The Trump had ordered a cruise missile strike on Syria. Raytheon makes cruise missiles and they cost about a million a pop. So that was 59 million in U.S. dollars that would have to go to Raytheon to reimburse it for giving us another 59 missiles.

I suppose what made me think of Raytheon and the money involved was that in making plans for the strike Trump has as part of his war planning team the Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasurer, Wilbur Ross, the Commerce Secretary, and Gary Cohn, Director of the National Economic Council.

Gary is a former investment banker formerly the president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs; Wilbur is a banker known for his skill in dealing with companies in distress; and Steve is also a former (difficult to say former since they always return) member of Goldman Sachs who also is involved in dealing with failed banks. Now the only reason these men were there during some of the planning of the attack could not have been because of their expertise in foreign relations or military matters. They are money men who know how to make lots of money.

That naturally go me thinking “what is the money angle” involved in the Syrian strike. Raytheon, of course, was a blinking light telling me to go look at that stock. I knew it had jumped on the day following the raid that Friday when it opened at 154.62 which was about four points higher than it closed on Thursday at 150.46. So someone smart enough to buy 100,000 shares on Thursday near close could have sold right after the open and made a nice $400,000 profit.

To determine if the news had leaked out before the close on Thursday was pretty easy. Looking at a five-day chart showing the volume and price of stock.

On Monday RTN had a volume of 292,000, Tuesday about 210,000, Wednesday 286,000. The price ranged from a high on Monday of 152 with a close of 151.77; Tuesday 151.77 and close of 151.40; Wednesday  152.64 high and close of 149.95.

Thursday opened at 150 and at 3:45  it was at 150.5. The volume for the 15 minutes before 3:15 was 21,793; the 15 minutes before 3:30 27,411. These were about the average during the day. Then the volume for the 15 minutes before 3:45 was 139,617, and that and the 15 minutes just before closing pushed the daily volume to 695,000 three times as much during the rest of the week with the difference coming in the last 30 minutes.

Other charts show similar results. Yahoo historical quotes show   Volume on Monday at 1.3 million; Tuesday at 1.4 million, Wednesday at 1.6 million, Thursday at 2.250 million. The close on Thursday at 150.75 and the open at  154.62.

The heavy buying which took place late in the day for Raytheon  had to be the result of knowledge of an upcoming attack. The smart money got in late in the day and out within the first couple of hours the next day when the stock went to above 155. Some could say it was all one big coincidence or lucky guess. Boeing and Northrup Grumman’s stock volume fell from Wednesday to Thursday which makes the sudden jump in Raytheon volume that day even more suspicious.

I don’t have the means to figure out who made these trades or if they were made based on inside information about Trump’s plan for a strike. You might think these guys with their riches would not leak the information. Steve is worth 46 million, Wilbur 2.5 billion, and Gary between 250 and 300 million. But, even with all that dough you know deep down these money men are not going to pass up an opportunity to pick up some pocket change.

It would seem the SEC would be interested in taking a look at this. Now what do you think the chances of that happening with Jay Clayton a lawyer for Goldman Sachs and whose wife works there as the chairman. Jay’s net worth is 50 million. I’d have to think the chances were mighty slim.

 

5 Comments

  1. Be ready for multiple compassionate releases of little old Italian guys from the BOP.

  2. Matt, you have displayed a remarkable lack of knowledge of the stock market. For every purchase and for every sale there was an offset of the opposite. You reek of malice.

    That being said a study of the market on the scale of the Pecora Commission from 1932 through 1934 is in order. The market appears to be not functioning for the purpose for which it was created. My gut tells me that there is point shaving on a massive scale.

    The villains in the piece are likely not the people you so ardently desire to be found out as dirty. Economically useless instruments such as derivatives should be outlawed. The Statute of Frauds should be reinstated. But most importantly leverage has to be curtailed. Hedge funds were always a corrosive idea.

    Wall Street today is a rigged casino. The people you hate could well be more victims than predators. Among the biggest parasites are managers of state, county and municipal retirement funds usually related to prominent politicians after chosen, as Howie would note, after a nationwide search.

    Payment for services for short term gains are a plague on the system. It encourages risk taking. No one shoots sevens quarter after quarter. Inevitably snake eyes roll across the table at some point. Remember the Greek guy who kept pointing out that Madoff could not be as consistent a winner as claimed? He had it right. The way it is set up now scammers get paid for gains, retired folk get sent the bill for losses. What you insinuate without evidence, if true, is chump change beside the real problem.

  3. If you owe someone a favor, like an old friend from the Atlantic City mob, this would be a nice way of wrapping up loose ends.

  4. Matt:
    For once we agree. You are finally on target. Of course, this is exactly what happened. Raytheon has annual revenues of about $25 billion dollars and so Trump’s people calculated that 59 Tomahawk missiles would cost about $100 million (@$1.5 mill/miss) and that would mean an increase in Raytheon’s annual revenues of less than one-half of one percent, so at the risk of committing a federal crime for insider trading, they greedily immediately stealthily contacted their stockbrokers and told them to buy. When the stockbroker said the US already has 3,500 Tomahawk missiles, the Trump people quickly calculated and astutely said, “So what, there’s only have 3,440 left! They’ll have to buy replacements.”
    2. Let’s investigate how many Trump people bought stock in the MOAB manufacturer!
    3. Happy Easter and Happy Holy Week to one and all!
    Peace!