Navigation
About

Defense Ventures is about the business of the defense industry. Corporate strategy, M&A, VC, PE, technology, and the stories & people shaping the defense, Government services, homeland security, and aerospace markets.

 

Subscribe
Search

Interesting
Powered by Squarespace
Login
Refer, Subscribe
Add to Technorati Favorites

Add to Google Reader or Homepage

Add to netvibes

Subscribe in NewsGator Online

Entries in SPADE (3)

Tuesday
09Feb2010

Analysis of U.S. Defense Budget

DateTuesday, February 9, 2010 at 04:09
The Feb issue of the SPADE Investor newsletter has a good general analysis of the new U.S. defense budget. Overall the budget looks as strong as ever and should be received by the sector as highly positive for increased competition and generally increased spending.
Highlights (all stats come from SPADE Index):
  • Core defense budget (which excludes overseas CONOPS) will grow around $15B annually for the next 5 years
  • 2010 supplemental is $33B and 2011 has $159B for overseas operations
  • Time & materials and labor hour contracts will decrease 17% through 2011
  • SOCOM gets a 6% increase in spending (plus 2800 new personnel)
  • DA will add a 12th active duty brigade (a combat aviation brigade) in 2010 and another in 2015
  • M&A firm Houlihan Lokey says the 60 transactions completed in 2009 is likely to rise. 50 of those deals were sub-$100M. A confirmed shift from large "exquisite weapons programs" will surely fuel continued M&A as big firms continue to diversify into growth areas like cyberwarfare, UAV, and overall more technical services.

Much more coverage in the full issue, including mention of Sikorsky developing an unmanned Blackhawk, as well as earnings report coverage of all the majors and more.

AuthorDPM | Comments Off |
tagged in , ,
Wednesday
18Mar2009

Defense Industry Indexes and Funds

DateWednesday, March 18, 2009 at 08:37

We mentioned the SPADE Defense Index on a previous post and thought we'd share other indexes or funds that one could use for tracking performance in the aerospace & defense industry.

 

  • ITA: iShares Dow Jones US Aerospace & Defense
  • FSDAX: Fidelity Select Defense & Aerospace Fund
  • ^DXS: SPADE Defense Index
  • PPA: Powershare Aerospace & Defense ETF (linked to SPADE Index)  
  • DJUSDN: Dow Jones US Defense Index

We'll add a ticker list to the site later to keep track of these together. 

 

AuthorDPM | CommentPost a Comment |
tagged in
Thursday
05Mar2009

Latest Commentary from SPADE Investor Newsletter

DateThursday, March 5, 2009 at 05:24

Scott Sacknoff's commentary in the exceptional SPADE Investor newsletter (free, btw) is always worth checking out. Go to the SPADE Defense Index site and sign up to receive by email.

For those that do not know, the SPADE Defense index [ticker: DXS] "provides a an investment benchmark for companies involved with defense, homeland security, and space." It's also linked to a licensed ETF from Powershares under the symbol PPA (NYSE). 

Highlights from the latest March newsletter:

  • Index is down BIG in Februrary, "with Boeing, Lockheed Martin,and General Dynamics all losing more than 20% of their value." But Price to Earnings growth ratios for many companies the sector are less than 1, "a level historically associated with undervalued firms."
  • Further, the much talked about spending cuts could end up being good news. "Declines in a big program may be offset with gains in several smaller ones."

I won't ruin it, though. For more information on what firms might be looking undervalued and which areas will benefit from spending that gets cut from the big boys, go here and download the full newsletter.

AuthorDPM | CommentPost a Comment |
tagged in ,