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Richard
09-13-2010, 08:44
And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

Bad Economy Drives Down American Arms Sales
NYT, 12 Sep 2010

The global economic recession significantly pushed down purchases of weapons last year to the lowest level since 2005, a new government study has found.

The report to Congress concluded that the value of worldwide arms deals in 2009 was $57.5 billion, a drop of 8.5 percent from 2008.

While the United States maintained its role as the world’s leading supplier of weapons, officials nonetheless saw the value of its arms trade sharply decline in 2009. This was in contrast to 2008, when the United States increased the value of its weapons sales despite a drop in business for competitors in the global arms bazaar.

For 2009, the United States signed arms deals worth $22.6 billion — a dominating 39 percent of the worldwide market. Even so, that sales figure was down from $38.1 billion in 2008, which had been a surprising increase over the $25.7 billion in 2007 that defied sluggish economic trends.

The decrease in American weapons sales in 2009 was caused by a pause in major orders from clients in the Middle East and Asia, which had pumped up the value of contracts the year before. At the same time, there were fewer support and services contracts signed with American defense firms last year, the study said.

Russia was a distant second in worldwide weapons sales in 2009, concluding $10.4 billion in arms deals, followed by France, with $7.4 billion in contracts. Other leading arms traders included Germany, Italy, China and Britain.

The annual report was produced by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress. The analysis, regarded as the most detailed collection of unclassified global arms sales data available to the public, was delivered to members of the House and Senate over the weekend in advance of their return to work on Monday after the summer recess.

(cont'd)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/world/13weapons.html

Team Sergeant
09-13-2010, 09:27
WoW Richard, too bad you actually read and consider the NYT's as a news source.... there was nothing on wikipedia either so I guess you would not have known this was about to happen.
So it goes as you say.



Saudi Arms Deal Advances
White House to Notify Congress Soon of $60 Billion Package, Largest Ever for U.S.

By ADAM ENTOUS
The Obama administration is set to notify Congress of plans to offer advanced aircraft to Saudi Arabia worth up to $60 billion, the largest U.S. arms deal ever, and is in talks with the kingdom about potential naval and missile-defense upgrades that could be worth tens of billions of dollars more.
The administration plans to tout the $60 billion package as a major job creator—supporting at least 75,000 jobs, according to company estimates—and sees the sale of advanced fighter jets and military helicopters to key Middle Eastern ally Riyadh as part of a broader policy aimed at shoring up Arab allies against Iran.

Earlier
August 14, 2010: U.S.-Saudi Arms Plan Grows to Record Size
.The talks between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have been widely known for months, but many new details are only now coming into focus. These include the number and type of aircraft involved, how much the Saudis intend to spend in an initial installment, and the ongoing negotiations to also upgrade the kingdom's navy and missile defenses.

The $60 billion in fighter jets and helicopters is the top-line amount requested by the Saudis, even though the kingdom is likely to commit initially to buying only about half that amount.




http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704621204575488361149625050.html

Richard
09-13-2010, 10:36
The article I posted discussed what actually occurred over the last couple of years according to the latest CRS report on the topic.

The annual report was produced by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress.

The WSJ article is a TBD issue and I'm sure it will be equally interesting to see what actually happened when it is included in an annual CRS report in a year or so.

Richard

6.8SPC_DUMP
09-13-2010, 13:35
The AWB ended in '04 so it makes sense that '05 sales would be weak. 2008-09 gun sales were strong, because of BHO and fears about the economy crashing, so it makes sense sales would drop off this year.

News papers assign an erroneous cause for dips or bumps all the time. If earnings came in higher than expected for a stock and the shares go up that day the headline will be: "Investors encouraged by earnings". Or if the stock goes down papers will write: "Investors take profits after positive earnings".

Tomorrows business headline won't be: "Markets break overhead resistance to confirm last week's Ascending Triangle formation". Link (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TwUS3GyHKsQ/TIqbb_Wz5fI/AAAAAAAAHgI/ymTN0yTi8I4/s1600/wilshire1.png)

If newspapers are biased according to their sponsors; maybe comparing different articles on the same topic could shed some light on how. If they're biased to the broader financial interests of a small consentration corporate owners; maybe independent blogs/news sites would become more popular.