Money. There are a lot of very rich people making one hell of a lot of it off the Ukraine conflict. Big surprise, huh? Most of you reading this are probably like me. You can tell what’s really going on by watching Wall Street.
Take, for instance, the idiotic hype of the HIMARS mobile rocket systems US President Biden sent to Ukraine. According to every paid expert west of the Dnieper River, it’s a “game changer.” Well, it’s a game changer, alright, only the game is not on the battlefield. HIMARS, which is the American version of Russia’s 9A52-4 Tornado, is produced by Lockheed Martin.
So, in order to find out the truth about Russia’s imminent victory or defeat in Ukraine, all we have to do is look at stock prices, dates, and US strategic moves that only seem to be aimed at supporting Ukraine. If you look at Lockheed stock a few days before the Russians moved into eastern Ukraine, the stock stood at $386.46. The day after Russia’s units crossed the border, LMT was $409.49. By March 4th, it had climbed to $458.15, or about $72 per share.
Those of you who have not followed this conflict (and others) through the financial lens may be skeptical. Perhaps the stock gains are reactionary? But no, correlating White House announcements, US State Department decrees, NATO saber rattling, and other events show a clear pattern. And those “in the know” about what’s really going on are cleaning up. First in line behind the Biden or Ursula von der Leyen string pullers are the elites who run the newspapers. Oh yeah. Wouldn’t you cherish a midnight story about a weapons system headed to a war zone before the market opens?
You don’t have to be a deep thinker to imagine the buddy-buddy club that runs the west. HIMARS? Twelve or twenty mobile rocket systems tossed into the fray alter history! Most people don’t realize that the Russians have a much better similar weapon and a lot more of them. The 9A52-4 Tornado is Russia’s newest 300 mm multiple rocket launcher. It has far greater range, it fires twice as many guided rockets, and the Russians have hundreds of them. But weapons systems are really beside the point.
What the Russians do not have is the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, the New York Times, the US Secretary of Defense, and the American president advertising for Lockheed Martin. Even if RT, RIA Novosti, or Channel One wanted to tilt Wall Street, the Russians are cut out of the information game altogether west of the Donbass. Imagine the control there. Not one American in one million knows the truth. A dozen American weapons, even nuclear ones, can’t push Russia back one inch. The HIMARS advertising campaign is good for stock prices and public relations. That’s it.
Here’s how I think the game works. The elites who run the military-industrial complex in Washington hook up with their president. Someone high up at the State Department contacts Ukraine puppet leader Zelenskyy. Meanwhile, a bill or memorandum is floating about at the White House or in Congress. Zelenskyy goes on an IMAX screen somewhere in Hollywood or Washington. Then the actor/comedian issues a demand/request for specific weapons systems like the HIMARS. The media picks this up, and the chips go down on defense stocks tied to these systems. Take the April 14th jump of Lockheed to $467.66. On the same day, a secondary defense media outlet reported Joe Biden’s $800 million in aid that included Zelenskyy’s request. Fox News reported Zelenskyy’s request the day before. I’ll leave you to figure out how you could make a pile of money with foreknowledge. Then factor in truly evil bastards.
The crisis in eastern Europe is a real moneymaker. Mr. Putin should be a hero to all American defense industry workers if the truth is known. The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin just inked a deal to build 375 F-35 multi-role aircraft in the next three years. Talk about job security. The planes come with a price tag of just under $100 million for those curious. Lockheed stock on February 18th, 2022, was $386.46, and by March 4th, it was $458.15. But, if you look at volume activity and price trends, it’s clear a lot of speculative trading has been going on at key times. That’s the bigger story, I guess, for somebody well funded enough to dig up who bought and sold.
What’s clear is the means, motive, and opportunity of this biggest crime against humanity in the new century. Could our leaders do it? Would it profit them to do so? Is the moment right to make huge profits off all the suffering we’re going through right now? Why they’ve even invented a social media #hashtag for their market manipulation scheme, it’s #ArmUkraineNow.
Oh, the title, I almost forgot. The Lockheed Martin F-35 midsection is made in California, the tail is built in the UK, and the pieces are slapped together in either Texas, Italy, or Japan, depending. In Texas alone, Lockheed employs 55,000 people. Talk about a network for death and destruction, profits and pain, we Americans know how to get business done.
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books. He writes exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
