GovCon Index Posts Another Winning Week, Up Nearly 15% Year-to-Date

Executive Mosaic’s GovCon Index closed 0.43% higher at $5,366.84 on Friday for another winning week. The index, which tracks the stock performances of 30 major government contractors, had the same pattern in the last three weeks: three daily gains and two daily losses. Besides the 1.38% advance for the week, GCI is now up 14.96% year-to-date.

Wall Street’s major stock indexes had winning streaks, fresh records and new closing highs during the week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 1% for the week, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.6%) and S&P (+0.6%) had identical week-on-week gains.

AeroVironment (Nasdaq: AVAV) stood out, rising 9.01% in five days. The stock is on a hot streak since winning a $990 million supply drones contract with the U.S. Army on Aug. 27, its biggest defense contract ever. However, the stock tanked 9.68% on Sept. 16 following a protest against the contract and a stop work order.

Fortunately, in an unprecedented move, the Army lifted the stop work order on Sept. 23 and gave AeroVironment the green light to proceed. The share price climbed 11.9% to $204.50 to start the week.

Rate optimism continues to drive global stock markets. Investors welcomed the jumbo rate cut in the United States. With inflation down to 2.2% in August, the chances of more rate cuts are on the horizon. According to market analysts, the coming elections could pose uncertainty, although market volatility historically subsides post-election.

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