TXT - 4 Winners and 2 Losers From the Pentagon Budget Proposal
The U.S. budget-negotiation season kicked off Feb. 10 when the White House submitted to Congress a $740 billion national security budget request. The document laid out a potential roadmap for defense spending over the next five years, offering some good news and bad news for various defense contractors.
It's important for investors to view the request as the opening salvo in a negotiation and not a final spending plan. Congress has the power of the purse, and lawmakers can and will cut and add to procurements over a long, drawn-out process.
This budget carries even more uncertainty than usual, as it's an election year. And lawmakers are sure to seize on the proposed cuts to nondefense discretionary spending at a time when defense spending is set to hold steady.