America's best gun salesman

Is Barack Obama the "Greatest Gun Salesman in America"?

Last fall, I wrote about a surprising trend: gun sales have skyrocketed since Barack Obama became president. During that time, the stock of gunmaker Sturm Ruger (RGR) has outperformed gold. Analysts aren’t quite sure what’s causing the trend. Many anticipated a boost in sales after the election from gun owners fearful that Obama might outlaw assault weapons — the so-called “fear trade.” But they expected a brief spike, no more. Instead, gun sales kept rising, and they’ve continued to rise even since last fall. Ruger, which was up 400 percent at the time, is now up more than 500 percent.

Here is Ruger's one-year chart as of today (click for larger size):

On Feb. 22 of last year, Sturm-Ruger (RGR) could be bought for $15.60. At yesterday's close it was up 191 percent from a year ago (don't know where the writer cited above gets "500 percent").

This is a revealing graphic.