and I don't mean just scraping debris away.

"Halliburton shares closed at a 52-week high of $62, up 3.8%, or $2.29."

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/yhoo/story.asp?source=blq/yhoo&siteid=yhoo&dist=yhoo&guid=%7B10BEACAF%2D2E5A%2D4406%2DAE7E%2D515558898CFB%7D

Fine, I know Halliburton does a lot of oil field work, so it stands to reason lots of work will be coming their way. I just wish it didn't have the dividend of a simpering Dick Cheney running his tongue over his lips in almost erotic avariciousness. I'm sure his flunkies are fixing him a treasure bath at this very moment.

Halliburton stock (HAL) was trading around $20 when we invaded Iraq. So, yes, they have profiteered from their contacts in the whitehouse and with their no-bid contracts in Iraq.

Why not invest in Halliburton and make some money then?

Somebody:

There were folks who shorted their airline stocks a month before September the 11th. Not everyone has the inside scoop like some folks, you know.

Loosen the strap on your tinfoil hat, Danny. Not enough oxygen getting to your brain.

"There were folks who shorted their airline stocks a month before September the 11th. Not everyone has the inside scoop like some folks, you know."

yeah. But when the president makes the case for war with Iraq literally weeks after the 9/11/2001 attacks, and the VP stands to profit from one of the few gov't contractors who can handle that kind of logistical support.

In hind sight, you really have to be an idiot (or a blind idealist) to think that B&R stock wouldn't have gone through the roof.

Of course everyone knew it would go higher... so it's not much of a conspiracy then, huh?

Dan sez :
"There were folks who shorted their airline stocks a month before September the 11th. Not everyone has the inside scoop like some folks, you know."

This is correct in fact but not in implication. The "short" you're talking about was a bulk purchase of UAL puts on September 6th (a single US institutional investor bought 95% of the market's supply of UAL puts). However, on September 10th, the same investor, as part of a hedge strategy, purchased 115,000 shares of AMR (which would be counter to the intentions of anyone seeking to profit from a massive loss of confidence in the affected airlines).

Yes, there was also a surge in AMR puts trading on September 10th -- however, this was caused by a large number of very small investors. The most likely cause for this would be a US-based trading newsletter which was faxed on Sunday, September 9th to its subscribers and recommended buying AMR puts (the airline business had been doing badly in the summer of '01, and on September 5th, Reuters had forecast a "further deterioration" in airline business). A lot of small investors jumped on this advice and ended up doing well the next day.

So, yes, those trades happened. Unfortunately for a good conspiracy theory, the facts are pretty pedestrian.

politicians should not own stocks, commodities, etc...

their assets (and liabilities) ought to be liquidated and converted to some kinda fixed interest federal bond...