Interesting article from Bloomberg overnight on Obama and McCain...

Interesting article from Bloomberg overnight on Obama and McCain defense spending plans:

Boeing, Lockheed May Lose as Obama, McCain Reject Big Weapons
By Ken Fireman and Gopal Ratnam
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. warned its clients last month that Barack Obama would be ``a negative for defense stocks'' if he became president, because he will cut weapons programs that generate the companies' biggest profits.
Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp. and other military contractors may not fare any better under John McCain.
While the two presidential candidates are hammering each other over their differences on Iraq, they share a skepticism over big Pentagon programs such as Lockheed Martin's F-22 fighter and the Army's $159 billion Future Combat Systems, a modernization plan jointly managed by Boeing and SAIC Inc.
``When you get beyond the issue of the war in Iraq, Senator McCain and Senator Obama sound remarkably similar on many defense issues,'' says Loren Thompson, a defense analyst at the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Virginia.
Both have signaled they will increase overall defense spending. Still, they say the military should invest in technologies best-suited to fighting the unconventional wars of the post-Sept. 11 world -- and rethink those designed for the Cold War.
Thompson says that will likely lead them to favor building more cargo and tanker planes and developing the Littoral Combat Ship, a new Navy vessel designed for coastal operations.
That may help contractors offset some possible losses from larger programs such as the Future Combat Systems. Chicago- based Boeing builds the C-17 transport aircraft and is seeking an additional $3.9 billion order. Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, which is building the Air Force's C-130 cargo plane, has a $4 billion contract for 60 aircraft. Lockheed and Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics Corp. are competing to build the littoral ship.