BREAKING: The US is now running Venezuela, Trump has said.
What stocks could benefit from these plays?
Let's dig in.
Defense, AI, Drones & Strategic Infrastructure
Lockheed Martin (LMT) — Prime beneficiary of sustained U.S. defense budgets across missiles, space, and ISR; program depth makes it a core “steady flow” name when geopolitical risk rises.
Northrop Grumman (NOC) — Heavy exposure to stealth, space systems, and nuclear modernization; long-duration contracts provide visibility well into the 2030s.
RTX (RTX) — Missiles, air defense, and radar systems keep RTX central to replenishment cycles driven by global conflicts.
General Dynamics (GD) — Submarines, armored vehicles, and IT systems make GD a beneficiary of both naval expansion and land-force modernization.
Kratos Defense (KTOS) — Jet-powered autonomous drones and hypersonics place Kratos directly in the shift toward scalable, unmanned warfare.
AeroVironment (AVAV) — Tactical UAVs and loitering munitions tied to near-term Army and border-security contract catalysts.
AST SpaceMobile (ASTS) — Space-based connectivity and surveillance gain strategic importance as Space Force funding and redundancy requirements expand.
Over the last few weeks it has become apparent that Wall Street & US politicians were getting tariff news before the rest of the market.
FOX news confirmed this saying WallStreet was getting updates on tariff deals.
And now NY AG Letitia James is reportedly hunting for insider trading among politicians.
People are making millions off the chaos.
Here's a breakdown of some of the unusual trades:
On April 9th, you can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls.
RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring that day!
Those calls were up 2100% in one hour.
You can see all volume was literally opened that day. You can see all volume was new opening volume (not only on the Zero days, but also on the weekly $QQQ and $TQQQ calls).
Take another example.
Before Trump announced a pause on 04/09, there was HUGE $QQQ volume on a 460C expiring 04/17.
They were bought for $0.85 and ran to as high as $31 per contract!!! This was before any news.
Later in the day, it rallied 2000% in ten minutes.
The trader made millions.
Why was this unusual? For a few reasons:
- Firstly new opening volume on chain, minutes after market open
- IVR of +80 on $QQQ, with iv percentile of medium. So vol wasn’t anticipating a move this big
- All execution happened at once, at ask
- This was wildly out of the money at the time
- Market was bearish, across the board
Over the last few weeks it has become apparent that Wallstreet and US politicians were getting tariff news before the rest of the market.
FOX news confirmed this today.
These people are making millions off the chaos.
Here's a breakdown of some of the unusual trades:
On April 9th, you can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls
RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring that day!
Those calls were up 2100% in one hour.
You can see all volume was literally opened that day. You can see all volume was new opening volume (not only on the Zero days, but also on the weekly $QQQ and $TQQQ calls).
Take another example.
Before Trump announced a pause on 04/09, there was HUGE $QQQ volume on a 460C expiring 04/17.
They were bought for $0.85 and ran to as high as $31 per contract!!!
This was before any news.
Later in the day, it rallied 2000% in ten minutes.
The trader made millions.
Why was this unusual? For a few reasons:
- Firstly new opening volume on chain, minutes after market open
- IVR of +80 on $QQQ, with iv percentile of medium. So vol wasn’t anticipating a move this big
- all execution happened at once, at ask
- this was wildly out of the money at the time
- market was bearish, across the board
Alright, I think people knew of the tariff pause and traded it beforehand.
You can see before Trump posted "buy" on Truth Social, traders opened $QQQ $TQQQ and $SPY calls
RIGHT BEFORE THE NEWS, someone opened $SPY 509 calls, expiring TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those calls are up 2100% in one hour.
You can see all volume was literally opened TODAY!!!!!!!!!! (That little green arrow). You can see all volume is new opening volume (not only on the Zero days, but also on the weekly $QQQ and $TQQQ calls). This is especially odd given IVR on these was around 82 this morning, with IV through the roof. The traders really wanted to trade directionally...
In fact, using Unusual Whales' net premium, you can see people have been loading calls trading for a reversal, following these opening calls. Very clear example here.
Insane, someone knew.
Many traders likely followed the call premiums trend, and saw weekly and April 17th action.
You can actually see the traders close their trades for MILLIONS!
Could you have followed these trades? Yup! We did, alongside other UW traders!
If you are looking for an understanding on how this trade happened, or what to look for in Unusual Whales software, check out our tutorials, courses, and videos: