Zelenskyy warned that Putin is bringing in North Korean military equipment. North Korean military equipment. The same North Korea that can't keep the lights on is now exporting weapons to the second-largest nuclear power on earth. This would be like borrowing a cup of sugar from your neighbor who's been eating cardboard for breakfast.
Putin apparently looked at his entire domestic arms industry and decided what he really needed was whatever Kim Jong Un had lying around in a warehouse. Nothing says superpower like shopping at the geopolitical dollar store. Russia manufactures its own tanks and jets and missiles but sure, let's see what Pyongyang has in the back room.
The comments followed deadly Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities overnight. Attacks using what, one has to assume, was the premium Russian stuff. Not the North Korean bargain bin merchandise. That equipment is probably still on a train somewhere crossing Siberia with a delivery estimate of "whenever it gets there."
Retail traders heard the news and immediately started panic-searching "North Korea defense stocks" as if the Pyongyang Stock Exchange was a real thing they could access through Robinhood. Somewhere a 23-year-old in Connecticut is trying to buy call options on whatever company makes Kim's parade missiles. Good luck finding the ticker symbol, buddy.
Zelenskyy is out here doing actual geopolitical analysis while half the internet thinks this is bullish for Lockheed Martin. The other half thinks it's bearish for Lockheed Martin. Both halves will lose money on their positions by Friday. Putin's alliance with North Korea doesn't move defense stocks. It moves body counts.
But sure, check your portfolio. I'm confident the North Korean artillery shells have really changed your thesis on that semiconductor ETF you bought at the top.
Photo by ΓaΔlar Oskay on Unsplash
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