Smith & Wesson (SWHC - option chain) shares are rising today ahead of tonight's scheduled speech by President Obama outlining his plan to increase US troop levels in Afghanistan. Since SWHC is a military contractor, investors anticipate that the added troops could lead to more orders from the military. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on SWHC.

SWHC opened this morning at $5.14. So far today the stock has hit a low of $5.05 and a high of $5.42. As of 12:00, SWHC is trading at $5.38 up 44 cents (8.9%). The chart for SWHC looks neutral and S&P gives SWHC a neutral 3 STARS (out of 5) hold ranking.

Today was a low volatility day considering what we have seen lately. The oil inventories and jobs data, combined with a wider deficit data, did not shake markets and traders. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:

Dow 9,627.48 +80.26 (0.84%)
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Nasdaq 2,084.02 +23.63 (1.15%)

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Late Wednesday, Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: SWHC) stepped into the earnings spotlight to release its fiscal first-quarter results. The firearm firm raked in a profit of $12.6 million, or 21 cents per share, sharply higher from its year-ago earnings of $2.3 million, or 5 cents per share. Revenue for the period jumped 30% to $102.2 million, buoyed by a 30% increase in firearm sales and a 39% gain in non-firearm sales.

The results soared past analysts' expectations, which called for a fiscal first-quarter profit of 10 cents per share on $94.1 million in revenue. SWHC's bottom line received a boost of 5 cents per share during the recently concluded quarter from its acquisition of Universal Safety Response Inc.

President Obama has already succeeded in stimulating one area of American business. Those convinced that his administration will bring restrictions and taxes to the gun industry are scrambling to arm themselves, so much so that the nation is suffering a widespread ammo shortage.

The panic, fanned by the NRA, is good news for companies such as Smith & Wesson (NASDAQ: SWHC), Colt's Manufacturing Company, and Remington.