Ahead of President Donald Trump’s long-awaited and once-postponed journey to China, Boeing (NYSE: BA) stock enjoyed a slow climb with a particularly strong rally of more than 8% between May 4 and May 13.
Part of the reason for the rally was that the East Asian country was allegedly considering a 500 jet order from the American aerospace giant, but the anticipation turned sour by Thursday, May 14.
Specifically, as it turned out during the summit, the People’s Republic agreed to purchase only 200 Boeing aeroplanes – 300 fewer than expected for a 60% smaller order – though President Trump emphasized to Fox News that the agreement concerned ‘200 big ones.’
The move triggered a substantial plunge for BA stock, with the equity losing 4.73% during the most recent regular session and another 1.31% to $226.20 on Friday, May 15, in the pre-market.
Effectively, Boeing wiped $9 billion from its market capitalization, falling from the two-month high of nearly $190 billion to $180.68 billion at the latest close.
How President Xi might have led to President Trump losing $230,000 in a day
Notably, the smaller order from China may also have a direct financial impact on President Donald Trump.
Indeed, a May 14 filing disclosed thousands of stock trades executed by the commander-in-chief’s portfolio managers, including multiple purchases and sales of Boeing shares.
The largest individual investment in BA was disclosed as taking place on February 10 and amounting to up to $5 million.
Assuming the transaction was closer to the higher end of the range, the President may have seen the value of the position drop as much as $230,000 from $4.99 million on May 13 to $4.76 million 24 hours later.
Still, it is equally possible the commander-in-chief was fully divested by March 17, as the upper range of the day’s transactions’ reported size – $1 million – is the same as the lower bound of the biggest purchase.
Between February 10 and March 17, BA stock moved 13.10% lower, meaning it could have turned the initial potential $1 million stake into $869,000.
Featured image via Shutterstock
