The defense primes fell to window lows on October 7 2026 - LMT 499.22 (-4.7% from 523.70 on September 24), NOC 473.46 (-7.0% from 508.98) and RTX 180.26 (-4.4% from 188.61) - the day the ten-year reached a 24-year high, and recovered most of it to close October 14 at LMT 522.23 (-0.3% on the window), NOC 495.69 (-2.6%) and RTX 186.47 (-1.1%). The recovery came after the October 8 pledge of no strikes before the midterms, so the group is trading the cost of capital more than the war's tempo.