Hillary Clinton Rocks Private Prison Stocks

Private prison stocks Corrections Corp Of America CXW and The GEO Group Inc GEO were pounded once again, adding to their recent weakness, following comments by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

In the nationally televised first presidential debate held late Monday, Clinton said, "I'm glad that we're ending private prisons in the federal system," she said. "I want to see them ended in the state system. You shouldn't have a profit motivation to fill prison cells with young Americans."

Clinton was referring to the announcement by the Department of Justice in August that it intends to end the use of private prisons by the federal government, citing the excesses committed in these facilities, fewer resources deployed and the ineffective cost structure in place.

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Since the DoJ announcement, Corrections Corp has lost 41 percent in the run up to Tuesday's session compared to a 26 percent slump by GEO.

Clinton had earlier in 2015 tweeted her opposition to public safety being entrusted to unaccountable corporations.

At time of writing, GEO was down 3.94 percent at $23.67, and Corrections Corp is down 7.69 percent at $14.77.

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