PreMarket Prep Plus: Trading Ideas For Time Of Tension Between Russia, Ukraine

Brent Slava, head of the Benzinga Pro Newsdesk, was spot-on with his topic for Monday’s segment on PreMarket Prep Plus: "trading uncertainty amid global geopolitical news.”

Nervous Markets: The rising tensions between Russia and the U.S. over a potential ground invasion of Ukraine has added even more uncertainty to an already volatile market.

Slava offered several issues for investors to add to their watchlist under these conditions.

Potential Armed Conflicts: At this time, it is difficult to anticipate the U.S. response if Russia proceeds with an invasion. No one knows how matters could escalate if this occurs.

Therefore, it is important to follow the price action of defense contractors. Slava mentioned General Dynamics Corp GD, Lockheed Martin Group LMT, Northrop Grumman NOC, and L3Harris Technologies Inc. LHX.

Cyberattacks: In the event, the potential conflict extends into cyberspace, Slava noted a few issues that may draw investor attention. Three of the more widely followed issue are Palo Alto Networks PANW, Fortinet Inc. FTNT and CyberArk Software Ltd. CYBR.

Another issue linked to a potential buyout from Microsoft Inc. MSFT, is the former Fireeye Inc., now known as Mandiant Corp MNDT.

Foreign Markets: Slava mentioned two ETFs. One, the VanExk Russia ETF (BATS: RSX), tracks Russia, and to track the impact on Europe there's the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF VGK.

Flight To Quality: Recently, gold and silver have shown signs of strength that has not been seen in quite some time as a hedge for inflation. Slava mentioned three ETFs that may have another catalyst to drive prices higher.

Those are the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF GDX, and the iShares Silver Trust SLV. It should be noted that all three are trading sharply higher as of Monday afternoon.