I have seen some previous conflicts developing and in the...

I have seen some previous conflicts developing and in the uncertain period before the actual attack took place the markets were uneasy or dropping and in that period TLS would probably be seen as a defensive stock IMO.

Then when the action began, and the first objectives achieved quite easily given the awesome technology the US and its allies can deploy, the markets usually turned around and rallied quite strongly. At that stage some people might move from defensive investments such as Telstra to others that are more likely to profit from the situation.

Of course there are no guarantees, this is just how things turned out in my lifetime and memory, it could be different this time.

Meanwhile, looking on the chart, TLS is still in well defined down trend channel, even with today's small rise, and also we are still bellow 40 day Simple Moving Average.

I like my stocks to be above the 40SMA with the SMA curve rising and usually quit the stock if it falls bellow. The problem with Telstra is that it pays quite a large dividend and so it distorts the 40SMA curve after the ex date.

Just how much is the dividend effect and how much are the other market forces is the question I have been grappling with of late. Because if you added the 14c to the currents SP, it would be above 40SMA. Also the 40SMA would look quite different without the ex dividend distortion.

I welcome any views from chartists or anyone else interested