Thanks to President Donald Trump, America's private prisons appear to be entering a gold age.
The stocks of the two biggest private prison operators -- CoreCivic (formerly know as Corrections Corp. of America) and Geo Group -- have doubled since election day. CoreCivic (CXW) is up 140% since Trump won in November; Geo Group (GEO) has risen 98%.
For all the talk about how good Trump has been for big banks like Goldman Sachs, he's been even better for private prison investors.
The reason private prisons are back in vogue is simple: Trump has made sweeping promises to crack down on crime and illegal immigration. Wall Street calculated quickly that Trump's rhetoric is likely to translate into more people behind bars. And that means more profits for private prisons.