Read the Second Amendment word for word go on, Google it, a reader says.

Well do the googling for you: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Our contributor continues: The founders at the time did not want a standing army but they did want and expect every free citizen to be ready AND willing to form a militia to defend the country.

The Father of the Constitution himself, James Madison, hated the idea of a standing army.

Then the reader pivots in an unexpected direction: Look at deaths caused by guns per capita versus any first-world nation. You can debate nuances of gun laws all you want but the numbers are nauseating. No other civilized country kills its own people so effectively.

We checked the stats; the latest data we could find from University of Washingtons Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2017) ranks the U.S. 28th in the world for homicides by gun at 4.43 deaths per 100,000.

Among high-income countries, the U.S. far and away surpasses any other country. Working from 2010 stats from the WHO, there were 36 gun-related homicides per 1 million; the next highest rate? Canada at just 5 per million.

We agree Madisons original intent was anti-standing army in America but he clearly wanted citizens ready to defend the country. Question: how to do that without an armed citizenry?

Then the readers secondary premise the high rate of gun ownership linked to the high rate of gun violence presents quite the conundrum.

Well continue the discussion Monday.

Your Rundown for Friday, March 29, 2019:

Poison Apple?

Apple held its company-wide pow wow Monday. And instead of unveiling sleek, bleeding-edge technology (as in the days of MC Steve Jobs), Tim Cook and company trotted out Hollywood elites like Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and Jennifer Aniston.

Which says a lot about the corporate colossus. The companys moving away from its bread and butter tech gadgetry and into the world of information/entertainment subscription streaming. Services as Cook was quick to point out.

Apples news platform is already available but its entertainment service, set to rival the likes of Netflix, wont roll out until November. To that end, Apples promising its own catalog of original content (thus Oprah, Spielberg and Aniston).

Oh, did we mention Apples credit card venture with Goldman Sachs? Theres that, too. More services.

Bottom line: whats this mean for investors?

We found an unusual quirk that follows these jingoistic Apple-nation events. According to hedge fund analytics tool Kensho, on average, Apple stock behaves like so

• Day of event, stock drops 0.58%
• One week after event, stocks down 0.07%
• One month after event, stocks up 1.91%
• Three months after event, stocks up 10.7%

Not bad averages. But well see if the company can evolve from putting sleek technology into consumers hands to a subscription service company among other things.

So far? Apples not poison but it might be transitioning more and more into a market stalwart (smaller returns) rather than a latest, greatest tech company.

Market Rundown for Fri. March 29, 2019

S&P 500 is up 13 points to 2,828.5.

Oil is up 84 cents to $60.14 per barrel.

Golds back up adding $8.60 cents to its price of $1,303.90.

Bitcoin is up $66.94 to $4,102.78.

Have a good weekend. Well talk Monday.

For the Rundown,

Aaron Gentzler