People watch stocks for different reasons -- they're waiting for a dip in price, watching for a specific catalyst, gathering all the news and information that might affect stocks they already own, or considering a sell. Regardless of their motivation, we can better understand market sentiment by seeing who's watching what. With the Fool's free My Watchlist service, we have tens of thousands of people telling us the businesses that have, for whatever reason, piqued their interest.

The most-watched aerospace and defense stock is ...
Looking at the aggregate data, we see that Boeing (NYSE: BA) is above the rest in terms of watch interest, the percentage of people keeping an eye on aerospace and defense stocks in general who are specifically watching each company. And for good reason. As CAPS Member colby1725 wrote in February: "With the recent deal with Air Force on replacing the refueling tankers and with the much awaited Dreamliner 787s arrival soon, this company is on a path to soar though 2011 and beyond."

Here are the rest of the top 15 most-watched companies in the industry with their watch interest along with the stocks' CAPS rating to show the sentiment of our investing community.

 

Company

Market Cap (millions)

CAPS Rating (out of 5)

Watch Interest

1

Boeing

$53,976

***

12.2%

2

Cubic

$1,525

****

12.0%

3

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)

$28,188

****

10.6%

4

L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL)

$8,529

****

9.3%

5

Precision Castparts

$21,156

*****

7.8%

6

Teledyne Technologies

$1,887

*****

6.1%

7

Raytheon

$18,190

****

4.9%

8

United Technologies (NYSE: UTX)

$78,670

****

4.5%

9

Honeywell International (NYSE: HON)

$46,359

****

4.4%

10

Embraer

$6,176

*****

4.0%

11

General Dynamics (NYSE: GD)

$27,853

***

3.4%

12

National Presto Industries (NYSE: NPK)

$777

*****

2.3%

13

Northrop Grumman

$18,123

***

1.6%

14

ITT

$11,053

****

1.5%

15

AeroVironment

$660

****

1.4%

Source: Motley Fool, Motley Fool CAPS.

Whether you're keeping an eye on the industry stalwarts such as Boeing or are watching an up-and-comer such as AeroVironment, it pays to watch. We can help you keep tabs on your companies with My Watchlist, our free, personalized stock tracking service. Click here to start now.