Military contractors will be anxiously monitoring Capitol Hill as lawmakers return from summer recess and sprint to finish a multibillion-dollar defense budget before scattering to the campaign trail ahead of the November election.

Shares of some top aerospace companies were mixed at the close of trading:

Shares of some top aerospace companies are mixed at noon:

The Iraqi government has asked for information about buying 36 F-16 fighter aircraft built by Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N>, the U.S. Defense Department said on Friday.

By Jim Wolf

Shares of some top aerospace companies are mixed at 10 a.m.:

Defense contractor Raytheon Co. said Friday it received an $85.3 million contract from the Army to produce Excalibur precision artillery projectiles for the Army, Marine Corps and the Australian Defence Forces.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Service on Thursday raised its investment-grade ratings on Raytheon Co. one notch, noting improving credit protection measures and favorable near-term growth opportunities.

A joint venture between Computer Sciences Corp. and Raytheon Co. received a $78.1 million contract from the Air Force to support space launch missions at Cape Canaveral, Fla., the Pentagon said late Tuesday.

Shares of military contractors mostly rose with the broader market Thursday after an analyst said the sector offers "near-term strategic buying opportunities."

To give investors an edge, CNBC asked the experts for their best trades now.  Their favorite stock picks included tech, defense and large-cap companies.

It was a week in which the news began and ended with the financials, and some scandal and economic angst in-between. The question for investors was how to navigate it.

Bob Doll sees strength in a lot of familiar places:  global exposure, high cash flow, strong balance sheets.  But the vice chairman and global CIO of equities at BlackRock sees weakness in financials, and he says that's what's holding back some otherwise solid stocks.