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Feb 1, 2012 Minutes
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January 24, 2012
Today in Class: We discussed the online presence of SMIF (on Twitter, Facebook, and this website), heard the accounting report, discussed filling out sectors with ETFs, and presented additional Buy/Hold/Sells.
Accounting Report, click here for full report. Notably we were called out on AFL and EBAY and are currently holding over 55% of the portfolio in cash.
Buy/Hold/Sells
- EMB by Tom: Hold
- VTR by Alec: Hold
- AAPL by Arvi: Hold
- AXP by Vince: Hold
- FSTR by Ryan: Hold
- TIP by Brendan: Hold
- BMY by Oliver: Hold
- DEO by Stefanie: Hold
- INTC by Jordan: Hold
- KO by Erin: Hold
- LVS by Erin: Hold
- BLK by Lindsay: Hold. The class also decided to sell (20-0-1) April $195 calls.
- UPS by Jeff: Sell. The class voted to sell (21-0) all shares at $74.98. This decision was reached due to worries about Europe and Asia, influenced in part by the IMF’s recent forecast of growth cuts globally.
- GLD by Will: Hold
- SCCO by Will: Hold
January 19, 2012
Today in Class:
We welcomed ourselves back for the second semester of SMIF and the final semester for all of the seniors, noted that Chris Brown and John Luthi would come to visit class on February 14, and began Buy/Hold/Sells
Buy/Hold/Sells
- GE by Jordan: Hold
- CELG by Aleem: Hold
- TJX by Jason: Hold
- JNJ by Brendan: Sell. Sold at Market unanimously for $65.00
- GIS by Mark: Hold. After further discussion the class voted (17-4) instead to sell at market.
See the full minutes here: 1-19-12 Minutes
October 4, 2011
Today in Class:
The layout of the Fall 2011 Newsletter was discussed and the publish date was set for November 1, 2011.
Sector Reports
- Healthcare (Holdings: CELG, TEVA, BMY) – BMY and CELG are both out-performing the S&P 500, yet TEVA is struggling. Healthcare consumption has been rising every quarter in the past few years, however we see possible political risk present in several lawsuits that are challenging President Obama’s Healthcare bill. Overall, we judge this sector to be risk averse, not volatile, and presents opportunities for high dividend yields. The class has decided to overweight this sector. See full sector report here.
- Industrial (Holdings: GE, FSTR, UPS) – Industrials has been under-performing the S&P 500 but due to a 1.4% increase in construction spending in August and a full point increase in the PMI, we feel that it is best to stay neutral with the S&P 500 sector weighting. See full sector report here.
- Information Technology (Holdings: EBAY, IBM) – IT is a sector SMIF is very interested in, but we are wary of negative returns in the short run. As spending is tied to global demand, we feel increasing our weighting and holdings would be ill-advised. As such, we feel it is best to stay neutral. See full sector report here.
- Telecoms (Holdings: VZ) – Telecoms have high dividend yields and we will investigate diversifying our holdings, but will remain neutral with S&P sector weighting. See full sector report here.
- Utilities (Holdings: ED) – While the sector’s performance has been exemplary, we feel that prices are inflated and increasing in our position in utilities would result in future losses. We will remain neutral with the S&P 500 sector weighting. See full sector report here.
Read the entire class minutes: 10-04-11 Minutes
September 29, 2011
Today in Class:
Stock Pitch
- UPS (Jeff Sowell): Recommended to buy 300 shares. UPS has very strong market share versus its competitors, it is well diversified, and has a hold in international markets. The debt is staggered over the years so it is not overwhelming to UPS’s operations. The SMIF portfolio is currently underweight in industrials and UPS has outperformed the S&P 500 for the previous five years. UPS also offers a dividend which can hedge against volatility. The class decided to buy 300 shares of UPS with a limit order set at $62.51.
Access the full minutes here: 09-29