On Tuesday, November 14, Jackie Ham pitched Waste Management to be added to the SMIF portfolio for our first stock pitch of the academic year. She is confident the company will be an excellent long-term position. Waste Management is the largest provider of waste management services in North America, partnering with residential, commercial, industrial and municipal customers to manage and reduce waste around the country. Waste Management will continue to grow with an expanding economy and increasing population, both of which will drive industry growth in the coming years. She emphasized decreasing costs and improving margins as a catalyst for earnings growth and stock appreciation. Jackie believes that Waste Management is best positioned in the industry to capitalize on the shifting trends towards environmentally sustainable waste disposal, such as recycling. Finally, she cited that the addition of WM will diversify the Industrials sector of the portfolio, as we currently only have exposure to two subsectors: aerospace and defense and transportation and logistics. Jackie motioned to purchase 75 shares of WM, funded by the sale of 75 shares of XLI and cash. The motion passed unanimously.