On Tuesday, March 6, one of our Consumer Staples analysts, Jack Horan, pitched Costco as an addition to the SMIF portfolio. Costco (COST) is a membership warehouse club that is uniquely positioned in the retail industry to capitalize on current consumer trends. With the looming concern of a potential market downturn, Costco’s low cost, low margin business structure gives the company a unique advantage over its competitors in the retail space, as was evident in 2007/2008. Costco is determined to grow its store count year over year, with an emphasis on the upcoming years in particular. Costco is a growth company and thus behaves as a growth stock. Jack based his thesis on the idea of investing in Costco’s future growth prospects, which will help provide substantial return for the portfolio in future years. An investment in Costco further diversifies the retail consumer staples industry through an investment in the world’s largest membership warehouse club. The motion to buy 30 shares of COST at market price and sell 105 shares of XLP was approved by the class.