Welcome Back!
The club kicked off the new academic year with an introductory meeting. Co-Presidents Noah Grossman ’21 and Alec Cwienkala ’21 provided an overview of the Club’s portfolio and current positions. Some of our top-performing positions include Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Home Depot, United Healthcare, Gilead, JP Morgan, Union Pacific, Dollar Tree, and Lululemon. Shaan Shuster ’23 and Connor Thatcher ’21 presented a market update, which included a review of equity markets and a look into the v-shaped recovery of the S&P 500 since the lows of March.
Shaan provided an analysis of the U.S. treasury yield curve. A yield curve shows several yields across different contract lengths for debt of a certain type (ex. US Treasuries) and shows the relationship between an interest rate and the time to maturity. An inverted yield curve means interest rates have flipped on U.S. treasuries with short-term bonds paying more than long-term bonds. It’s generally regarded as a warning sign for the markets and may occur as investors push into bonds, driving down yields.
- Yield curve inverted from May—October 2019
- Briefly inverted this February
- Current spread = 0.63
Shaan also updated the Club on some world news that has been playing a role in recent market performance such as the DNC, RNC, and the latest updates on the COVID-19 pandemic. The DNC and RNC recently wrapped up and we are entering the last leg of the 2020 election. Meanwhile, Coronavirus deaths have reached 180,000 in the United States and 828,000 worldwide; the pandemic shows few signs of abating despite some promising signs in vaccine and treatment development
To close out the meeting, the members of the Executive Board each gave a brief introduction and a description of their role. Looking forward to another successful year.