By Elias Kott, Contributing Writer
As of Wednesday, indices across the market closed with mixed results. The Dow Jones Industrial finished down 85.41 points (-0.26%) and currently sits at 32,981.55. However, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed up for the day. The S&P 500 finished up 14.34 points (0.36%) at 3,972.89. Most notably, the Nasdaq closed up 201.48 points (1.54%) and is currently 13,246.87. SIMM’s current portfolio value is $555,050.66.
Perhaps the biggest event worldwide that temporarily halted global trading was the ship that blocked the Suez Canal. “Ever Given,” the name of the cargo ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal, caused oil prices to rise due to fears in a lack of demand.
In addition, stock market indices worldwide also temporarily dipped due to uncertainty surrounding when global trading would resume. However, on Tuesday after a six-day delay, global trading resumed after the Suez Canal became unblocked resulting in global markets rebounding and oil prices falling.
Other key news specifically occurred in the state of New York.
Governor Andrew Cuomo recently signed the legislation bill that officially legalizes marijuana in the state of New York. Residents of New York age 21 or older will now be allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana.
In SIMM related news, the Family Business sector presented a buy pitch for Walmart which trades under the symbol $WMT. Their recommendation was to add 14 shares to the portfolio which officially makes it about a $2,000 investment. The Family Business sector already owns several shares of Walmart, so their reasoning behind adding another 14 shares was largely in part due to having excess cash that is sitting around.
Rather than letting the money sit and generate little to no return, they argued that adding that cash to more Walmart shares can result in a higher overall return for our portfolio. After the Family Business’s presentation, the class voted on whether to approve the purchase and it ended up passing.
In addition, the acquisition of Compass Pathways, a psychedelic company, was recently added to our portfolio.
Juniors Drake Dettore and Tim Williamson led the presentation for the Healthcare and Consumer Staples Sectors arguing that although Compass Pathways ($CMPS) presents a very high risk, it also has a very high reward potential. Compass Pathways is still in a very early growth stage and for their stock to potentially go off, they need legislation to approve legalizing psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
In order to not take on too much risk, the proposal was to only purchase 43 shares with a trailing stop loss of 10%. A trailing stop loss helps reduce the overall risk of suffering a massive loss.
After the conclusion of the presentation, the class voted and the majority were in favor of adding Compass Pathways to the portfolio.
To learn more or to stay up to date with other SIMM related news, go follow us on twitter at BonaSIMM.
kottej18@bonaventure.edu
