What’s On Our Minds:

The weather has been getting nicer and the days have been getting longer, but here at Tufton we have been ramping up our research initiatives with the help of our new summer interns. While many college students are spending their summers at the beach or enjoying vacations, our group has been hard at work supporting the research associates and portfolio managers with the information and analysis they need to stay ahead of the markets.

At Tufton, we are proud to conduct all equity research in-house. To help with this sizeable task, each summer, we hire talented college students with a focus and interest in finance to give us some extra horsepower. These interns run valuations, research industry trends, write reports, and bring fresh ideas to our Investment Committee. We believe our internship program to be mutually beneficial for both the firm and the students, and have a strong track record of helping our interns gain the experience they need to go on to get competitive jobs in the financial services industry all over the country.

This year we are excited to introduce our two interns joining us for the summer:.

Jackson Gibb is joining us from Stevenson University where he is majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. Jackson is the Treasurer of the Financial Management Association and a project manager for the school’s Enactus chapter.

Rick Roebuck is joining us from University of Richmond where he attends the E. Claiborne Robins School of Business and is majoring in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and Accounting. Rick serves a member of the University of Richmond FinTech Club and the Entrepreneurial Club.

Last Week’s Highlights:

Once again, markets shrugged off trade war noise after an initial dip in response to news of tariffs being placed on Chinese imports. China’s response brought markets even lower, but stocks rallied on Friday afternoon to bring the major indices into positive territory for the week. Courts rebuffed the Department of Justice, definitively approving the AT&T-Time Warner merger. This has set the stage for a bidding war between Comcast and Disney for Fox’s entertainment assets in the rapidly-changing media space.

Looking Ahead:

The World Cup draws global attention to Russia, as underdogs like Mexico and Iceland look to make spirited runs on the largest stage in soccer. The United States Men’s National Team failed to make the tournament this year, but there is no shortage of excitement in the tournament so far. Later in the week, the U.S. is set to meet with OPEC to discuss oil production in the Middle East. The outcome of this meeting will have lasting implications for the price of oil through the rest of the summer.