Spring and Summer 2026 Newsletter

Spring Quarter Highlights at Santa Clara University:

My final quarter at Santa Clara University was a busy one, but also one of the most rewarding quarters of my college experience.

• During the spring quarter, I took four courses: Risk Management, Financial Modeling, Theology of Marriage, and Effective Communication in Business. Risk Management and Financial Modeling were my final two finance courses at Santa Clara, while Theology of Marriage fulfilled my final core religion requirement, and Effective Communication in Business fulfilled a business core requirement.

• My Financial Modeling course was particularly interesting, as our final project involved analyzing and optimizing an investment portfolio and evaluating the performance of an actively managed mutual fund. If you are interested in viewing my quarter-long portfolio project, you can find it on my website under my posts.

• I also had the opportunity to attend an event at the Leavey School of Business featuring the CFO of Stripe, an SCU alumnus. He spoke about his career, his experience at Stripe, and answered questions from students about finance, technology, and career development.

• I continued meeting with professionals throughout the quarter. These conversations have remained one of the most valuable parts of my college experience, as they have allowed me to learn from people across different industries and stages of their careers.

• I attended the Women in Investment Annual Dinner and several induction ceremonies toward the end of the quarter. I was inducted into the Leavey Scholars Society, Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society, and Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.

• I was also fortunate to be named a Valedictorian Semifinalist and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a cumulative GPA of 3.99 from Santa Clara University with a Bachelors of Science Commerce (BSc) in Finance.

Graduation:

On June 13th, I officially graduated from Santa Clara University.

It is still surreal to think that my four years at Santa Clara are over. College went by incredibly fast, especially the final year, but I am extremely grateful for the experiences, friendships, professors, mentors, and opportunities that came from my time at SCU. Many of the people that shaped my college career are now on this mailing list and I hope to use it as a way to stay in touch. 

Graduation week was a great way to close out my Santa Clara chapter and I was fortunate to celebrate with my family and friends before starting work.

Professional:

Nine days after graduating from Santa Clara I began working full-time at JPMorgan as a Credit Analyst within the Commercial and Investment Bank in Seattle.

I recently completed nine weeks of training and have now begun what I would consider my “true” daily work with the Seattle team. The training process was an intensive nine weeks and taught me a ton about my role. 

Five of those nine weeks were spent in Chicago with roughly 200 other first-year commercial banking analysts from across the country. It was a great opportunity to meet people starting similar roles in different offices and industries, and it was also my first time visiting Chicago.

Outside of training, I tried to take advantage of being in a new city as much as possible. I visited the Field Museum and Shedd Aquarium, went to two Cubs games and a White Sox game, and tried several of Chicago’s most famous foods. My food review is somewhat mixed. I was underwhelmed by the deep-dish pizza and thought the Chicago Dog was nothing compared to a Seattle Dog, but I did think the classic Italian beef sandwich was fantastic. 

Now that training is complete, I am back in Seattle and have begun actually working with my team and being staffed on real deals which has been great. I am part of the Technology and Disruptive Commerce team, which at a high level essentially means I am working with high-growth technology firms and digital consumer brands. Overall, I am excited to continue learning about credit analysis, underwriting, and commercial banking while adjusting to the transition from college to working full-time.

What’s Next:

For the foreseeable future, my focus will be on continuing to learn in my new role at JPMorgan.

Despite the nine weeks of training, there is still an enormous amount for me to learn in this role so I am looking forward to continuing to develop over the next few years of the analyst rotation.

I also hope to continue meeting with professionals and mentors, staying up to date on financial markets and current events, and traveling whenever I can find the time. 

Recommendation:

My recommendation for this newsletter is to pay closer attention to what is happening in the bond market, particularly the 10-year Treasury yield, and how movements in Treasury yields ultimately affect borrowing costs for everyday consumers. This is especially relevant right now due to the recent rise in mortgage rates and uncertainty surrounding inflation and interest rates.

My recommendation stems from an article I recently read in The Wall Street Journal, discussing the recent rise in mortgage rates. One of the most important takeaways from the article is that mortgage rates are heavily influenced by the bond market and, more specifically, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield. This is something that seems to be often misunderstood because people generally associate interest rates with the Federal Reserve. While the Fed does have a major influence on interest rates throughout the economy, it does not directly set mortgage rates. Instead, mortgage rates tend to move alongside longer-term Treasury yields.

Here is a good example of why the 10-year Treasury matters for mortgage rates: Suppose an investor has $100 and can invest that money in a 10-year U.S. Treasury bond that earns around 5%. U.S. Treasuries are generally considered one of the safest investments available. Alternatively, that investor could invest in a mortgage-backed security, which is essentially a collection of home loans bundled together and sold to investors. Since mortgage-backed securities come with additional risks, investors generally require a higher return than they do from Treasuries. So, if Treasury yields rise, investors will also demand higher returns from investments like mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage lenders then need to charge homeowners higher mortgage rates to provide investors with that higher return. This is why increases in the 10-year Treasury yield tend to translate into higher mortgage rates.

This relationship has become particularly relevant over the past several months. Mortgage rates fell below 6% earlier in 2026 before reversing and moving back toward 7%. One reason for this has been renewed concern about inflation. Recent geopolitical conflict, mainly the war in Iran, has increased concerns about energy prices and the possibility that inflation remains elevated. If investors expect higher inflation, they generally demand higher bond yields because inflation reduces the purchasing power of the returns they receive. Investors may also expect the Federal Reserve to keep rates higher for longer. Both factors can push Treasury yields higher, which can eventually result in higher mortgage rates.

While a move of 50 or 100 basis points (0.5% to 1.0%) may not sound significant, it can have a major impact on someone purchasing a home. For example, suppose someone takes out a $500,000 30-year mortgage. At a 6% interest rate, the monthly principal and interest payment would be approximately $3,000. At a 7% interest rate, that same mortgage would have a monthly payment of roughly $3,325. That is an increase of more than $300 per month, or nearly $4,000 per year, even though the buyer borrowed the exact same amount of money. 

While the 10-year Treasury yield can seem disconnected from everyday life, examples like this show that it does have a very real impact on consumers and businesses. Treasury yields serve as an important benchmark for borrowing costs throughout the economy. When Treasury yields rise, businesses may face higher borrowing costs, consumers may see higher rates on their loans, and the government also has to pay more interest when issuing new debt, which is particularly tough for the government as the national debt has recently crossed the $40 trillion mark. Higher long-term interest rates can also affect stock valuations because investors discount companies’ future cash flows at higher rates.

Ultimately, my point in highlighting this article is to draw attention to the relationship between the bond market and the interest rates that consumers and businesses actually experience. I think it is easy to hear that the 10-year Treasury yield moved by 20 or 30 basis points and view it as something that only matters to bond investors. In reality, those movements can affect things like whether someone can afford to buy a home and stock valuations. Going forward, I highly recommend paying particularly close attention to the 10-year Treasury yield and inflation data, as they provide a good indication of where borrowing costs may be headed.