MidSouth Week in Review:
July 16, 2018
Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund
Jul. 16, 2018 | RedChip Companies
Today, Friday the 13th, the S & P rose 0.1%. For the week the S & P was up 1.5%, and the FANG stocks were up 4.5% over the past seven trading days. The average NYSE stocks is slightly down for the year. The CPI inflation rate rose from 2.2% to 2.3% in June, its largest rise since 2012. Crude had a 6.9% one-day drop before recovering over the past two days. Odd-makers predict a 60% chance of four interest rate hikes in 2018. Corporate tax receipts declined 33% in June and payroll taxes declined 5%. Even though revenues fell, the budget deficit narrowed to $74.9 billion vs. $90.2 billion in 2017. Analysts expect 2Q earnings to rise 20.7% vs. the 26.6% 1Q rise.
BuzzBits
Claiming Social Security – 34% begin claiming at age 62, 57% before age 66 and only 3.7% at age 70. Waiting eight years to claim Social Security at 70 instead of 62 can boost your monthly income by 75% - Motley Fool
The Secret of Happiness – is having something to do – American naturalist John Burroughs
Tax Reform Package – Two-thirds of investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets including 80% of the millennials, approve of the package vs. 63% of Gen Xer’s, 61% of young baby boomers and 50% of old baby boomers (aged 64 to 71) – Wealth Management
Job Quits – A record 3.56 million workers left positions in May, the most since 2000. The rise in the quits rate, which policymakers and economists view as a measure of job market confidence, bolsters expectations that wage gains will accelerate this year – Reuters
Toys “R” Us – Charles Lazarus opened a children’s furniture store in 1948 and in 1957 started Toys “R” Us, which he sold in 1966 to retail conglomerate Interstate Stores for $7.5 million, who in 1974 filed for bankruptcy protection. In 1980, with Lazarus back at the helm, the company went public. In 2005, Bain Capital bought the company in a leveraged buyout which helped topple the chain this year. Lazarus died in March, days after he told his 33,000 employees the company would shut down and liquidate its stores – Wall Street Journal
Sudden Financial Loss – can be deadly. Middle aged or older people who lost 75% or more of their net worth within a two-year period were 50% more likely to die over the next 20 years vs. those whose wealth stayed stable or grew – Feinberg School of Medicine
Grade Inflation – Nearly half of students who graduated from Lehigh, Princeton and Southern Cal did so with cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude honors. 47% of high-school students in Georgia graduated with an A average in 2016. Harvard caps the number of students that can receive honors at 60% after 91% hit the number in 2001. Academic researchers say that the uptick is not a sign of smarter students – Wall Street Journal ….. “A 4.00 does signal something significant. A 3.7, however, doesn’t. That’s just a run-of-the-mill student at any of their schools.” – Stuart Rojstaczer, former Duke professor ….. When I was in college, the grading system was based on the Bell Curve. They would C you to death and the top average in my class was a mere 2.85 out of 4 – Buzz ….. During the 1871-1961 period, only two students ever earned four years of straight A’s at Ohio State’s College of Liberal Arts – Gerald Rankin
Digital Media Bad for Kids Mental Health – The use for digital media beyond two hours a day of free time, and especially beyond four hours is correlated with depression and unhappiness in teens – Common Sense Media survey
Protestantism in England – 485 years ago in 1533, Henry VIII divorced his first of six wives (two, including his second wife Anne Boleyn were beheaded), became head of the Church of England, was excommunicated by the Catholic Church by Pope Clement VII – PLANSPONSOR
Women Workers – Mothers between 30 and 32 year-olds were about 87% as productive as similar childless men. Women without children in the same age group were 101% as productive as similar men, but were paid 89% of the wage – University of Chicago
City of Lights – The French government is stubbing out the country’s love affair with tobacco. Taxes are on target to push the cost of a pack of cigarettes from about $9 to $12 by 2020. 27% of the French smoke vs. 14% in the U.S. and only 7% in Sweden, the lowest proportion country – USA TODAY ….. In the month of August, because of recent competition from several budget air carriers, a ticket from New York to Paris can be had at a major airline for less than $500 vs. the normal four-digit airfare charge – Robert Mann, airline industry consultant
Blockbuster – announced they are closing their Alaska stores, leaving just one U.S. location. In 2004, Blockbuster had 9,000 locations.
Trump Nicknames
Since Trump has been in office he has given out at least 100 nicknames to individuals and organizations.
Some of the better known nicknames given to individuals include: Low Energy Jeb, Crooked Hillary, Liddle Bob Corker, Al Frankenstein, Lyin Ted, High Tax, High Crime Nancy Pelosi, Irrelevant Glenn Beck, Dopey Mark Cuban, Punchy De Niro, Sloppy Michael Moore, Psycho Joe, Wacky Jacky, Little Marco, Crazy Bernie, Fake Tears Chuck Schumer, Pocahontas, Crazy Maxine Waters.
Organization nicknames include: Fake ABC News, Clinton News Network (CNN), Deface the Nation (Face the Nation), Failing New York Times.
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