MidSouth Week in Review:
April 12, 2019

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

Today the S & P made a 7-month high in closing up 0.4% for the week.  Uber filed its $10 billion IPO papers yesterday showing 2018 revenues of $11.27 billion and a $3.03 billion loss.  The company was expected to have an initial market valuation of $100 billion+ but now is expected to be below that level since competitor Lyft has recently declined 35% from its IPO day high.  Consumer prices rose 0.4% in March, the biggest gain since Jan. 2018 and at an annualized rate of 1.9%.  The U.S. deficit rose to $691 billion during the Oct. – March period vs. $600 billion a year ago.  Unemployment claims hit a 50-year low.  Oil prices hit a 5-month high as a sharp decline in Venezuelan oil more than offset an announced increase in oil storage.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren floated a proposal to have companies pay a 7% surtax on worldwide profits above $100 million.  About 1,200 companies would be subject to the tax….Federal tax returns are due to be filed by Monday.  The top 50% of taxpayers (adjusted gross) paid 97% of federal income tax collected in 2016 – IRS.

BuzzBits

The S & P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index – is composed of firms that have raised their dividends for at least 25 years.  The index has returned an annualized 18.3% return over the past 10 years, compared to 17.1% for the S & P and with less volatility.  Three ProShare dividend Aristocrat ETF’s and their 3-year annualized returns: Russell 2000 Dividend Gainers (SMDV – 13.7%), S & P Dividend Aristocrats (NOBL – 11.8%), S & P Mid-Cap 400 Dividend Aristocrats (REGL – 12.5%) – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Church Signs – Whoever stole our AC units, keep one because it is hot where you are going – Clays Mill Road Baptist Church….. Thinking of Suicide?  Let the church help – Donelson Baptist Church ….. Police toilet stolen!  Cops have nothing to go on – Indian Hills newspaper headline

Retirement Advise for Millennials – A recent report by the Brookings Institute says the group is the most educated generation in history and will stay in the workforce longer than any previous generation, giving them additional years to save.  The only problem is that the group is very risk adverse and more apt to place much of their funds in safe investments such as bonds.  But in the long run, bonds have returned only 5.5% annually since 1926 vs. 10% for stocks.  A 25-year-old who placed $10,000 from a 401K plan could expect to have $58,523, based on historical averages, from a bond investment at age 65 vs. $482,597 from equities.  At age 70, the equity account would be worth $725,392 – Buzz

Exercising – During a long study of 315,059 men and women, those who had always been actively exercising consistently for a few hours a week, were about 30 to 35% less likely to have died from any cause and about 40% less likely to have died from a heart attack vs. inactive people – New York Times

IRS Audits – of taxpayer returns filed with $1 million+ of income have declined from 40,000 in 2015 to 16,000 of the 504,278 returns filed in 2018 – AVAST.com

Illegal Robo Calls – YouMail estimates there were 48 billion of the calls last year.  Since 2015, the FCC has ordered violators to pay $208.4 million.  So far, the government has collected only $6,790 of that amount.  AT&T and other large wireless carriers hope to implement a call verification system by year-end that will help customers identify legitimate calls – Wall Street Journal

Sad – The General Accounting Office estimates 48% of Americans 55 or older have nothing saved for retirement in an IRA or 401k plan – Bloomberg

Baseball – Baltimore’s Chris Davis, who makes $23 million a year (32% of the team’s payroll), broke a major league record this week by having gone to bat 53 times since September without a hit, breaking the old record of 46.  Last season he hit .168, the lowest batting average since 1900 for a player.  The 33-year old Davis hit his peak in 2013 with a 53-homer season that inspired his 7-year $161 million contract ….. Tampa Bay with the league’s lowest payroll ($60.4 million) has the second best record in the majors vs. the Red Sox with a $223 million payroll who are in last place in their division and the Cubs with a $210 million payroll who have only won 33% of their games …..34% of all major baseball leaguers earn at least $5 million or $30,864 per game.

Listen Up – House Financial Services chairwoman Maxine Waters urged at the end of a six hour hearing this week for the bank CEO’s to come up with a solution to the student loan crisis, despite them telling her earlier that they had exited the business 10 years earlier – ABC News

Gas Tax – Last year, the U.S. Chamber president told Congress that a 25 cent a gallon tax was needed to make up for the fact that the 18.4 cent a gallon levy, last increased in 1993, is now worth only 10.5 cents after inflation and doesn’t come close to paying for infrastructure repairs in a nation that is more prosperous than 20 years ago.  The pitch got nowhere ….. Rebuilding the U.S. interstate system would cost $57 billion a year over two decades and require raising federal fuel taxes by 360% - Transportation Research Board

White Sport Coats & Pink Carnations – This is such a great video.  So, enjoy it.  For those of you who experienced the iconic 1950,s a decade that will never be repeated.  The cars are fantastic.  The music was so wonderful, romantic, nostalgic, magical.  We were rich and did not know it!  We were innocent and thought we were experienced.  We were very fortunate to have lived in such an era.  Enjoy the past as revealed here.  Who knows what the future will bring?  Turn up your speakers.  Also be sure and watch part 2 -www.biggeekdad.com/2013/01/the-best-of-times

buzz@msifund.com

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