MidSouth Week in Review:
February 14, 2020

The S&P 500 closed up 1.8% for the week hitting an all time high on Thursday.  Shares of health insurers charged higher this week as Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire’s primary and increased the odds of President Trump’s re-election.  Monday, U.S. Stock indexes struggled as growing concern about economic damage from China’s coronavirus outbreak.  Currently there are over 63,000 people infected by the virus and over 1,400 have died.  Bitcoin rose above $10,000 this week; it’s first time since September.

The market will be closed on Monday as we observe President’s day.  Have a great weekend!

BuzzBits

The Five Biggest Stocks – in the S&P 500 – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook – have grown so explosively that they now represent 18% of the index, by market value.  The five companies have made a combined 501 acquisitions since 2010 and realized $55.2 billion in net profits in the most recent quarter – Associated Press ….. The S&P makes up about 80% of total stock market capitalization – Seeking Alpha

Beware – of people who say they’re going to invest your money as if it were their own – pretty soon it is! – Robert Orben

Tesla – with a closing market value of $160 billion, is now larger than 464 of the S&P 500 companies, but is ineligible for inclusion in the index because they have not been profitable for 4 consecutive quarters – Mike O’Rourk

Famous Plagues – The Plague of Justinian in 541 A.D. claimed 10,000 lives per day in Constantinople.  The Black Plague killed as many as 50 million in the 1300’s, which was more than half the population of Europe.  The Italian Plague (1629-1631) killed 280,000.  The Great Plague of London (1665-1666) caused London to lose an estimated 100,000 people – Evan Andrews ….. Scurvy killed some 2 million people from 1500 to 1800 in Europe – New York Times

Household Debt – has risen 22 straight quarters to $14 trillion.  Auto debt has risen 35 consecutive quarters, with 5% of the loans being delinquent more than 90 days.  Credit card delinquency rose to 8.4%, an 18-month high, with an average debt balance of $6,200.  One in nine borrowers were 90+ days delinquent – Bloomberg News

Golf – According to a study of 5,900 golfers, with an average age of 72, those who played at least once a month were much more likely to live a decade later.  Over a seven year period, 15% of the golfers died vs. 25% of those who never picked up a club.  Golfing could also help those who suffered chronic diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancer and stroke, as well as helping reduce the risk of anxiety, depression and dementia, the researchers found – Cardiovascular Health study

Bad Results – U.S. college endowments had a mere 8.4% average return for the 10 years ending June 10 vs. a 14.7% return by the S&P 500 index – TIAA

Renters – earning $75,000+, make up 10.2 million households, that’s up by nearly a third from 7.1 million in 2010.  A problem is that as rents are rising, it makes it harder to save up for a down payment on a home.  The 20% deposit on the median U.S. home costing $240,000 would be $50,000.  And saving money for a  house becomes more difficult if one has significant student loan debt which accounts for 45% of millennials – Michael Tedder, Business Insider ….. Rents rose at an annualized rate of 4.8% in January – Market Watch

Democratic Campaign Spending – during the 4Q, was a combined $170.5 million for Sanders, Buttigieg, Biden, Warren, Yang and Klobuchar vs. a combined $343 million by billionaires Bloomberg ($188.4 million) and Steyer ($153.7 million) – New York Times ….. Steyer spent $17.8 million on TV ads in New Hampshire to receive a mere 10,721 votes at a cost of $1,660 a vote.  Ouch!

Secrecy – About 44% of U.S. adults admit to hiding a bank account or debt, or to spending more money than their partner would be comfortable with – Credit-Cards.com

97.5 Degrees – is the new average body temperature reading vs. the average of 98.6 degrees in the 1800’s.  The average body temperature has decreased by about 0.08 degrees per decade.  People today have fewer infections, thanks to vaccines and antibiotics, so their immune systems are less active – Wunderlich research

A Loser No More - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVc9VKwHbjA  ….. Reminds me of myself growing up - Buzz

buzz@msifund.com

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