MidSouth Week in Review
April 1, 2021

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the year ending yesterday, the markets posted possibly their best returns ever with the S&P up 60.1% and the small cap Russell 2000 registering a 107.1% return.  For the week, both the S&P and Dow made new highs with the S&P hitting 4000 and being up 1.1% for the week.  Yesterday Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure.  Consumer confidence surged in March to a one-year high of 109.7 vs. 90.4 in February.  Home prices rose 11.2% in February at the fastest pace in 15 years.  However, the number of home contracts signed tumbled 10.6% to its lowest level since May of last year.  Lumber prices surged above $1,000 this week vs. an October low of $462.  On Monday, President Biden said that 90% of adults will be eligible to get a Covid vaccine.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

The markets will be closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday.  Hope everyone  has a happy Easter

BuzzBits

April – Going back over the past 20 years, April was the strongest month over the period, with the Dow producing an average gain of 2.5% during all Aprils since 2000 vs. an average 0.4% gain for the other 11 months – MarketWatch

Strange – Who would have thought one day we’d be smoking weed at a family gathering, but the illegal part would be the family gathering – Spike

April Fools’ – On Tuesday Volkswagen announced they were going to change the name of their company to “Voltswagen” today to highlight their launch of the all-electric ID.4 SUV and signaling their commitment to bringing electric mobility to all.  The automaker later said the plan to change their name as part of their investment in electric vehicles was all a joke – USA TODAY ….. Volkswagen rose 18.7% from last Friday’s close to Tuesday’s high - Buzz

Telemedicine – Some estimates believe that 20% to 35% of all care in the future will be delivered remotely.  At Stanford Health Care about a third of new-patient visits are using telemedicine and close to 75% who completed a video visit report said that they are very likely to choose a video consultant over an in-person visit – Wall Street Journal

Corporate Taxes – Yesterday Biden talked about raising them to 28% from 21%.  Goldman Sachs believes a 25% rate is more likely.  Goldman Sachs estimates a 25% rate would cut S&P earnings by 3% v. 9% for a 28% rate – Barron’s ….. There is currently a proposal to tax unrealized capital gains at death above $1 million vs. no taxes currently on those gains – Wall Street Journal ….. President Biden who has a $400,000 salary has recently proposed a small-to-a-significant tax increase on those making above $400,000 – ABC

Odd Names – Kim Kardashian West filed for divorce in March from Kanye West seeking joint custody of their children: North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm.  The couple is jointly worth an estimated $2.1 billion – THE WEEK

Individual Income – 50% of the 153.8 million tax filers in 2018 reported less than $40,000 of adjustable gross income – IRS

55-Years-Ago – Dodgers pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale were haggling for better contracts with the team.  They eventually got what they wanted – Koufax signed for $120,000 and Drysdale for $105,000 – LA Times ….. Koufax’s lifetime record was 165-87 and Drysdale 209-166 ….. The Dodgers drew just under 4 million fans in 2019, nearly 500,000 more than any other MLB team – New York Times

SPAC – stands for special-purpose acquisition company, a publicly traded company that holds nothing but cash.  Also known as blank-check companies, SPAC’s exist to buy private companies, and effectively take them public while avoiding the pitfalls of a traditional IPO.  They had raised $95 billion in 2021 and account for about 70% of all IPO’s this year – Dealogic

Divorces – had a surge in the early months of the pandemic however in recent month divorces from coast to coast have slowed considerably.  A recent study found that 17% of those questioned said the pandemic had strengthened their relationship.  An October report found that divorce filings declined 19% in Florida, 13% in Rhode Island, 12% in Oregon and 9% in Missouri – New York Times

Dirt – Because of a recent surge in the grain markets, farmland prices have been moving upward and has risen 8% in Iowa since September.  Corn has moved up from its August low of $305 to $596.  American farmland has shrunk by 25% since 1950 – Wall Street Journal

Interest Rates – Yardeni Research CEO Ed Yarden predicts the yield on the 10-year Treasuries will rise to between 2.5% and 3% over the next 12 to 18 months vs. the current yield of 1.7% - Trading NATION ….. The yield on the 10-year German government bonds is -2.2% - Macro Strategy News Review

Women Rule – The 17.8 million college students who enrolled in the fall of 2020 were split 59% female and 41% male – National Student Clearinghouse ….. A Wells Fargo survey found 54% of all partnered women have greater or equal earnings than their spouse.  As for Millennial and GenX women, 32% are the primary breadwinner for their family.

This material does not necessarily represent the views of the presenting party, nor their affiliates.  This information has been derived from sources believed to be accurate.  Please note – investing involves risk, and past performance is no guarantee of future results.  The publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services.  If assistance is needed, the reader is advised to engage the services of a competent professional.  This information should not be construed as investment, tax or legal advice and may not be relied on for the purpose of avoiding any Federal tax penalty.  This is neither a solicitation nor recommendation to purchase or sell any investment or insurance product or service, and should not be relied upon as such.  This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific point in time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results.  Investments will fluctuate and when redeemed may be worth more or less than when originally invested.  All economic and performance data is historical and not indicative of future results.  Market indices discussed are unmanaged.  Investors cannot invest in unmanaged indices.