MidSouth Week in Review
January 13, 2023

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P rose 2.7%, and is up 4.2% for the year and is up 5.7% over the past 11 days.  Inflation slowed on an annual basis for a sixth straight month, a relief for households and an encouraging signal for the Fed.  Bitcoin surged from $16,000 to $19,000.  Gold surged to $1,925 from a $1,619 November low.  Natural gas declined from $8.18 in November to $3.50.  The Dollar declined to 101.96 vs. a September high of 114.67.  The interest rates on the 30-year mortgages declined to 6.33% vs. 6.48% last week.  The markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Friday The 13^th – Any month that begins on Sunday will have one and there can be as many as three in a year.  Unease about the day is the most superstition in the U.S. today.  Many high rises don’t have a 13^th floor.  Airports do not have a Gate 13.  Many towns skip from 12 to 14 when naming their streets.  Lots of hotels avoid having a room #13.  Airliners lack a 13^th aisle – J.B. Baker

Jewish Dilemma – What do you call it?  Free ham! – Sol Stern

Good Investment Advice – Buying when others are despondently selling and to sell when others are greedily buying requires the greatest fortitude and pays the greatest potential reward – John Templeton

An Electric Car – requires 6x more minerals than a conventional car.  A typical 1000 pound battery contains 190 lbs of graphite, 130 lbs of nickel, 90 lbs of copper, 60 lbs of cobalt and 30 lbs of lithium – William Gordon ….. The price of copper was up 18% since November and is up 33% since July – Buzz

Republican Voters – 56% want Florida Gov. DeSantis to run for president vs. only 33% who prefer Trump.  47% of voters prefer Biden vs. Trump, with 47% preferring DeSantis vs. Biden – USA TODAY

Buying Stock In Local Companies – is a particularly productive way to invest.  Since they are close to home, you can spot a great opportunity long before the research analysts at the brokerage houses do ….. and buy shares of the stock well before it starts to appreciate – John Tauer, Piper Jeffrey & Hopwood

Changing Times – When I first got in the brokerage business, everyone wore a suit and tie and had shined shoes.  But not today.  I recently talked to the owner of the only shoe shine parlor in Nashville and he said he may have to close.  This caused me to walk down the street and count the number of males who have shoes that could be shined by him.  Of the 70 men that I walked by only two had shoes that were shine prospects.  Terrible! – Buzz

Tattoos – Nearly half of all Millennials have tattoos, compared to 13% of the baby boomer generation, according to a 2015 survey by the Harris Poll.

Cancer – The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 40% of men and women will be diagnosed with some type of cancer at some point during their lifetime.

Border Crossings – rose to 2.8 million in the U.S. in 2022 vs. 1.7 million in 2021.  The rise was primarily driven by a big influx of Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans – The Kiplinger Letter

State Taxes – The 10 states with the highest taxes had a negative migration of 809 per 100,000 vs. the 10 states with the lowest taxes had an average gain of 948 per 100,000 people.  California lost 879 per 100,000 people  They have the second highest taxes in the country.  New Jersey has the highest – James Doti, Chapman University

Falling Car Prices – The Manheim Used Vehicle Index, which tracks wholesale auction values in the U.S., finished down 14.9% in 2022, its worst ever annual result and much worse than the 3% decline forecast.  The forecast is for a further 4.3% decline this year as interest rate increases reduce buyers purchasing power – Wall Street Journal

Covid – Hospitalizations among those 70+ have jumped 28% since Thanksgiving.  Covid deaths are currently among those 65+ but only 32.6% of those have gotten the highly effective bivalent booster – Washington Post

The Federal Deficit – exceeded $6 trillion last year.  To raise $6 trillion the government would have to collect around $18,000 in taxes and other revenue for every man, woman and child in the U.S. – Dennis G. Hall, ex Vanderbilt professor

Electric Vehicles – The average price hit $66,000 last summer, up from $51,000 a year earlier.  A survey of 2,000 car shoppers in late 2022 showed only 3 in 10 are able to find an EV that works for them in terms of price – J.D. Power

Airline Prices – fell in December but remained nearly 29 percent higher from a year ago – Cheers the Market

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The material was prepared by MidSouth Investment Management LLC, and 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.