MidSouth Week in Review
January 27, 2023

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

Jan. 30, 2023 | RedChip Companies


For the week the S&P was up 2.5%.  Federal Reserve officials are preparing to slow interest rate increases for the second straight meeting.  The price of the first-class Forever stamp rose to 63 cents this week from 60 cents.  The economy grew at a faster-than-expected 2.9%, annualized pace in the 4Q, down from 3.2% the previous quarter.  Natural gas fell to 2.82 from 10 in September.  America has fallen behind in the car payment rate to the lowest level since 2009.  Home sales in December hit a 12-year-low.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

 

BuzzBits

 

Previous Returns – Since 1954 we have had nine down years that have always followed by a positive first 5 days, a positive January and a positive year, averaging 27.1%.  This year the S&P was up 0.8% during the first five days, and is up 6.0% for January – Carson Investment Research

 

The Biggest Mistakes – I have made in the stock market are with companies with a lot of promise, but no earnings – Peter Lynch …… The more exciting the company, the more money you are about to lose – Alex Paris

 

Private Investments – Over the past two years, $87.5 billion has been plowed into these so-called Reg D private offerings.  Investors believe they are beating the market until they try to sell and find out many of the securities are nearly worthless – Wall Street Journal

 

California Gas – was $4.30 in December vs. $3.09 on average elsewhere in the U.S.  Fuel margins at California gas stations were about 79 cents a gallon in 2022, 80% higher than the 44-cents-a-gallon nationwide average – Wall Street Journal

 

Budgeting Money Lessons For Kids – teach this 50/30/20 rule for allotting 50% of income for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings or debt repayment.  Put some money in the stock market, and allow the kids to manage it for five years – GoBankingRates

 

Redfin (RDFN) – The No. 1 real estate brokerage site in the U.S. has lost 90% of its value since hitting a high in 2021.  Soaring mortgage rates knocked the housing market in a deep slump in 2022, and the prospects of a swift turnaround in 2023 look dim – TNLedger.com

 

Newspapers – The U.S. has lost more than 2,500 newspapers since 2005 or 25% of the total and is on track to lose a third by 2028.  Most of those shuttered papers were weeklies covering smaller communities.  Nearly 60% of newsroom jobs have been lose since 2005 – Northwestern University

 

Inflation – Expect inflation to fall from the 6.5% increase registered in December by the Consumer Price Index to about 3% by the end of 2023 – The Kiplinger Letter

 

Job Cuts – Tech Microsoft announced they are laying off 10,000, Amazon said it will be laying off 18,000 positions, Facebook parent Meta said it will be cutting 18,000 positions and Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk has slashed the company’s workforce – Associate Press

 

Covid-19 – People who exercise regularly had lower rates of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 in a study published recently in the American Journal of Prevention Medicine.

 

Dark Chocolate – The darker the chocolate, the higher the flavonoid-rich cocoa content.  Flavonoids help protect us from free-radical damage, which accelerates aging and promotes illnesses – Janet Bond Brill, PhD

 

Bad Returns – The typical savings account is paying 0.33% vs. money-market funds, brokered CDs and Treasury notes that all are paying between 4% and 5% - Wall Street Journal ….. Wells Fargo & Co’s Wealth Management deposits dropped 8% in 2022.

 

Food Prices – increased by 10.4% over the previous 12 months.  Prices of food consumed at home increased a whopping 11.8% in 2022, the highest in 45 years.  The Department of Agriculture believes grocery prices will increase by another 5% in 2023 – The Kiplinger Letter

 

Tesla Stock – dropped from 412 to 101.  At one point, the stock was selling at 1000x earnings and was worth more than Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMS, Ford and General Motors combined – New York Times ….. Tesla cut its Model Y starting price to $53,000 from $66,000 – Wall Street Journal ….. In recent weeks electric vehicle companies have soared in value.  Lucid is up 50% and Rivian is up 53% in 3 weeks and Tesla has jumped from 101 on January 6 to 180 today – Right Decision

 

Existing Home Sales – fell in December, concluding the weakest year of sales activity since 2014.  On a month-to-month basis sales fell 1.5% in December, a record 11th straight monthly decline – Wall Street Journal

 

Elvis - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnJhTD-tRKR/?igshid=ZmMyNmFmZTc=

 

Tom Cruise - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnIaecLpPMm/?igshid=ZmMyNmFmZTc=

 

Dancer - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CnKvHHLMC-I/?igshid=ZmMyNmFmZTc=

 

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. 




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