MidSouth Week in Review
May 12, 2023

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

The S&P was down 0.3% for the week.  Inflation slowed to 4.9%, lowest since April 2021.  Job satisfaction hit a 36-year high in 2022.  Bitcoin declined to $26.2k.  Heating oil made a 16-month low.  Covid rates dropped to the lowest level since March 2020.  The yield on Series I Bonds dropped to 4.3% vs. 6.89%.  Tucker Carlson said he is launching a new show on Twitter.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Warren Buffett – His success has been because he picks good stocks and sometimes more understated: an appreciation of dividend-paying stocks.  Dividend stocks are shares of companies that regularly return a portion of their earning to shareholders, typically in the form of cash – Wall Street Journal

President Bill Clinton – said that his granddaddy used to hide his whiskey in the toilet tank.  Asked where he used to hide his personal items, he replied, “The oven, it’s a very secure place.” – Buzz

Home Prices – fell in more parts of the U.S. than they have in over a decade during the first quarter.  The hardest-hit housing markets were concentrated in California and the Mountain West.  San Francisco posted a 14.5% median single-family existing-home sale-price decline from a year earlier – Wall Street Journal ….. New York and California lost more than $90 billion in income during Covid as taxpayers moved to other states - IRS

Electric Vehicle Loophole – is available if you lease instead of buy which allows you to qualify for a full $7,500 tax credit – Bloomberg ….. Toyota expects their FY March 2024 EV sales to reach 202k vs. 50k the previous year and for sales to hit 1.5 million in 2026 and 3.5 million in 2030 - Toyota

The Inflation Rate – dropped to 4.9% in April vs. 5% in March.  Sky-high grocery prices dropped for the second month in a row.  New-car prices also fell though used-car prices rose.  Inflation is far from beaten, but the headline number will drop in coming months – The Kiplinger Letter

Ouch! – A large San Francisco office building that was for sale in 2020 for $250 million is now being sold at a massive discount for $65 million, a 75% decline.  According to CoopNet, the property is currently only 32% leased.

Retailers – are abandoning downtowns in greater numbers because of rising costs and surging crime.  Cities have lost major stores, citing lower foot traffic and more incidents of “organized retail crime” – Washington Post

Lending Standards – The Federal Reserve said that banks have raised their lending standards for business and consumer loans in the aftermath of three large bank failures – AP

Disney World – is the nation’s largest single-site employer with roughly 75,000 working there.  They attracted 50 million guests annually and paid $1.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2022 – New York Times

Mortality - Both biological and adoptive parents have a lower mortality than the childless.  When parents have a high level of education, their mortality falls with each birth up to the fourth child.  Parents are healthier because the presence of children induce changes in the lifestyle of their parents – Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Airlines – The Biden administration plans new regs that would require airlines to compensate passengers when flight times change drastically due to causes within the carriers’ control – Wall Street Journal

Home Buyers – Many who want to move are trapped in their homes, locked in by low interest rates they can’t afford to give up.  These “golden handcuffs” are keeping the supply of homes for sale unusually low and making the market more competitive and pricey than some forecasters expected – Wall Street Journal

Gun Buying – 81% of registered voters support raising the legal age to buy a gun to 21, and 77% support a 30-day waiting period for all gun purchases.  61% favor a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons – Fox News

Famous Dancers - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cry7CFZthGK/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Soul Men - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq_DLxypSbZ/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Dancing with Elvis - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrMdVSxIKSY/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

Bird Talk - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CqGfUyKIFs2/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=

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.