MidSouth Week in Review
May 19, 2023

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P was up 1.7%.  According to Bankrate.com, 30-year mortgage rates rose to 7.10%.  The inflation rate came out at 4.9%, the lowest rate since April 2021.  In the 1Q, sales of electric cars and trucks were up 45% vs. a year ago.  Housing sales were 1.4 million in April vs. 1.8 million a year ago.  The Regional bank index (KRE) declined 46% from its February high but jumped 16% from its May low.  Credit card balances increased 17% over the last year, the biggest hike since the 2001 recession.  Apple now has a valuation higher than the Russell 2000 index.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Top Stock Market Returns – 5-years – Enphase Energy 3192%, Tesla 737%, Advanced Micro Devices 697% ….. 10-years – NVIDIA 8289%, Tesla 3182%, DexCom 2359% ….. 15-years – Netflix 7647%, DexCom 6661%, NVIDIA 5543% ….. 20-years – Monster Beverage 130,697%, Apple 61,169%, Axon Enterprise 30,703% - Jay Kumar

Women – will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

Home Sales – have dropped 23% vs. a year ago.  Existing home sales fell 3.4% in April vs. the prior month.  Existing-home sales have declined 14% the past 15 months and are down roughly one-third since the start of 2022 – Wall Street Journal

Heat Records – Global temps are likely to soar to record highs over the next five years driven by human-caused warming, according to the World Meteorological Organization.  The Earth’s hottest year on record was 2016.  There is a 98% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed that.

Retail Thefts – Retail thefts have skyrocketed over the past two years.  Target lost $650 million to retail thefts last year and expect to lose $1.15 billion this year.  In 2015 Walmart lost $3 billion to thefts leading to potential price increases.  Inflation and high interest rates have left many consumers in desperate situations.

Black Taxpayers – were three to five times more likely to be audited by the I.R.S.  The I.R.S. is considering changes to its case selection process to address discrimination in how the tax code is enforced.  Research showed that Black taxpayers were disproportionately audited – The New York Times

Bank Depositors – “Banking is a confidence game,” and depositors in regional banks have lost confidence.  “They’re draining banks of their capital and sending them into insolvency because they don’t know what they’re backing up, such as depressed commercial real estate.” – Charles Gasparino, New York Post

Wives – Couples married in the late 1960s and 1970s were more likely to divorce when wives earned the same or slightly more than their husbands.  Today 35% to 40% of wives earn more than their husbands.  As of 2022, women earned an average 82% of what men earned – Pew Research Center

Covid Learning – An analysis of test scores from 7,000 commutants found that students learned less during the Covid pandemic from 2019 to 2022.  The average student fell behind half a year in math.  Poor school districts showed far greater losses than richer ones – Wall Street Journal ….. About half the students in NYC in grades three through eight and are not proficient in reading.

Credit Card Debt – jumped to 4.57% last quarter for those 90-plus days delinquent vs. 3.04% last year.  The age group with the highest transition rate across all categories of debt was 18 to 29 year-olds – Wall Street Journal

Remote Working – 47% of those working remotely only talk to the people in their household and 41% go 90-days without setting foot outside.  Among those staying at home (49% GenZ/Millenials vs. 31% GenX/Baby Boomer), they are more likely to go without speaking to anyone beyond their household – HRD

Used Autos – The average age of a passenger vehicle on the road hit a record 12.5 years this year, according to data gathered by S&P Global Mobility.  Blame it mainly on the pandemic, which in 2020 triggered a global shortage of automotive computer chips.  Since three years ago, the average new vehicle has rocketed 24 percent to nearly $48,000 as of April, according to Edmunds.com.  Typical loan rates on new-car purchases have ballooned to 7 percent – Associated Press

Banks – Current interest rates were unheard of a year ago, with average rates of 1.68% vs. today you can find CDs at more than 5% - Bankrate.com

$1 Million - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrPCuTBOGch/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Beatles - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr60MoVgYTr/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Staying Alive - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsWsSF8pHcC/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Bee Gees - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrwK_Gtp1mU/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Hyper Kids Africa - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrmH7OBO6-L/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

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.