MidSouth Week in Review
September 8, 2023

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P was down 1.4%.  Money market funds have hit records at over $5.5 trillion in assets.  The Dollar hit a 6 month high.  Crude hit $90, its highest level since November.  The Dollar hit 105, its highest level since March after Russia and Saudi extended their production cuts.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Stock Buying – Only buy stocks when the market declines 10% from that date a year ago, which happens once or twice a decade – Eugene D. Brody, Oppenheimer Capital

An Honest Politician – Once he is bought, he stays bought – Jack May

Home Prices – aren’t falling anymore.  After declining on a year-over-year basis for five consecutive months, the longest run of decline in 11 years, U.S. home prices were up in July – Nicole Friedman

Crude Oil Prices – are quietly up 30% in two months and have hit $90 again.  The national average gas prices just hit $3.83, in line with last year’s seasonal record.  Gas prices ae now 31% above the 5-year average and rising rapidly – The Kobeissi Letter

Job Quitting – 29% of people quit their jobs within a month of their first promotion.  The findings suggest that promotions rather than enticing workers to stay, sometimes signal a flight risk – ADP

Home Rents – The cost to rent a home or apartment has soared and it isn’t just because of super high rents.  Landlords are hitting tenants with an abundance of fees every month.  Apartment parking rents rose 25% between early 2021 and summer 2022, straining the budgets of many renters whose wages didn’t keep up – Wall Street Journal

Migrant Families – A record 91,000 migrants recently entered the U.S. across the southern border, eclipsing the record 84,486 in May 2019 under the Trump administration – USA TODAY

New Autos – Just five years ago a price-conscious auto shopper could choose from among a dozen new small cars selling under $20,000.  The average price on a new car today is just above $48,000, a difference of 25% from before the pandemic – Cost Automotive

Mortgage Rates – are at their highest level since 2001.  The rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has soared roughly four percentage points since the end of 2021, to an average of 7.23% in August – The Kiplinger Letter

Store Thefts – Retailers are blaming rampant shoplifting for shrinking bottom lines.  Retailers lost $94.5 billion in 2021, nearly double the amount from 2018, to inventory shrink – Yahoo.com

Young Homebuyers – According to Redfin, 38% of homebuyers under the age of 30 either used a cash gift from a family member or an inheritance to afford their down payment – Fortune

Joe Biden – 77% of Americans say he is too old to effectively serve another four years as President, including 69% of Democrats and 89% of Republicans.  51% think that Trump is too old to serve another term including 71% of Democrats and 28% of Republicans – AR/NORC

Suburb Rents – America’s suburbs are posting the country’s fastest-rising rents, a sign that the recent migration of families from major cities is starting to look more long term.  Rents in suburbs climbed 25% from March 2020 through July 2023 – Wall Street Journal ….. The city of Nashville lost 1% of its population in 2021 vs. a big gain in the surrounding counties – Buzz

Mortgage Rates Soar – causing home purchasing to decline to the lowest level since 2001 – USA TODAY

College Degrees – have soared.  U.S. college and universities awarded over 2 million bachelor’s degrees in 2020-2021, up from 840,000 in 1970-1971.  Business degrees made up the largest category with 391,375 degrees (18.9% of the total) – Dennis G. Hall

New Homes – continue to sell briskly despite skyrocketing mortgage rates.  Sales are up 30% from a year ago, despite a slight fall in June – The Kiplinger Letter

NYC Commercial Real Estate – NYC has nearly 100 million square feet idle as the era of remote work stretches on – New York Times

Young Singer - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwjJ1WwSuPp/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

The Great Pretender - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwHKtkoApCT/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Gene Kelly and Donald O’Conner - https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cu9gDJ0NI8i/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Jive Buddy - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuiGwB_rBlx/?igshid=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Michael Jackson - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvhxEy3AeuT/?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.