MidSouth Week in Review
January 12, 2024

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P 500 was up 1.8% and making an all-time high.  Bitcoin hit 47,000 for the first time since 2022.  The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond hit 4.20% from its recent 4% level.  On Wednesday the SEC approved apps to offer exchange traded ETFs tied to bitcoin.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

The markets will be closed on Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday.

Best Times To Buy And Sell – Friday’s tend to be up and Mondays tend to be down.  The first half of the month outperforms the second half.  More people buy than sell on the opening.  January is usually the best performing month – John Markese PAD

Elon Musk – His use of drugs, including LSD, Cocaine, Ecstasy, psychedelic mushrooms and Ketamine has become a concern for some executives at the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s companies – Wall Street Journal, Fortune

Equitable Securities – In 1969, Equitable Securities was the wealthiest brokerage firm in Nashville and the second richest in the country.  The firm had the largest stockholder position in America Express and had a large position in Holiday Inns which was acquired when Equitable brought HCA public.

Ouch! – Average price of a used Tesla in 2019 - $53,157, April 2021 - $46,943, July 2022 - $67,900, January 2024 - $36,661 – Creative Planning …..I am up 20% on my Tesla short position.  The stock is currently selling at 70x earnings - Buzz

IPO’s – Companies that raised $100 million+ upon initial public offerings since the start of 2023 have seen their shares outperform the S&P 500 by around 18% - Skyward Specially

Argentina – Their annual rate of inflation hit 211% in December with prices rising 25% on a monthly basis from 12% in November – Financial Times 

Domestic Airfares – will be slightly low in the first half of the year vs. 2023.  January will be the cheapest month to book tickets with airfares rising in the spring and summer – International Air Transport Assn.

Office Vacancies – hit 19.6% in the 4Q of 2023, the highest level in four decades.  This was up from 18.8% a year ago – Wall Street Journal

The Top 1% - pay lower tax rates than everyone else in most states.  On average the lowest-income, 20% of taxpayers face a state and local tax rate nearly 60% higher than the top 1% of households – The Hill

Hertz Global – said it would sell about 20,000 of its electric vehicles from its U.S. fleet, or about one-third of its global fleet citing low customer demand and high repair costs.  Hertz expects to reinvest a portion of the proceeds to buy gas-powered vehicles to meet customer demands – Reuters

Office Building Prices – in the U.S. are down 40% from their peak just over two years ago.  Over the past year, office building prices are down a massive 30%.  Currently one in five office buildings in the U.S. are vacant.  Most of these office buildings hold large debt balances – Jay Kumar

Non-Performing Loans – The four largest banks are expected to report a combined $24 billion in nonperforming loans, a 33% increase vs. a year ago – Financial Times

Synthetic Diamonds – They are stones that are made to mimic the look of a real diamond using synthetic material.  As a result, they are typically “between 60% to 85% less than the price of a natural diamond of the same size and quality.” – U.K. based jeweler Queen Smith

The Office Market – Vacancy rates are set to go even higher which is sobering, considering the national rate just hit an all-time high of 19.6% in the 4Q – The Kiplinger Letter

Mortgage Rates – Interest on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaged 6.66% for the week ending January 11, up from 6.62% last week, according to the Department of Labor

Dean Martin and John Wayne - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1zkvEUuIoC/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Walking Dance - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C13-rr-Nvx5/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

The First Auto - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1uBMLFNLor/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Appeared Out Of Nowhere - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1zc8JVI0FV/?igsh=NjZiM2M3MzIxNA==

Coldest Place On Earth - https://www.instagram.com/reel/C1v-cvlOSuq/?igsh=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.