MidSouth Week in Review
January 26, 2024

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P was up 1.1%.  Bitcoin dropped from 47 to 38.  Wholesale gas rose from $2.00 to $2.26.  The S&P recorded five new closing highs.  Tesla declined 27 on Thursday on a weak earnings report.  Jobless claims hit 214k, a 25k increase from the previous week.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

The S&P – Since the S&P index hit its latest low in October 2022, seven stocks – Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla – have collectively risen over 100 percent, far outpacing the performance of the other 493 companies in the S&P 500.  Together, these stocks have become known as the Magnificent Seven – New York Times

Japan – One-third of Japanese people under the age of 50 have never dated.  When asked why they were staying single, many respondents said dating was a “waste of time and money” – THE WEEK

Boeing – Their stock has fallen nearly 13% since January 5, when a door plug flew off one of its Max 9 planes during an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff – Vent Frustration

Online Pharmacies – According to the National Association of Board of Pharmacy, most online pharmacies are rogue.  They operate illegally and sell bogus or unapproved medications – Harvard Health Letter

Bitcoin – The SEC approved 11 bitcoin exchange traded funds.  The trading will be done through ETFs which hold bitcoins and trade the actual price – Wall Street Journal

Mortgage Apps – rose 10.9% last week vs. the week earlier as interest rates on most loans fell below 7 percent.  Much of the app demand was for refinancing an existing mortgage – Bloomberg

Microsoft – eclipsed Apple last week to become the world’s most valuable publicly traded company – Bloomberg

Electric Vehicles – A full 59% of the EVs sold through the U.S. dealerships were leased rather than bought outright – Edmunds

U.S. CEOs – Only 6 out of 158 U.S. CEOs said they’ll prioritize bringing workers back to the office full-time in 2024.  About 20% to 25% of workers in the U.S. work from home at least part of the week – The Conference Board

Hertz – is selling about 20,000 electric vehicles from its U.S. fleet.  Hertz is selling some Model 3 vehicles on its used car website for as low as $20,000, about half their original purchase price – Reuters

Voters – who identify as Democrats have declined to the lowest point in 35 years at 27%.  Voters who identify as Republicans dropped to 27%.  4.3% of voters identify as independents, tying a record high set in 2014 – Gallup

The Cold Weather – At least 70 people from across the U.S. have died from weather-related causes after more than a week of frigid winter storm and brutally cold temperatures.  In Tennessee at least 25 there appeared to have had died of weather-related causes – New York Times

Union Members – now account for 10% of the labor force, down from 22% four decades ago.  The union advantage in compensation is getting smaller in certain sectors … total compensation for unionized workforces remains 40% higher than nonunionized – The Kiplinger Letter

Past-Due Taxes – Most Americans file and pay their taxes by April 15.  But more Americans than ever owe past-due taxes.  As of the end of 2022, 18.6 million individual taxpayers owed the IRS $316 billion in overdue taxes vs. 16.8 million owing $308 billion in 2019 – Wall Street Journal

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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.