MidSouth Week in Review
September 6, 2024

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

For the week the S&P was down 3.7% and is up 14.2% for the full year.  Bitcoin closed down 6.5% for the week at $53,570. The US economy added 142,000 jobs in August, below expectations of 164,000. The unemployment rate was 4.2%, in-line with expectations Brent crude had the worst week since Oct 2023, down 9.1% for the week.  Sources:  Wall Street Journal and New York Times

September – is historically the worst month of the year for stocks:  The S&P 500 has fallen -2.3% on average in September over the last 10 years, making the only month with negative returns.  Subsequently, in October and November, the S&P 500 has seen a +1.6% and +3.8% rally on average –

Diamonds – A 2,492 carat diamond, the second largest ever found was unearthed in a Canadian mine last week.  A 1,119 carat diamond was sold in 2017 for $53 million – Bloomberg

Berkshire Hathaway – Warren Buffett’s company became the first non-tech company to attain a value of $1 trillion.  The 94 year-old Buffett’s conglomerate joins Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta in the 13 figure club – CNBC

Car Shopping – Now is the time to buy a new car, said Pete Grieve in Money.  After a pandemic-related shortage, production is up more than 40% from last year, a shift that means “car shopping” is becoming normal again.

College Costs – The cost of going to some U.S. colleges has now passed $90,000 a year at the priciest.  The amount families actually spent on education 2023-2024 was $28,419 on average – CNBC

Wedding Costs – As the wedding costs soar some couples are offsetting the expense by charging guests to attend.  Groom-to-be Hassan Ahmed, is charging $450 a ticket to help pay for his $200,000 wedding next year in Houston – TikTok

China – is the world’s largest food importer and needs to feed almost one-sixth of the world’s population with less than one-tenth of the world’s arable land, which has shrunk and degraded with heavy fertilizer use and pollution – New York Times

San Francisco’s – office vacancy rate hit 33.7%, a record high, in the second quarter this year.  That’s one of the bleakest office markets in the nation, which has an average vacancy rate of about 22% - The Lure of Free Rent

Invest For Next Generation – Invest $750 at birth · $500 each birthday · $250 each month.  When they turn 18, they’ll have $144,041.  If they keep adding $250/month they’ll have $1.2 million by age 43 - @welltowealth 

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 put through a regular 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.