MidSouth Week in Review
November 29, 2024

Weekly Update from Fund Manager Buzz Heidtke, MidSouth Investment Fund

S&P made a new high for the year closing the week up 1.25% and year to date is up 27.25%.  Russell 2000 and the Dow were on track to deliver the best monthly percentage gains since 2023.  Russell has gained 11.1% for the month of November.  Gas prices are set to drop below $3.00 per gallon: Since April, oil prices have already declined by 20%. U.S. inflation data showed that Core PCE inflation jumped to 2.8% in October, now up from the low of 2.6% in July.  Sources: Wall Street Journal and New York Times

Home Buying - A near record 84% of Americans believe it is a bad time to buy a home, according to Reventure.  Over the last 4 years, this share has increased by a whopping 50 percentage points.  By comparison, at the peak of the 2006 housing bubble, 40% of Americans thought it was a bad time to buy a home.  Even in the 1980s when mortgage rates were as high as 18%, this metric was 5 percentage points lower, at 79%.  Homebuyer sentiment has never been worse.

Auto Loans - Auto loan early delinquency rates jumped to 8.12% in Q3 2023, the highest in 13 years.  In 2024, auto loan delinquencies have risen at the fasted pace since the 2008 financial crises.  U. S. household auto debt rose by $18 billion in Q3 and hit a new all-time high of $1.64 trillion - Arbor Data

Investing - $5,000 investment that are worth +$1 million, Bitcoin:9 years, Nvidia:10 years, Tesla:14 years, Costco:35 years, Disney:50 years - Jon Erlichman

Mortgage - A family earning the nation’s median income of $97,800 needed 38% of its income to cover the mortgage payment on a median-priced new home in Q3 2024 - Unusual whale

S&P - The past 10 times the S&P was up 20% or more YTD heading into December saw stocks higher in December nine times.  Average of 2.4% vs. average December gains of 1.5% - Ryan Detrick

Cities With Most Billionaires - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBniAc2RJXt/?igsh=dHp3bTQxb3F5d3R0

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.