To all my Partners,
Happy New Year! The ending of one year, and the starting of another:
By now all of you have received your individual monthly statements. If for any reason you have not, please contact me and I will be glad to resend it to you.
For the month of December, Bena Capital Fund gained +6.52%.
| DECEMBER | YTD | JANUARY 1-12th |
| +6.52% | +61.20% | -5.44% |
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas, Holidays & New Year’s Day. Let’s hope 2024 will be as good for us this year as it was in 2023.
I have a feeling it’ll be good but maybe not as good as we did last year returning a 61.2% gain!
Why do I say that? Because I think I was surprised more than anyone else our returning over 61% on our money. Some of you have been with me for years and some just recently. But just to refresh:
For our last 10 years, our returns at Bena Capital have been the following:
| YEAR | RETURN | YEAR | RETURN |
| 2014 | +52% | 2019 | +73.44% |
| 2015 | +0.05% | 2020 | +70.38% |
| 2016 | +18.4% | 2021 | +32.42% |
| 2017 | +29.08% | 2022 | -11.9% |
| 2018 | +14.7% | 2023 | +61.2% |
Our only down year was in 2022 when we had a -11.9%
Losses for 2023
Bena Capital Fund’s monthly losses were
| April | -5.76% |
| August | -2.32% |
| September | -4.54% |
| October | -2.56% |
Why do I bring up our past losses? Because looking back through the rear-view mirror, these losses seem much smaller than when we were experiencing them..remember? I also bring these monthly losses up to remind us that I can guarantee that for 2024, we will again see monthly, quarterly, or maybe a loss for the year! But over time, these probable losses will be turned into positive returns.
Beating Other Hedge Funds:
January 1st through December 31st
Bena Capital Fund: +61.2%
| Citadel Wellington: 15.3% | Tiger Global Management: +29% |
| Bridgewater Assoc: -7.6% | D.E. Shaw: +9.6% |
| AQR Asset Management: 18.5% | Millennium Fund: +10.0% |
| Two Sigma: +12% | Point72 *Steve Cohen’s SAC: +10.6% |
Avg. gain of other hedge funds: +4.35%
Source: Prequin/Wall Street Journal
So, how did we do?
| For December: | 1-year (12-month) Returns: | ||
| Dow Jones: | +5.35% | Dow Jones: | +13.7% |
| S&P 500: | +4.38% | S&P 500: | +24.34% |
| Nasdaq: | +4.76% | Nasdaq: | +43.42% |
| Berkshire Hathaway: | -0.61% | Berkshire Hathaway: | +21.17% |
| Bena Capital Fund: | +6.52% | Bena Capital Fund: | +61.21% |
Some highlights of last month:
- December’s CPI inflation is at 3.4% up from last month’s 3.1% Y/Y
- December’s unemployment at +3.7% (same as in November)
- December’s labor force participation rate: 62.5%
- Social Security recipients to receive a 3.2% cost of living raise in 2024
- Pizza Hut franchises in California lay off 1,200 delivery drivers as they brace for
- $20 per/hr. State-mandated increase for 2024
- Ford adjusts the pricing of its F-150 Lightning EV by as much as $10,000
- Apple agrees to settle iTunes gift card scam
- Walgreens slashes its dividend by 48%
- Bitcoin begins in January to trade on an ETF (Exchange Traded Fund)
- Boeing’s CEO pledges to own up to company’s mistakes after midair door blowout with Alaska Airlines
- United Airlines (as well as Alaska Airlines) finds loose bolts in their 737 Max 9 jets
So, let’s hope this year is the same as other Presidential election years!
In an election year (as this one, 2024), whether the President gets re-elected or not tends to be positive for stocks. The only slip-up occurred in 1984! Source: Stock Trader’s Almanac
The S&P Rises 3 out of 4 years since 1926!
The S&P is up approx. 75% of the time going all the way back for almost 100 years (since 1926)!
| S&P | % advance each year |
| 20%+ | 36% |
| +10% to +20% | 21% |
| 0 to +10% | 15% |
| 0 to -10% decline | 15% |
| 10%+ decline | 13% |
Source: Dimensional Funds
Illegal migrants crossing the southern border into the United States
300,000+
December
Source: CBP
Illegal migrants crossing the southern border into the United States
| 785,404 | 2,475,669 | 2,378,944 | 1,734,686 |
| FY2024 (Oct-Dec) | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
Source: CBP
And we won’t make you have a minimum of $5 Million!
J.P. Morgan Bank is offering to pay 6% interest on CDs but the catch is a minimum deposit of $5 Million plus it cannot be already at their bank. It must be brought over from another banking institution. Bena Capital has been paying a 6% interest paid monthly over 12 months, for a couple of years now. Glad to see J.P. Morgan is seeing it our way!
Starting on January 1, 2024
Federal law will allow part-time employees to participate in company 401(k)’s. Part-time employees to participate in 401(k)’s will need to:
* Work at least 500 hours per year for 3 consecutive years
* This 3 consecutive year requirement will be reduced to 2 years in 2025
And just one more thing…
Allow me for my selfish plug:
My guest this week, Friday at 8:30 p.m., will be:
Friday, January 19th :
Bob McNally
CEO & Founder of Rapidan Energy Group
and former adviser to President George W. Bush
Friday, January 26th :
Cassius Michael Kim
movie director about new movie, ‘Man on the Run’
about the financing of Wolf of Wall Street and the theft of billions
(also in February)
Larry Adam
Chief Investment Officer of Raymond James
$1.2 Trillion of Assets under Management
Steve Wieting
Chief Investment Officer & Chief Economist of Citi Bank
on
Wall $treet Wrap Up
with Andre Laborde
WYES-TV (Channel 12)
Friday nights at 8:30 and Sunday mornings at 8:00, or join us on our website at: www.benacapital.com.