Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...

#1 WILDFIRES: Since January, 25,630 wildfires have burned 731,382 acres across the United States, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. These numbers are below the 10-year average of 29,197 wildfires and 2,591,523 acres burned over the same January-July 10th period.  

#2 AMAZON IN TEXAS: A recent Dallas Morning News article mentioned that Amazon has invested over $41 billion in Texas since 2010 on infrastructure and compensation for employees. Texas is second only to California in terms of Amazon employment. The state also makes up 40,000 of Amazon’s 1.7 million small and medium-sized businesses, which account for 60% of everything sold on the company’s website.

#3 TURNOVER: CEO exits are occurring at a record pace this year, according to tracking by Chicago-based consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Through May, 789 CEOs left their posts – up 18% from the same period last year and the highest January through May total since the firm started tracking exits in 2002.

#4 CARLOADS OF DEBT: According to Edmunds, the share of consumers who financed a vehicle with a monthly payment of $1,000 or more reached a new all-time peak of 17.1% in Q2, up from 16.8% in Q1 2023 and 4.3% in Q2 2019. Over 64% signed up for an average loan term between 67 and 84 months and an average APR between 8.5% and 9.6%.

#5 REFUGEES: According to the United Nations, there are more than two million refugees worldwide in need of resettlement. Last year, 25,465 refugees arrived in the U.S., a 123% increase from 2021.

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