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

#1 THE LAST U.S. PENNY: The United States Mint pressed its last penny on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, bringing an end to a 238-year-old tradition. Officially known as the cent (the term “penny” comes from the British colloquialism for one pence), it has been the smallest physical unit of U.S. currency since the half-cent was discontinued in 1857. Beginning in 1909, the penny was minted with a profile of Abraham Lincoln, which made him the first president to appear on U.S. coinage. The famously thrifty Lincoln would likely approve of the coin’s demise: For years, inflation and raw material prices have meant that producing a penny costs more than the coin’s face value. Last year, one coin cost three cents to mint. Meanwhile, Lincoln remains on the comparatively lavish $5 bill, which costs 5.3 cents to produce. An honest trade for an honest Abe. (The Daily Upside)

#2 THE WEALTH EFFECT CHECKS IN: As the Dr. Ben Bernanke-prescribed wealth effect exerts a tightening grip on economic conditions, those catering to the phenomenon’s beneficiaries also reap the rewards. Citing data from CoStar, The Wall Street Journal relays today that average daily room rates at luxury U.S. hotels reached $394 this year, a $168 premium to the mid-tier category.

That’s the highest such gap on record, more than doubling the $60 per-diem gap seen in 2008. Outsized cost pressures on upper-strata lodgings have proven little impediment for the well-heeled bull market beneficiaries: luxury property bookings rose 2.5% year-over-year through September, CoStar finds, while lower- and mid-tier accommodations saw slightly lower demand over that stretch relative to 2024. “Thank God for luxury and ultraluxury,” Albert Herrera, executive vice president at Internova Travel Group, told the WSJ. “That’s what’s keeping our business thriving.” (Grant Interest Rate Observer)

#3 P/E → EPS HANDOFF: From Kantro on how high it can go: “On earnings vs. valuations — the S&P 500 P/E is at the same level it was back in July, while EPS estimates have improved by 6%. We’re in the midst of the P/E → EPS handoff, which should provide a higher floor under stocks and a better backdrop for value strategies ahead. The past three years’ gains have mostly come from P/E expansion driven by disinflation and Fed easing. Looking at 2026 and 2027 EPS estimates, current bottom-up consensus figures imply a 15% gain for the S&P 500 between now and year-end 2026. This assumes no change to P/Es, of course.” (Piper Sandler)

#4 FANNIE MAE FICO SCORES Last week, Fannie Mae announced that, beginning Nov. 15, it will no longer require would-be borrowers to carry a FICO score of 620 or above to be eligible for underwriting by the government sponsored agency. That move follows a July directive from Federal Housing Finance Agency director William Pulte permitting Fannie and peer Freddie Mac to utilize the VantageScore model – which is marketed as a more “inclusive” model than the FICO gauge — in lieu of its incumbent peer to assess borrower creditworthiness. "Our underwriting standards are the same," Pulte said. “Big deal for consumers. Small or nothing deal for underwriting." Cost is a different matter, as the national median single-family home price reached 5.0 times the median household income last year according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, up from 4.1 times in 2019 and an average ratio of 3.2 across the 1990s. The median age of first-time homebuyers now stands at 40 per the National Association of Realtors, up from 33 only five years ago. (Grant’s Interest Rate Observer)

#5 DATA CENTER SURGE: According to a McKinsey & Company analysis, global demand for data center capacity could almost triple by 2030 (to an estimated 219 gigawatts vs. 82 gigawatts in 2025), with 70% of that demand coming from AI. (RBC Capital Markets)

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