Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...
#1 FINDING GREENER PASTURES: Total U.S. textile and apparel imports held steady at $80.5B over the first nine months of 2025 despite new tariffs, but imports from China fell 27% to $14.3B as buyers shifted sourcing to lower cost Asian alternatives. (Hedgeye)
#2 DISCONNECT BETWEEN SENTIMENT & ACTION: U.S. consumers showed resilience this holiday season, driving retail spending up 4.2% y/y, according to preliminary Visa data tracking payments from November 1 over a seven-week period. Despite lingering economic headwinds, shoppers were still spending, particularly on technology and personal goods. In-store shopping accounted for the bulk of holiday spending, capturing 73% of total retail payment volume during the period, while online purchases made up the remaining 27%. However, e-commerce was the primary driver of growth, with online sales rising 7.8% compared with last year, reflecting continued demand for convenience and early-season promotions. Electronics led the season with a 5.8% increase, followed by apparel and accessories at 5.3%, while general merchandise stores posted a 3.7% gain. In contrast, home improvement spending declined 1%, and furniture and home furnishings were essentially flat, up just 0.8%. (CNBC)
#3 NOT JUST A PHASE: Marijuana use has surged among Americans 65 and older, reflecting a generational shift as Baby Boomers replace earlier cohorts and carry their cannabis habits into older age brackets. While marijuana use has increased across all age groups over the past two decades, the fastest growth has occurred among seniors.According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, just 0.3% of Americans aged 65 and older reported using marijuana at least once a year in the early 2000s. By 2024, that share had risen to 10.0%— a more than 30-fold increase. Today, 6.6% of seniors report using marijuana on a monthly basis. The primary driver is generational aging. In the early 2000s, the 65+ population was largely composed of the GI and Silent generations, groups not historically associated with widespread drug use. Over the past 25 years, however, the 65+ cohort has become dominated by Baby Boomers, a generation more familiar with cannabis use—and one that has carried those habits into later life. (Hedgeye)
#4 SUPPLY ISSUE: It’s time to break out the fleece-lined leggings. Heating costs are expected to rise more than 9% this winter, according to the latest report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA). That gain outpaces inflation, which hit 3% in September and is expected to remain roughly the same for November. NEADA estimates households will spend just under $1,000 on heating this winter. The report also found that the average monthly electric bill has surged 29% since 2021, while natural gas costs have jumped 50% over the past year. Meanwhile, funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program has fallen sharply, from $6.1 billion in 2023 to $4 billion. Rising electricity costs are being amplified by surging demand from AI data centers. A recent PJM Interconnection auction cleared at a record $16B+, with data centers accounting for 45% of last year’s total, adding billions to household power bills. Shares of power producers such as Constellation Energy and Vistra have risen alongside this AI-driven demand. (Daily Upside)
#5 MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE: Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has unveiled the final tally of her 2025 charitable donations, which totaled $7.17 billion in gifts to roughly 225 organizations, according to a blog post she published Tuesday. Scott’s 2025 giving brings her total donations since 2019 to $26.3 billion, based on her public disclosures. That figure places her behind only fellow billionaires Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in lifetime giving, according to Forbes. Forbes still estimates Scott’s net worth at $29.9 billion. She became one of the world’s wealthiest women following her 2019 divorce from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. In her Tuesday essay, Scott put her giving in broader context, citing data from Giving USA, which reported in June that Americans donated more than $590 billion to charity in 2024. Much of the country’s philanthropy—monetary or otherwise—occurs on a relatively small scale, Scott wrote. “Over 70% of Americans reported giving both labor and money to people they know, and half reported doing the same for strangers,” she noted, adding: “It’s easy to focus on the methods of civic participation that make news, and hard to imagine the importance of the things we do each day with our own minds and hearts.” (CNBC)
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