Friday Fast Five - 9/25/2026
by Hodges Investment Team, on September 25, 2026
Five interesting things that Hodges Capital research analysts discovered this week...
#1 HOW DOMINANT IS THE DOLLAR? According to the Bank for International Settlements, the U.S. dollar was involved in 89% of all foreign exchange transactions in 2025. By comparison, the euro was involved in 29%, the Japanese yen in 17%, and sterling in 10%.
#2 OFF-BALANCE-SHEET OBLIGATIONS: Moody's said five U.S. technology giants—Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Oracle—have a combined $2.8 trillion in off-balance-sheet obligations tied to their AI investments, up from $350 billion in 2023. These include leases, purchase commitments, and guarantees.
#3 BETA: Per Goldman Sachs, the S&P 500 now has the highest number of stocks with a negative beta in history. Nearly 45% of individual stocks are moving in the opposite direction of the index, the highest level on record based on three-month beta using daily returns. Nearly 20% had a negative beta in the early 2000s.
#4 EQUITY EXPOSURE: Federal Reserve data indicates that U.S. household equity exposure now accounts for a record 39.9% of household net worth. This is more than 20 percentage points above owners' equity in residential real estate at 19%, marking the largest gap on record.
#5 CRYPTOCURRENCY: According to Gallup, 11% of investors say they own cryptocurrency, down from 17% in 2025.
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