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

#1 FRIDAYS: Just 30% of office workers swiped into work on Fridays in June, the least of any weekday, according to Kastle Systems, which provides building security services for 2,600 buildings nationwide. That’s compared to 41% on Mondays, the day with the second-lowest turnout, and 50% on Tuesdays when the biggest share of workers are in the office.

#2 SENTIMENT: A Global Fund Manager Survey from Bank of America recently indicated that investors are showing dire levels of pessimism, with expectations for global growth at all-time lows, cash levels highest since 9/11, and equity allocations their lowest since the collapse of Lehman. Such negative sentiment could be a bullish sign that equity markets are in a bottoming process.

#3 COLLEGE M&A: From the Daily Upside, ninety-five college mergers have been completed in the past four years, a massive increase over the 78 completed in the prior 18 years. Private and non-profit schools make up 40% of mergers, while the majority of deals involve same-state schools with a student body numbering less than 5,000.

#4 BUELLER, BUELLER? Overall college enrollment fell to just 16.2 million this year, from 19.6 million in the spring semester of 2011, according to the National Student Clearinghouse. Headcounts at small private schools, for-profit universities, and community colleges have shrunk the most. 

#5 CFO QUOTE: “Spend is still healthy with combined debit and credit spend up 15% year-on-year. We see the impact of inflation and higher non-discretionary spend across income segments. Notably, the average consumer is spending 35% more year-on-year on gas and approximately 6% more on recurring bills and other non-discretionary categories. At the same time, we have yet to observe a pullback in discretionary spending, including in the lower income segments, with travel and dining growing a robust 34% year-on-year overall.” - Jeremy Barnum, JP Morgan

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