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While typically sharing hopefully insightful financial market and global economic developments that I think are timely and relevant, today's ERPE Excerpts is intended to pass on some stats and facts that you might find interesting...
- That's almost 300 hours on the road!: American drivers spend an average of more than 17,600 minutes behind the wheel each year, according to a survey from the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety. Source: WANADA
- "Going out of Business": Major US retailers announced more than 7,300 store closures last year, up 57% from 2023, according to Coresight Research. That’s the highest annual number of stores closed since 2020. Source: CNN
- Nutritious and delicious?: Americans who are obsessed with health, wellness and longevity are so hungry for rich sources of protein that cottage cheese has become one of the sexiest products in the grocery store. U.S. sales of cottage cheese have increased more than 50% over the past five years, according to market-research firm Circana. Source: The Wall Street Journal
- Super Bowl snacks: The number of chicken products consumed at quick-service restaurants, including sandwiches, wings, nuggets and strips, has increased 11% since 2019 and increased 2% year over year in the 12 months ended October 2024, according to Brooks Berrodin, a food industry analyst at market research firm Circana. Source: NACS
- Speaking of the Super Bowl: The Super Bowl has topped television ratings in the United States every year since the first championship game in 1967. This has made commercial time during its broadcast the most expensive of any televised event in the United States. For this year's game, a 30-second commercial spot is reported to cost $8 million.
- That's "trillion" - with a "T": The world’s 500 richest people gained $1.5 trillion in wealth last year, per Bloomberg. Collectively, their net worth reached $10 trillion for the first time. Source: Yahoo! Finance
- More Trillions...: The global wellness industry was worth $6.32 trillion in 2023, according to a new report from the Global Wellness Institute, a leading industry group. That's 25% larger than it was in 2019, making it bigger than the sports and pharmaceutical industries. Source: Bloomberg
- Costs to upgrade: According to a Senate subcommittee report, from 2018 to 2023, five U.S. airlines made more than $12 billion on seat selection fees alone. Source: CNN
- They got nothin' on Rocky: With box office sales exceeding projections for the year, fourteen of the 15 highest-grossing movies of 2024 were sequels. Source: Islander Media Group
What Fun Fact surprised you the most?
John J. Gardner, CFP®, CPM®
Blackhawk Wealth Advisors
3860 Blackhawk Rd, Ste. 160Danville, Ca. 94506
888.985.PLAN (7526)
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