Sustainable Impact Investing is gaining traction not only with Argus Research clients but also with the global investment community. As assets have flowed in over the past 40 years, Sustainable Investing has evolved. The discipline, originally known as Socially Responsible Investing, first focused on excluding companies that conducted business in South Africa, or participated in industries such as tobacco, alcohol, and firearms. In time, the list of industries to avoid increased to include soft drinks, fast food, and oil and gas, among numerous others. Performance of initial strategies lagged, and the approach has been modified. Now, instead of merely identifying industries to avoid, the discipline promotes "sustainable" business practices across all industries that can have an "impact" on global issues such as climate, hunger, poverty, disease, shelter, and workers' rights. Given the strategy's focus on leading management practices, we expect the growth curve for Sustainable Investing to again slope upward in the years ahead.

Vickers Stock Research, a subsidiary of Argus Research Group, tracks and analyzes insider trading and institutional stock ownership trends. Form 13-Fs, which institutions must file to report their holdings, are due 45 days after the end of calendar quarters, and have now come in from 1Q26. We like to review the 13Fs of major activist investors -- including Carl Icahn, Trian Fund Management, Jana Partners, Starboard Value and ValueAct Holdings, among others -- in order to determine their core holdings and new purchases. Activist investing has evolved in recent years and is now less about generating a short-term return on an underpriced stock and more about achieving long-term returns through an active management/investor partnership. Activists have made progress in the past year, with high-profile investments into blue-chip companies such as Fedex and Union Pacific. Here are some recent new purchases and key holdings of activist investors, as well as other high-profile money managers.

Amazon is the leading online retailer and marketplace for third party sellers. Retail related revenue represents approximately 74% of total, followed by Amazon Web Services (17%), and advertising services (9%). International segments constitute 22% of Amazon's total revenue, led by Germany, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Amazon.com is the leading U.S. e-commerce retailer and among the top e-commerce sites globally. Amazon.com also includes Amazon Web Services (AWS), the global leader in cloud-based Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms. The company's Prime membership platform is a key online retail differentiator, providing customers with free shipping (after an annual fee) along with exclusive media content (music, video, audible books, etc.). The company's Kindle reader and Alexa-based Echo and Dot digital voice assistants are category leaders.