Car shoppers might be feeling more pessimistic about the economy, but they're still pulling the trigger on used vehicle purchases.

• 🤝 CarMax reported today that it sold 9% more used vehicles to retail customers in the most recent quarter than it did a year earlier, leading to a 7.5% rise in retail revenue
• 🗓️ Tariffs may have played a part. CEO William Nash noted a demand uptick correlated to tariff speculation, with April coming in as the strongest month in the company's quarter — but he stressed the business was already growing before that.

🗣️ Between the lines: Nash acknowledged that shoppers are worried about price hikes and the resumption of federal student loan obligations. About 30% of the company's customers have student loans.

• "But I don't think it's necessarily showed up so much in the buying habits at this point," he said in terms of pricing.

📈 CarMax stock jumped more than 6% on the report.

Zoom out: Industrywide, wholesale used vehicle prices — the cars sold to other dealers — rose 1.7% from May through the first half of June, according to Cox Automotive's Manheim Used Vehicle Index.

• "All major market segments saw positive year-over-year results for seasonally adjusted prices in the first half of June," Manheim reported.

The bottom line: Tariffs haven't warped the used car economy ... at least not yet.

(Disclosure: Cox Automotive is owned by Cox Enterprises, which also owns Axios.)

Investors seemingly can't get enough exposure to stablecoins, Axios' Brady Dale writes.

• 📈 Circle Internet, the only publicly traded stablecoin issuer in the U.S., closed up another 20.4% today.
• 🔥 That extends the company's scorching post-IPO run, which now has the stock up almost 250% from where it opened trading on June 5.

Catch up quick: Circle is the company behind the world's second largest stablecoin by market cap, USDC.

• 🏛️ Earlier this week, the Senate passed legislation to establish the first regulatory framework for stablecoins, which — if it becomes law — is expected to unleash all sorts of new activity around the industry.

The latest: Circle's stock got an added boost today after receiving its first analyst buy rating. Seaport Global said it believes Circle is well-positioned to benefit.

Go deeper

🇩🇪 Audi is weighing plans to build a plant in the U.S. to mitigate tariff impacts. The Volkswagen luxury brand currently builds zero vehicles in the U.S. (Der Spiegel via Reuters)

🏖️ Darden Restaurants is considering a sale of its shrinking Bahama Breeze chain. The owner of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse also topped sales estimates today. (Restaurant Dive)

💼 The joint venture that owns CareerBuilder and Monster is reportedly considering filing for bankruptcy protection. The job websites have lost market share to the likes of LinkedIn, Indeed and corporate career sites. (Bloomberg)

🚘 Stellantis is considering a sale of its struggling Maserati brand. The luxury auto lineup's sales plunged in 2024 — and now tariffs pose a new threat. (Reuters)

Americans are embracing the life of silver "stacker" — someone who hoards the metal as an investment.

📈 State of play: Silver prices have soared in 2025 to their highest level in more than a decade.

• 🍴As a result, people are "flocking to coin shops, metals dealers and jewelers to cash in coins, silverware and bars," while others are buying it up and socking it away, WSJ reported.

Zoom in: "Andrei Hnedchyk, owner of Honest Coin Shop in Union City, N.J., said traffic is up about 20%, mainly from silver 'stackers,' or people who are hoarding the precious metal to hedge against economic uncertainty," WSJ reported.

• Call them a modern-day version of Yukon Cornelius.

💭 Nathan's thought bubble: I met someone in 2023 who was buying silver bars and burying them in his backyard, convinced prices would skyrocket.

• I guess he can retire early now ... as long as he can remember where he buried them.