The Texas Stock Exchange, unveiled last week with $120 million in funding from BlackRock, Citadel Securities, and others, wants to challenge the NYSE and the Nasdaq by giving companies and investors a more business-friendly exchange.

Why it matters: Texas has long fashioned itself as pro-business. TXSE is the latest piece of an emerging network of financial and legal infrastructure meant to provide alternatives to New York and Delaware.

Zoom in: TXSE's pitch to investors leaned heavily on criticizing the Nasdaq's board diversity rule, according to the WSJ. (A TXSE spokesperson denied this to the WSJ.)

Zoom out: TXSE, an acronym that rhymes with "sexy," has its work cut out for it.

• The U.S. currently has a handful of exchanges, but business has long been concentrated in the top two. The No. 3 player, CBOE, has about a 12% market share in trading volume, and the rest don't even clear 3%.

The big picture: Texas is becoming a hub for the current corporate backlash against ESG (environmental, social and governance) investing principles.

Examples include:

• Business courts: A bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott last year created a system of business-focused courts similar to those in Delaware and other states. The new court system is due to start hearing cases in September (though applications for judicial openings have been scant). Elon Musk has been very enthusiastic about domiciling his companies in the Lone Star State.
• 5th Circuit Court: The federal appeals court, whose jurisdiction includes Texas, is known for rulings that tend to skew conservative. Plaintiffs are challenging companies' climate change investments, SEC rules, and the Nasdaq's board diversity rule — and making some inroads.

Fun fact: Although Texas had the most companies on the Fortune 500 list (based on annual revenue) for the last couple of years, California took the top spot once again this week.

• Texas is now tied for second … with New York.

A record share of working-aged women are employed, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Why it matters: It's a remarkable comeback story. Women have not only regained their pandemic losses in the job market, they've been exceeding those numbers month after month.

Zoom in: In May, 75.7% of all women 25-54 were working — a record high.

• There was also another increase in employment in the child care sector, which has enabled more women to work, says Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
• "People are actually able to drop their kids off," she says, adding that for a while some centers would turn away parents on days when they were understaffed.

The big picture: Working-aged men's employment rate is hovering around pre-pandemic levels — it was 86.4% in February 2020 and 86% in May 2024.

Reality check: It seems like women have come a long way. But the employment number in May 2024 is only a smidge higher than nearly a quarter-century ago when 74.9% of working-aged women were employed.

Fruit-borne disease and extreme weather, plus a warming climate, are throttling orange-producing regions in Brazil and Florida — curbing harvests and driving up citrus prices.

Why it matters: The fruit is one of the most popular in America — a longtime breakfast staple; and another higher priced item squeezing consumers.

• Add it to the list of commodities battered by weather-related issues this year, including sugar, cocoa and coffee.

The big picture: Florida orange production plummeted 92% over the past 20 years due to natural disasters and disease, according to a report last month by Citrus Industry Magazine.

• A USDA forecast last year said the Florida orange crop would be the lowest since 1935.

The average retail price of orange juice frozen concentrate in the U.S. spiked to an all-time high in April — $4.28 per 16 ounces, up from $3.01 a year ago.

• The global price of oranges is $3.68 per pound for April this year, up from $2.76 per pound a year ago.

The bottom line: "Food prices are a very tangible way to talk about climate change," Uriyoán Colón-Ramos, director of the Diet Disparities Lab at George Washington University, tells Axios.