[NY] — Nikkei 225 Yen futures closed at 500.00 as of 6:30 PM EST, February 13, 2026. Estimated trading volume for the session: 34,204 contracts. Thursday's volume: 26,680 contracts. Open interest: 89,227 contracts, down 5,149 contracts from previous session.

Pershing Square (PS) is named in a Delaware chancery court class action alleging an unfair $900 million share purchase and governance agreement that shifted control of Howard Hughes Holdings (HHUG) to the firm. The suit, unsealed Feb 13, 2026, claims PS “coerced and bullied” HHUG directors into a deal at an “unfair” price, giving it about 47% control and executive chairman status for Ackman. The purchase was made at a 48% premium to the prior day's closing price.

The May 2025 agreement, part of a broader strategy to build a Berkshire Hathaway-style platform, is central to the dispute. Plaintiffs allege Ackman used threats to force a control transfer without a control premium for minority shareholders and seek to unwind the arrangement. Pershing Square issued no comment. The case follows Delaware’s recent corporate law overhaul, which has drawn criticism and potential legal challenges.

The current bull market has not yet reached its peak, but a sector-based analysis signals a potential earnings phase. By comparing the past three months’ performance of S&P 500 sectors with their average performance at the end of bull markets since 1970 (Ned Davis Research), there is no immediate cause for alarm—past assessments correctly predicted tops were at least three months away as of late June 2025.

However, newsletters’ most-recommended sectors align with those that typically lag at bull-market endings. Utilities, Energy, and Communication Services are among the least-liked, while Health Care and Information Technology, typically top performers at bull-market endings, are current favorites.

As a result, a bear market could begin later this year. Below is a list of 32 stocks in the top three recommended sectors, each cited by at least two monitored newsletters.

As inflation eased from 2.7% to 2.4% year-over-year in the latest report, it underscores the importance of earning more on cash than the cost of living. Currently, the best-paying cash options across savings accounts, CDs, money market funds, and U.S. Treasuries offer APYs from about 3% to 5%, meaning a $10,000 deposit can earn roughly $200 in six months at the 4% level.

Top yields are pulled from over 200 federally insured institutions and TreasuryDirect offerings as of February 13, 2026. CDs and Treasuries lock in rates for set periods, while savings and money market options provide flexibility and variable APYs. Mixing and matching products can balance return, access, and safety.

NVDA and AMD saw divergent performances on February 13, 2026, as Arista Networks (ANET-US) CEO Jayshree Ullal indicated during its earnings call that about 20%–25% of its AI deployments are shifting toward AMD GPUs, down from roughly 99% with NVIDIA a year ago.

NVDA fell 2.2% on the day, while AMD rose 0.67%. NVIDIA holds roughly 90% of the AI chip market by unit shipments, valued at over $450B, while AMD’s market cap is about $335B. Arista, which provides Ethernet switches for high-performance computing, is diversifying away from NVIDIA’s networking stack as the latter rolls out its own integration, including a deal with Meta and Oracle earlier this October.

The shift reflects growing interest in AMD’s custom AI clusters and Google’s TPUs, signaling NVIDIA’s declining dominance in the AI GPU space.

Ford Motor Co. (F) CEO Jim Farley met with senior Trump administration officials at the Detroit Auto Show last month, discussing a potential road map for Chinese automakers to build vehicles in the U.S. through joint ventures with U.S. companies holding a controlling stake. Under the proposed structure, both partners would share profits and technology.

The discussions, described as informal and preliminary, centered on a framework allowing Chinese carmakers to manufacture in the U.S. after initially facing strong domestic opposition. The White House has not decided, and administration officials expressed concerns over likely pushback in Congress and over privacy and national security.

Ford has long sought to partner with Chinese firms to gain EV and battery expertise while protecting U.S. market share, exploring a 2027 low-cost EV aimed at competing with BYD. The company is expanding battery and manufacturing partnerships with BYD, Geely and CATL, and has denied talks of a U.S. JV with Xiaomi.

Rivian posted stronger-than-expected 2025 results, reporting gross profits of $144 million versus a $1.2 billion net loss in 2024, driving a 27% surge in its shares on February 13, 2026.

The company sold and produced 42,247 vehicles in 2025, with a $432 million net loss on automotive sales, but attributed the earnings swing to strong software and services, higher average selling prices, and reduced unit costs.

Rivian cited positive early feedback for its upcoming $45,000 R2 model, deliveries of which are slated to begin this spring, and CEO RJ Scaringe emphasized the R2 as pivotal to future growth following a 600-employee reduction in October 2025.

Following the expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit in September 2025, Rivian is banking on its R2 to drive unit economics and investor confidence.

Exact Sciences (EXCS) reported a narrower net loss of $19.2 million in Q4 2025, versus a $22.8 million loss in the same period of 2024, as revenue rose to $223.4 million, up from $208.1 million in Q4 2024. The improvement followed continued growth in its genomic testing and data analytics services, with revenue growth accelerating in the fourth quarter. Management attributed the better results to higher pricing and broader adoption of its cloud-based data solutions.

U.S. stock indices closed lower on February 13, 2026, as traders interpreted comments from Federal Reserve officials as a potential precursor to tighter monetary policy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.3% (-1,123.5 points) to 36,450.7, while the S&P 500 declined 2.1% to 4,872.4. The NASDAQ Composite ended flat at 15,342.1 after volatile early trading. The Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to release its latest policy statement on February 15, 2026.

Airbnb is expanding its AI customer support to handle roughly a third of inquiries in the U.S. and Canada, with a plan to roll the feature globally. The company expects within a year more than 30% of all support tickets to be managed by AI in all languages where human agents are also employed.

CEO Brian Chesky said the move is expected to reduce operational costs and improve service quality. The rollout follows the hiring of CTO Ahmed Al-Dahle, an AI leader from Meta, to build an AI-native experience layered over Airbnb’s existing platform, leveraging its 200 million verified identities and 500 million proprietary reviews.

Financials for Q4 2025 show revenue of $2.78 billion, above estimates, and the company forecasts 2026 revenue growth in the low double digits. It projects first-quarter revenue of $2.59B–$2.63B, exceeding $2.53B forecasts. The company reported 80% of its engineers already use AI tools, with the goal of reaching 100% soon.

Amazon (AMZN-US) is in its longest continuous decline since 2006, as investors question its mammoth capital spending. The stock fell 0.4% on Friday, Feb 13, closing the ninth straight losing day, the longest since July 2006. During the slide, shares have dropped 18%, erasing about $463 billion in market value and reaching a five-month low.

The selloff follows the company’s财报, which showed it will invest up to $200 billion in data centers, chips, and other equipment this year, exceeding market expectations. Anthony Saglimbene, Ameriprise首席市場策略師, warned that if the heavy spending turns free cash flow negative, it would be a major red flag.

Investor concern over AI-driven capital spending is spilling into Microsoft (MSFT-US) and Alphabet (GOOGL-US), with the four tech titans collectively expected to spend about $650 billion in 2026. Saglimbene said negative or weaker cash flow from such investments could change how the market values them, especially if AI progress underperforms.

Amazon’s shares have fallen about 17% this month, likely the largest single-month drop since April 2022, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 3.2% in the same period.

Pamt Corp. (NASDAQ:PAMT) reported a net loss of $29.3 million, or $1.40 per share, for the fourth quarter ended January 31, 2026, marking its fifth consecutive quarterly loss. Excluding a $26.5 million auto-liability reserve adjustment for a claim exceeding policy limits, the adjusted loss was $9.4 million, or 45 cents per share, down from 36 cents per share in the same period of 2024.

Revenue fell 15% year-over-year to $141 million. Auto-related revenue, roughly one-third of total revenue, declined amid ongoing tariff pressures. The TL segment reported a 10% drop in average trucks in service, 12% lower revenue per truck per week, 2% fewer loaded miles, and a 9% decline in revenue per loaded mile to $2.12 (excluding fuel). The TL segment’s adjusted operating ratio was 114%, 700 bps worse than the prior year.

Salaries, wages and benefits rose 240 bps of revenue, and depreciation was 200 bps higher, excluding a prior-year item. Logistics revenue declined 10% y/y to $40 million, with the operating ratio at 99.2%, down 90 bps from the prior year. Operating cash flow totaled $17 million; liquidity of $144 million was $31 million lower than in the third quarter, and debt of $334 million was $8 million lower sequentially.

Fonar Corp. (FONR) released fiscal Q2 earnings on February 13, 2026. The company reported net income of $2.1 million, or 31 cents per share, and revenue of $25.5 million.

Analysts and supply chain sources suggest Apple is integrating a custom C2 modem into the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models, aiming to enhance 5G performance and reduce latency. The move is expected to be announced in the March 2026 earnings report, with the devices likely released in June 2026.

The C2 modem, developed in-house, is designed to support advanced 5G bands and improve data throughput. This aligns with Apple’s strategy to differentiate its hardware capabilities and potentially delay the availability of the next-generation iPhone 18 models in major markets until they can fully leverage the new chipset.

Google reported on February 13, 2026, it is actively defending against attempts to clone its AI chatbot, with no immediate impact on its operations or stock price. The company has not disclosed financial details or management changes, but the security measures are being bolstered to protect intellectual property and user data. Legal action is being considered against alleged infringers. The incident reflects ongoing competition in the AI chatbot space and underscores heightened security scrutiny around generative AI technologies.

Paramount Pictures ( Paramount ) has appointed Rene Augustine, a former Trump administration attorney, as senior vice president of global public policy, effective February 17, 2026. Augustine, who served as special assistant to the president and senior associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office, will report to Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim, also a former U.S. antitrust official and DOJ colleague.

"In her role, Rene will be responsible for developing strategic policies that advance our business objectives and building key diplomatic relationships important for advancing those objectives globally," Delrahim stated in an internal memo.

The appointment occurs amid the ongoing battle for Warner Bros Discovery, with Paramount and Netflix locked in a proxy fight. Paramount sweetened its bid, offering additional $650 million per quarter the deal fails to close this year and covering the $2.8 billion breakup fee Netflix would owe if it walked away. Netflix, meanwhile, has offered $27.75 per share in cash for Warner Bros and its HBO Max library.

The U.S. dollar posted its third weekly loss in four weeks on Friday, February 13, as the consumer price index eased, prompting slightly higher expectations for further Fed rate cuts. The DXY fell 0.1% to 96.87.

Data showed U.S. CPI year-over-year at 2.4% in January, down from 2.7% in December and below expectations of 2.5%. Core PCE is expected to trend lower, according to Morgan Stanley economists, potentially keeping the Fed on pause for now despite sticky inflation and input cost pass-through.

Key currency movements: EUR/USD = 1.1873, GBP/USD = 1.3655, USD/JPY = 152.68, AUD/USD = 0.7074, USD/CAD = 1.3618.

Eurozone and the EU’s Q4 GDP were revised to +0.3% annualized, exceeding the ECB’s prior estimate of +0.2%. The pound rose on growth weakness and renewed political uncertainty in the UK. The dollar also declined against the yen amid hawkish comments from Japanese officials and uncertainty over expanded fiscal stimulus.

Owner of the iconic fast-casual chain, Steak 'n Shake (NASDAQ: SNS), announced it will remove all microwave ovens from its restaurants by April 2026. The move aims to enhance food quality and customer satisfaction by standardizing cooking methods and reducing contamination risks.

According to the company, the transition will be implemented in phases, with affected locations notified in advance. The decision follows recent consumer feedback and internal quality reviews highlighting the benefits of consistent cooking techniques. No immediate impact on menu prices or hours of operation is expected.

Canadian equities posted a significant rebound on February 13, 2026, as gold prices surged past $2,000 per ounce, spiking 3.8% on the New York market. The S&P TSX Composite rose 2.3% to 16,423.59, with miners and junior exploration companies leading the gains. The price rally reflected heightened inflation expectations and continued Federal Reserve monetary policy uncertainty. The TSX Metals Index gained 4.1%, while the broader S&P TSX 60 rose 1.8%.

U.S. market share for Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, climbed to 17.8% in January 2026 from 14% in December and 1.9% in January 2025, according to Apptopia data. The increase followed a backlash over non-consensual sexualized image generation, with Grok still producing such content when prompted, despite X curbing its capabilities on the platform.

Grok now ranks third in U.S. usage, behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT (52.9%) and Google Gemini (29.4%), while ChatGPT’s share declined from 80.9% in January 2025 to 52.9% in January 2026.

Musk recently reshuffled xAI leadership amid co-founder departures, as the company seeks to scale infrastructure behind the Grok chatbot embedded in X. A $250 billion valuation was reported in the recent SpaceX-xAI acquisition, valued at $1 trillion for SpaceX.