News•Feb 23, 2026
SPX Skew Steepens to 1Y High as Tariff Uncertainty Rises
Cboe’s Macro Volatility Digest shows SPX 1‑month options skew climbing to its highest level in a year. The steepening reflects heightened uncertainty from evolving U.S. tariff policy, geopolitical tensions and lingering AI concerns, while oil volatility spiked to 52%. Equity and rates implied volatilities fell after the Supreme Court struck down Trump’s emergency tariffs, yet small‑cap stocks outperformed the broader index, gaining 7% YTD. Dispersion expectations remain near pre‑earnings highs, indicating continued demand for single‑stock hedges.
By Cboe – Insights
News•Feb 23, 2026
41% of Organizations Have Hired a Fake Candidate
A GetReal Security survey reveals that 41 % of IT, cybersecurity, risk and fraud leaders admit their firms have hired and onboarded a fraudulent candidate, underscoring AI‑driven identity attacks’ real‑world impact. The same study shows 88 % of organizations encounter deep‑fake or...
By Security Magazine (Cybersecurity)
News•Feb 23, 2026
Reese’s Quality Debate Highlights Shrinkflation Risk
Brad Reese, grandson of the Reese’s creator, publicly accused Hershey of lowering quality in newer Reese’s extensions, while the company insists the classic cup remains unchanged. The criticism highlights a shift toward cheaper ingredients and smaller portions in seasonal and...
By Retail Insider Canada
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Master Your P&L in Five Minutes, Not Months
If you can’t explain your P&L in 5 minutes, you’re not a boss—you’re a passenger. Managing money isn’t about complex spreadsheets; it’s about control. The 5-Step Survival Plan: Track Everything: Know exactly where every cent goes. Find the Levers: Focus on the...
By Abraham Kah
News•Feb 23, 2026
Kogan.com ‘Firing on All Cylinders’, Founder Says, as Group Profit Falls 20%
Kogan Group reported mixed H1 FY26 results, with its flagship Kogan.com platform delivering 21% sales growth and a 17% revenue increase, while the New Zealand acquisition Mighty Ape saw sales fall 9% and a 25% revenue drop, dragging group NPAT down 20%...
By Startup Daily (ANZ)
News•Feb 23, 2026
Study Shows AI Skills Gap in Singapore Malaysia
Epitome Global’s latest workforce study reveals that only one in five professionals in Singapore and Malaysia demonstrate AI‑ready traits such as persistence, curiosity and reflective learning. While more than 70% claim advanced digital literacy, 56% rate their decision‑making and 42%...
By Vietnam Investment Review (VIR)
News•Feb 23, 2026
AS Watson Parent Mulls Bid for Collapsed Australian Pharmacy Group’s Assets
Hong Kong‑based AS Watson, majority‑owned by CK Hutchison, is weighing a bid for 92 Priceline pharmacies in Australia that were placed in receivership after Infinity Pharmacy Group’s collapse. The assets, franchised from Wesfarmers‑owned Priceline, are being sold by administrator Teneo with a...
By Inside Retail Asia
News•Feb 23, 2026
HR's Strategic Influence Growing, Specialist Skills in Demand
HR’s strategic influence is expanding, prompting employers to seek senior HR business partners and specialists who can lead workforce planning, change management, and regulatory navigation. Robert Half’s 2026 salary guide shows overall HR pay is flat, but premiums are rising...
By HR Daily (Australia)
News•Feb 23, 2026
BJC Moves to Snap up MM Mega Market Vietnam in $720m Deal
Berli Jucker (BJC) announced a US$720 million acquisition of MM Mega Market Vietnam, buying 921.8 million shares of TCC Land International through its Singapore subsidiary C‑Distribution Asia. The deal, valued at 22.5 billion baht, targets completion in the second quarter pending shareholder and...
By Inside Retail Asia
News•Feb 23, 2026
LinkedIn Gets Real About Work, One Awkward Moment at a Time
LinkedIn unveiled a global brand campaign, “The network that works for you,” created with McCann New York. The humor‑driven ads spotlight awkward, everyday work moments while positioning LinkedIn as a partner for career and business growth. The rollout is split...
By Marketing-Interactive
Social•Feb 23, 2026
AI Turns Cognitive Labor From Scarce to Abundant
Human intelligence has historically been economically valuable because it was scarce. Productivity systems, from professional hierarchies to wages, capital allocation and taxation, were structured around the limited supply of human cognitive labour. That constraint is now loosening. Artificial intelligence gives us...
By Donald Clark Plan B
News•Feb 23, 2026
15 Smarter Interview Questions For Hiring Digital Marketers In 2026 via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Digital marketing hiring now demands strategic thinking over platform familiarity. The article presents 15 interview questions that probe candidates’ use of AI, data privacy adaptation, budget prioritization, metric storytelling, and cultural fit. It emphasizes evaluating the reasoning behind answers to...
By Search Engine Journal
News•Feb 23, 2026
VectifyAI Launches Mafin 2.5 and PageIndex: Achieving 98.7% Financial RAG Accuracy with a New Open-Source Vectorless Tree Indexing.
VectifyAI unveiled Mafin 2.5, a multimodal financial agent that achieved a record‑breaking 98.7% accuracy on the FinanceBench RAG benchmark, and released PageIndex, an open‑source framework that replaces traditional vector embeddings with a hierarchical tree index. The new stack natively ingests SEC...
By MarkTechPost
Podcast•Feb 23, 2026•38 min
771: Fixing Fairness in the Workplace, with Lily Zheng
In this episode, host Dave Stachowiak talks with Lily Zheng, a strategist and author on systemic fairness, about why most Americans actually support diversity (82% in surveys) despite a perception that opinions are split. Zheng explains why typical DEI initiatives—single...
By Coaching for Leaders
News•Feb 23, 2026
‘Sweet Surprise by Aster’ Raises Awareness on Hidden Sugar as UAE’s Sugar Tax Takes Effect
The UAE introduced a tiered sugar tax on January 1 2026, targeting beverages by sugar content per 100 ml. In response, Aster Clinics UAE opened the Aster Diabetes 360 Care Clinic in Al Qusais and launched the “Sweet Surprise by Aster” campaign, featuring a vending machine...
By Campaign Middle East
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Cancel Meetings: Give Teams Time Back This Week
Leaders, you have the chance to do something truly groundbreaking this week. CANCEL THE MEETING. You don’t need another formal update, just let the team provide an email. You don’t need another slide deck/powerpoint to tell you what you already know....
By Julia Rock
News•Feb 23, 2026
EPU: A Beneficiary Of Peru's Solid GDP Growth And High Commodity Prices
The iShares MSCI Peru and Global Exposure ETF (EPU) has delivered double‑digit returns in 2026, extending the strong performance it posted in 2025. Its trailing price‑to‑earnings ratio sits at 20.83×, still cheaper than the S&P 500, reflecting a higher cyclical tilt....
By Seeking Alpha – ETFs & Funds
News•Feb 23, 2026
Inside Sukoshi Mart’s Plan to Launch 40 Stores in the US by the End of 2026
Sukoshi Mart, a Canadian‑born Asian beauty retailer, aims to open 40 U.S. stores by the end of 2026, pushing its annual sales past $100 million. The company has doubled its store count each year since 2023 and now offers over 5,000...
By Inside Retail Australia
News•Feb 23, 2026
South Korea Passes, Most Fail: Inside Trump’s New Hierarchy of “Model Allies” Even In Post-SCOTUS Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 6‑3 decision invalidating Trump’s IEEPA‑based tariffs did not dismantle the president’s emerging hierarchy of “model allies.” Trump’s administration continues to press allies to meet three benchmarks: 5% of GDP defense spending, sizable U.S. arms purchases...
By Eurasian Times – Defence
Social•Feb 23, 2026
SPX Near Record High Amid Soaring Stock Volatility
As of Fri's close, the SPX sat just 0.99% below its Jan 28 all-time high (~6,978.6). Yet everyone's screaming "chaos & uncertainty"? Blue = mkt-cap wgted avg "VIX" of the 500 constituents (now 38) Orange = standard 30-day VIX (17.6) Green =...
By Jim Bianco
News•Feb 23, 2026
Dell Releases AI India Blueprint at India AI Impact Summit 2026
Dell Technologies unveiled an AI India Blueprint at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, presenting a roadmap to move AI initiatives from pilot phases to production across the country. The document projects AI workloads to grow at roughly 30% CAGR...
By ET CIO (India)
News•Feb 23, 2026
Employee Who Took Decisions as Personal Affronts Wasn't Bullied: FWC
An Australian university lecturer alleged seven instances of bullying by his executive dean and dean of programs. The Fair Work Commission found none of the claims met the legal definition of repeated unreasonable behaviour, rejecting the bullying allegations. While acknowledging...
By HR Daily (Australia)
News•Feb 23, 2026
Infrastructure Solutions See Data#3 Record Solid Growth for FY26’s First Half
Data#3 reported solid FY26 first‑half growth, driven primarily by its infrastructure solutions business. Statutory revenue rose 8.1% to $423.1 million, with infrastructure revenue jumping 20.6% to $253.1 million. Gross sales increased 9.2% to $1.5 billion, outpacing the Australian IT market, while software profit...
By ARN (Australia)
Blog•Feb 23, 2026
I Asked The Question Because ...
A recent analysis shows that mailing catalogs to reactivation candidates is financially unsustainable. With a demand price of $1.30 per book and an advertising cost of $0.90, the profit calculation yields a $0.38 loss per mailed item, translating to a...
By MineThatData
News•Feb 23, 2026
Cartel Boss Killing Jolts US-Mexico Freight Corridors
The confirmed killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as El Mencho, sparked immediate cartel retaliation across western Mexico. Road blockades, vehicle burnings and armed clashes disrupted key highways and temporarily halted operations at the Port of...
By FreightWaves
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Avoidance Becomes Culture: Attitude Shapes Character
“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” Attitude isn’t mood. It’s the repeated stance you take under pressure. In leadership, small acts of avoidance—dodging hard conversations, tolerating mediocrity, deferring tough decisions—don’t stay tactical. They compound. What begins as convenience hardens into...
By Fayaz King
Social•Feb 23, 2026
My $30k/Month AI Business Stack Revealed
A complete stack for my 30k/mo AI buisness - Perplexity - Claude $200 - 1000% worth it - Gamma - Calendly - Grain AI - n8n for workflows - Agno for agents - Postgres - Notion
By ai_topia_
News•Feb 23, 2026
EPFO Restores Full-Salary Pension Option only for a Few
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has reinstated the pre‑2014 option of linking pension contributions to an employee’s full salary, but only for workers who had already chosen that higher pension route before the 2014 cap and whose employers continue...
By HR Katha (India)
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Monday Deadline Is Negotiation Window, Not Offer Deadline
While it seems likely that next 24 hours will see news on Paramount - WBD - Netflix, the Monday deadline is the negotiating window between Paramount and WBD. It is not a deadline for an offer so in the unlikely...
By Joe Flint
News•Feb 23, 2026
It Looks Like Open Banking’s ‘Breakout Moment’ Is Finally Here
Open Banking in Australia is reaching a breakout moment as three notable consumer‑lending firms—an ASX‑listed billion‑dollar player, a $300 m listed firm, and a $60 m private company—have shifted from screen‑scraping to regulated Open Banking data feeds. This transition replaces insecure credential‑based...
By Startup Daily (ANZ)
Blog•Feb 23, 2026
How to Calculate ROI for AI Investments (2026) – Shopify
The episode breaks down how ecommerce businesses can accurately calculate AI ROI by defining a clear formula, accounting for both direct financial gains and indirect benefits such as risk mitigation, operational efficiencies, and data‑related costs. It highlights why AI ROI...
By eCommerce Fastlane
News•Feb 23, 2026
Adairs Profit Dives as Store-Driven Reset Continues
Adairs reported a 5.9% rise in first‑half revenue to $329 million, driven by a store‑focused reset strategy. Gross profit improved 3.6% to $153.9 million, but net profit after tax fell 33.8% to $12.8 million. The Mocka brand delivered the strongest sales surge, up...
By Inside Retail Australia
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Markets Punish India for Defying US, History Shows
The Gift Nifty fools think India will get some special deal You try to dishonor a deal with the US and see what happens. That will surely get you the lower circuit in Gift futures overnight. The stupidity of markets. I am not saying...
By Rohit Srivastava
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Retail Investors Miss Institutional Asset-Liability Matching Due to Fee Incentives
As Adam notes, it's interesting that big pensions, banks and insurance companies meticulously manage their portfolios using asset-liability matching process. Meanwhile, retail investors get style and factor investing shoved down their throat in exchange for high fees. Why aren't asset-liability...
By Cullen Roche
News•Feb 23, 2026
The USD Has Continued Its Slide in Asia Trade. USD/JPY Is Down a Big Figure.
Asian currency markets saw the U.S. dollar dominate trade as a fresh tariff dispute intensified cross‑border transactions. The pressure translated into a sharp decline in USD/JPY, with the yen appreciating against the greenback. Trading was further constrained by a public...
By ForexLive — Feed
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Five AI‑Native Startup Ideas Before Embed Apps Close
Last 5 AI-native startup ideas from us @Conviction before Embed apps close (robotics cert, red-teaming chips, materializing institutional memory, physics sim, and getting assurance on abundant generated code) https://t.co/9ykAggZY9P
By Sarah Guo
Social•Feb 23, 2026
China’s Overlapping Industries Amplify Industrial Policy Impact
Kyle Chan: "China’s strength across multiple overlapping industries creates a compounding effect for its industrial policy efforts." https://t.co/1Z2o8dcRWq
By Michael Pettis
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Question S/4HANA Vendor Push: Assess Real Benefits
Software vendors push for company-wide S/4HANA implementations for their benefit. Be objective: does it truly benefit you and is it the right solution? Critical assessment is key. #SAP #TechStrategy https://t.co/N21GhWHIIA
By Eric Kimberling
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Syria's Oil Output Slashed To
Syria's oil production is a zero-rounding error @NoamRaydan Current levels are roughly 100–120 kb/d. Max production before the Civil War was 400 kb/d. As you note, its heavy, sour crude must be exported to Greece or Italy b/c it has no complex...
By Art Berman Blog
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Stocks Soar; Economy Avoids Recession for Years
Stocks have had one of their best three year runs in history and the economy hasn't sniffed a recession. https://t.co/hBhFjc8em2
By Ryan Detrick
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Europe’s Gas Crunch Stems From Storage Shortage, Not LNG Scarcity
Europe’s gas problem isn’t a lack of LNG — it’s a lack of buffer, writes @seb_kennedy With storage below 32%, even hypothetical risks like Hormuz move prices fast. #TTF #LNG #EnergySecurity #GasMarkets #Geopolitics
By Art Berman Blog
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Tariff Tensions Rise as Markets Await Inflation and Fed Signals
Trump's tariff drama intensifies while markets await key inflation data and Fed signals. The plot thickens on every front this week. 🟢 Open https://t.co/8tpXkyVt89
By Ed Yardeni
Social•Feb 23, 2026
German Firms Decry China's Unfair, Destabilising Trade Practices
Reuters: "German businesses warned of what they called destabilising and unfair global business practices by China, accusing Beijing of driving overcapacity, massive subsidies, distortive foreign-exchange policies and politically motivated export controls. https://t.co/701kYKGi2T
By Michael Pettis
Social•Feb 23, 2026
97% of Chinese Megacities Now Have High‑speed Rail
SCMP: "High-speed rail services are already accessible in 97 per cent of Chinese cities with populations of more than 500,000, the State Council said in December." https://t.co/bD3P6HUata
By Michael Pettis
Social•Feb 23, 2026
China‑Africa Trade Hits $348B, Chinese Exports Surge
According to the China Global South Project, in 2025, trade between China and Africa reached $348 billion, a 17.7% increase from 2024. Chinese exports to Africa rose 25.8% to $225 billion, while African exports to China rose 5.4% to $123 billion. https://t.co/RFFOLMKVsP
By Michael Pettis
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Flexport Simulator Updated, Awaiting 15% Tariff Change
The Flexport Tariff Simulator is up to date with the latest changes to the tariff code. For now we only have a 10% section 122 in place, awaiting official CFR update on the 15% change Trump announced. We made the...
By Ryan Petersen
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Targeted Advantage: Explain Why You Win for Segment S
I know you want to say you’re “better” than competitor G. Probably, though, it 𝘪𝘴 better for customer segment S but not for T. Why specifically is it better for S? And worse for T? Put 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 in your sales material. Rather than...
By Jason Cohen
Social•Feb 23, 2026
AI Boosts Productivity, Unemployment Fears Misguided
Looks like a model of AI induced unemployment but complete nonsense. there’s AI actually augmenting labor productivity and some separate labor demand shock (even though labor demand is derived demand from productivity)
By Brian Albrecht
Social•Feb 23, 2026
Bootstrapped Coder Battles Freight Fraud with Community Backing
No VC, no outside investors. No marketing budget. Just a dude coding on a mission to stop freight fraud and a community on X that is rooting for him.
By Craig Fuller
Social•Feb 23, 2026
SAP Customers Split on RISE: SAP Cloud vs Hyperscalers
Many SAP customers are still deciding on their RISE strategy. Polls show uncertainty around using SAP infrastructure vs. other hyperscalers like AWS or Azure for the long term. #SAP #CloudStrategy #DigitalTransformation https://t.co/vyQ5nfrmU4
By Eric Kimberling