Despite U.S. Mortgage Rates Falling to 6 Percent, Homebuyers Remain Hesitant
Pending home sales in January 2026 fell 0.8% month‑over‑month, despite mortgage rates slipping to a six‑year low of 6.01% for the 30‑year fixed loan. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun notes that the rate drop makes 5.5 million households newly mortgage‑eligible, yet only about 10% are expected to act, leaving demand muted. Regional data show gains in the Midwest and West but declines in the Northeast and South. Yun warns that without added housing supply, any buyer surge could simply lift prices further.
Why Pershing Square Holdings Trades At A Deep Discount To NAV
Pershing Square Holdings (PSH) trades about a 25 % discount to NAV, reflecting its closed‑end, London‑listed structure and a portfolio of public equities that investors can replicate. The lack of daily redemption limits arbitrage, while a 1.5 % management fee and 16 %...
BOEM Proposes 3rd GOA Lease Sale
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced a proposed notice for Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3), slated for August 12, 2026. The sale would put roughly 15,066 offshore blocks covering 80.4 million acres on the market, with a...
A Defensive Rally.
The episode examines the surprising year‑to‑date rally in oil and gas equities, highlighting that despite a "risk‑off" environment, energy stocks are outpacing all S&P sectors. The host attributes this to improving momentum, stronger global manufacturing PMIs, a weaker U.S. dollar,...
Should I Use My Home Equity to Buy My Next Rental Property? (Rookie Reply)
The episode advises investors to tap home equity through commercial lines of credit or second‑position loans rather than standard HELOCs, emphasizing rate differentials and ADS‑CR loan structures. It outlines the Burr strategy—buy, rehab, rent, repeat—as a way to recycle equity,...
Hedge Funds Slash US Equity Leverage, Yet Remain Highly Exposed
From GS Prime trading desk on Flows, via Bbrg: “Against a more challenging performance backdrop and tougher technicals, hedge funds have turned more defensive and net sold US equities MTD at the fastest pace since March 25,” the team led by...
Do You Need a Degree to Be a Financial Advisor?
A bachelor’s degree remains a baseline requirement for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) credential and other designations such as the CFA, while many alternative certifications accept work experience in lieu of formal education. Advisors can start a registered investment advisor...
Protecting Domestic EVs Requires Tariffs or Local Content Rules
Very good Rhodium piece on the cost advantage of Chinese EVs: “In practice, countries seeking to protect domestic industries have two broad options. One is to impose very high tariffs that account not only for subsidies but also for structural...
AI Becomes Mandatory Backbone of Enterprise Customer Service
Customer service is where artificial intelligence has officially moved past the hype. @NICEComms recently reported their full-year 2025 financial results, and the numbers point to a clear structural shift in enterprise adoption. Their AI annual recurring revenue grew 66% year over...
Commodity Boom Helps to Drive JSE Confidence
South Africa’s commodity surge—gold up 65% and platinum 125%—is fueling a boom on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, with mining firms delivering double‑digit returns. The JSE’s recent rule changes, cutting shareholder approval thresholds from 75% to 50% and aligning disclosure standards,...
Gold Poised for Reversion as Oil Bears Down
Is Gold the Next Big Commodity Trade? Historic Reversion Risks - Geopolitical tensions could add fuel to crude oil's bear market as it approaches good resistance while heightening peak signals in gold's bull market. The metal has reached historic extremes...
Supply Scare Could Deepen Brent’s Bear Market
A Supply Scare Can Add Fuel to Brent Downtrend - What will end crude's downtrend may be a top commodity question of 2026. A supply scare that spikes prices might fuel more of the same -- US-led Western Hemisphere production...
Why Verifying a Business in Africa Is Harder than Moving Money
Cross‑border payments in Africa now settle in seconds, but verifying the counterpart business can take weeks. The delay stems from fragmented, offline national registries and a lack of cross‑border data harmonisation, creating a “registry gap” that hampers the African Continental...
Gold's Parabolic Surge May Be Overheated, Reversion Likely
The Rock May Be Too Hot - Gold vs. Commodities - Inflation is notably absent from gold's parabolic rally, which may suggest a too-hot rock if history is a guide. From a base of 100 in 1964, gold in terms...
Tariffs Ineffective Against US Trade Deficit? & Family Feud Over Reese’s Recipe
Neal and Toby examine why the U.S. trade deficit continues to grow despite the Trump administration's aggressive tariff policy, highlighting the limited impact of tariffs on the broader balance of payments. They then shift to a family dispute over the...
Why MAGA Fears Europe
President Donald Trump and his MAGA allies continue to cast the European Union as weak and misguided, a theme echoed at both Davos and the Munich Security Conference. The article counters this narrative, highlighting the EU’s social‑market model and its...
The Big Picture
At the 2025 Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivered a sharply critical speech, accusing European allies of abandoning fundamental democratic values and curbing free speech to manage migration. In contrast, the 2026 conference saw Secretary of State...
Gold and Silver Recovering
The episode reviews a recent rally in gold and silver prices, noting modest gains in Europe and unusually low trading volumes on the U.S. Comex market due to a holiday. It highlights the scant speculative interest and low open interest...
Can US Small Caps Survive the Software Selloff?
US software megacaps have slumped roughly 30% this year, dragging the S&P 500 to a modest 0.5% gain, while the MSCI ACWI ex‑USA rose 9.1%. By contrast, the S&P 600 small‑cap index posted a 7.9% rise, narrowing the performance gap with global...
Canadian ETF Market Closes 2025 at Record $735B as Equity Dominance Reshapes Flows
Canada’s ETF industry closed 2025 with a record $735.1 billion in assets, a 37.5% increase over the prior year. Equity‑focused funds dominated, representing roughly 67.5% of total holdings, while the number of listed ETFs rose to 1,472, adding 255 new products....
CIBC Asset Management Inc. Announces Launch of Canadian and U.S. ETFs with Avantis Investors by American Century Investments
CIBC Asset Management announced the launch of four Avantis CIBC ETFs on the Toronto Stock Exchange, covering Canadian equity and three U.S. equity strategies – all‑cap, large‑cap value and small‑cap value. The products are the result of a strategic partnership...
Shutdown Shadow
The episode examines the impact of the 43‑day government shutdown on U.S. GDP reporting, noting that growth is still projected to be robust despite the delay. It discusses emerging signs that higher‑income households are curbing discretionary spending and outlines what...
Turning Equity Into Clarity: How HR Can Explain Stock Options The Right Way
HR teams that demystify stock options improve candidate confidence and close offers faster. The article outlines a repeatable process that starts with simple definitions of grant, strike price and vesting, then visualizes vesting schedules as timelines rather than percentages. It...
Shorting SPY at $686.72 in Premarket Trade
Premarket Trading (4:10 AM) @TheStreetPro * Win, lose or draw - I timestamp * I don't bullshit (by sweeping losers under the rug and regaling in my winners) .... I am back shorting the indices: * (SPY) $686.72 By Doug Kass Feb 20, 2026...
Friday's Top Reads: Power Shifts Across Media, Finance, Politics
10 Friday AM Reads: -Netflix Calls Paramount's Bluff -401k Takeover: Private Equity Muscles In -Billionaires' Low Taxes' Problem for the Economy -Quiet Architect of Trump's Global Trade War -The End of the Office -The US Coup: One Year On -U2 Propaganda Days of Ash https://t.co/cSpLOtlpzu
What You Need to Know About Filing to the CRA This Year as Tax Season Looms
Tax season launches Monday as the CRA opens online filing for 2025 returns, having processed over 33 million returns last year with 93 % filed electronically. Key dates include the RRSP contribution deadline on March 2, the general filing and payment deadline on...
Live Daily Pre‑Market Independent Research Available Now
We're on a LIVE wire with the only Independent Research you can get PRE MARKET daily
Dollar Holds Firm Amid Looming Tariff Decision and US Data
Tariff Decision Day?: The US dollar is trading mostly firmer but quietly in what could be a volatile North American session. It is not just about the US data, of which there is plenty—including the PCE deflator and the first...
My Wife’s Brother Never Claimed His Part of Their Mother's Estate. What Do We Do Now?
Edward is assisting his wife with her brother’s estate in New Brunswick after the brother never filed paperwork to claim his late mother’s life‑insurance proceeds and stock accounts. The brother died intestate, leaving no will or appointed executor, which triggers...
SPX Holds Channel—Stay Selective, Await Clean Setups
$SPX is still holding its channel, it’s an easy tape to overtrade, so stay selective and wait for clean setups. Key levels: support 6780–6790, yesterday’s low 6833, and pivot resistance 6909, with PCE and GDP on deck at 8:30. https://t.co/lvzBNkDdkK
India’s AI Surge: Codex Users Grow 4x Weekly
Great meeting with PM @narendramodi today to talk about the incredible energy around AI in India. India is our fastest growing market for codex globally, up 4x in weekly users in the past 2 weeks alone. 🇮🇳! https://t.co/MRbw0UkotJ
Brad Carr: Canada Needs to Cut the GST/HST for All New Homebuyers, Not Just First-Timers
Brad Carr, CEO of Mattamy Homes, urges the federal and Ontario governments to broaden the GST/HST rebate to all new‑home buyers, not just first‑timers. He points to a sharp decline in Canadian home sales—GTA sales fell 11.2% in 2025, with...
Strong US Data Must Decouple to Trigger Dollar Decline
The US is outgrowing everyone else and that'll stay that way into this year's midterms. So, for the Dollar to fall, you need a correlation break whereby strong US data cause USD to fall. This is how the Dollar traded...
Crude Hits 7‑month High Amid US‑Iran Strike Risk
Crude rallies to 7-month highs as market prices in the risk of US strikes on Iran. I spoke to @NDTVProfitIndia earlier today. https://t.co/NDv6pbwsZp
Venezuelan Democracy Needs Action, Not Cheap Talk
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a Venezuela policy that puts oil reconstruction ahead of democratic elections. In a Fox News interview he pledged at least $100 billion from American oil firms to rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure, with the United States...
Oil Won’t Ride Super‑Cycle; Growth Slowdown Limits Prices
Beware of the "bull-run narrative" @Matalasdavid Oil's a risk asset unlike value commodities. It's unlikely to have a super-cycle trajectory. 👇 https://t.co/7PUYBWe4PR As economic growth slows, oil will slow. #energy #OOTT #oilandgas #WTI #CrudeOil #fintwit #OPEC #Commodities #commoditiesmarket
USD Firming Ahead of Data, SCOTUS Tariff Ruling
$USD enjoys a firmer tone ahead of US data and possible SCOTUS decision on POTUS use of emergency powers to levy broad tariffs. Mkt tensions over possible US-Iran conflict seems to have eased for the moment but have not...
19 Newly Overvalued Stocks This Month
Morningstar’s monthly screen flagged 19 Europe‑listed stocks as newly overvalued, moving them into the 2‑star range, while five stocks slipped to 1‑star. The largest‑cap 2‑star names are ASML, Siemens Energy, Rio Tinto, National Grid and Bayer, each trading at a...
Live Premarket Picks: NVDA, TSLA, IBIT, SPY
⏰Scott Redler’s #630club - LIVE Premarket Stock Update $NVDA $TSLA $IBIT $SPY 📷 Free VIP List Newsletter: https://t.co/EW4O2nbz8N https://t.co/LuYuPCBRLU
US EV Charging Ports Jump 10%, Fast Chargers Rise 25%
U.S. ELECTRIC VEHICLE charging ports increased by more than 24,000 (10%) in 2025. More than half of the new ports were direct current fast-charging ports, which increased by more than 13,000 (25%): https://t.co/zEkOinhmj8
Pre-Market IV Report February 20, 2026
The pre‑market implied volatility (IV) report highlights a sharp rise in IV for energy‑related ETFs and stocks as WTI crude climbs above $66, while airlines show elevated IV but balanced call‑put ratios. Unusual option activity spikes on commodities such as...
Research Review | 20 February 2026 | Forecasting Returns
Recent academic research sharpens the tools investors use to forecast long‑term returns and market risk. Rui Ma et al. show that a market‑cap‑weighted Component CAPE ratio aligns prices and earnings, delivering out‑of‑sample R² above 50 %. Javier Estrada confirms that valuation multiples...
A New Iranian Revolution?
Iran’s economy is spiraling under soaring inflation, unemployment and renewed U.S. sanctions, stoking widespread public discontent. The Islamic Republic faces a legitimacy crisis that could trigger either systemic reform or outright collapse. Analysts warn that without a shift toward moderate...
The British Stock Riding the SpaceX Boom
The episode examines why the UK stock market is outpacing the US in 2026, highlighting insider trades at Raspberry Pi and M&S, and a surprising AI prospect in a Japanese toilet firm. Charlene Young warns listeners about fake celebrity investment ads...
Recently Boring Nvidia Reports Next Week. Did We Just See German Green Shoots?
In this episode, Saxo Global Head of Macro Strategy John J. Hardy examines the stark divergence between the US equity market, which remains highly dispersed and volatile, and Europe’s rally driven by record inflows. He highlights the lingering uncertainty in...
VNET CEO Purchases 40k Shares at 69p
Joint Chairman and CEO at #VNET bought 40,000 shares at 69p each. I don't hold.
Apple’s Support Break Rippled Into SPY Yesterday
Did you know $AAPL broke @Hedgeye TREND Signal Support in the past week? Do you know what its impact was in $SPY yesterday? @t1alpha We call this being Macro Aware https://t.co/vu1biIkQcQ
Stories of the Week: Unemployment, Industry Consolidation, and Semi-Liquid Funds
This week’s investment roundup highlighted three interlinked themes: a resurgence in unemployment, accelerating consolidation among asset‑management firms, and a surge in semi‑liquid fund inflows. Unemployment edged to 5.2% in Q4 2025, prompting managers to boost cash buffers and reassess risk models....
AZN's Calquence + Venetoclax Approved for CLL Treatment
#AZN Calquence combined with Venetoclax approved in US for treating Adults with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia in a particular form.
UK Retail Sales Record Fastest Growth in 20 Months
UK retail sales begin the year with the fastest growth in 20 months https://t.co/GPGNaZk4Oa via @irinaanghel12 https://t.co/kAm5UcAWvQ