Dear Friends,

Tangents: Happy Friday and Valentine’s! 🥰💕

The logistics behind Valentine’s Day
You may be surprised by the long trip your flowers will make before they get to your local florist and ultimately, your sweetheart.

Pause for Poetry

If I can stop one heart from breaking

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain.

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886.

February 13, 1258: Baghdad, a city of 1 million, falls to the Mongols as the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed, with tens of thousands slaughtered, ending the Islamic golden Age.

February 13, 1935: A jury in Flemington, N.J., found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of first-degree murder in the kidnap-death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed. Go to article.

February 13, 1945: Dresden firebombing.

First magazine published in the US. 1741

Peter Gabriel, musician, b.1950.

Astronomers detect a solar system they say should not be possible
A planetary system 116 light-years from Earth has a peculiar pattern. It could flip the script on how planets form, scientists say.

Could Kim Jong Un’s teenage daughter be North Korea’s next leader?
A young teenage girl shrouded in mystery and intrigue could very well be the next leader of the isolated hermit nation of North Korea.

‘Quad God’ aims for gold
US superstar Ilia Malinin looks to crown himself as the world’s best figure skater with gold today in the men’s individual competition.

The earliest black holes in the universe may still be with us, surprising study claims

The earliest black holes in the universe may not have disappeared from Hawking radiation after all, new research hints. Instead, they fed on the energy of the ancient cosmos to grow supermassive. Read More.

China’s emissions are flatlining — and may be falling — in critical turning point for biggest emitter, report says

The carbon emissions of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter have plateaued for nearly two years. Read More.

Canada could remove 5 times its annual carbon emissions by planting trees on edge of boreal forest, study finds

Planting trees on 6.4 million hectares of northern taiga forest could remove 3.9 gigatons of CO2 by 2100 — five times Canada’s annual emissions. Read More.

Subterranean tunnel, possibly used for medieval cult rituals, discovered in Stone Age tomb in Germany

A tunnel system discovered in a Stone Age tomb in Germany suggests medieval people created hiding places for their cultic rituals. Read More.

China banned all fishing to save the Yangtze River. This ‘nuclear’ option appears to be working.

Decades of overfishing and habitat degradation led to huge declines in freshwater biodiversity in China’s longest river, but there are signs of recovery after a fishing ban was implemented in 2021. Read More.

Record-breaking gravitational wave puts Einstein’s relativity to its toughest test yet — and proves him right again

A record-breaking gravitational wave signal let scientists "listen" to a distant black hole merger and put Einstein’s gravity to its toughest test yet. Read More.

Antarctica ‘ghost particle’ observatory gets major upgrade that could ‘pave the way’ to physics breakthroughs

The National Science Foundation’s massive IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole just got a major new upgrade, which promises to take the search for "ghost particles" to a new level. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Biarritz, France

Waves crash at the Rock of the Virgin (Rocher de la Vierge) in south-west France, as Storm Nils hits the area
Photograph: Gaizka Iroz/AFP/Getty Images

Yokote, Japan

Candle flames in snow domes known as kamakura during the Yokote snow festival. The festival is held in one of the heaviest snowfall areas in the country
Photograph: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

Gulls fly over the beach under stormy skies at the Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France
Photograph: Januario Helder/Abaca/Shutterstock
Market Closes for February 13th , 2026

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	49500.93	+48.95
		+0.10%
S&P 500	6836.17	+3.41
		+0.05%
NASDAQ	22546.67	-50.48
		-0.22%
TSX	33073.71	+608.43
		+1.87%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	56941.97	-697.87
		-1.21%
HANG SENG	26567.12	-465.42
		-1.72%
SENSEX	82626.76	-1048.16
		-1.25%
FTSE 100*	10446.35	+43.91
		+0.42%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.256	3.282
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.729	3.746
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.0483	4.1038
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.6943	4.7333

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7344	0.7346
US $	1.3615	1.3611

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	0.6187	1.6163
US $	0.8423	1.1871

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	5043.15	5077.85
Oil
WTI Crude Future	62.89	62.84

Market Commentary:

On this day in 1990, junk-bond giant Drexel Burnham Lambert sought bankruptcy protection only days after Chief Executive Fred Joseph told The Wall Street Journal, “I see daylight. The worst is behind us.”

Canada

By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose 1.9% at 33,073.71 in Toronto.
The move was the biggest since rising 2% on Aug. 5 and follows the previous session’s decrease of 2.4%.
Today, materials stocks led the market higher, as 10 of 11 sectors gained; 186 of 217 shares rose, while 30 fell.
Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 5.5%.
Magna International Inc. had the largest increase, rising 18.9%.
Insights
* In the past year, the index had a similar or greater gain three times. The next day, it advanced twice for an average 1.2% and declined 3% once
* So far this week, the index rose 1.9%, heading for the biggest advance since the week ended Jan. 9
* The index advanced 29% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 12% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 1.8% below its 52-week high on Feb. 11, 2026 and 48.8% above its low on April 7, 2025
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.3 on a trailing basis and 21.4 times estimated earnings of its members for the coming year
* The index’s dividend yield is 2.2% on a trailing 12-month basis
* S&P/TSX Composite’s members have a total market capitalization of C$5.14t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 18.08% compared with 17.50% in the previous session and the average of 11.74% over the past month
Index Points
Materials | 306.8740| 4.7| 54/2
Energy | 103.9065| 1.9| 32/5
Financials | 66.3787| 0.6| 21/3
Information Technology | 45.1565| 2.0| 8/2
Consumer Discretionary | 36.1787| 3.5| 8/1
Industrials | 29.7904| 0.9| 21/7
Utilities | 17.5916| 1.5| 14/0
Consumer Staples | 3.2171| 0.3| 7/3
Real Estate | 2.6980| 0.6| 14/5
Health Care | 2.0157| 2.3| 4/0
Communication Services | -5.3718| -0.8| 3/2
Agnico Eagle Mines | Ltd | 54.2900| 5.5| -17.6| 26.8
Barrick Mining | 41.0600| 5.6| -17.1| 9.2
Enbridge | 40.8700| 3.8| 11.8| 11.6
CAE | -3.2600| -3.4| 165.4| -1.3
Telus | -6.6020| -3.2| 104.3| 1.4
Cameco | -13.6700| -2.8| -7.2| 22.5

MT Newswires:
The Toronto Stock Exchange rebounded again Friday as it continues in a recent trend of following big losses with big gains, often reflecting how commodity prices have performed on any given day, while all of the volatility involved has prompted National Bank to recalibrate its asset mix this month.
The resources-heavy S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 608.43 points, or 1.9%, to 33,073.71.
This comes after the index lost near 790 points yesterday, largely on losses for tech stocks, but also on losses for energy and base metals stocks too.
Most sectors were up today, led by Health Care (up 2.35%), and then a revived Energy and Info Tech (both up 1.8%).
The Battery Metals Index was down 5.7%.
Of commodities today, West Texas Intermediate crude oil edged higher Friday, supported by a geopolitical risk premium even after a report said OPEC+ is planning to increase production beginning in April, despite an already over-supplied market.
WTI oil for March delivery was up $0.05 to US$62.89 per barrel, while April Brent oil was up $0.27 to US$67.79.
The price of the commodity is up 9.4% since the start of the year as traders maintain a risk premium amid rising international tensions.
Also, gold pushed back above the US$5,000 mark Friday after a day-prior drop as a report showed U.S. inflation slowed in January.
Gold for March delivery was up $101.20 to US$5,049.60 per ounce.
National Bank in its ‘Monthly Equity Monitor’ for February noted in Canada, equities have started the year on a positive note following an exceptional 2025, when the S&P/TSX surged 31.7% on a total return basis, its strongest performance since 2009 and the second best among G7 markets.
Much of that 2025 outperformance, National Bank noted, was driven by gold stocks, whose market capitalization within Canada’s equity market has, for the first time on record, surpassed that of the energy sector.
But the bank said while gold may continue to find support in 2026, it sees emerging headwinds for more consumer facing sectors as Canada faces its first annual population decline in modern history.
"An important shift that could weigh on domestic demand," National Bank added.
National Bank is recalibrating its asset mix this month, reducing its equity underweight while maintaining an overall cautious stance, particularly in the United States, where headwinds continue to cloud the outlook for the tech sector.
National is redeploying 5% of the portfolio from excess cash and fixed income into EAFE and emerging markets, where valuations appear more compelling and earnings momentum is firmer.
In Canada, the bank remains modestly overweight the S&P/TSX, reflecting its constructive view on Materials, Energy, and Industrials.
These sectors stand to benefit from Ottawa’s forthcoming defense procurement strategy, expected in the coming weeks, it noted.
Also, National Bank is refining its sector rotation to reflect demographic headwinds and a reflationary backdrop, moving to underweight communication services alongside other domestically oriented sectors, while moving metals and mining to overweight.
US
By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street got a degree of relief as relatively tame inflation data spurred bigger bets on Federal Reserve rate cuts, with bond yields falling.
While most stocks gained, weakness in tech giants kept a lid on the market.
Treasury two-year yields dropped to their lowest level since 2022 as traders priced in higher chances the Fed will slash rates more than twice this year.
About 370 shares in the S&P 500 rose, but the gauge closed little changed at the end of its worst week since November.
A gauge of mega caps lost 1.1%.
Amazon.com Inc. saw its longest slide in almost 20 years.
The Russell 2000 index of small firms climbed 1.2%.
Bitcoin jumped.
The consumer price index rose 0.2% in January, the smallest gain since July and restrained by lower energy costs.
While services costs picked up last month, prices of core goods remained stable.
The core CPI rose from a year ago by the least since 2021.
The overall gauge also eased on an annual basis.
“There remain some trouble spots, but overall, the trend in inflation is lower,” said Steve Wyett at BOK Financial.
“While the Fed is on pause for now, we expect somewhat lower rates as we move forward in 2026.”
Markets are “breathing easier” as price pressures remain contained, according to Seema Shah at Principal Asset Management.
“Continued labor-market strength gives policymakers cover to stay on hold, while further disinflation in the second half of the year should reopen the door to easing,” she said.
The Fed chose to hold interest rates steady in January given signs of stabilization in the labor market and inflation that’s still elevated.
Data this week showed US payrolls rose by the most in more than a year and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell, suggesting the labor market continued to stabilize at the start of 2026.
The yield on two-year Treasuries slid five basis points to 3.41%.
The S&P 500’s equal-weighted version – which strips out market-value biases – climbed 1% to near-record levels.
Gold reclaimed its $5,000 mark. US markets will close Monday for Presidents’ Day.
The January CPI inflation report was “benign” relative to fears of a “hot start” to the year, but it’s not enough to motivate a near-term Fed cut given January’s strong jobs report, according to Krishna Guha at Evercore.
Still, he says the latest data increases the likelihood inflation will be on the downslope in time for the Fed to cut in June or if not, July.
“The report fundamentally reinforces the ‘Goldilocks’ narrative – improving growth alongside moderating inflation – creating an ideal environment for diversified investment portfolios,” noted Florian Ielpo at Lombard Odier Asset Management.
While normally these types of inflation readings would give the Fed the go-ahead to ease policy, the robust job numbers that came out Wednesday mean we seemingly are entering a “gold medal” economy with strong growth, a stabilizing job market and lower
inflation, said John Kerschner at Janus Henderson Investors.
“The bond market is basically telling investors, ‘nothing to worry about here’,” he added.
The CPI report was confirmation that: tariff-related adjustments have largely run their course, shelter inflation is set to moderate to a below pre-pandemic pace and unit labor costs should also moderate inflation over time, according to Tiffany Wilding at Pacific Investment Management Co.
“This report did not meaningfully change our year-end 2026 inflation outlook of 2.4%, and we are still penciling in two more cuts later this year,” she said.
“Overall, this won’t change Fed policy, but it will ease the path towards a cut in rates sooner rather than later,” said Neil Birrell at Premier Miton Investors.
The data suggest that price pressures remain a little too hot for comfort, but the direction of travel for inflation continues to look to be lower — even if this has proved a bumpy and slow process, according to James McCann at Edward Jones.
“For the Fed, this probably doesn’t change much in the near term,” he said.
“We do see scope for further easing later this year. However, this is contingent on a more convincing decline in inflation towards target with the urgency for additional cuts lower now that downside risks in the labor market have seemingly eased.”
In the near-term, the case for a cut looks flimsy and the strong likelihood is that the Fed stands pat in March, barring a shock to the economy in the interim, according to Jim Baird at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Whether or not a reduction comes in the following months remains to be seen, but he says it will likely require further progress in inflation’s drop to the Fed’s 2% target.
“That could change if the pace of layoffs accelerated or job creation faltered meaningfully again in the coming months,” Baird noted.
“For now, policymakers appear convinced that the three quarter-point cuts late last year were enough to reduce that risk sufficiently, allowing them to take a patient approach in assessing whether additional easing will be needed.”
Fed Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said the central bank can cut rates further if inflation is on track to reach its 2% target, but that’s not currently the case.
“Right now we are not on a path back to 2%. We’re kind of stuck at 3%, and that’s not acceptable,” Goolsbee said Friday on Yahoo! Finance.
The latest data reinforced the sense that inflation isn’t re-accelerating and that the Fed won’t need to extend its pause as long as the more hawkish voices feared, noted Karen Manna at Federated Hermes.
“Paired with the recent jobs data — where revisions told the real story — this report keeps the narrative intact: Rate cuts move a little closer into view, even if they’re still not near,” she said.
Traders continue to fully price in a Fed rate cut in July, as well as a strong likelihood of a move in June.
Swaps project roughly 63 basis points of easing by year-end — equivalent to two quarter-point cuts and about half of a third — up from 58 basis points on Thursday.
“Today’s inflation report is a relief for investors rattled by AI disruptions in the stock market,” said David Russell at TradeStation.
“It also offsets this week’s strong payrolls report, giving the Fed a little more reason to lean dovish. However, it’s still well above the central bank’s target and does little to move the needle near term.”
Although much has been made about whether or not the Fed can keep cutting rates this year, the markets seem to care much more about the possibilities of artificial-intelligence disruption across a broad swath of industries, according to Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
“As long as CPI remains in check – which so far it has – then the rates discussion will revert back to the labor market, and under the current economic conditions the Fed is likely to proceed cautiously lowering rates a couple of times later this year,” he said.
Despite the recent bout of volatility, the bull market is likely to remain intact as long as the economy keeps growing, the labor market holds up, and inflation measures continue to fall, Zaccarelli noted.
“All of these conditions are in place and there haven’t been any new data points this month to contradict that,” he concluded.
Inflation is fading into the background, and behavior is doing more of the work than policy: Consumers are pushing back, companies are absorbing costs, and pricing power is thinning, according to Gina Bolvin at Bolvin Wealth Management Group.
“Markets responded because this gives the Fed flexibility — and shifts the investor focus away from rate cuts and back to fundamentals. The next phase won’t reward macro bets, it will reward earnings discipline and balance-sheet strength,” she said.
The S&P 500 saw its second straight week of losses and is down about 2% from its late-January record.
“After a powerful rally since last April, some consolidation during a typically weak February isn’t unhealthy,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide.
“Valuations have moderated, earnings expectations continue to improve, and bond yields are easing. The fundamental backdrop still supports this bull market.”
Still, he noted that leadership is shifting, with investors finding better risk-reward in international, value and small-cap stocks.
The “AI disruption vigilantes” were at it again this week with new targets, but the initial reactions to that story may turn out to be “overblown,” since many industries and individual businesses could very well turn out to be AI beneficiaries in the long term, said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.

Corporate Highlights:
* Applied Materials Inc. surged to a record after the company delivered a surprisingly upbeat sales forecast, signaling that demand for artificial intelligence and memory semiconductors is fueling equipment purchases.
* A data center project expected to be leased by Nvidia Corp. sold $3.8 billion of junk bonds on Friday after receiving about $14 billion of orders from investors, an indication that lenders are eager to continue funding the buildout of artificial- intelligence infrastructure.
* The US Federal Trade Commission is accelerating scrutiny of Microsoft Corp. as part of an ongoing probe into whether the company illegally monopolizes large swaths of the enterprise computing market with its cloud software and AI offerings, including Copilot.
* Anthropic PBC has named Chris Liddell to its board of directors, expanding its leadership with a seasoned finance executive who played a key role in taking General Motors Co. public.
* OpenAI has partnered with two defense technology companies that the Pentagon has selected to compete to develop voice- controlled, drone swarming software for the US military, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
* Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has rolled out a new custom basket aimed at navigating the growing upheaval in software stocks, betting on companies perceived to be better insulated from artificial intelligence disruption than others.
* SpaceX is considering a dual-class share structure in its planned IPO this year, according to people familiar with the matter, mirroring a strategy its billionaire founder Elon Musk floated for Tesla Inc.
* Blackstone Inc.’s private equity fund for wealthy individuals notched a net 20% gain last year, thanks in part to some artificial intelligence investments the firm doesn’t hold in its institutional portfolios.
* The Pentagon added Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., BYD Co., Baidu Inc. and TP-Link Technologies Co. to a list of companies that aid the Chinese military – before withdrawing it minutes later without explanation.
* Pinterest Inc. tumbled after the company projected current- quarter sales that fell short of Wall Street estimates, the latest in a rocky period marked by layoffs and a pivot toward artificial intelligence products.
* DraftKings Inc., the online betting company, issued a 2026 forecast for sales and profit that fell short of Wall Street estimates, sending the stock slumping.
* Instacart climbed after the company issued a strong outlook for the start of 2026 that far exceeded analyst expectations, signaling sustained demand for its grocery delivery services.
* Airbnb Inc. gained after the company posted strong fourth- quarter bookings and issued an upbeat revenue outlook, citing strong travel demand and growing adoption of its new flexible payment and booking options.
* Moderna Inc. beat fourth-quarter revenue estimates as its struggling Covid vaccines business declined less than expected.
** Moderna lashed out at the US Food and Drug Administration for making it harder for companies to create new medicines, escalating a dispute between the vaccine maker and the regulator.
* Wendy’s Co. rebounded after the chain said sales would be little changed this year, suggesting that the struggling fast-food chain has reached a low point.
What Bloomberg Strategists say…
“Friday’s CPI report certainly underscores the tension between the two sides of the Fed’s mandate, and raises the question of whether policymakers will heed labor market strength or capitalize on softer inflation to provide the economy with more support via lower rates.”
—Kristine Aquino, Managing Editor, Markets Live

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.2%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 1.1%
* Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rose 0.7%
* iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF rose 2.2%
* The Russell 2000 Index rose 1.2%
* S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index rose 1%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro was little changed at $1.1876
* The British pound rose 0.3% to $1.3658
* The Japanese yen was little changed at 152.64 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin rose 4.8% to $68,918.18
* Ether rose 6.9% to $2,054.23
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined five basis points to 4.05%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 2.75%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined four basis points to 4.42%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
* Spot gold rose 2.3% to $5,033.39 an ounce

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine. –Maya Angelou, 1928-2004.

Carolann Steinhoff, B.Sc., CFP®, CIM, CIWM

Senior Investment Advisor

Queensbury Securities Inc.,

St. Andrew’s Square,

Suite 340A, 730 View St.,

Victoria, B.C. V8W 3Y7

Tel: 778.430.5808

(C): 250.881.0801 (Text Only)

Toll Free: 1.877.430.5895

Fax: 778.430.5828

www.carolannsteinhoff.com