Dear Friends,

Tangents:

February 10, 1763: France ceded Canada to England under the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War. Go to article.

February 10, 1947: The Treaty of Paris (with Italy) is signed, one of the key post-WWII settlements that redraws Europe’s political map.

Here’s some important news that I read this morning and want to share with you:

A large new study provides evidence of cognitive benefits from coffee and tea — if it’s caffeinated and consumed in moderation: two to three cups of coffee or one to two cups of tea daily. People who drank that amount for decades had lower chances of developing dementia than people who drank little or no caffeine, the researchers reported. They followed 131,821 participants for up to 43 years. “This is a very large, rigorous study conducted long term among men and women that shows that drinking two or three cups of coffee per day is associated with reduced risk of dementia,” said Aladdin Shadyab, an associate professor of public health and medicine at the University of California, San Diego, who wasn’t involved in the study. (Sources: jamanetwork.com, nytimes.com)

‘Don’t worry, we come in peace’
AI companies used Super Bowl ads not to sell specific products but instead sell a vision of a kinder, gentler AI future.

Landmark social media trial underway
Opening statements began Monday in a landmark trial against Meta and YouTube. Read about the high-stakes case.

Why this pint-sized pub is getting booked up in minutes
Eleven minutes was all it took for the Sunday lunch at this small British pub to get booked for the entirety of 2026.

Eddie Bauer files for bankruptcy
The outdoor sportswear chain plans to sell about 200 stores across the US and Canada due to declining sales and supply chain challenges.

Viking Age mass grave holds mysterious mix of dismembered human remains and complete skeletons, including a ‘giant’ who’d had brain surgery

Archaeologists and student excavators uncovered a Viking Age pit full of dismembered remains near Cambridge, England. Read More

Anglo-Saxon children discovered buried with warrior gear in UK — perhaps as a nod to ‘the men these children might have become’

Archaeologists have discovered Anglo-Saxon children buried with a spear, shield and buckles, gear that’s usually seen in warriors’ graves. Read More.

New ‘sun grazing’ comet could become visible to the naked eye during the day — if the sun doesn’t destroy it

The newly discovered sun grazing comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will undergo an extremely close slingshot around our star in early April, and could become bright enough to be seen without a telescope during the day. Read More.

Impossibly powerful ‘ghost particle’ that slammed into Earth may have come from an exploding black hole — and it could upend both particle physics and cosmology

A supercharged neutrino that smashed into our planet in 2023 may have been spit out by an exploding primordial black hole with a "dark charge." If true, this theory could lead to a definitive catalog of all subatomic particles and unveil the elusive identity of dark matter. Read More.

PHOTOS OF THE DAY

Shanghai, China

A light show staged in the run-up to the city’s spring festival
Photograph: VCG/Getty Images

New York City

Ice on the Hudson River after the coldest weekend of the winter so far
Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Solar Waves

Rows of solar panels stretch across the landscape. This image is part of a project to document the relationship between nature and industry along the River Severn in England and Wales.
Photograph: Francesco Russo/Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Market Closes for February 10th , 2026

Market Index	Close	Change
Dow Jones	50188.14	+52.27
		+0.10%
S&P 500	6941.81	-23.01
		-0.33%
NASDAQ	23102.47	-136.20
		-0.59%
TSX	33256.83	+233.51
		+0.71%

International Markets

Market Index	Close	Change
NIKKEI	57650.54	+1286.60
		+2.28%
HANG SENG	27183.15	+155.99
		+0.58%
SENSEX	84273.92	+208.17
		+0.25%
FTSE 100*	10353.84	-32.39
		-0.31%

Bonds

Bonds	% Yield	Previous % Yield
CND. 10 Year Bond	3.362	3.399
CND. 30 Year Bond	3.815	3.854
U.S. 10 Year Bond	4.1427	4.1981
U.S. 30 Year Bond	4.7840	4.8531

BOC Close	Today	Previous
Canadian $	0.7378	0.7373
US $	1.3554	1.3562

Euro Rate 1 Euro=		Inverse
Canadian $	0.6205	1.6113
US $	0.8411	1.1888

Commodities

Gold	Close	Previous
London Gold Fix	5031.40	4948.00
Oil
WTI Crude Future	63.96	64.36

Market Commentary:

On this day in 1938, “Fannie Mae” was born as the National Mortgage Association of Washington. Its mission: To buy and sell home mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration. Creating a liquid market for mortgage debt was meant to encourage lenders to continue making home loans.

Canada

By Bloomberg Automation
(Bloomberg) — The S&P/TSX Composite rose for the third day, climbing 0.7%, or 233.51 to 33,256.83 in Toronto.
Shopify Inc. contributed the most to the index gain and had the largest move, increasing 7.4%.
Today, 124 of 217 shares rose, while 86 fell; 8 of 11 sectors were higher, led by information technology stocks.
Insights
* The index advanced 30% in the past 52 weeks. The MSCI AC Americas Index gained 15% in the same period
* The S&P/TSX Composite is 0.5% below its 52-week high on Jan. 26, 2026 and 49.6% above its low on April 7, 2025
* The S&P/TSX Composite is up 2.7% in the past 5 days and rose 2% in the past 30 days
* S&P/TSX Composite is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.5 on a trailing basis and 20.6 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$5.22t
* 30-day price volatility rose to 15.90% compared with 15.82% in the previous session and the average of 10.92% over the past month
Index Points
Information Technology | 77.8776| 3.3| 6/4
Financials | 64.4987| 0.6| 17/7
Materials | 62.6197| 0.9| 38/17
Industrials | 35.5264| 1.0| 19/9
Communication Services | 5.9043| 0.9| 5/0
Utilities | 5.7452| 0.5| 9/5
Real Estate | 2.1598| 0.4| 13/4
Health Care | 0.1383| 0.2| 3/1
Consumer Discretionary | -2.5967| -0.2| 3/6
Consumer Staples | -5.5941| -0.5| 1/9
Energy | -12.7679| -0.2| 10/24
Shopify | 101.7000| 7.4| 27.3| -21.9
Brookfield Corp | 17.0600| 1.8| 3.8| 2.7
Canadian Pacific | Kansas | 16.3800| 2.4| -22.9| 11.4
Dollarama | -4.3650| -1.2| 1.3| -8.2
Cameco | -10.7800| -2.2| -21.0| 27.3
Celestica | -23.1600| -6.7| -10.7| -0.5

MT Newswires:

The Toronto Stock Exchange closed at another record high on Tuesday, climbing for a third session as Canadian investors continue to put a recent period of equity-market volatility behind them as Wells Fargo says "we do not believe that the bull market is over" for gold, while it also noted international equities are outperforming those in the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 233.51, or 0.7%, to 33,256.83, adding to the more than 1,000 points gained over the prior two days and taking it to its first record finish since January 28, two days before the index lost near 1,100 points and started a roller-coaster ride for investors that lasted a week.
Most sectors were higher Tuesday, led by the Battery Metals Index (up 3.75%).
Gains were capped on losses for Energy (down 0.1%) and Base Metals (down 0.75%).
Reflecting the losses for those sectors, West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed lower Tuesday on an over-supplied market even as traders continue to award the commodity a risk premium as a U.S. fleet remains offshore Iran.
WTI crude oil for March delivery closed down $0.40 to settle at US$63.96 per barrel, while April Brent oil was last seen down $0.18 to US$68.86.
Also, gold traded lower late afternoon on Tuesday, but remained above the US$5,000 mark for a second day, as U.S. retail sales came in flat in December from the prior month, showing a slowing U.S. economy and pushing investors away from risk assets, while there were also reports that China ordered banks to reduce their holdings of U.S. debt.
Gold for March delivery was last seen down US$27.00 to US$5,052.40 per ounce.
In asking itself ‘Is Gold Losing its shine?, Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) in its latest ‘Strategy’ report said no.
Its view is that gold should continue to benefit from persistent geopolitical uncertainty, macroeconomic volatility, and continued central-bank demand.
Reflecting this view, WFII has raised its 2026 year end price forecast to US$6,100 to $6,300 and sees pullbacks as "opportunities for investors to increase exposure".
In the same report, WFII noted that since tariff Liberation Day on April 2, 2025, international equities have outperformed the S&P 500 Index.
It said Emerging Market equities, as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, have been the strongest performer, outperforming the S&P 500 Index by nearly 13%, while Developed Market ex-US equities, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, have outperformed by 4% through Feb. 2.
Driving this rotation into international equities has been a turn lower in the U.S. dollar, strengthening global growth, and uncertainties around U.S. trade policies, WFII said.
Also, it added, concern about "frothy valuations" for U.S. Large Cap Equities has been at the top of many investors’ minds.
US

By Rita Nazareth
(Bloomberg) — Wall Street traders gearing up for the key jobs report drove a rally in Treasuries after weak retail sales bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to lower rates this year.
Still, those bets weren’t enough to lift the S&P 500 to fresh all-time highs.
Ten-year yields dropped to the lowest in about a month, with money markets seeing slightly higher odds of three Fed cuts this year – with two already fully priced in.
About 300 shares in the US equity benchmark rose, but the gauge fell amid weakness in several tech names.
A gauge of chipmakers dropped
while an ETF tracking software firms trimmed most of its earlier surge.
After a strong advance, the S&P 500 entered a consolidation phase, reflecting a balance between optimism driven by corporate earnings and concerns over economic strength, according to Antonio Di Giacomo at XS.com.
US retail sales unexpectedly stalled in December, suggesting consumers provided less firepower for the economy as the year drew to a close.
“It appears that there was less momentum behind the consumer in the final months of 2025 than previously assumed — a less encouraging departure point for growth estimates in 2026,” said Vail Hartman at BMO Capital Markets.
This report “isn’t a disaster,” but it isn’t a constructive signal either, especially with lingering labor-market concerns and continued volatility across several asset classes, according to Bret Kenwell at eToro.
“Tomorrow’s jobs report will be key,” Kenwell said.
“A weak print could push sentiment further toward risk-off if growth worries start to build, but a solid print may ease some of those concerns.”
Economists predict a 65,000 rise in January payrolls.
Such an outcome would be the best in four months.
The unemployment rate is seen holding at 4.4%.
There will be an annual revision to the jobs count – which is expected to reveal a markdown in the year through March 2025.
The S&P 500 fell 0.3%.
Both its equal-weighted version – which strips out market-value biases – and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at all-time highs.
The Nasdaq 100 lost 0.6%.
The yield on 10-year Treasuries slid six basis points to 4.14%.
The dollar wavered.
Bitcoin dropped below $70,000.
The value of retail purchases, unadjusted for inflation, was little changed after a 0.6% gain in November.
Excluding auto dealers and gasoline stations, sales were also flat.
Control- group sales — which feed into the government’s calculation of goods spending for gross domestic product — fell 0.1% after a downwardly revised gain in the prior month.
With the weaker-than-expected core retail sales, fourth- quarter GDP estimates will get trimmed, said veteran Wall Street strategist Peter Boockvar.
“Consumer spending has finally caught up with consumer sentiment, and not in a good way,” said Chris Zaccarelli at Northlight Asset Management.
For months, consumers have been complaining about the cost of everything – and yet they kept spending, he said.
However, the latest data show that consumers are no longer relentlessly doing that, he noted.
“To the extent that the labor market holds up, and consumers see more cash in their pockets from all of the pro-cyclical measures, then the economy can keep growing,” Zaccarelli said.
“But if this is a more permanent change in spending patterns then it could be the canary in the coalmine that signals a more serious slowdown.”
The weaker-than-expected retail sales data for December won’t be enough to spoil the fourth quarter, according to Thomas Ryan at Capital Economics.
“But together with the likely weakness of spending in January amid extreme winter weather in most of the country, it leaves consumption growth on track to slow sharply this quarter,” he said.
The latest news on consumer spending did little to change the outlook for another rate cut, still priced in the Fed funds futures market for the next such move at the June policy meeting, according to Gary Schlossberg at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“We still expect looming tax refunds and windfall gains in the stock market to rekindle retail sales and other consumer spending in coming months,” he added.
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said interest rates could be on an extended hold while officials evaluate incoming economic data.
Her Dallas counterpart Lorie Logan said she’s hopeful inflation will continue to come down, though it would take “material” weakness in the labor market for her to support more rate cuts.
Swaps still imply policymakers will leave rates on hold when they meet next month, however, as they did in January when they voted to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.5% to 3.75%.
“We expect a further two rate cuts of 25 basis points from the Federal Reserve this year,” said Mark Haefele at UBS Global Wealth Management.
“Solid economic growth, in part supported by productivity gains, is supporting corporate earnings.”
He maintains his June 2026 and December 2026 S&P 500 price targets of 7,300 and 7,700.
The gauge closed at 6,941.81 on Tuesday.
Still, UBS Global Wealth Management downgraded the tech sector to neutral, citing a likely deceleration in hyperscaler capex growth, the fact that hardware valuations look full and that uncertainty could linger around software names.
“We recommend that investors maintain strategic exposure to broad technology, AI, and the US market as a whole,” Haefele said.
“Moving the US IT sector to neutral is also not a negative view on technology as a whole, and it is important to recognize that there is more to the AI opportunity than this sector.”
Last week’s steep drop in software stocks on concern about competition from artificial intelligence was likely overdone and the US economy remains poised for strong growth this year, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s chief executive officer.
“I think the narrative over the last week has been a little bit too broad,” David Solomon said Tuesday at a UBS Group AG conference in Key Biscayne, Florida.
“There’ll be winners and losers — plenty of companies will pivot and do just fine.”
Ares Management Corp. Chief Executive Officer Michael Arougheti downplayed the idea of trouble in the private credit market and fears of AI disruption, two factors that hammered shares of alternative asset managers recently.
Software stocks have the scope to rebound from their historic slide as the market is pricing in unrealistic near-term disruption from AI, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. strategists led by Dubravko Lakos-Bujas.
“Given the positioning flush, overly bearish outlook on AI disruption of software and solid fundamentals, we believe the balance of risks is increasingly skewed towards a rebound,” they said.
What we’ve recently seen was not a rejection of AI as a long-term investment theme, but a shift in what investors are willing to underwrite in the near term, according to Lauren Goodwin at New York Life Investments.
“Our conviction in the long-term AI investment case remains intact because hyperscalers are funding capex from profitable core franchise – and because demand for AI chips and infrastructure continues to outpace supply,” she said.
Despite near-term volatility, Goodwin remains constructive on the broader macro backdrop.
A confluence of real-time market indicators suggests cyclical improvement is underway: copper prices have risen sharply, small caps and financials are outperforming, and market breadth is improving – all signals consistent with strengthening growth expectations, she said.
“We remain in a global bull market, with participation broadening both internationally and within the US – a constructive and healthy development,” said Keith Lerner at Truist Advisory Services.
“Bull markets tend to be more durable when leadership expands.”
Much of the year-to-date action reflects rotation, Lerner noted.
Areas that lagged last year, particularly cyclical and economically sensitive groups, have led as growth expectations have improved, while money rotated out of last year’s biggest winners in technology and AI, he added.
“While we are watching closely for any signs of technical deterioration, we continue to see merit in balancing cyclical exposure, including small- and mid-caps, alongside technology,” Lerner said.
The cross-currents facing the economy – AI disruption, restrictive monetary policy, late-cycle labor dynamics, and geopolitical uncertainty – reinforce the need for discipline in portfolio construction, noted Goodwin.
“Upcoming jobs and inflation data represent a critical crossroads for the Fed – and for near-term market sentiment,” she concluded.
“Markets are searching for confirmation that growth is slowing just enough to justify further policy easing, but not so much to risk breaking.”
A survey conducted by 22V Research showed that 42% of investors bet Wednesday’s jobs data will be “risk on,” 37% said “mixed/negligible” and 21% “risk off.”
The tally also underscored a shift in investors’ focus to payrolls as the most- important labor indicator to watch.
“Investor estimates of payrolls based on their expectations for the market reaction indicate investors think strong data will be ‘mixed/negligible’,” said Dennis DeBusschere, founder of 22V.
JPMorgan strategists including Bram Kaplan note that the S&P 500 options market is generally underpricing upcoming data releases compared to historical swings after these events.
That’s especially the case for Wednesday’s US nonfarm payrolls, where past moves were nearly double what is currently being priced.
Next-month options are also pricing in a modest move for the following report.
The Fed chose to hold interest rates steady in January given signs of stabilization in the labor market and inflation that’s still elevated.
Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Stephen Miran both dissented in favor of another rate cut.
In Friday’s consumer price index, economists will look for more evidence that inflation is on a downward trend after previous reports were complicated by last year’s record-long government shutdown.
Forecasters expect an underlying metric of inflation — which excludes food and energy costs — to rise at the slowest annual pace since early 2021.
Meantime, equity markets are moving more money than ever before, blowing past $1 trillion in shares traded each day as heavy volume becomes the new norm.
The jump reflects a broad- based increase in participation across the market.
The surge marks a sharp step-up from a year ago.
Equity turnover averaged a record $1.03 trillion in January, a roughly 50% increase from the same period in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.
More than 19 billion shares traded hands daily over the span, the second-most ever, the data show.

Corporate Highlights:
* Alphabet Inc. raised almost $32 billion in debt in less than 24 hours, showing the enormous funding needs of tech giants competing to build out their artificial intelligence mcapabilities — and the huge appetite from credit markets to fund them.
* Blackstone Inc. is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence firm Anthropic PBC, elevating its stake to roughly $1 billion at the startup’s current valuation, according to people familiar with the matter.
* Tesla Inc. tapped a leader of its European operations to oversee electric-vehicle sales globally in the latest leadership change at the company’s struggling automotive business.
* Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google committed to making app stores changes to ensure fairness to developers and consumers, the UK’s antitrust watchdog said announcing the first assurances from Big Tech firms under the country’s digital market rules.
* Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. has paid for thousands of television commercials to promote its safety work with teens ahead of a landmark jury trial that will examine whether the company builds products deliberately to get kids addicted to social media.
* Ford Motor Co. expects profit to jump in 2026 after being saddled with a surprise tariff bill at the end of last year.
* Gilead Sciences Inc. forecast 2026 product revenue and profit that missed analysts’ expectations, even after it outperformed during last year’s fourth quarter.
* Lyft Inc. posted a surprise $185 million operating loss in the fourth quarter and issued disappointing earnings forecast for the start of the year, a sign that its global expansion and new product offerings may weigh on profits in the short term.
* Robinhood Markets Inc. reported lower fourth-quarter profit as sharp declines in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies weighed on results at the online brokerage.
* Walt Disney Co. priced $4 billion of bonds, its first sale since 2020, as the company joined a record rush of activity as companies lock in lower borrowing premiums.
* Electronic Arts Inc.’s bonds plunged as the prospective buyers of the videogame maker launched a buyback offer that tied the notes’ prices to US Treasuries.
* Paramount Skydance Corp. made enhancements to its hostile offer for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., addressing some of the company’s concerns in an effort to thwart a rival deal with Netflix Inc.
* Spotify Technology SA jumped after the Swedish music streaming giant added a record number of users last quarter, far surpassing analysts’ expectations.
* Coca-Cola Co. offered a more conservative 2026 full-year sales outlook than expected, as the soda company works to boost its sales overseas.
** Coca-Cola will retain full ownership of Costa Coffee, but it’s reviewing the unit’s challenged business in China, the company’s chief financial officer said.
* McDonald’s Corp. named Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley to its board of directors, bringing one of the auto industry’s most outspoken executives to the burger chain that typically tries to stay out of the fray on hot-button issues.
* Harley-Davidson Inc. shares recovered after executives forecast retail sales would be flat to slightly higher this year after a sharp, unexpected drop in fourth-quarter bike shipments sparked a rout in the stock.
* CVS Health Corp. disappointed Wall Street by reiterating its profit guidance for 2026, a move analyst are calling a letdown after a strong fourth-quarter performance.
* Under Armour Inc. was downgraded to sell from neutral at by Citigroup Inc., which cited caution on the NAM brand turnaround, including “a highly competitive environment” and weak direct-to- consumer traffic.
* FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed a long-shot request for a new trial on the charges for which he’s currently serving a 25-year prison sentence, arguing that new witnesses can refute the prosecution’s case that he defrauded the cryptocurrency exchange’s customers.
* Saks Global Enterprises said it’s closing more than 10% of its full-price stores across the US as part of its efforts to emerge from bankruptcy as a smaller and more profitable department- store operator.
* QVC Group Inc. is negotiating a voluntary debt restructuring agreement with its creditors that could be implemented as part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process, as the television shopping network grapples with viewer declines and a heavy debt burden.
* S&P Global Inc., a company that rates bonds and sells market data, slumped after reporting a 2026 profit forecast that fell short of analyst expectations.

Some of the main moves in markets:
Stocks
* The S&P 500 fell 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time
* The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.6%
* The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%
* The MSCI World Index was little changed
* Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index fell 0.5%
* Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fell 0.7%
* iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF rose 0.4%
* The Russell 2000 Index fell 0.3%
* S&P 500 Equal Weighted Index rose 0.3%
Currencies
* The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
* The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1894
* The British pound fell 0.4% to $1.3642
* The Japanese yen rose 1% to 154.34 per dollar
Cryptocurrencies
* Bitcoin fell 2.1% to $68,900.63
* Ether fell 5% to $2,016.01
Bonds
* The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined six basis points to 4.14%
* Germany’s 10-year yield declined three basis points to 2.81%
* Britain’s 10-year yield declined two basis points to 4.51%
* The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined four basis points to 3.45%
* The yield on 30-year Treasuries declined eight basis points to 4.78%
Commodities
* West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.1% to $64.29 a barrel
* Spot gold fell 0.6% to $5,028.32 an ounce

Have a lovely evening.

Be magnificent!

As ever,

Carolann

The more a person analyzes his inner self, the more insignificant he seems to himself. This is the first lesson of wisdom. Let us be humble, and we will become wise.

Let us know our weakness, and it will give us power. –William Ellery Channing, 1780-1842.

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