Author: Timothy St. John

Timothy St John is a seasoned financial analyst and writer, catering to the dynamic landscapes of the US and European markets. Boasting over a decade of extensive freelance writing experience, he has made significant contributions to reputable platforms such as Yahoo!Finance, business.com: Expert Business Advice, Tips, and Resources - Business.com, and numerous others. Timothy's expertise lies in in-depth research and comprehensive coverage of stock and cryptocurrency movements, coupled with a keen understanding of the economic factors influencing currency dynamics. Timothy majored in English at East Tennessee State University, and you can find him on LinkedIn.

Massive Loss for Dow as Fear and Greed Index Moves into “Fear”

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is set to have its worst day in weeks as it prepares to lose more than 800 points during Monday trading after tariff tussle.

The Dow drops 800 points as tariffs come back.

The Supreme Court struck down most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs he enacted over the past 12 months, and he retaliated with new global tariffs of 10%. The stock market took the news hard, and the Dow is set to lose more than 800 points today.

The Dow Jones moved down 1.60% on Monday and shifted down on the Fear and Greed Index as well- an indicator of market sentiment. Now, it rests firmly in the Fear rating, and it is a telling sign of where the market is headed, despite the near record high finishes in recent weeks.

Dow Drops as Fear Rises

The Dow is down more than the bearish Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices, losing hundreds of points in a matter of hours. This is one of its sharpest drops in weeks and could indicate a strong bear trend that may keep the stock market in its grip throughout the week.

Several key stocks are losing plenty of ground so far this week on the Dow. A few stocks can skew the market overall, and the strongest downward pull is coming from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) which fell 10% today. Outside of the tariff upheaval, there is no other strong indicator that would tell us why this is happening, and the stock is expected to recover partially in the next few days.

We warned that technology stocks would take the brunt of the tariff issue this week, and that is holding true so far. Salesforce (CRM) dropped 5.15% of its value today to hit $175.63 per share. That is the lowest this stock has been in months, but even before the tariff incident last week, the stock was already headed downward.

Financial stocks are also losing out this week, with Visa (V) and American Express (AXP) dropping 4.5% and 5.9%, respectively. Goldman Sachs (GS) contributed to a poor Dow showing today too with 3.44% in losses. We anticipate further losses for financial and tech stocks as the tariff issue drags on, and with Trump pushing back against the Supreme Court decision, the stock market is caught in the crossfire.

Northeast Cold Snap Brings Natural Gas Prices up 3%

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Timothy St. John

US natural gas futures are up today after cold weather spread through the northeastern part of the United States, driving up demand after recent weeks of warm temperatures.

Gas futures are on the rise thanks to cold winter weather in the northern United States.

Snowy weather is causing demand to spike for natural gas throughout the northern United States, with a 3% price increase for gas futures on Monday. That may not last long, as much of the U.S. is experiencing unseasonably warm weather, but the climbing rates are helped along by diminishing gas supplies.

The last EIA report said that gas reserves have dropped 1.5% in 2026 and that they are also around 5.6% underneath the five-year average. That inventory decline could continue as the cold weather pushes through the upper United States.

Production Should Increase Soon

Even though inventories of natural gas are dropping, the production levels for the United States are expected to increase. New production lines are being added and entirely new gas plants are scheduled to be opened this year. Some estimates put the leveling off of production and inventory to occur sometime around summer.

In March, warmer weather is anticipated, and forecasts are calling for a steady end of winter in the coming weeks. As production rises and demand is certain to decrease, gas futures should drop in the weeks ahead. The slight uptick on Monday is probably nothing more than a temporary reprieve, and in the next few days, gas futures for the LNG market should settle back down close to $3.00 per MMBtu.

Production data showed that on Friday the U.S. gas plants produced 113.4 Bcf/day. That is an increase of 1.5% over the year, and it indicates that production is likely to increase in the months ahead as plans to expand through the gas industry.

What might pull the prices back up, though, is the high export demand. That market is performing well and has been helped by very high heating demand around the world. However, the high export levels are not expected to remain high. As warm weather permeates the globe in the coming spring and summer, this part of the US LNG production should slow down tremendously.

BTC Price Prediction a Strategy Buys the Dip

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Bitcoin is now down 26% for the month, hitting $65,829 (BTC/USD) for the first time in over a year, and Strategy just spent $39 million on bitcoins.

Strategy buys millions in Bitcoin during the dip.

The Bitcoin (BTC) rate dropped 2.25% on Monday in the wake of a major tariff shakeup. The Supreme Court eliminated many of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs from 2025, and Trump retaliated with social media posts and new 10% global tariffs.

[[BTC/USD]]

Even as Bitcoin’s price falls, the trade volume is incredibly high, up 131% over the last day and trading around $40 billion every 24 hours. Now 47% off from its all-time high from last October, Bitcoin is at the lowest point in a long, downward spiral, and the market is wondering when it will start to make a comeback.

Strategy Invests Heavily into Bitcoin at Its Lowest

Strategy (MSTR), formerly known as MicroStrategy and co-founded by Bitcoin enthusiast Michael Saylor, has been busy buying up bitcoin during the low period. While short-term investors and long-term whales have ditched the coin and sloughed millions in bitcoin, Strategy has dug in and purchased millions in BTC.

Their latest acquisition is $39.8 million in bitcoin that was funded by the sale of Strategy’s own stock. In recent years, they have become more of a Bitcoin investment firm than anything else. Now, the company holds 717,722 bitcoin, which they spent more than $54 billion on. They have placed themselves as the premier corporate Bitcoin holder globally, but are they making a mistake betting on a digital currency that has fallen so far so fast lately?

It is no secret that Strategy is holding onto all these bitcoins and buying them in such large amounts. They operate a public dashboard that describes all of their holdings and purchases. It is interesting that they have been buying heavily at a time that many investors have bailed. Investor confidence is very low in Bitcoin, and the Fear and Greed Index is firmly parked in the Extreme Fear position.

The question is whether Bitcoin will recover, and then attached to that are questions of how far it will recover. It is obvious that the coin is in a bearish trend for now, but because of how long the coin has been down, analysts expect the coin to reverse course at any moment. The latest tariff ruling has not helped the situation, especially since Trump returned with new tariffs immediately afterwards.

Price prediction charts show that Bitcoin could surge to $70K or even $85K in the coming weeks, but there is no indication of rising action yet. Investors are skittish, and yet the market is not sluggish. Whales like Strategy are willing to take the risk, and their movement could spur growth very soon.

Tariff Upheaval Causes Stock Market Drop; Nasdaq Down 0.6%

Posted on February 23, 2026 by Timothy St. John

As President Donald Trump’s tariffs were released by the Supreme Court, the stock market fell back in uncertainty over what would happen next, with the Nasdaq dropping 0.6%.

Stock trading hesitated on Monday as traders tried to figure out what would happen with tariffs.

Stock indices moved lower as the week began with the Dow falling 0.5% and the S&P dropping 0.4% against the Nasdaq’s 0.6% decrease. The drop is attributed to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to deny the majority of Trump’s tariffs in a sweeping motion that erased much of his trade orders since taking office.

The tariffs that were primarily targeted were those considered reciprocal duties, or tariffs imposed in order to strike back at trade partners that Trump accused of taking advantage of the United States in exports and imports. The ruling took place Friday, and the market reacted in minor turmoil on Monday as trading began.

Stocks and Assets Fall

On Monday, a number of financial assets felt the blow from disrupted trade and the uncertain future of the import and export business. Trump issued new tariffs that were not connected to the controversial Emergency Economic Powers Act, and as a result, the price of Bitcoin fell to $65K. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields also dropped 0.02% to hit 4.07%.

At the same time, gold and silver futures both climbed. These are considered safe haven assets that perform well when stocks and cryptocurrencies drop, and gold increased by 2% while silver made a 5% leap upward. The U.S. dollar index, on the other hand, fell to 97.74.

Liquidity is occurring all across the market, and tech stocks are likely to be hit the hardest with these changes, since they have the most to gain or lose by tariff decisions. Some of the technology stocks that performed well last week are dropping now, with Palantir (PLTR) down 4% and Microsoft (MSFT) dropping 2%.

As tariff and trade uncertainty continue, investors should expect further decline among tech stocks in particular. The volatility is likely to be short lived, but it could erase many of the gains made during the recent earnings season. The market is waiting for clear institutional indicators now and some sign that things are returning to normal. At the moment, the international trade market is in a state of flux that could cause investors to hesitate and analysts to issue wild predictions that will keep stocks slipping sharply.

Trump Enraged over United States GDP Figures

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Timothy St. John

For 2025, the United States’ gross domestic product rose by 1.4%, and President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social that it would have been higher if not for Democrats causing a government shutdown.

Consumers spent less in the last quarter than usual as prices rose and government shutdowns caused disruption.

The Dow Jones expected a GDP of 2.5% for the United States, but slowing consumer spending resulted in a much lower figure and growth of just 1.4%. Trump blames it on the extended government shutdown- the longest in United States history.

He blasted the Democrats and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell over on social media, attributing the lower than expected GDP to their actions. Trump has been hounding the Fed and Powell in particular to issue more interest rate cuts since he took back the office of the presidency.

Economic Growth Data Shows Slowed Consumer Spending

This week saw the release of 4th quarter Gross Domestic Product data showing an expanding economy. The numbers were well below what Wall Street predicted they would be, however, disappointing many investors. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yields moved slightly higher to 4.09% and the U.S Dollar ticked upward 0.01%.

One of the key reasons why the GDP numbers fell short of expectations was sluggish consumer spending. U.S. residents spent less during the extensive government shutdown since the event meant that many government employees were not receiving pay checks. This happened during an important spending period just ahead of the winter holidays.

Investments faltered as well, and the stock market and crypto markets both saw sharp declines during the government shutdown and throughout November and December last year. Inflation data demonstrated that consumers are still affected by high prices, and that is partly why Walmart (WMT) performed so well in its most recent quarter as consumers sought out low cost options for essentials.

Government spending fell off sharply in the last quarter, and at the same time consumer spending became slower. The Commerce Department says that the shutdown could have cost the GDP total about 1 point. President Trump was far quicker to place the blame and said that the shutdown cost the United States GDP “at least two points.” He also blamed the Fed for high interest rates, pointing out Powell specifically for the Fed’s policies.

Natural Gas Hovers Near 4-Month Low

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Timothy St. John

On Friday, gas futures stayed close to the $3 level, which is the lowest point for U.S. gas futures in four months despite strong export movement and stabilizing reserve levels.

The natural gas market expects lower prices soon.

Gas reserves are no longer extremely high like they were throughout much of 2025. The massive cold front that swept throughout the United States in January depleted much of the excess supply and caused the gas prices to spike with record demand for heating. This week, the LNG rate has slowed significantly and has been hanging close to $3.

On Friday, U.S. gas futures ticked upward slightly after Thursday’s decline, increasing by 0.49% and hitting a price of $3.01 per MMBtu. Withdrawals from last week of 144 bcf was below the previous year’s 183 bcf. The price of natural gas is expected to remain close to the $3 level for now.

Gas Futures Remain Trapped

LNG rates are being pulled right now between exceptional export flows and warmer than normal temperatures. Weather forecasts call for mild temperatures that should last at least through the start of March. They could remain warmer after that, of course, but that is as far as solid forecasts can be given. Investors should expect the price of gas to drop even further by next week when new forecasts hit.

Output is on the rise throughout the U.S. and production levels are expected to increase through the spring, especially as new plants and new production lines open up. Stocks of natural gas are about 6% below normal levels, but that deficit should not last for long. By March, analysts say, the supply levels will be normal again.

Heating demand will likely stay low thanks to warmer temperatures, and those exports that are helping keep the price elevated may slow down as well. With new plants opening up around the world and warmer temperatures spreading to other countries outside the U.S., demand for exported LNG will likely decline in the coming months.

Reports from the EIA on storage levels have created a bearish outlook for the market. Investors expect the price to drop significantly through March after falling sharply already from January’s highs. The natural gas market is headed toward incredible lows in the coming months, as all indicators point to excessive supply and diminishing demand.

Recovery from the $3 level seems unlikely when Venezuela market is factored in. Now that the Venezuelan natural gas market is opening up again, supplies for the Western Hemisphere will be abundant at a time when demand is incredibly low.

Bitcoin Price Prediction Says Recovery Is False Hope

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Timothy St. John

On Friday, Bitcoin climbed 1.17% to $67,388 (BTC/USD) and may have given investors some hope of a recovery, but the coin is still mostly flat for the week.

Bitcoin is up just a little today but investors should not expect a surge.

Bitcoin (BTC) has moved very little this week, gaining just 0.26% and squashing hopes that it would pick up some bullish momentum. The cryptocurrency market is still mostly trending downward with no end in sight to the bearish behavior.

[[BTC/USD]]

Continuing its tight range trading, Bitcoin remains in a limited pattern that will make it hard for it to break free and score impressive gains. The current movement trend indicates diminishing institutional demand as ETF outflows increase.

Bitcoin Expected to Remain Bearish

There was hope from the market that the latest Federal Reserve meeting would help move Bitcoin along, but that has not happened. The Fed is divided on whether to issue rate cuts, and they decided not to issue any for now. However, members of the Federal Reserve said that if inflation continues to decline closer to the 2% mark, then they would be very likely to enact more cuts to the interest rate.

Bitcoin did not react strongly to the news, with a dip on Thursday and then a slight increase on Friday, putting the coin right back where it started the week off. There is still no sign of a Bitcoin recovery, and the coin is about 47% off its all-time high from October 2025.

Outflows remain strong for spot ETFs, with $403 million reported through Thursday. The trend is likely to continue today as well, and if it does, that would mark five straight weeks of institutional outflows for the coin. Bitcoin is expected to remain in its current tight range for now, although some analysts and market insiders are very hopeful about where it will go later in the year.

Eric Trump Says Bitcoin Volatility Is a Positive

President Donald Trump’s son, Eric Trump, defended Bitcoin’s volatility on Thursday in a CNBC interview. He said that with an asset like Bitcoin there is tremendous upside and volatility is expected. In the interview, he championed the coin and remarked that many major financial institutions are adopting it, including Goldman Sachs, Charles Schwab, and JPMorgan Chase.

He called Bitcoin the “asset class of its generation,” and he did not seem to share the concern that many analysts have over Bitcoin’s current trajectory and the trajectory of the wider crypto market. The market has been bearish for months, and even a short surge in January was quickly countered by financial headwinds that sent the market tumbling downward once more.

Stocks Dip before Nvidia Releases Quarterly Earnings; AI Stocks under Pressure

Posted on February 20, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Nvidia (NVDA) will be releasing their quarterly earnings report on February 25th, and it is sure to impact the stock market heavily. U.S stocks closed low on Thursday ahead of that release.

Government officials at the Fed worry that AI will disrupt the jobs market.

AI stocks are still under severe scrutiny, and investors and analysts alike will be looking at Nvidia’s upcoming earnings report to chart the future of the AI market. Stocks ticked down on Thursday, with the Dow Jones falling 0.54% and the Nasdaq dropping 0.31%. The S&P 500 rounded out the top three indices with a loss of 0.28%.

Financial and tech techs fell throughout the day on Thursday, partly due to continued concern over AI disruption and partly due to rising tensions between the United States and Iran. These stocks could fall further after Nvidia’s quarterly report since the company carries a lot of weight on the stock market.

Nvidia’s Earnings Predictions

Nvidia’s stock price has only climbed 0.8% this year in a sluggish start for not just them but for the wider AI market. During this month’s earnings season, multiple tech stocks in the AI field have reported excellent revenue but large capex costs, and their stocks have suffered as a result.

Nvidia is not just one of the Magnificent Seven stocks that help shift market momentum, but they are also the stock with the highest market cap. Their movements carry weight with the stock indices, affecting 7.8% of the S&P 500 alone.

For the fourth quarter, Nvidia is anticipating an earnings per share increase of 71% and revenue of around $66 billion. However, Wall Street estimates for the company’s earnings report are wide ranging, and Nvidia could surprise shareholders with the numbers they announce next week.

Fed Governor Warns of AI Disrupting Workplaces

AI impact on jobs was one of the areas of concern this week for the Federal Reserve. Fed Governor Michael Barr said that artificial intelligence could seriously disrupt the jobs market, replacing human employees with software. He warned policymakers to be cautious about how they handle the issue so that they do not make rash decisions that could negatively affect jobs in the future.

The disruption that AI could cause has already impacted stock markets, leading to a pullback on tech and financial stocks in recent weeks as industry insiders talk up the potential dangers of widespread AI usage. Tech stocks are also falling due to high capital expenditure costs that appear to be growing in 2026 rather than shrinking.

Walmart Announces Strong Q4 Revenue Growth

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Posting excellent fourth quarter results, Walmart (WMT) sets the tone for the economic environment with 5.6% revenue growth on sales of $190.7 billion.

Q4 earnings for Walmart show excellent revenue growth.

Analysts have been watching Walmart closely to see how it would fare in its first quarterly report since joining the trillion dollar market cap club earlier this month. They impressed by performing well during a potentially tumultuous time of changing leadership as they switched out their Executive Council and Chief Growth Officer.

The online side of the company saw strong growth for the most recent quarter, as did their physical stores. In-store sales increased by 4.6% for the quarter, and digital sales jumped 24%. The company fell below Wall Street estimates, however, with their 2027 projections.

Walmart Closes out Earnings Season in a Big Way

The current earnings season is almost over, and investors have seen reports from Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, and now Walmart. These high profile companies are often barometers for how the economy is doing, and if they can perform well during the quarter, they tell the public that the economy is doing well too.

Walmart’s stock market performance can be slightly different from other major companies when it comes to identifying economic health and growth. This is a company that often performs well when the economy is under pressure because many consumers turn to Walmart for lower prices and cost-savings options. However, the most recent inflation data shows great promise for the overall health of the U.S. economy, reading at 2.4% and noticeable improvement over the previous month’s 2.7%.

The company issued guidance for the upcoming year, and this is where they disappointed. The company’s consolidated net sales for 2027 should be around 3.5% to 4.5% higher than the previous year. That is below the Wall Street prediction of 5% growth, and the underwhelming projection caused Walmart stock to slip late in the day on Thursday.

Walmart’s stock has been mostly falling for the past week as shareholders lost confidence in their ability to fire on all fronts for the Q4 earnings report. Even though they beat expectations when it came to revenue, they failed to hit the mark on future guidance. The company’s record holiday sales should have saved them from a stock decline, and we may still see the stock recover in the coming days as more of their numbers are processed by the market.

Natural Gas Remains Close to $3 as Demand Slips

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The price of natural gas futures in the United States slipped this week, hovering close to $3 as demand for heating fall further and temperatures warm.

The cost of gas is dropping as warm weather takes over.

The LNG rate is expected to remain low since warm weather forecasts are dominating. Natural gas ticked up 1.64% on Thursday but is still around $3.06 per million British Thermal Units. Crude oil likewise climbed 1.41%, but these increases are not likely to be part of a larger bear trend for the market.

Negative sentiment is slipping slightly as Thursday progresses, and the price of gas futures may find a foothold a little above the $3 mark for now. No weather changes or supply level drops can explain the uptick, and we suspect it is the result of minor market correction.

Warm Weather to Persist

Investors should anticipate low prices for the coming weeks since forecasters are calling for warm weather through the beginning of March now. Output is slightly higher across the United States, with the lower 48 states reporting output of 108.5 bcfd for February. That is a slight increase from January’s 106.3 bcfd output.

Now, output is near record highs and production has returned to normal levels since the winter snow and ice have cleared across much of the United States. Export plant outflows are also higher, with major United States plants reporting 18.6 bcfd for February so far. That puts the export numbers on a path to beat out December’s numbers.

Natural gas prices are considered stable for the U.S. market for now, and there is little indication that they will continue to drop or to drop sharply. Instead, we expect prices to remain relatively close to $3, and there is a high probability that the price will stay above that level for the week.

As we move into the last week of February, though, the price of gas futures should shift and move downward in anticipation of decreasing demand, increased injections into the supply, and warmer temperatures. The weather in March should be warmer than its was in February, leading to less demand for heating and less demand for exports to other countries that will start to see warmer weather as well.

Brent oil is up 1.36% for the day, and heating oil has climbed 1.18%. We believe these are mostly market corrections and not indicators of a rising bull market trend.