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.

Tesla Stock Returns above $400 During Legal Fight with California

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Timothy St. John

On Tuesday, Tesla (TSLA) stock rose 2.21% to move above the $400 level just as they filed a lawsuit against the State of California over false advertising allegations.

Tesla stock is rising during their lawsuit.

Tesla stock is now at $408 and climbing this week even though they are in the middle of a legal dispute with California. The state alleges that Tesla used improper terms in their advertising, marking their electric vehicles as “Full Self-Driving” and as having “Autopilot.”

Tesla initially asked for more time to figure out what to do about the accusation, and California agreed to give them 90 days to deal with it. Now, Tesla has fired back and is suing the state for how they have treated their marketing. Investors may find their current stock movement interesting in light of the ongoing tussle.

Tesla Accused of Misleading Customers

The allegations made against Tesla are that they have not been truthful with consumers about the self-driving and autopilot features of their vehicles. These features indicate whether the vehicle can drive on its own in a city or rural environment or if the vehicle would require human assistance, intervention, or oversight.

According to Tesla, the FSD (Full Self-Driving) system can handle the majority of driving tasks safely. By their definition, that makes the car fully self-driving, but perhaps not in the eyes of California regulators. Tesla regularly updates its system to make them more powerful and competent.

What the State of California alleges is that these systems need constant supervision from human passengers, making them less than fully automated. If the advertising is found to be false, then California can take away Tesla’s license to manufacture and sell vehicles within the state lines.

Tesla made changes to fall in line with California’s requirements, but the issue did not stop there. California was satisfied with the outcome, but Tesla was not and summarily sued the state. Now engaged in legal action, Tesla is trying to have their false advertising claim removed entirely.

Even though sales are down for Tesla, now shown decline for 11 consecutive months, their stock price is higher today than it was last week. Analysts agree that the company has to make drastic changes and show that it has something new to offer customers for their fortunes to turn around, though.

The Truth about Oldest Bitcoin Whale Cashing Out

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Timothy St. John

It started with a screenshot from the Arkham cryptocurrency exchange that showed that a Satoshi-era Bitcoin whale had cashed in their holdings, and investors panicked.

Did a major coin holder dump their Bitcoins this week?

News broke this week that one of the oldest Bitcoin (BTC) whales had dumped $1.24 billion in BTC at a time when the price was around 50% below its all-time high. Was this legitimate news or had the data been manipulated?

[[BTC/USD]]

It turns out that the screenshot from Arkham was faked. The screenshot originally came from Coinbase and was actually a hot wallet that the exchange used to process transactions.

Routine Event Turned into Historic Moment

What happened is that someone altered a set of routine transactions for withdrawals and deposits and made it look like a historic dumping of assets from an account as old as 2009. The transactions shown on the account were very typical of the Coinbase exchange and are carried out frequently while the supposed cashout would be a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The news from the original story broke across the internet at an alarming rate, scaring investors and analysts that an original whale had mysteriously folded at the wrong time. The story left insiders scratching their heads and wondering why anyone with that much Bitcoin on the line would cash in when the market was in a state of bearish decline.

Bitcoin has lost 4.9% in the last week and nearly 50% since October. Now down to $64,430 (BTC/USD), Bitcoin is trapped in a bearish trend that has yet to find the bottom. It would be unwise for anyone to dump their bitcoins at this time when they should be waiting out a future price increase. However, if the coin never recovers, then it would be better to dump now than later on.

That was the worry when the initial story spread- that Bitcoin was not going to recover and long-standing whales were clued in somehow. That is not the case, however, and now that the story has been exposed as fake, investors can breathe a sigh of relief.

Typically, veterans do not leave the market during a low point in the cycle. Instead, they will typically wait out low cycles and cash in at least part of their assets during high periods when it makes the most sense. Long-time holders typically have the ability to wait out ebbs to make the most of their holdings, and now the market can see that is what is happening for now with very little change in the coin’s trade volume for Tuesday compared to the previous day.

Most analysts agree that Bitcoin will recover, but it may take a while. This is a great time for new investors to buy in at a low price but a poor time for current coin holders to cash in.

Natural Gas Futures under $3 as Market Weighs Uncertainty

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The eastern half of the United States warmed on Tuesday, leading to lower gas prices that pushed the LNG futures below $3 and near October 2025 lows.

Cold weather in the Northeast was not enough to keep gas prices elevated.

Heavy snowstorms in the Northeast were expected this week, but conditions have not been as bad as anticipated, and heating demand remains mild throughout the U.S. Exports of LNG are increasing, though, with export plants achieving 20.2 billion cubic feet in outflows over the weekend.

That is close to record levels and about 24% more than the same time last year. Flows increased to multiple facilities around the U.S., signaling that production is in full swing and that demand outside the U.S. is still relatively high.

Price Bump Erased as Expectations Change

Initially, the price of U.S. natural gas futures rose 4% on Tuesday thanks to cold weather expectations. But the price then dropped sharply as more weather data came in. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that warm weather was coming for the next few weeks.

Supply to the lower 48 states managed a record high of 108.7 bcfd this week, and that data has further pushed prices down. Gains are expected to level out quickly as demand falls and supply increases.

There is a push and pull on the gas futures right now from record high exports and warm weather forecasts. The two factors are likely to keep the price of gas futures right around the $3 mark until one of them slips or becomes stronger. Of course, weather forecasts are calling for increasingly warm temperatures going into March, so we expect that the market will see diminishing prices for LNG.

The initial lead on gas prices from Northeast cold weather has started to disappear, and it may be completely lost soon. Even with export levels high, we do not expect that this factor will have such a strong pull on the prices in the coming weeks. Warm weather is likely to hit those areas the gas is being exported to, and demand is then going to drop. Right now, at just below $3, this may be the highest we will see gas futures for the next few weeks unless something drastic changes.

All indicators point toward dropping prices as demand decreases and production ramps up. With several new facilities being opened in the United States and among its trade partners, supply levels could reach record highs this summer and push prices down incredibly low.

Slow Recovery for Nasdaq after Tariffs Sank Stocks

Posted on February 24, 2026 by Timothy St. John

After a bearish freefall on Monday, the stock market is ticking back upward with the Nasdaq recovering 0.04% from Monday’s 0.06% loss caused by tariff concerns.

Consumers fear that AI will take over their jobs.

The round of new tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump impacted the stock market in a big way this week, causing all three indices to fall, but they started to make some gains Tuesday.

The Dow climbed 0.2% while the S&P 500 gained 0.1%. Continued fears over AI disruptions caused technology stocks to tumble this week, with Google (GOOGL) down 1.47% and Nvidia (NVDA) losing 2.07%.

Trump Tariffs Create Markets Uncertainty

A new round of global tariffs from President Trump has the stock market in turmoil. Shares dropped precipitously on Monday and continued to decline Tuesday. On the Nasdaq Composite index, pharmaceutical and technology stocks plummeted at incredible rates. Many of these steep declines can be attributed to fear over the changing cost of exports with global tariffs extending 10-15%.

Not all tech stocks stumbled on Tuesday, though, as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) soared 11% thanks to their announcement that the company would be partnering with Meta Platforms for several years. AMD will supply Meta with processing units to handle AI functions for data centers.

AI disruption fears persists, however, and analysts are concerned that tech companies may be overextending themselves with AI investment and the job market may change dramatically as AI becomes more pervasive and developed. The tariff hikes could affect tech profits directly, spiking import costs and keeping companies from expanding as quickly as they would like.

Major losses for the Dow on Monday have been partially reversed, after the index dropped 1.6% yesterday and lost 800 points. All three major indices are slightly better today than they were yesterday but are still under bearish pressure as investors are hesitant to make bold moves in the volatile economic environment. The state of tariffs is still incredibly unstable, and Trump has pledged to raise tariffs with multiple trade partners, which could set off a catastrophic economic reaction.

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.