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.

Natural Gas Prices Hit Lowest Since Last October

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The price of natural gas futures in the United States slipped to $3.02/MMBtu, which marks the lowest point for this commodity since October of last year.

Gas futures are trending lower as warm weather forecasts are reported.

Warming temperatures led to a four-month low for natural gas as heating demand dropped sharply from where it was several weeks ago during the massive cold front. The United States was plunged into extremely cold and icy winter weather in late January and early February, but now the weather has warmed considerably and caused a massive price drop off.

The gains that were made during the last session have completely disappeared and warm weather forecasts continue to keep the price of natural gas low. Those warmer temperatures are expected to start in the southern parts of the United States and spread to the central and northern parts quickly.

U.S. Gas Prices Expected to Remain Low

Prices may shift quickly on Tuesday as markets open back up after the holiday, but the forecasts for mild temperatures will not allow natural gas to move much higher. The weather reports are not the only factor holding back price movement. The latest withdrawal report from the EIA shows that little progress is being made on reducing around-average supply levels.

Those reserve levels are dropping, though, and are no longer near their extreme highs from 2025. That could help bring prices back up if demand picks up. Export levels are still high as well as colder weather dominates in other parts of the world outside the United States.

Last month, gas prices were as high as $7, hitting multi-year highs. Since they have settled down as warm weather creeped in, the market has had a tough time adjusting. Sharp drop-offs have been the norm for the last couple weeks, and investors are baffled by historic decreases. The incredibly high gas prices came at a time when gas reserves were extremely elevated, indicating that there is hope that the market could see another surge like that later this year.

For now, warm weather is expected to remain active across much of the United States and to simply get warmer as February continues. The market may see higher gas demand in the coming months, though, as European Union gas storage levels are around 34%. That could lead to an export surge for the U.S. gas industry.

Consumer Price Index Report Is Good News for the Economy

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Timothy St. John

On Friday, the Consumer Price Index report showed that prices increased in the United States just 0.2% for January, with prices ticking up 2.4% from the same time last year.

The price of goods is mostly holding steady according to the January CPI report.

Consumer prices slowed down in January, falling from December’s 2.7% year-on-year increase to 2.4%. That means that inflation has not really moved recently, as well. Even though inflation is not down to the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, the level fluctuated between 2.5% and 3% for much of last year.

The latest inflation reading helped the stock market slow down from its deep decline on Thursday so that it was able to stabilize on Friday. The market is closed for Monday for the President’s Day holiday, but it will open again on Tuesday, and analysts expect rapid movement in response to the CPI report.

CPI Indicates a Healthy Market

The price index is just one of several economic indicators that have released recently. The jobs report for January came in better than expected as well, showing that unemployment was low and more than 100,000 jobs have been created. These important pieces of data point toward a robust economy where job opportunities are plentiful, prices are stable, and inflation is holding.

The Federal Reserve is likely to consider these data points carefully and factor them into their next monetary policy meeting. They might not make an interest rate cut right away, but they are far more likely to issue one in the next few months because of the promising economic outlook.

Over the past few years, the interest rates have been decreasing steadily. Consumer prices have also been coming down, with a record high of 9.1% back in June 2022. That makes the current rate look very promising, and as analysts and investors digest these numbers, we anticipate a strong stock market opening on Tuesday and the continuation of the bullish market that we saw in early January.

Prices are highest in the food sector, particularly in restaurants. There, prices have gone up by 4%, partly due to increasing import rates, higher gas prices, and a higher cost of living- all of which contribute to restaurant prices. Some of those contributing price factors may decrease soon, especially fuel since the opening of the Venezuelan oil market is expected to dramatically lower energy prices in the Western Hemisphere.

The takeaway from the Consumer Price Index is that inflation is stable, even if specific sectors are higher than normal. Couple that with the latest jobs report, and the outlook for the economy is a good one.

Will the Stock Market Open for President’s Day?

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The third Monday in February is President’s Day, and the stock market is typically closed for that day, along with banks and schools, so investors will be mulling Friday’s market movement.

Trading on the stock market closed off on Friday to reopen on Tuesday.

On Friday, the stock market closed nearly flat from the previous day, with the Nasdaq down 0.22%, the Dow up 0.1%, and the S&P gaining 0.05%. These small movements hide a wider trend of AI stocks dipping after a mixed few weeks of earnings reports.

Because of President’s Day, the stock market will remain closed until Tuesday morning. This holiday marks the birthday of George Washington, the first U.S. president. Because of the downtime, the market could open strong the following day as the latest inflation readings are processed.

Tech Stocks Struggle as Prices Rise

Thursday was rough for the stock market with sharp losses for a number of companies, and Friday served as a recovery day. Stocks stabilized slightly in the wake of the Consumer Price Index report. That data showed that inflation was hovering around 2.4% and prices rose less than anticipated- 0.2% for January.

The good news allowed stock market indices to perform slightly better on Friday, but the ongoing selloff of tech stocks (particularly AI-related stocks) is continuing. The selloff has been triggered by fears that the massive amount of money pumped into the AI field is outweighing the profitability of the sector. These fears have dragged down key AI shares, including Microsoft, AMD, Nvidia, and others in recent weeks.

Nvidia (NVDA) continued its bearish trend last week with a 2.20% decline on Friday. This movement is indicative of leading tech stocks performing much worse than the average of the index they are listed on. The Nasdaq fell 0.22% the same day.

Microsoft (MSFT) stabilized slightly on Friday after a rough week, having lost 5% between Tuesday and Thursday. The company posted strong earnings during its most recent quarterly report, but the market sentiment against extravagant AI investments hurt Microsoft’s stock performance and has kept the share price on a bearish trend during the earnings season. We anticipate further financial headwinds as AI worries persist among investors, shareholders, and analysts alike.

On Friday, Coinbase (COIN) stock jumped 17% after the crypto exchange reported its quarterly earnings. That increase was unexpected since the company reported a sharp decline in revenue for the quarter. Applied Materials (AMAT) also saw a share price jump, gaining 8% after beating earnings estimates. Corporate earnings should continue to drive market movement for now, especially with better than expected inflation and consumer price index numbers releasing recently.

Natural Gas Held Back by Storage Reports

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Bearish storage data kept United States natural gas futures from gaining ground on Friday as the latest report came in under expectations.

The U.S. LNG export market is strong at the moment.

Natural gas is already a bearish market, but the most recent storage report showing 249 billion cubic feet of gas withdrawn from storage is only making things worse. Gas futures ticked up 0.08% on Friday to $3.23 per MMBtu, back to October 2025 prices.

The sluggish market can be blamed on warm weather forecasts that have cut the winter season short for much of the United States. Natural gas futures are expected to remain low so long as weather forecasts call for relatively mild temperatures.

LNG Export Demand Could Shift Market Upward

There is one factor that could push back against mild weather and low withdrawals, and that is the exceptional export demand that U.S gas traders are experiencing. LNG export demand is high right now as trade partners around the world need heating for their cold winter weather. As long as that demand remains high, the gas futures will not dip much lower.

Warm weather is expected to continue all the way through the end of February with forecasts pointing to unusually mild temperatures for this time of year. However, withdrawals are higher this year than they were the previous year, coming in at 249 billion cubic feet compared to 111 from the same time last year. The withdrawal numbers are also much higher than the five year average 146 bcf.

That is promising for the market that has struggled with high reserve levels for a while. All throughout 2025, the natural gas supply was unusually high, and injections continued to occur to an already elevated supply level. For now, the reserve levels are going back down and are correcting, but that could change later on this year. Several production facilities are expected to open in the region, and several facilities are expected to increase their production output this year as well.

The Energy Information Administration expects natural gas production to reach all-time highs in 2026. The production levels could move as high as 120.8 billion cubic feet per day, which would mean an increase of about 2%. Much of the growth should come from the Appalachian region, but production in Texas is expected to ramp up as well this year. If production levels really do increase, then overall market prices will likely fall in response.

Bitcoin Price Prediction as Bears Hold on at $67K

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Timothy St. John

The Bitcoin rate fell 1.36% over the last 24 hours and is down to $67,210 (BTC/USD) as the bears continue to keep their stranglehold on the coin.

Bitcoin falls further as bears remain in control.

Heavy ETF spot withdrawals worked to keep the Bitcoin (BTC) price low this week, with $375.11 million by Thursday. This marks four weeks in a row of withdrawals over inflows, cementing the notion that the bears are in charge of Bitcoin’s trajectory for now.

[[BTC/USD]]

Trade volume for Bitcoin is down more than 4% for Friday and is part of a wider trend that tells analysts the token is not at the bottom yet. That bottom could be around $50 or 60K, some experts warn.

Bitcoin Demand Weakens

Losses continue this week from a starting point of $71K to a holding pattern near $67K. On Thursday there was a brief dip to $65K, indicating that the market is willing to test a price point lower than the current one. No support level or resistance level has been established recently for Bitcoin as it continues to decline from one psychologically important level to another.

The 30-day movement for the coin is even more disheartening for investors. A month ago, Bitcoin was valued at $96K, and it has since lost 30% of its worth. Investors are selling off their Bitcoin, and the wider market is panicking. The losses extended to Ethereum (ETH) and many other crypto tokens as well, as all the crypto market is being pulled under by Bitcoin’s downward spiral.

Bitcoin is still searching for the bottom and when it finds that bottom, it may start to build support and then climb back to key psychological levels. The market may be nearing that bottom, but it does not appear that the coin is done with its decline. The jump from $65K to $67K between Thursday and Friday does not tell us that the coin is bouncing back. That could simply be a short-term correction before further decline.

The whales are trying to help Bitcoin regain some of its lost ground, with Strategy (MSTR) buying up 1,142 bitcoins. That firm has been buying the dip on Bitcoin for years, and Strategy co-founder Michael Saylor is bullish on the coin still. However, Bitcoin has not seen any boost from an excellent jobs report that was stronger than anticipated.

Even a bullish stock market with record highs for several indices and leading stocks has not been enough to sway investors to give Bitcoin and the crypto market a chance lately. Strong bullish momentum should continue to push Bitcoin lower, but investors may be ready for the coin to consolidate soon and start to climb back up in the next few weeks.

Nasdaq down 2% as AI Worry Creates Market Selloff

Posted on February 13, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Labor reports were positive this week, but continued fears over AI futures has investors worried, and a sharp decrease in tech stocks caused the Nasdaq to lose 2% of its value Thursday.

The Nasdaq Composite is in decline as tech stocks sell off this week.

The Nasdaq Composite dipped on Thursday at the end of trading, but the Dow and S&P 500 also lost ground, falling 1.34% and 1.57%, respectively. A wide market selloff occurred before trading closed off for the day, and we anticipate that the bearish trend will continue through Friday.

Leading technology stocks that make up the Magnificent Seven all decreased on Thursday and then again Friday morning. Investors appear to be alarmed over the AI disruption, or artificial intelligence taking jobs from the market and disturbing the status quo. This has led to a drastic decrease in tech stock values this week.

New Inflation Report and Persistent AI Fears

The consumer price index report for January is releasing Friday, and the report is expected to show an increase of 0.3%. If that holds true, then the inflation gauge may increase by 2.5% from the previous year. These estimates come from Wall Street polls that took into consideration the opinions of economists, and investors are starting to pull back in fear of rising inflation.

The selloff has begun with tech stocks, particularly those related to the AI industry. These stocks are under attack as investors narrow down the number of AI companies they are confident in. We have seen steep drops in stock prices over the last few weeks for Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and other leading AI-related companies. Even when they impress with earnings, their profitability is not what shareholders expect from them.

It is evident that more than just profits are important to stockholders, though, when it comes to declining stock prices for tech companies. There is a growing fear that AI will disrupt the workforce and lead to a shift in how business is conducted. Several tech companies are bucking the bearish stock trend, like Applied Materials (AMAT) with an 11% price jump. The company demonstrated strong earnings and had an excellent outlook to offer.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) dropped 12% this week as they shared their guidance for the year. Massive capital expenditure plans tanked their stock price and worried investors.

From the Magnificent Seven Stocks, Apple is down 5% with one of its worst days in months. Tesla (TSLA) is down 2.62%, and Microsoft has dipped 0.63%. We are seeing market-wide tech stock losses that indicate a trend that may persist. The overall stock market is still holding close to record highs, but the AI bubble may be in trouble and is certainly under fire this week as tech earnings season draws to a close.

Advanced Micro Devices Expected to Climb 348% in Five Years

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Investors may be able to expect a considerable upside for Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in the next few years if financial growth estimates are accurate.

Can AMD really grow by 348% in half a decade?

Wall Street analysts say that AMD could grow significantly over the next five years, achieving an increase of 348% by 2030. This prediction comes after AMD showcased their roadmap for the coming years, and AMD anticipates that they will see a compounded annual growth rate of 60%.

AMD predicts that growth will be led by its Instinct GPUs and its AI accelerators, with these particular arms growing at a rate of up to 80% per year. That would put them on par with Nvidia’s (NVDA) growth rate and place them side by side with their most direct competitor.

Watching AMD Stock to Predict Growth Potential

AMD stock fell 17% after they released their fourth quarter guidance in early February, and their stock is down another 2.83% for Thursday. Is there really any indication that the company is going to turn things around soon? The five-year plan may look promising, but their short-term movements are less encouraging.

The company even issued excellent guidance following their quarterly report that was better than expected, and yet it was not enough to keep their stock price from tanking. They have been caught up in a wave of strong market sentiment that criticizes capital expenditures that are excessive and that cut sharply into profits.

AMD may be forecasting a 32% year over year increase for their revenue, but their stock price is down to $206 after hitting $246 three months ago. The company will have to change investor sentiment about their spending if they are going to see their stock make an appreciable improvement.

Analysis from Wall Street shows the potential for a massive growth spurt over the next few years, with gains of around 348% according to projections. If those estimates hold true and AMD really does grow as much as expected, then their stock price could hit $1,000 per share. That would be an increase of about 331%, putting them on par with some of the best stock growth stories of recent years, many of those in the AI field.

Over the last three years, AMD’s stock price has grown from $78 per share to more than $200, and its growth in that time has been around 156%. That is phenomenal growth, but the company will have to do better than that to achieve what Wall Street is talking about now. With the AI market still growing rapidly, that kind of exponential growth is possible, but AMD has fierce competition in the field.

Cisco Systems Stock Falls 10% after Q2 Earnings Report

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Timothy St. John

On Thursday, Cisco Systems (CSCO) fell 10.87% after the company issued their Q2 earnings report that showed decent growth but substantial capital expenditure on AI.

Cisco Systems released earnings data above expectations.

Cisco Systems should have had a great week after showing off a 9.7% increase in sales, but their stock fell nearly 11% when the same period showed that their free cash flow was down 24% for the year. The company put much of that capital into AI infrastructure, and investors are worried about their profitability.

This has been a common theme for tech companies during this earnings season. Shareholders and analysts wring their hands over AI expenditures, and companies demonstrate that their revenue is up while they promise great things for their AI investments. Cisco Systems sharply ended a phenomenally bullish stock run this week as a result.

Should Investors Buy into the Cisco Systems Dip?

Cisco’s earnings per share was $1.04, and they earned $15.349 billion in revenue, managing to beat out expectations for the company. The company also experienced year-over-year growth of about 10%, and they are obviously beating earnings projections, but that is not enough in the current stock market climate.

After climbing 17.8% since January 21st, Cisco stock is now down in a big way and could have trouble making back those gains. The stock price hit an all-time high on Monday, but the writing was on the wall for the company by that point. The stock started to steadily decline dealing into the company’s second quarterly earnings report.

Even though Cisco shattered expectations with a strong performance, the market was closely watching their profits. Their capital expenditures are higher than expected, and that drastically cut into their profit margins. The stock fell 7% initially and then another 4% in the following hours. The problem was that in a single quarter, the company spent more for AI orders than they had in the entire previous year.

Cisco is trying to keep up with its competitors and to stay on the bleeding edge. In order to do that, they need to invest into rapidly changing AI architecture, but that costs tremendous amounts of money. The company upgraded its network pipes and expects that their expensive refresh will allow them to stay competitive so that they can support the latest AI models. Now, Morgan Stanely is recommending that investors wait on buying Cisco stock. The company needs to figure out how it will demonstrate strong profitability in the current quarter before their stock becomes worthwhile for risk averse investors.

Cisco announced price increases to combat profitability concerns. So far, that is not enough to turn the tide of negative sentiment that they are facing for investing heavily into AI and then having trouble turning a sizable profit for their shareholders.

Natural Gas up 3.67% on Improved Market Sentiment

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Timothy St. John

While natural gas futures remain near January lows, they did climb slightly on Thursday to $3.27/MMBtu as the market continued to correct and export data appeared solid.

Heating demand in the U.S. is low and keeping prices down to January lows.

Several factors worked this week to help gas prices recover slightly, including the latest storage report that showed that reserve levels were close to normal once more. The price of futures also benefited from news that U.S exports to trade partners was decent and was helping to offset lower heating demand throughout the United States as warm weather sets in.

That warm weather is expected to spread through much of the country in the coming weeks, starting in the South and the Central United States. The northern and western areas of the county are still experiencing plenty of snow but not at the levels seen in late January and early February during an intense cold front. As heating demand decreases, the price of futures has been dropping since early February.

Where Gas Futures Are Headed

Forecasts are calling for warm weather for the next few weeks, and even though parts of the United States are not feeling that yet, the LNG futures are already dropping. On Thursday, the price of gas futures climbed slightly, but part of that was due to continued market correction after sharp declines between last week and early this week.

Gas output increased to 107.5 bcfd for the lower 48 states of the U.S. Even though gas withdrawals have been higher than normal in recent weeks and reserve levels are flattening out, that should start to change swiftly. As warm weather sets in, gas withdrawals will decrease and supply injections could increase. With new production facilities opening in Texas, Canada, and other parts of the world, the summer of 2026 could be similar to 2025’s with excess storage and little demand.

WTI crude oil is now above $65, which is surprising considering a supply increase of 8.4 million barrels. The $66 level will be crucial for WTI crude, demeaning if it can move higher in the short term.

Brent was trading close to $69 at the time of writing, and the market appears bullish on that side. The latest U.S. employment data for January was very positive and helped lift the market this week. President Donald Trump called the jobs report greater than expected, and the White House is very optimistic about the state of the U.S. economy.

Bitcoin Price Prediction Calls for 30% Decline

Posted on February 12, 2026 by Timothy St. John

Bitcoin (BTC) recovered slightly Wednesday, but the Standard Chartered bank warns that the price could fall to $50,00 before BTC finds support.

Bitcoin price predictions indicate a much lower price point in the next few weeks.

Now at $67,799 (BTC/USD), Bitcoin is up 1.54% from the previous day but still well off its October all-time high. After months below the record high, analysts worry that Bitcoin will have trouble holding onto any gains it makes, and Standard Chartered suggests a loss of 30% soon.

[[BTC/USD]]

The slight upturn the market saw this week, partly due to a very optimistic jobs report for January, could be turned around quickly as market sentiment remains low for Bitcoin and the larger cryptocurrency market.

Selling Pressure to Increase Once More?

Investors have sold off much of their Bitcoin over the past few months as they worry about the economy, rising tariffs, the utility of Bitcoin, and the future of the crypto market. The market has been repeatedly gripped by panic selling, and selling pressure has remained high since November. Even when the stock market rises, the cryptocurrency market continues to be bearish.

Bitcoin struggled at the $90K level a few times at the end of 2025 and then found no support even around that level in 2026. Since February began, Bitcoin has fallen by $10,000. Analysts worry that the decline is not over for the coin, and Standard Chartered is not the only investment entity warning of further slippage for the BTC rate.

Benjamin Cowen, a crypto analyst, says that Bitcoin is still in its bear phase. According to Standard Chartered, though, there could be just one last wave of selling pressure. The general consensus among analysts is that the coin is still bearish and that the market is going to go through another period of selloffs. That may be a long, dramatic period or a short one before a bullish upswing.

The outcome of the next bear wave will likely depend on how much consumer confidence is left in Bitcoin and the crypto market. Months of selloffs have depleted the market’s confidence levels in these digital tokens, but the positive jobs report and the new legislation that is being drafted to support crypto regulation could help.

Bitcoin price predictions place the coin around $50,00 in the coming weeks and Ethereum (ETH) around $1,400. Weakened ETF flows demonstrate that investors are soft on these coins and are waiting out the bullish phase before they make their move. Most analysts are optimistic that the market will recover and that crypto will once again be highly sought after, but it is a question now of how long they will have to wait for that recovery.

Investors should consider the bearish phase a good entry point. Because the market is expected to recover, investors should look for a good opportunity to jump in and buy the dip on Bitcoin and other resilient crypto tokens.