February 17, 2026 8:00am

As to the volatility, lean pickings yet with a stabilizing effect in a shortened week

Pre-open Signals: 1Positive and 5 Negative Indications with a lot of drops; if you understand probabilities, the inevitable is easier to maneuver

Remember that overnight action in futures don't necessarily translate into actual trading in today’s regular stock market session.

Never leave retail investor uninformed … I say what others won’t, so you can KNOW what others can’t!

 

“I hate to be considered negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and truth is its product; I can always be WRONG but, I am mostly EARLY!”

RMi Closing Bell: Relief … https://www.regmedinvestors.com/articles/14313

 

I chose to speak-up when many analysts, brokers and commentators have shut-up!

Monday was a U.S. market holiday, Presidents Day …

 

Tuesday: The pre-open Dow futures are DOWN -0.24% or (-121 points), the S&P futures are DOWN -0.35% or (-29 points) and the Nasdaq futures are DOWN -0.86% or (-212 points)

  • U.S. stock futures were trending lower, Tuesday, 2/17
  • European markets were trading higher,
  • Asia Pacific markets treading carefully on Tuesday in holiday-thinned trading, with markets in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea closed on Tuesday for Lunar New Year.

 

Economic Data: Empire State manufacturing survey - Feb. and Home builder confidence index

 

Henry’omics: We need to more than consider the market’s setting to grasp the micro re “our” universe of cell and gene therapy companies

  • Friday: The Dow closed UP +48.95 points or +0.10%, the S&P closed UP +3.41 points or +0.05% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -50.4777 points or -0.22%
  • Thursday: The Dow closed DOWN -669.42 points or -1.34%, the S&P closed DOWN -108.71 points or -1.57% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -469.319 points or -2.04%
  • Wednesday: The Dow closed DOWN -66.74 points or -0.13%, the S&P closed DOWN -0.34 points or -0.00% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -36.007 points or -0.16%
  • Tuesday: The Dow closed UP +52.27 points or +0.10%, the S&P closed DOWN -23.02 points or -0.33% while the Nasdaq closed DOWN -136.196 points or -0.59%
  • Monday: The Dow closed UP +20.20 points or +0.04%, the S&P closed UP +32.51 points or +0.47% while the Nasdaq closed UP +207.457 points or +0.90%

 

  • Last week: The S&P 500 was down -1.4%, the Dow -1.2% and the Nasdaq was down -2.1%.
  • The previous week: The S&P 500 closed down -0.1%, the Nasdaq fell -1.84% and the Dow rose +2.5%
  • January: The S&P 500, Dow were up more than 1% and the Nasdaq had a 0.7% gain.

 

Q1/26 – Q1 February – 4 positive and 6 negative closes

  • January – 2 holiday, 2 neutral, 9 negative and 9 positive closes  

Q4 – December,

  • 1 holiday, 8 positive and 12 negative closes
  • November, 1 holiday, 8 positive and 11 negative sessions
  • October, 1 neutral, 10 positive and 12 negative closes

 

Companies in my headlights – It’s your decision; I provide ideas and context

I post about “indication intelligence” looking toward investment conferences … to assist investors with insight into sector vulnerabilities and strengths.  A dictionary definition of “indicate” refers to something less than a certainty; an indication could be a signal of being oversold or overbought, a recommendation, or grounds for inferring or a basis for believing.

  • Multiple earnings coming as sector releases Qs and FY25 …

Post earnings:

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) closed up +$5.92 after Thursday’s -$13.27, Wednesday’s -$1.23, Tuesday’s +$2.98 and last Monday’s -$8.16 with a negative -$1.39 or -0.44% pre-open

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals (ARWR) +$1.44 after Thursday’s +$0.83, Wednesday’s -$1.37, Tuesday’s +$0.32 and last Monday’s -$1.88 with a positive +0.16 or +0.25% pre-open

Vertex (VRTX) closed up +$26.45 after Thursday’s +$3.78, Wednesday’s -$2.24, Tuesday’s -$7.39 and last Monday’s -$7.05 with a negative -$1.94 or -0.39% pre-open

CRISPR Therapeutics (CRSP) closed up +$4.14 after Thursday’s +$0.61 with a negative -$0.30 or -0.57% pre-open

Moderna (MRNA) closed up +$2.12) with a negative -$0.05 or -0.12% pre-open

Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (RARE) closed down -$2.98 with a negative -$0.07 or -0.34% pre-open

 

The BOTTOM LINE: Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

Stocks are heading into a shortened week after US markets were closed Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

  • The S&P 500 and the Dow each declined last week while the Nasdaq fell more than 2%, marking its 5th straight weekly drop and its longest losing streak since 2022.
  • The Dow and S&P 500 have now fallen in 4 of the past 5 weeks.
  • Losses have been driven by worries about artificial intelligence and its ability to disrupt different industries, with everything from wealth management to transportation to logistics coming under scrutiny.
  • Concerns about economic growth and broader sector disruption overshadowed a cooler-than-expected January inflation report released Friday.
  • After the Consumer price index (CPI) data had come in below estimates. <Yahoo Finance>

Investors will look for further insight into inflation this week with the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures index (PCI), scheduled for release Friday.

Are the dice … hot, as they say it is a “crap shoot”         

 

Since, the Q4 and FY25 earnings reporting cycle ….

  • Tuesday - 2/24 – AxoGen (AXGN) and Supernus Therapeutics (SUPN)
  • Wednesday – 2/25 – Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS)
  • Thursday – 2/26 – Vericel (VCEL)

 

Welcome to my world of defining the “grey’ in our universe!

  • I hate to be so negative or contrarian but, this is a NO spin zone and facts and truth are its products; I can always be WRONG but, I am mostly EARLY!
  • if I wanted to be liked, I wouldn’t have been an analyst/journalist.

 

February – 3rd week

  • 2/16 – Monday was market holiday

February – 2nd week

  • 2/13 - Friday closed positive with 24 incliners, 114 decliners and 2 flat
  • 2/12 – Thursday closed negative with 7 incliners, 33 decliners and 2 flats
  • 2/11 - Wednesday closed negative with 12 incliners, 25 decliners and 3 flats
  • 2/10 - Tuesday closed negative with 19 incliners, 20 decliners and 1 flat
  • 2/9 - Monday closed positive with 23 incliners, 14 decliners and 3 flats

February began …

  • 2/6 – Friday closed positive with 35 incliners, 5 decliners and 0 flat
  • 2/5 -Thursday closed negative with 2 incliners, 36 decliners and 2 flats
  • 2/4 -Wednesday closed negative with 10 incliners, 29 decliners and 1 flat
  • 2/3 - Tuesday closed negative with 18 incliners, 21 decliners and 1 flat    
  • 2/2 - Monday closed positive with 29 incliners, 10 decliners and 1 flat

 

As the leading voice of cell and gene therapy investors; I am NOT always a doom and gloom analyst/journalist but a man who has been “there” (BUY, SELL, VC and multiple operating roles) with the gray hair and a readership following with real numbers to prove it!

  • I am more frequently right than consequentially wrong; if I wanted to be liked, I wouldn’t have been an analyst/journalist.

 

Opinions expressed are those of the author and are subject to change, and not intended to be a forecast of future events, a guarantee of future results, nor investment advice. All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.

Whether information or intelligence is good, bad or somewhere in between; I put into context what is relevant and useful for investors.  All investments are subject to risks. Investors should consider investment objectives.  Regulation Analyst Certification (Reg AC):

The research analyst primarily responsible for the content of this report certifies the following under Reg AC: I hereby certify that all views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views about the subject company or companies and it’s or their securities. I also certify that no part of my compensation was, is or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific recommendations or views expressed.