Week-in-review and thoughts for the upcoming week of Feb. 16, 2026

This newsletter was prepared on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026 at noon US EST — We did not see the same degree of stomach-churning volatility in the various commodity markets this past week as several complexes, including energy and precious metals, stabilized. However, the mood in the equity space remains jittery.

The S&P 500 lost 1.4% on the week, its biggest weekly loss since late November, while Dow ended just about flat. The Nasdaq lost about 2.1%, marking its fifth consecutive weekly decline. In addition to inflation and labor concerns that have been the traditional focuses of equity markets, we are seeing a new phenomenon arise, namely, investors trying to guess which services and companies are going to be vulnerable to AI’s disruptive potential.

Edward Meir

Edward brings more than a decade of hands-on experience in physical trading across aluminum, tin and scrap, paired with a deep fundamental market analysis background. His unique perspective strengthens AMU’s mission to deliver sharper insight, clearer context, and actionable intelligence for professionals across the aluminum value chain.