Open: 1015.75 Close: 1023.22 Change: 7.47

Today's Summary

Home price growth slowed to its weakest pace in more than a decade. Several Southern markets now have 10%+ mortgaged homes underwater. Unemployment rate dropped to 4.28% in January, the lowest since July. Wolf Richter sat down with Mike on Mike and Coffee and talked about the Epsteins scandal. Core services dominate Consumer Price Index and include many of the essentials consumers cannot do without. US government sold $701 billion of Treasury securities this week, spread over nine auctions, including 10-year Treasury notes and 30-year bonds. Big year-over-year increases were booked at manufacturers of machinery, fabricated metals, electrical equipment, computers and electronic products – partly driven by the buildout of AI infrastructure. Boston area needs at least a quarter million housing units over the next decade to keep up with demand. Real house prices have declined about 1.5% in 2025 through November. Mortgage balances grew by $98 billion in the fourth quarter and totaled $13.17 trillion at the end of 2025. Credit card balances rose by $44 billion and stood at $1.28 trillion. Barry Ritholtz: U.S. leaders and intellectuals often forget this important lesson. He says the world is not a fixed lump of resources waiting to be divided up. The shrinking world will be a world of toil. Graham Allisons Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides Trap? Allisons argues that Chinese leaders are more careful planners and long-term thinkers than American. Bloomberg reports that investors are buying more gold at rapid rates. Peter Thiel dumps all ETH treasury shares after Ethereums MicroStrategy fell 95% since August. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. renew their public support for Bitcoin, calling it the defining asset class for a new generation. New IRS crypto tax form shows what you sold for (not what you paid) and one-click filing could make you. S&P said all liquidations were executed below an 81.4% LTV threshold. Dragonfly Capital closed its fourth fund at $650 million this week, the same size as its 2022 vehicle. Peter Thiel dumps all ETH treasury shares. Bitcoin BTC (24h) $67,796.86 +1.36% Bitcoin BTC is now worth $67.86. Lightning Network has surpassed $1 billion in monthly transaction volume. Ledger preparing for $4B IPO, enlisting Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and Barclays for support. Bitcoin trading at $0.147, 97% below its all-time high of $4.84, set almost two years ago. UNESCO has projected that generative AI output could drive revenue losses of 24% for music creators and 21% for audiovisual creators by 2028. Euro-denominated stablecoins could provide cheap and fast cross-border payments. Bitcoin bounced 8% on the day, with users assigning a 44% chance of Bitcoin rallying to $84,000. EIA: US Crude Oil Inventories in the United States decreased by 9 million barrels during the week ending February 13. U.S. oil demand rose to 21.2 million barrels per day over the last four weeks, up 4.1% compared to same time period in the period year plan BA biased attributable awkwardcladHzRot Futrell hearing challenging