{"id":192729,"date":"2026-02-16T20:21:41","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T01:21:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timingthemarket.ca\/techtalk\/?p=192729"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T13:54:21","slug":"tech-talk-for-tuesday-february-17th-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timingthemarket.ca\/techtalk\/2026\/02\/16\/tech-talk-for-tuesday-february-17th-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Tech Talk for Tuesday February 17th 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pre-opening Comments for Tuesday February 17th<\/sup><\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

U.S. equity index futures were lower this morning<\/b>. S&P 500 futures were down 29 points at 8:35 AM EST.<\/em><\/p>\n

S&P 500 futures slipped 4 points following release of the February Empire State Manufacturing Survey<\/b> at 8:30 AM EST. Consensus was an increase to 10.0 from 7.7 in January. Actual was 7.1.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Canadian Dollar was unchanged at US73.22 after release of Canada\u2019s January Consumer Price Index<\/b>. Consensus was unchanged at a 2.4% annual increase. Actual was a 2.3% increase.<\/em><\/p>\n

Technology SPDRs<\/b> (XLK) dropped $1.10 to $138.46 after UBS downgraded the sector from Overweight to Neutral.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Norwegian Cruise Line<\/b> (NCLH) advanced $1.86 to $23.35 on news that activist investor Elliott has built a stake in the company.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Southwest Airlines<\/b> (LUV) added $0.74 to $51.85 after UBS upgraded the stock from neutral to buy. Target was raised to $73 from $51.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Technical Scoop from David Chapman and <\/font><\/strong><\/font><\/em>www.EnrichedInvesting.com<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Job surprise, complicating inflation, exchange-adjusted markets, unbroken topping, precious consolidation. See<\/em><\/b><\/p>\n

https:\/\/enrichedinvesting.com\/library\/<\/em><\/b><\/a> <\/b><\/p>\n

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The Bottom Line<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

A surprising favourable January U.S. Consumer Price Index prompted an encouraging recovery by U.S. equity indices on Friday<\/b>. January CPI increased only 0.2% versus consensus at 0.3%. On a year-over-year basis, January CPI increased only 2.4% versus consensus at 2.5% and versus 2.7% in December. Excluding food and energy, the January report on a year-over-year basis was less impressive, up 2.5% versus 2.6% in December.<\/p>\n

Analyst responses to fourth quarter S&P 500 results released to date remained favourable.<\/b> Once again, analysts raised their earnings and revenue estimates for the fourth quarter. Focuses this week are on quarterly reports released on Friday by Wal-Mart, Rio Tinto and Deere<\/p>\n

Performance by the U.S. Industrial sector has been impressive<\/b> thanks to analyst upgrades in the sector. See Tom Bowley\u2019s comments in the following link:<\/p>\n

This Sector Is Making Its First Relative Breakout in 8 Years (stockcharts.com)<\/a><\/p>\n

Economic focus<\/b> this week is on December Core PCE Price Index<\/b> released on Friday. This index is the Federal Reserve\u2019s primary indicator for projection the U.S. inflation rate. Consensus on a year-over-year basis calls for a small increase from November. <\/p>\n

Legal focus<\/b> this week is on a scheduled release of a U.S. Supreme court ruling on Friday. Will the court rule on tariffs? If so, which way? Look for extension of high stock market volatility.<\/p>\n

U.S. and Canadian equity indices are following their historic pattern for the month of February: <\/b><\/p>\n