2/16/2026 is Washingtons Birthday and also known as Presidents Day.
(I am a blogger not someone offering financial advise. I don’t even listen to myself most of the time)
A lot businesses remain open, but government, schools and the stock market are closed.
I wish investors would take a deep breath and think about their expectations. There was a big sell-off of software companies last week on expectations that AI will be cutting into the number of licenses needed at corporations for software like Service Now, accounting software and even the MS office suite.
I worked in government and private enterprise and every organization made changes at the speed of an aircraft carrier turning around. Corporations more slowly when it comes to ending contracts, signing new contracts, testing new apps or software, training employees and installing on production servers. CEO’s are not going to put their corporations at risk using untested and unknown products.
If this is the markets expectations then it is time for those who are not fearful of the change to get greedy and buy some of these discounted stocks that will certainly see growth and revenue increases for the foreseeable future.
Here is an analogy:
AI Volatility Is Classic Early-Cycle Behavior
The market’s back-and-forth over artificial intelligence isn’t new or irrational — it’s typical of major technological shifts.
One day investors worry AI is a bubble and companies are overspending. The next day they fear AI will disrupt entire industries. Both reactions stem from uncertainty about how transformative — and how profitable — AI will be.
We’ve seen this before with railroads, automobiles, the internet, and cloud computing. Early excitement is followed by volatility as markets struggle to price unknowns like adoption speed, pricing power, and long-term winners.
Corporations may take years to fully adapt, but markets move ahead of that curve. Stocks react to expectations about future earnings, not current reality.
In early innovation cycles, volatility is normal. The real winners usually become clear only after the noise fades.