(Part 4 of 5) News & my thoughts for the week starting 16Feb2026
News and my thoughts from the past week (16Feb2026)
US serious delinquencies are at CRISIS levels: Transition into serious delinquency (90+ days) for student loans spiked to a record 16.19% in Q4 2025. This is nearly DOUBLE the levels seen after the Great Financial Crisis. At the same time, credit card delinquencies are at 7.13%, the highest in 14 years and near the post-Financial Crisis peak. Similarly, auto loan delinquencies stand at 2.95%, almost matching all-time highs. Americans are defaulting on their debt at an alarming pace. - X user Global Markets Investor.
The CEO of Microsoft AI says: “Most, if not all, office jobs—like lawyers, accountants, project managers, and marketing officers—will be fully automated by AI within 12–18 months.”
Former $GOOGL CEO Eric Schmidt: “We’re running out of electricity. I testified in congress we need 92 gigawatts more power, the average nuclear power plant is 1.5 gigawatts, you see the problem”
The entire Magnificent 7 is now negative YTD.
Solar is expected to dominate the renewable energy space - Elon Musk
The post warns of a looming financial crisis, anchored in a March 2025 Federal Reserve study revealing U.S. life insurers’ below-investment-grade debt exposure now exceeds their 2007 subprime mortgage holdings, with private credit defaults climbing to 5.6% as of late 2025.
U.S. container imports totaled 2,318,722 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in January, exceeding the historical average for the month. Imports from China totaled 771,093 TEUs, down 22.7% from January 2025. - Reuters
US GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED
Microsoft’s AI chief just said they’re pursuing “true self-sufficiency” and cutting their dependence on OpenAI. $13 billion invested. Now they’re abandoning the sinking ship - X user NIK
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says that if US debt payments eventually grow out of control. The dollar will be abandoned because it essentially turns into monopoly money. - X user Crypto Rover
Margin debt likely surpassed $1.3 trillion last month
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio has said that President Trump’s policies could spark “capital wars,” with countries and investors pulling back from U.S. assets, per BI
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