This Week in Barrons: 02.22.2026

Sometimes, Chaos is good.

Author

R.F. Culbertson
February 22, 2026

In partnership with

Trading thru Chaos…

  • Unitree’s Humanoid robots go viral: Unitree drew millions at a Chinese Spring Festival Gala as its G1 and H1 robots performed “Drunken Fist” alongside human dancers. The company now plans to scale shipments to 20,000 humanoids this year – nearly 4X last year’s 5,500.  Watch some of the performance here.   https://x.com/WhileTravelling/status/2023416426984288506

  • Gold’s upside case: JPMorgan Chase analysts outlined a path for gold to reach $8,000/oz – if households modestly raise allocations.  This highlights gold’s persistent underinvestment despite its increased use as a portfolio diversifier.   Last fall, Morgan Stanley CIO Michael Wilson: suggested moving from a 60/40 stock-bond mix to 60/20/20, with final 20% in precious metals.

The Markets:

  • Apple’s AI wearables push includes... 3 camera-equipped devices: smart glasses (dual cameras, no display, Apple-designed frames), a pendant (always-on camera/mic for iPhone), and camera-enabled AirPods (low-res sensors feeding Siri visual context, building on live translation).  A credible launch would reset the AI hardware race, but hinges on a long-delayed Siri overhaul.

  • Inflation divergence: Truflation’s models show CPI falling to ~0.9–1.3% YoY by March 2026 (~1.0% in April), but our FED still believes it will be 2.59%.  If Truflation proves correct, inflation would undershoot the Fed’s 2% target within months, potentially enabling a more aggressive easing than markets expect. The March 11 CPI release is the next real test.

Things I’m Reviewing…  Attio - it eventually comes down to SALES. That’s why I like Attio.… R.F. Culbertson

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Info-Bits…  

  • Tesla rolled out its first Cybercab ... a two-door autonomous pod with no steering wheel or pedals—built for a still-nascent ride-hailing network.

  • OpenAI is nearing another $100B+ raise... led by Amazon, SoftBank, Nvidia, and Microsoft, potentially valuing OpenAI over $850B.

  • Accenture is tracking senior leaders’...  weekly AI tool usage and linking AI adoption to their promotions.

  • Amazon surpassed Walmart in annual revenue... driven by AWS growth.

  • Reddit is testing AI-powered shopping search... with product carousels.  [FYI: AI search users grew from 1M to 15M in 2025.]

  • Ownwell raised $50m to scale... its AI-driven property tax appeals platform.  It has shown: (a) 1m+ appeals processed - raising $400m+ in savings to the homeowner, (b) 180% customer growth, and (c) a pay-only-if-you-save model.

  • A new report shows that... ~$1B in U.S. government research funding over the past decade supported projects involving Chinese labs.

Crypto & AI-Bytes:

  •  OpenAI hired Peter Steinberger... creator of viral assistant OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot / Moltbot), to build next-gen personal agents.  He said that his joining OpenAI is the fastest path to a successful scaling.  OpenClaw will become a foundation, remain open source, and be sponsored by OpenAI.

  • NYC Bitcoin Investor Week takeaways (per Anthony Pompliano):

    o Battle-tested holders... show little panic despite ~50% drawdown.  Sentiment suggests a potentially shorter, shallower bear market.

    o Institutions are embracing Bitcoin:  ETFs, in their corporate treasury holdings, stablecoin growth, tokenization, and mandatory crypto strategies at legacy firms.

    o Bitcoin × AI convergence...  Is trying to default AI agents to transacting ‘n storing value via bitcoin and stablecoins.

    o Deflation risk: Tariffs, deportations, AI, and robotics are being seen as disinflationary.

    o ETF holders steady: BlackRock reported that most institutional ETF investors are maintaining their positions.

    o Stablecoins are being viewed as... crypto’s third product-market fit after bitcoin and exchanges.

    o Nobody’s calling a bottom... as caution persists despite drawdown.

    o A Strategic Bitcoin Reserve... is desirable and would use increased governmental buying as a market catalyst.

    o Currency Debasement is in full swing with... global governmental deficits favoring hard assets (bitcoin, gold, real estate) over fiat.

Things I Read… Everyday I consider hiring someone off-shore … that’s where Deel comes in. …R.F Culbertson.

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Morgan Moment(s): Q & A…

  •  ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 delivers film-quality AI video... that is indistinguishable from reality (e.g., review the above clip of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt convincingly interacting).  It collapses production costs and bypasses legacy constraints (sets, star pay, unions), threatening to upend studio economics and media business models. Early adopters will gain structural advantage; laggards will risk irrelevance – especially Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures.  The opportunity surfaces across ideation, production, and distribution well before it’s reflected in increased earnings.

Next Week...  It’s chaos out there…

What I’m seeing in these markets…

  • Markets shrug-off potential catalysts...  

    o GDP came in light at 1.4% - when 3% was expected.  

    o The Supreme Court shot-down Pres. Trump’s tariffs. 

    o The PCE inflation indicator came in hot. 

    o We’re seeing weak investor sentiment, and some private-credit (non-liquid) issues over at Blue Owl Capital. 

    o Yet the S&Ps are flat YTD with complacency risk rising.

  • Volatility is increasing and here-to-stay: 

    o The VIX hanging out ~19, and the VVIX is over 110.

    o Next week’s SPX expected move is ~$135.

    o Mag-7 weak setups are popping up in: Microsoft, Tesla, Broadcom,, Alphabet, and Nvidia (due to their upcoming earnings).

  • Stagflation risk is arising out of... slowing growth (~1.3%) coupled with ~3% inflation – tying the hands of our FED.

  • Trapped in a 100 SPX-point range...  as tariffs, weak GDP, and sticky inflation create crosscurrents that constrain price action.

  • Reading the Tea Leaves:

    1.  The Metals are saying... that gold’s tariff dip-and-reversal implies a rising inflation risk – which favors gold ‘n silver.

    2. The Homebuilders are showing signs of: Higher yields == Higher mortgages.  The U.S. Home Construction ETF could retest its yearly lows around $82.

    3. LQD is showing a tail risk...  now that 49,000 deep out-of-the-money Put Options (6¢) were purchased in LQD – an iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF. Currently, with tight Treasury spreads, a bond selloff would leave little cushion for LQD.

    4. Investors are shorting financials & small caps: If foreign holders continue to dump Treasuries, yields will spike and lending will tighten.  The Russell 2000 (IWM) will get hit due to their heavy financial weight.  Bank of America has the most Treasury-risk exposure.

    5. Silver is in breakout stance:  A 15,000-contract strangle in SILJ [selling the $32 Puts to fund the purchase in a $34.50 / $36.50 Call Spread] is a bullish trade in the silver junior minors with an 78% chance of profitability.

    6.  I BOT PAGS on Friday... ~11% dividend yield and being up ~14% YTD.

    7. IF SILJ is moving higher... watch some individual names such as: FMANF, ATXRF, VZLA, NFGC & TRX

    8.  Infrastructure plays are coming...

    o ITRI – iTron ... BUY the $92 stock when it’s over its 20-dma.

    o MTZ – MasTec ... BUY the $267 stock with GTG on 20-day.

    o PWR – Quanta Systems ... see how PWR moves this week.

TIPS...

  • Factually... (a) A bullish, broadening rotation remains in play. (b) Tech stocks remain troubled. (c) AI spillovers are helping (already bullish) commodities, and commodity stocks (as a group) are looking great.  Overall, per Callum Thomas... The U.S. tech rotation into non-tech, and U.S. centric moving into global – are 2 bullish rotations that remain in play.  These are helping make the tech troubles less of an issue if you’re playing the indexes.  There is a risk that tech gives way to a broader downside; therefore, it’s worth keeping close tabs on tech (among other things).

  • Trading TIPS: 

    HODLs: (Hold-On for Dear Life)

    - Holding / Reducing:

    o  (-) Ethereum (ETH = 1,976 / in at $310)

    o (-) Bitcoin (BTC = $67,925 / in at $4,310)

     

    - Increasing:

    o (+) Physical Commodities = Gold @ $5,130/oz. & Silver @ $84.5/oz.

    o (+) SLV (silver ETF) == ($76.6 / in at $27)

    o (+) GLD – Gold ETF ($468 / in at $212)

    o (+) GDX (gold miners ETF) == ($106.2 / in at $52)

    o (+) SIL (silver miners ETF) == ($107.7 / in at $86.05)

    o (+) COPX (copper mine ETF) == ($89 / in at $55.3)

    o (+) ATXRF (small copper & gold miner) == ($3.05 / in at $2.47)

    o (+) FMANF (small gold miner) == ($0.27 / in at $0.17)

    o (+) CCJ (uranium) == ($121.3 / in at $84)

    o (+) ILF (S. American ETF) == ($37 / in at $27.8)

    o (NEW) EWJ (Japanese ETF) == ($91.4 / in at $91.77)

    o (NEW) EWY (S. Korea ETF) == ($141.8 / in at $120.81)

    o (NEW) UTG (Reaves Utility ETF) == ($40.6 / in at $36.51)

    o (+) QQQI (13% covered-call, QQQ’s divi. producer == pay mo.)

    o (+) ICSH (short term bonds = 4.65% yield == pay mo.)

     

    Please be safe out there!Please be safe out there!

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Until next week – be safe.

R.F. Culbertson