Episode 1272: Thursday - February 19, 2026

Brian Szytel from The Bahnsen Group recaps a modest down day in markets—Dow down 267 points, S&P 500 down 0.25%, and Nasdaq down 0.33%—while noting the market remains up on the week. The 10-year yield edged down to about 4.07% amid expectations that a new Fed chair in May could eventually bring short-term rate cuts. He discusses rising Middle East tensions and increased U.S. presence tied to Iran, which has helped push crude higher (about 6% over two days; up ~15% YTD), but argues energy’s strong performance is primarily driven by supply/demand fundamentals and well-run businesses, with the sector up ~23% YTD and 95% of names above their 200-day moving average. He highlights leadership from defensives like energy, industrials, staples, and materials—often a late-cycle signal—while technology and communication services lag, with only ~40% of names above their 200-day averages; he notes some software valuations have compressed from mid-30s multiples to low-20s. Economic updates include better-than-expected initial jobless claims (206k vs 220k), a wider December trade deficit (over $70B vs ~56B expected), a stronger Philly Fed manufacturing reading, and weaker pending home sales. He closes by answering a question on non-GAAP vs GAAP P/E ratios, explaining non-GAAP adjusts for one-time items to estimate normalized earnings, while cautioning that recurring “anomalies” can make non-GAAP misleading and require careful analysis.

00:00 Market Close Recap: Indexes Dip, Rates Steady

00:52 Energy Sector Strength: Oil Headlines vs Real Fundamentals

02:08 Sector Rotation & Valuations: Defensives Lead, Tech Lags

03:30 Economic Data Roundup: Jobs, Trade, Manufacturing, Housing

04:07 Viewer Q&A: Non-GAAP vs GAAP P/E Ratios Explained

05:28 Wrap-Up & Weekend Sign-Off

Links mentioned in this episode: DividendCafe.com

TheBahnsenGroup.com