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An Alternative To Money Market Funds

February 2026

MARKET OVERVIEW
January is behind us and what a month it was!! The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 1.73% at month’s end while the S&P 500 was up 1.73% and the Nasdaq was up 0.95%. 2026 is off to a good start especially after Friday's seismic rally!!.The DJIA closed above the 50,000 level for the first time in history on Friday, jumping over 1,200 points!!

Some items of note: Chinese EV maker BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world’s top EV seller, Saks Global has filed for bankruptcy, Comcast completed its spinoff of Versant, BlackRock will trim its workforce by several hundred jobs, Devon Energy and Coterra have agreed to merge,  Amazon will cut thousands of jobs while the Washington Post is laying off one third of its staff. Merck abandoned its acquisition of Revolution Medicines, Nike and Pinterest will both slash a number of jobs, UPS will trim 30,000 jobs as it ends its partnership with Amazon, both GM and Boeing reported stellar results, Elon Musk merged SpaceX with xAI and X in the largest M&A deal in history. Texas Instruments will acquire Silicon Labs, Banco Santander will acquire Webster Bank, Southwest Airlines has ended its open seating policy, telecoms AT&T and Verizon both reported strong quarterly results and finally, Disney has named Josh D’Amaro as its next CEO when Robert Iger retires from the company later this year.

ECONOMIC SUMMARY
Friday’s Nonfarm Payroll report was delayed due to the brief federal government shutdown. It will be released on Wednesday. February 11.

FEDERAL RESERVE
The Fed concluded its January 27-28.meeting keeping rates on hold.The next meeting will be held March 17-18. President Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chairman when Powell’s term expires in May.

STOCKS TO WATCH
In the coming days. Major League Baseball will once again hold its annual Spring Training season.The regular season will begin in late March. Sadly, this may be the last full season of baseball for a while. As many of you know, yours truly is a certified player agent for the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA). It is becoming increasingly likely that the owners will begin a lockout once the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires December 1.

At issue are several factors. There is a big gap between the largest and smallest team payrolls each season. Last season, as per the USA TODAY, the New York Mets had the highest payroll at $323.1 million. The Miami Marlins had the smallest payroll at $67.4 million.The MLBPA seeks a floor in player salaries to force the owners of the low payroll teams to pay more for each of their players. The owners are seeking a hard salary cap similar to what now exists with both the National Football League and National Hockey League. In addition, the owners will seek to limit the financial size and length of contracts as is now done in the National Basketball Association. As can be seen, these are  thorny issues. Many owners have said they are willing to scrap the entire 2027 season in order to get the changes they seek in the next CBA. Time will tell.

My weekly radio show is now on holiday and should return soon on WWPR 1490 AM. My prior radio shows and columns are available on our website (www.amescapmgmt.com).

If you are unhappy with the returns offered by money market funds, feel free to contact us.

 

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