markets

Silver’s surge to fresh all-time highs spurs ETF records

Silver prices soaring to fresh records on Monday translated into record activity in the iShares Silver Trust.

While geopolitical factors and some signs of physical market tightness have played a role in the parabolic moves in precious metals, escalating prices are in large part a function of escalating financial demand.

Nearly $40 billion changed hands in SLV, the ticker for the iShares Silver Trust, on the opening session of the week. That’s roughly 3.8 times the prior peak set in Q2 2011. Call volumes of 3.64 million were nearly a full million above the previous record high from January 2021.

So intense was the scramble to get exposure to silver through this product that SLV dollar volumes nearly eclipsed those of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF, the most heavily traded fund on the planet, and well exceeded those of the Invesco QQQ Trust, which tracks the Nasdaq 100.

It’s the first time since May 2011 that the silver fund traded more than QQQ, and the closest it’s come, bar April 25, 2011, to besting SPY on this metric.

This shiny metal product continues to enjoy more trading activity than the SPDR Gold Shares ETF, which holds its more richly-valued previous peer.

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Max Knoblauch15m

American Airlines gives upbeat full-year guidance, lifting shares

American Airlines gave a rosy projection for full-year earnings that has the stock taking to the skies on Tuesday.

For the full year, American forecast adjusted earnings of between $1.70 and $2.70 per share, putting the midpoint of $2.20 significantly higher than analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 per share. The carrier also guided for more than $2 billion in free cash flow in 2026, more than double Wall Street’s expectations.

American shares climbed are up around 3.2% in premarket trading as of 7:35 a.m. ET, after the release of its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report, which included the guidance.

The airline’s earnings for the quarter missed Wall Street’s expectations with adjusted earnings of $0.16 per share. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.37 per share.

American, the third of the “Big Four” US airlines to cap off its 2025 fiscal year, said it expects a loss of between $0.10 and $0.50 per share in the first quarter of 2026. Analysts expected a loss of $0.29 per share.

Passenger revenue reached $12.66 billion in Q4, up 2.1% from last year but below estimates of $12.72 billion. American produced an adjusted operating margin of 3.5% in the quarter, compared to 8.4% in the same quarter a year ago.

American also announced a $325 million hit to its revenue from the government shutdown.

And it said the winter storm that has caused widespread cancellations this week will negatively impact revenue by between $150 million and $200 million.

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Max Knoblauch43m

JetBlue sinks on deeper-than-expected loss, forecasts higher costs in 2026

America’s sixth-largest airline, JetBlue, reported its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday morning.

For the quarter ended in December, JetBlue reported adjusted earnings per share of -$0.49, a deeper loss than the -$0.46 figure expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. Its passenger revenue dropped 2.2% from the year before to $2.05 billion, beating estimates of $2.02 billion. Still, the airline has now posted year-over-year passenger revenue declines for three years in a row.

JetBlue said it expects its costs per seat mile excluding fuel to rise between 3.5% and 5.5% in the first quarter this year, and between 1% and 3% in 2026. The carrier guided for a boost in capacity between 0.5% and 3.5% in the first quarter of 2026, and between 2.5% and 4.5% for the full year.

JetBlue plans to roll out first class seating to its fleet this year, amid an industry-wide premium push.

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Max Knoblauch54m

GM posts a solid Q4 beat, gives higher-than-expected guidance, and announces a $6 billion stock buyback

Detroit automaker GM reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results on Tuesday. Its shares climbed more than 5% in premarket trading.

The company, which leads the US in auto sales, guided for adjusted earnings of between $11 and $13 per share in 2026, with a midpoint just modestly ahead of the $11.94 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. GM forecast adjusted automotive free cash flow of between $9 and $11 billion in the year ahead, compared to estimates of $9.8 billion.

In its fourth-quarter, GM posted adjusted earnings of $2.51 per share, beating the $2.25 per share estimate. In its Q4 sales report GM said EV sales dropped 43% in the quarter amid an industry-wide pullback due to the end of federal tax credits. Total sales fell 7% year-over-year in the quarter, but climbed 6% for the full-year.

The automaker also announced a new $6 billion stock buyback program, and said it would raise its quarterly dividend 20% to $0.18 per share.

Earlier this month, GM said it would take a $6 billion write-down on its EV business in the fourth quarter. Its rival Ford announced a $19.5 billion write-down for similar reasons in December.

J. Edward Moreno

UnitedHealth extends slump as 2026 guidance underwhelms

The company is the first of its health insurance peers to report earnings this year.

United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Fatally Shot In Midtown Manhattan

markets

Derivatives strategist recommends call spread trade for a big Apple bounce post-earnings

Apple has become the red-headed stepchild of the Magnificent 7 in an AI-heavy market.

Jeff Jacobson, head of derivatives strategy at 22V Research, thinks the time is ripe to bet on a rebound in the stock that retail traders have been using as a source of funds for other opportunities in tech.

Ahead of the iPhone maker’s earnings report on Thursday, Jacobson recommends a call spread trade in Apple that offers exposure to a long-lived positive reaction to the company’s quarterly results and commentary.

His proposed trade:

Buy Apple calls with a strike price of $262.50 that expire on February 20
Sell the same amount of Apple calls with a strike price of $285 and the same expiry

When Jacobson initially made this recommendation in an email to clients, the trade could be put on for about $3.95; as of Monday’s close, that’s risen to about $4.27.

“What I particularly like about the setup for AAPL into earnings this quarter is the sharp pullback in the stock on both an absolute and relative basis heading into the report later this week (AAPL reports on 1/29 post-close),” he writes. “Not only did we see a nearly 16% decline from the December (all-time) highs but shares also underperformed the market (SPX) by over 14% over that time. Now that the stock has already moved lower and underperformed, perhaps we can see a meaningful rebound once they report earnings?”

Apple is aiming to beef up its AI presence in 2026 after a host of management changes late last year, and is reportedly exploring the possibility of a wearable AI pin. The company seemingly has a solid base from which to innovate, with its now world-leading smartphone market share and its services business supported by the 850 million weekly App Store users it counted at the end of 2025.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the Tim Cook-led firm one of his top five artificial intelligence stocks for 2026, despite its “invisible AI strategy.”

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