XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics   
   From: nospam@nospam.net   
      
   Dow tumbles 600 points after hot inflation report, mounting concerns about   
   AI impact: Live updates   
   Sean Conlon   
   Pia Singh   
     February 25, 2026.   
      
      
   Stocks dropped on Friday after the latest producer price index data came in   
   much hotter than expected, adding sticky inflation to a list of concerns   
   that has caused market turbulence this month.   
      
   The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 620 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500   
   fell 0.7% while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9%.   
      
   All three benchmarks are in the red for February amid mounting concerns   
   about the impact of artificial intelligence on specific industries and the   
   overall economy. Those fears were exacerbated after Jack Dorsey’s fintech   
   company Block said it’s laying off more than 4,000 employees, or nearly   
   half of its workforce. Stocks in the financial sector and other areas of   
   the market tied to the economic cycle pulled back Friday.   
      
   Notable software names also suffered losses Friday as they close out a   
   terrible month on the threat of AI disruption to the industry. Salesforce   
   tumbled more than 3%, and Microsoft lost more than 1%, weighing on the Dow.   
   Cybersecurity company Zscaler shed 15% after deferred revenue and billings   
   in the fiscal second quarter missed expectations. CoreWeave fell 18% on   
   disappointing guidance.   
      
   Nvidia extended its post-earnings slide with a 2% fall Friday. In the prior   
   trading day, the stock shed more than 5%, which came to a surprise to many   
   investors, who remain bullish on the chipmaker given its blowout fourth-   
   quarter results and upcoming product cycle. Market participants attributed   
   the decline in shares to doubts around Nvidia’s deal with OpenAI, weak   
   sentiment over the AI trade and concerns about whether hyperscalers’ lofty   
   AI capital expenditures are sustainable.   
      
   Fueling the downbeat sentiment, January’s producer price index — a measure   
   of wholesale inflation — showed a 0.5% increase for the month. Economists   
   polled by Dow Jones saw the headline reading coming in at 0.3%. Perhaps   
   more concerning is that the core PPI reading, which excludes food and   
   energy prices, recorded a 0.8% gain, much more than the 0.3% rise   
   economists anticipated.   
      
   “Regardless of whether we see better-than-expected earnings, more tame   
   inflation or a resilient labor market, people have been selling first and   
   asking questions later,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at   
   Northlight Asset Management. “This morning’s higher inflation data is one   
   more thing to worry about within the ‘traditional’ economic analysis of   
   price stability and full employment, even before investors factor in the   
   disruptive potential of AI’s impact on the economy.”   
      
   The Nasdaq is on pace for a decline of more than 3% in February and its   
   worst monthly performance since last March. The iShares Expanded Tech-   
   Software ETF (IGV) is down 10% for the month, bringing its year-to-date   
   losses to 23%.   
      
   The S&P 500 is on track for a more than 1% loss in February, while the Dow   
   is on pace for a 0.3% decline.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)