For: February 18, 2026
>>Watching Wall Street
(New York, NY) -- The opening bell rings this morning after the holiday shortened trading week got off to a decent start yesterday, closing higher. Financial stocks led the way as investors rotated out of the software sector due to AI uncertainty. Shares of Citigroup, JPMorgan and American Express all rose helping to boost sentiment. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 32 points to 49-533. The S&P 500 added seven points to 68-43. The Nasdaq rose 31 points to 22-578.
>>Zuckerberg Expected To Testify In Social Media Trial
(Los Angeles, CA) -- Mark Zuckerberg is expected to take the stand today in a landmark trial in Los Angeles involving social media addiction and kids. The plaintiff - a young woman - sued TikTok, YouTube and Meta, which owns Instagram and Facebook, claiming she became addicted to the social media sites as a kid and has experienced anxiety and depression as a result. The Meta CEO has appeared before Congress about his platforms, but this marks the first time he will testify in a trial. Snapchat and TikTok previously settled the matter out of court.
>>Warner Brothers Discovery Gives Paramount 7 Days to Make Offer
(Burbank, CA) -- Warner Bros. Discovery will hear one more bid from Paramount Skydance. After initially rejecting its offers for the company, WBD will give Paramount Skydance seven days to clarify its proposal. The WBD board still prefers Netflix's nearly 83-billion-dollar competing proposal, which it agreed to in December. Paramount Skydance submitted an enhanced offer to buy WBD last week. The all-cash offer is for 108-point-four-billion dollars. Paramount Skydance is also agreeing to pay Netflix a two-point-eight-billion-dollar breakup fee if its offer were to be approved instead. The Warner board wants Paramount's "best and final proposal" by February 23rd.
>>WGA West Staff Go On Strike Ahead Of AMPTP Negotiations
(Los Angeles, CA) -- The staff of the Writers Guild of America West are officially on strike. This comes after they accused leadership of the union breaking labor laws. The move also comes one month before the WGA is due to sit with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to begin bargaining a new contract for TV and film writers in Hollywood. The union said in a statement that "Guild management has surveilled workers for union activity, terminated union supporters, and engaged in bad faith surface bargaining, showing no intention to come to an agreement on most of WGSU's core issues." The strike will affect about 100 staffers at the union and the headquarters will be closed to the public and members for the time being.
>>Average Tax Refund Up Nearly 11%
(Undated) -- Early filing data from the IRS shows the average tax refund is up nearly eleven percent. Data shows that through February 6th the average refund has reached two-thousand-290-dollars compared to two-thousand-65-dollars at the same point in 2025. According to the IRS, the average is expected to rise in the weeks ahead since the current figures do not include millions of Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit refunds. Tax cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act are projected to boost refunds for millions of taxpayers this year.
>>Judge Rules Restaurant Can Keep Boneless Wings On Menu
(Chicago, IL) -- A federal judge says Buffalo Wild Wings can keep calling a menu item "boneless wings" even if they are pretty much just chicken nuggets. The ruling Tuesday came after a customer's lawsuit claiming the restaurant chain was committing fraud by not serving him wings that had been deboned. The judge said that reasonable customers would not likely be fooled as to the nature of the so-called boneless wings. The court has given the plaintiff until next month to provide any additional info to show that Buffalo Wild Wings is committing a deceptive act.
>>Netflix Sends C&D Letter To ByteDance Over A.I. Videos On TikTok
(Los Angeles, CA) -- Netflix is telling the owner of TikTok to "cease and desist" posting A.I.-generated videos of its intellectual property. "Deadline" says the streaming service has sent a cease-and-desist letter to ByteDance, calling on the TikTok company to remove A.I. videos of "Stranger Things," "KPop Demon Hunters" and other popular Netflix shows. The letter claims the TikTok videos are "willful," and constitute direct copyright infringement. ByteDance says it is "taking steps to strengthen current safeguards," and working to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.
>>Hershey Company Denies Reese's Ingredient Changes Claim By Founder's Grandson
(Hershey, PA) -- The Hershey Company is denying an allegation that they've changed the ingredients for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The grandson of Reese's founder H.B. Reese claimed in an online post that his family's iconic formula of milk chocolate and peanut butter has been replaced with compound coatings and peanut butter-style crèmes. Hershey responded on Tuesday, saying their peanut butter cups are being made "the same way they've always been." The confectionery giant acknowledged there are "product recipe adjustments" to make new shapes and sizes, but said the essence of Reese's products is still "the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter."
