What’s Up w/Stocks, Cryptos, Gold & Silver? Brian Mudd’s Weekly Market Update February 9th, 2026
Congress, Earnings and AI are in focus entering this week...
Bottom Line: My first rule of money... Never let your money and emotions cross paths. This story is a weekly wake-up call to show you the near-worst-case scenario for stocks and crypto. Why? So, you can plan your financial future with a cool head, not a racing pulse. The odds of a near-worst case outcome almost certainly won’t happen, however if your plan accounts for it – it can help you manage even the most trying markets like what we’ve experienced this year.
The US stock market is history’s ultimate wealth-building beast. Crypto? It’s minted millionaires from early believers. Fact: Over 90% of the time, investors who try to “time” the market end up poorer than if they just stuck to their original investments. This is about dodging that trap.
Here’s how the big three indexes have fared in 2026:
- DOW: +4% (+1% last week)
- S&P 500: +1% (off just under 1% last week)
- Nasdaq: -1% (-3% last week)
It’s unlikely many had DOW 50,000 on their Bingo card to end the week as of Thursday’s close... However, a monster Friday rally, which added over 1,200 DOW points – delivered just that as a rotation out of software and many high-flying tech names and into cyclical and industrial stocks continued during the week.
Many investors have begun to believe that we’re entering the next disruptive phase of the AI-era where many software products and companies will quickly lose relevance to dynamic AI programs. This has led to a bear market in software stocks that is likely part true and part overdone. In my analysis of the space, I believe that like the end of the Dot Com bubble era, many names will be weeded out over the next couple of years, however, the names that emerge as winners will benefit from AI integration becoming more profitable than ever. There’s much more to the analysis than this...however the base case I’ll outline is this...
It’s likely static software companies and products are nearing an end of their cycle. It’s higher quality, full integrated AI software products that will be the winners in the enterprise space. This will enable companies to purchase software and effectively never have to worry about replacing it due to the product’s ability to grow and evolve with the embedded AI. There are a lot of fakers out there... A la companies that have a half-baked chat bot and call that AI. That’s a joke. I’m talking about AI products developed specifically for sensitive software products that are as at least effective at enterprise level as programs like Grok and Chap GPT can be at the consumer level.
Meanwhile, crypto currencies continued the selloff, along with out of favor tech stocks, continuing a brutal start to the year with major losses through the first month added to last year’s negative performance. One of the major underpinning narratives for cryptos has significantly eroded over the past year plus but especially recently. The notion that Bitcoin is “digital gold” and Ether is “digital silver”, or in other words they’ve effectively replaced them as a safe haven to turn to during times of uncertainty.
- Bitcoin: -20% 2026 (-6% last week)
- Ether: -29% in 2026 (-4% last week)
- BitwiseETF (Top 10 cryptos): -24% in 2026 (-11% last week)
Instead, gold and silver, despite a significant recent correction from record high prices, have continued to be what they’ve historically been as a store of value. Both were massive winners to start the year:
- Gold: +15% 2026 (+3% last week)
- Silver: +9% in 2026 (-8% last week)
Focus this week will center around Congress DHS is only in place through Friday with the potential for another partial government shutdown next Saturday, in addition to geopolitical news and key economic news like the delayed government jobs report which is set to drop on Wednesday.
Earnings continue to come stronger than expected. As of Friday, for the 59% of companies that have reported, they’ve paced an impressive 13% growth year-over-year.
Now for valuation calculations – starting with cryptos...Here’s a look at where they stand. I can’t value cryptos because they have no inherent value. Stocks, though? They’ve got bones. Let’s break down the S&P 500:
- Current P/E: 29.75
- Historic Avg. P/E: 16.20
Translation: On earnings alone, the maximum downside risk is a 46% drop from here—lower than a week ago as stock prices were mixed and fundamentals improved significantly due to earnings growth. The market is historically expensive as it’s priced near the highest multiple of the current bull market cycle.
So, What’s Your Move?
If a 46% dip wouldn’t derail your life, you’re probably golden. If it would? Time to call a pro and build a plan that doesn’t leave you sweating bullets—or making mistakes.