By Rick Schwerd | February 6, 2026
Our investment team remains committed to sharing updates and market insights to keep you informed. Please look for our next update on February 27.
Labor Market Report Delayed
Not much was affected by the short-lived, partial government shutdown earlier this week, but it did impact the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The January labor market report was originally scheduled for release this morning. However, it is now scheduled for Wednesday, February 11. Expectations are that the economy added 80,000 jobs during the month and the unemployment rate will remain steady at 4.4 percent.
We did receive the JOLTS job openings data for December yesterday and it was disappointing. The previous month's reading was lowered by more than 200,000 to 6.9 million and December came in at 6.5 million, well below expectations and the lowest level since the early days of the pandemic. If next week's unemployment rate is disappointing as well, it may put pressure on the Fed to resume rate cuts.
Tech Tumble
The recent tech sell-off has erased nearly $1 trillion in market value from software stocks over the past week. It accelerated after Anthropic released advanced Claude tools and plugins that automate enterprise tasks, such as legal and sales work, raising concerns that generative AI could disrupt some software company business models.
This triggered sharp sales in software stocks and pulled down the Nasdaq index in recent sessions, while the S&P 500 dipped and the Dow held steadier. The NASDAQ is down nearly 6 percent since last Wednesday and is now down almost 3 percent for the year. After briefly touching 7,000 last week, the broad market S&P 500 is just above 6,800, down fractionally for the year. The more value-oriented Dow Jones Industrial Average and small-cap Russell 2000 have held up better as investors have rotated into cheaper areas of the market.
We remain positive on tech stocks over the intermediate and long-term. Analysts from Bank of America and JPMorgan view the reaction as overblown, calling it a healthy rotation toward undervalued sectors amid AI volatility. In general, earnings reports continue to be strong and, more importantly, guidance on future earnings is increasing. However, market sentiment is a strong force that can overpower fundamentals for periods of time. It is our belief that we remain in a secular bull market and this may represent a time to add to equity positions.
Looking Ahead
Earnings season continues next week with the likes of Coca-Cola, McDonalds, T-Mobile, Applied Materials and Arista Networks reporting. Along with the monthly jobs report, we also get December Retail Sales data and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data next week.
Again, stay warm this weekend and as always, if you have any questions or concerns regarding markets or your financial planning needs, please reach out to us at (518) 415-4401.
About the Author: With almost three decades of financial industry experience, Rick serves as a Senior Investment Officer at Arrow Bank. He oversees individual and corporate retirement plans, personal trusts, investment management accounts, foundations and not-for-profit relationships.