Robert Brokamp

Last year, international stocks returned 32%, their best year since 2009.

Also, their outperformance relative to the S&P 500, which returned 18%, was the largest margin since 1993.

Well, this year looks to be continuing that trend.

International stocks have returned more than 9% so far in 2026 as of this taping on the morning of February 19th, compared to just 0.6% for the S&P 500.

According to Ben Carlson of Ritholtz Wealth Management, this is the best start of the year in terms of international outperformance over U.S.

stocks since 1995.

One explanation is the drop in the U.S.

dollar, which is down approximately 10% since the beginning of 2025.

But international stocks are also cheaper, and that's still the case, despite the recent outperformance.

According to Torsten Slocke of Apollo Global Management, the forward P.E.

of the S&P 500 is 40% above the forward P.E.

for the MSCI World XUS Index.

Turning to our next item, on February 13th, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that inflation in January was 2.4%, down from 2.7% in December.

But if you looked at your electricity bill recently, you may not feel that prices are declining.

The cost of electricity rose almost 7% in 2025, and a report from Goldman Sachs says that U.S.

families shouldn't expect any near-term relief thanks to AI data centers rapidly boosting demand while power supply expands slowly.

According to the report, data centers account for 40% of the electricity demand growth, and we should expect electricity prices to climb another 6% through 2027, though impacts will vary by region.

Unfortunately, electricity isn't the only item that is costing more due to data centers.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, tech giants chasing AI infrastructure are outbidding home builders for land, potentially worsening an already severe housing shortage.

And this building boom is also driving up competition for materials and labor.