•Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reported the discovery of high-powered explosives and detonators near a key pipeline transporting Russian gas to Hungary.
•The devices were found in the Vojvodina province in northern Serbia, near the Hungarian border.
•Hungarian PM Viktor Orban convened an emergency defense council meeting to discuss energy security.
•The European Parliament rejected the proposed EU-wide chat surveillance spying system.
•The Parliament passed a resolution to force the EU Council and Commission into a debate over establishing migrant deportation centers in third countries.
•The European People’s Party (EPP) aligned with right-wing parties, including AfD and France’s Rassemblement National, to oppose previous policy directions.
•Deutsche Bank downgraded Avis Budget Group (CAR) from Buy to Hold, setting a price target of $128.
•The stock has risen approximately 91% over the past two months, significantly outperforming the S&P 500.
•Analysts noted that recent price actions are driven by technical factors and a potential short squeeze linked to Pentwater Capital Management filings.
•Phillips 66 (PSX) was upgraded to 'Strong Buy' as it benefits from surging diesel and chemical margins due to the Iran war and Strait of Hormuz closure.
•Polypropylene prices have surged 35% since March 2026, boosting Phillips 66's CPChem operations in the U.S.
•The company benefits from its high heavy crude refining capacity and the use of discounted Canadian feedstock (WCS).
•Chewy (CHWY) is seeing rising earnings estimates, suggesting potential for continued near-term price gains.
•Visa (V), Datadog (DDOG), and Fortinet (FTNT) have been identified as likely to beat earnings estimates in their next reports based on historical surprise trends.
•Celsius (CELH), Powell Industries (POWL), Corning (GLW), and Suncor Energy (SU) also exhibit positive indicators regarding analyst estimate revisions.
•Coty Inc. is facing a securities class action lawsuit on behalf of investors who purchased stock between November 5, 2025, and February 4, 2026.
•The lawsuit stems from the Q2 2026 earnings report which revealed a surprise deterioration in operating income and the withdrawal of financial guidance.
•The report included the announcement of the abrupt departure of CEO Sue Y. Nabi.
•The Banque de France announced it has repatriated the last of its gold reserves held in New York, replacing them with international-standard bars held in Paris.
•The Banque de France generated a capital gain of €12.8 billion after upgrading 129 tonnes of gold between July 2025 and January 2026.
•UBS expects strong demand for gold from China to persist in the coming period.
•Unknown investors netted tens of millions of dollars in profit through oil futures trades placed just 15 minutes before President Trump's announcement.
•These investors bet on a fall in oil prices, which occurred after Trump announced an extension of the deadline for strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure.
•The announcement of a 5-day (later 10-day) extension to the strike deadline caused oil prices to drop sharply.
•Taiwan holds substantial foreign reserves of $605 billion, with over 80% denominated in U.S. dollars.
•The Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) published a report urging Taiwan to allocate 5% of its reserves to Bitcoin.
•The report is supported by analysis from a U.S. Department of Defense analyst, focusing on reducing dollar dependency and enhancing economic resilience.