Gene Inger's Daily Briefing - for February 10, 2026

'Growth story mode' - is our idea of a rather more dramatic - than systematic - robust shift to 'next-generation' gear, especially as relates to 'drone power' & 'Global Defense'. There are numerous ways to play that, and we don't attempt to cover it all, as we already follow more than a few candidates. Please don't be lulled into complacency 'or spoiled' by what we did in late 2024, which was buy a few 'lottery tickets' on Quantum Computing only to be rewarded by all of them working-out (at this point we retain what we called the best from the start, which was and is D-Wave... which is not to take away from other plays).

My point now is that we have a handful of 'drone plays' which are essentially a newer version of holding 'lottery tickets' on the drone-space. That doesn't give any credence to 'all' of them working-out; again I'd be surprised and humbled if they did. However all show decent prospects and the Nation is in a hurry. Of course there are bigger Defense Contractors 'in the space' too; but generally they are not inexpensive, so we tend to get less enthused (or partially take old gains) in big-cap versions that cannot replicate the percentage moves of most 'new-era' tickers, again 'if' they work out, or for the ones that do succeed.

I'm at a retirement age (actually have been for years) so reluctantly add more to a covered group, with no promises as to my ability to analyze any of them; or the energy to do so (since I suspect I do have the ability if I had the time for all of it). Most recently where someone else posts a summary (usually from AI it seems) I will share that, or query AI myself, rather than painstakingly dig so deeply into a company, like I used to do for many years. It seems pointless in a sense, although I have occasionally noted that the subjective conclusions in an AI analysis or most other analysts, tends to be based on 'older data' that's not applicable given the fast pace of how things are progressing. Hence I for the most part do it the old-fashioned way, and minimize historic data which is often not relevant when looking at rapidly emerging industries.. like drones.

It's somewhat similar when you get to de-mining of explosives (Ondas just got a contract); or communicating optically in 'actual' space (Low Earth Orbit..LEO satellites).. which companies like Redwire, LightPath or even Syntec are of course players in). Yes, OPTX is a newer covered ticker here; so is Palladyne and perhaps Lantronix. Do I see OPTX (Warrants available), LTRX or OPTX as likely successful? I have no idea; aside knowing what they're work on is in the focus areas (in at least one case involved with non-public-yet Anduril).

All these stocks are aggressive; and seemingly not suitable at my age.. on the other hand the ones people 'assume' are acceptable are stocks we bought so many years ago (and either took some profits or just kept the rest) are pricey; and not appealing to me at these levels. So 'for fresh capital' or speculation; I focused on what are core aggressive holdings like BigBear.ai or Ondas, with older ones like SoundHound barely aboard. The IRA types like Apple, AMD, Chevron or a couple others are still around; but why would I be chasing price.

Example: if I owned Lockheed from 3 or 400 I'd not be chasing now over 600; but might be ringing the cash-register sooner, even if I'm still optimistic about their future (I am). I hope this explains a bit to new members who don't grasp how an older guy might play the young-generation's (make it or break it) type of stocks; and that started as 'fun' for part of overall holdings; but particularly when Quantum took-off a year ago it really pushed my so-call fun account to a higher level where I pondered tax considerations; hindsight is always 20-20 so I think all those might have been traded in a retirement account 'if' I really new they were going to multiply gains as much as they did (good problem).

And needless to say: the analysts/pundits advocating buying only 'staples' or traditional stocks and selling AI and Quantum have it almost backwards; well in my view, which envisions Quantum and Data Analytics and Drones going forward.. for some time to come. POTUS talks of Dow 100,000 .. well that's a bit of a canard, but I get the point about growth or capital coming in not out.

Market X-ray: the core of this remark is that we are unlikely to have any huge sustained correction at this time; barring existential risk should war erupt with Iran (as it very well might and be a temporary shock).

It's also noting new-era tickers are acting well and should move higher varying with contract awards, probably within the next couple months for some. There are significant military tests in the weeks just ahead to sort some of it among the contenders. Most of the naysayers are basically 'hoping' for decline not to be negative, but because they were super negative last week, selling instead of buying..as they want to see price low again so they can get a do-over entry.



As noted; I am interested in so many under-exploited stocks with potential to progress; and not all will; but some almost certainly will. To follow that 'tune' I added LTRX, OPTX and PDYN recently. Now I might consider the shares of Safe Pro Group; a ticker (SPAI) I've mentioned before, when Ondas made a $14 million investment; and might be more involved. Don't know; however we do know that SPAI does 'not' offer Options or Warrants; so the ability to 'take a shot' with less cash at-risk is not available. Hence it's sort of a 'hip-pocket' sort of following; since I wouldn't be surprised to see more progress.. and we will remain content to participate via our 'pick of the year' investment (since August last year) ONDS.

FYI: Safe Pro Group (AI-enabled defense, security, & situational awareness solutions, will be presenting 'tomorrow' at the EU Defence Leaders Combat Engineer & Logistics Conference, a leading forum for military engineers & logistics collaboration, in Krakow, Poland. Already working with the U.S. Army on Safe Pro real-time AI & computer vision technologies to support de-mining, mission planning, and force protection operations; I suspect Ondas will likely be there too; and noticed Ondas got a de-mining contract from the IDF today.

Many of these tickers (even UMAC) seem 'friendly' to each other (and for that matter a picture of Palmer Luckey (Anduril CEO) together with Eric Brock (Ondas CEO) has been around; although I don't know when or where... I do believe Anduril ought to consider going public via a merger with an 'existing' well-regarded growth stock in the same general industry... such as Ondas :). Backing-up a tad here's an AI summary of Ondas involvement with SafePro.

As long as I bothered myself delving into defense stocks again today; I might as well update Palladyne; also positioned to advance. I think PDYN appears undervalued relative to peers that exited R&D phases as their hiring suggests moving to rapid revenue expansion. Execution translating into contracts and commercialization, is the idea, so could well see postive valuation re-rating increasingly likely. So it's speculative.

A recent small U.S. Air Force contract hints at growth shifting from a vision-driven AI story into execution mode. Hiring pattern: roles slowly more specific (embedded software / board-design etc.) and defined locations (not at HQ is a typically 'customer-drive' deployment). The trend suggests PDYN is building operational capacity needed to deliver systems at scale; typically it's a leading indicator before financials fully reflect the ramp. So we're long and we'll see.

And P.S. Redwire is working more closely with Blue Origin; so RDW is also still a promising growth prospect for this year and next. Sister ticker: BBAI.

Bottom-line: market was a non event, which is constructive (meaning not much digestion of Friday's magnificent recovery). So that implies a bit more strength towards midweek; provided the brewing Iranian conflict remains in the background and doesn't rise to the fore. Meanwhile focus on 'defense'.

I wrote and studied a good bit more about defense technology. It is the shift I have focused on for a year now; as military strategy moves away from relying on expensive platforms, toward scalable unmanned aerial systems. Includes of course loitering munitions, attritable drones that can survive in battlespace dominated by electronic warfare, GPS jamming, etc. Ukraine proved all this. Taiwan is or will likely be applying it to the Indo-Pacific. And that's why there is the growing 'doctrine' or logic, that Taiwan must be defended (semiconductors represent most of the world's technology basics, and can't transition to the US or Europe fast enough).. I suppose why Ondas was at Singapore last week.

So we are talking about 'industrial doctrine logic', and drones are part of it; plus this goes beyond 'military', if you include what BigBear.ai and others are doing. Nobody wants to be patient; neither nations nor markets; it's evolving.

Prior highlights follow:

Stabilizing markets - was the 'order of the day Friday'; proving once again to all neurotic types, that while patterns don't have to match historical ones, they often rhyme. While I was undergoing some 'stress tests' (apparently unrelated to stocks) there were just a couple members persisting to agitate me with dire messages to undermine confidence, while another couple recalled my adage to 'buy with there's blood in the street'. Obviously the latter was appropriate.

We have an era of unleashing American capitalism and growth; hence there ought to be more discussion about extending the 'relative boom', rather than so many worries about 'unfolding recession'. While I continue skeptical of all things crypto; I believed the last couple days were for buying, not selling, of equities..as well as thinking that the brief flirtation with 'consumer staples' was an excuse to hold S&P up, which it did; setting-it up for higher highs when the 'actual heart' of this market perked-up anew, which it certainly did on Friday.

I didn't know things would revive so quickly ahead of a military weekend (or as negotiations may determine, but probably not result in any overt action quickly (regardless if the talks in Oman bear fruit or just buy time for our 'positioning', as well as for Iranian regime monsters to wire money out of Tehran rapidly as I hear the top mullahs are busy doing... also they are corrupt and own foreign property while they profess to be religious zealots... they robbed their nation).

I did believe it appropriate to adjust and/or add to or buy new-era tickers in the previous two days, and history thus shows it was. Also essential to maintain discipline and not get overly excited, during the retrenchment that cooled the jets of the old-guard mega-tech stocks, along with 'cross-asset' selling related to the insane speculation in crypto... (even if it comes back it's playing with fire or similar to the possible rebounds in Gold & Silver). Some won't yield easily.

Market X-ray: the other day I wrote that the correction likely clears the decks somewhat of traders, who only watch price and lack conviction in 'what they own', and correlated the drop a bit with 'Deepseek', the Nvidia slam against Quantum, Trump's tariff panic and so on earlier last year..plus warning that also rhyming with 2025, February of 2026 would get a correction; preceding a Spring Rally, the nuances of which could even have been set-up already.

There is lots of money around. There is not an imminent debt crisis; though of course the concern is there. There is a need for re-balancing and hedgers for sure had a lesson about that this past week. Again similar action to February a year ago; similar outcome, only faster this go-round. And new DJIA highs. I note that the flirtation with broadening-out helped the Indexes and notably is psychologically helpful to a next-generation of possible winners; our so-called 'new era' tickers. That doesn't mean some old-guard won't make money; just that the percentage gain potentials are considerably greater in new-era stocks allowing for volatility. But in an algo-driven era; the old-guards get volatile too.



For me it's been an incredible week; and managed not to be persuaded to do anything other than 'buy the dips' and adjust positions for optimal gains..just a bit of that being seen already. I have indicated some 'slight' shift of focus into a couple of optics, and noted the week's declines provided good entry not exit points, for issues like: (of course ONDS and BBAI); but also OPTX (and their apparently undervalued Syntec Optics Warrants), plus PDYN, UMAC etc.

In fact, it took an extra day, but even Thursday evening, certain pundits clung to saying 'it's not too late to sell' rather than realize that day was 'margin calls' and related compelled liquidations being the follow-on to Wednesday's hit. So the combination days afforded an adjustment, cleansed the late for a moment (or longer), and rewarded those who were calm, holding or adding 'new-eras'.

Once again the inverse of naysayers was the approach; even as Bitcoin and other cryptos cratered and are probably only having bounces (you won't find me embracing that; so look elsewhere if you insist on suggestions there)... I'm not going to do that, and after being amazed that several Wall Street folks I knew were actually promoting crypto systems that I viewed as a variation on 'multilevel marketing schemes', I steered away regardless how it all turns out. To us Bitcoin is an annoyance because some otherwise-fine people promote it perhaps without knowledge, and works-out or not, I'll stick with what I know in tech. Crypto's an annoyance because of spillover effects when it breaks hard.

Friday 11 am 'X' update:

(I was) swamped between medical tests .. fine for now.. apologies when I'm unable to update frequently or at all. This is not a paid portion of my Service, and is just occasional courtesy reflections.

Yesterday I was hopeful buys on dips would work-out whether took a couple days or sooner. So it is sooner.. BBAI , LPTH , ONDS , QBTS , UMAC etc. doing just fine and all are in our 'focus areas for 2026'.

Friday final hour 'X' update:

Last hour update (from my 'X' post): doubt is exceeded by optimism; and broadening reflects 'economic boom' more likely than a recession. Bears are wrong-headed for now anyway; as I contended.

Newer additions to our 'new era' segment recently included Syntec Optics (OPTX), where I'd point out OPTX Warrants have lagged the common... with of course both having potential. For Palladyne (PDYN) common or options of course; and our D-Wave Quantum (QBTS) is romping forward plus others I'd mentioned earlier like ONDS . Enjoy the weekend; I will try to relax after lots of stress; but we bought the dips!

Bottom-line: software stocks (big-cap huge CapEx ones; not conflated with Generative AI in the new application software) will need more sorting; but that's not our focus... actually two days ago you saw new-era stocks 'hold' or firm while the big-cap gargantuans declined. Then on Thursday all capitulated as it was 'margin-call' liquidation day. Friday was the needed recovery and we'll see how the market acts when (likely) put back on the defensive.

The AI story certainly hasn't ended; the big-enterprise spin has impacted, and more sorting-out (understanding or differentiating should persist as 'process'). So we're not opposed to going higher without an interruption; just very willing to deal with a process sort of being this market's variation of 'the dust settling'.

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Stay safe,

Gene

Gene Inger

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