Alternative Investing Report - February 11, 2026

*as of 2/10; Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

After announcing its plan late last year, on Monday OpenAI began to test ads for users on its free and lowest cost paid plans for ChatGPT. This change has understandably created concerns that ChatGPT’s answers would be affected by ads, a charge that OpenAI vehemently denied. Ads will also not be shown in certain categories of chat, or to users under 18. Still, competitor Anthropic scored one of the hits of the Super Bowl ad race with a spot mocking OpenAI for its decision to include advertising.

➨ TAKEAWAY: No consumer is ever going to be happy when a previously ad-free product decides to start running ads. The two factors that will most contribute to the successful integration are how valuable the product remains compared to its ad-free competitors, and how intrusive the ads feel. If OpenAI pulls it off, the additional revenue will be game-changing for both the company and the industry. If it fails and they lose market share, it could be a devastating blow to both.

In the newest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Goodfin CEO and co-founder Anna Joo Fee about the current market for pre-IPO startups, predictions for the future, and hot sectors to watch.

📊 Small business optimism: The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index dropped slightly in January, from 99.5 to 99.3, below expectations that called for an increase. The index is down around 4% in the past year, with inflation and economic uncertainty shouldering most of the blame.

📉 Retail sales flat: U.S. retail sales were flat in December, well short of expectations and a disappointing result given the holiday season. Sales were up 2.4% year-over-year, a decline from the 3.3% pace in November and below the pace of inflation.

🚀 Databricks funding round: The data analytics and AI startup raised $5 billion in equity and $2 billion in debt financing at a $134 billion valuation, showing a 65% year-over-year increase in revenue that led to its valuation more than doubling since December 2024.

🏢 Distressed office investments: Deal volume for distressed office buildings grew 31.3% in 2025, hitting a 10-year high at $4.3 billion. New York City was the top market, with more than a $1 billion in volume, as investors aim to take advantage of a significant drop in property values.

🏡 Homeowner tenure grows: U.S. homeowners are now holding on their homes for 8.6 years, the longest average duration seen in at least 25 years, as a consequence of higher mortgage rates that has led to a stagnant housing market.

💵 Private credit worries: With AI concerns leading to a recent dip in stock prices for SaaS companies, private lenders that have exposure to that sector are seeing their stock prices fall as well.

While the entire crypto market was down double digits over the past week, the biggest percentage loss in the top-100 by market cap belonged to the official presidential memecoin, which lost more than a quarter of its remaining value. Trumpcoin’s all-time high near $75 came during the fervor surrounding the President’s inauguration last January, and since then it has lost 96% of its value. This decline has taught a painful lesson in memecoins to the coin’s supporters and investors, many of whom were new to the crypto space and would seem unlikely to return. Barring a major presidential intervention, there is no reason for Trumpcoin’s decline to stop here, especially given the industry’s overall disappointment with the pro-crypto President.