Alternative Investing Report - February 19, 2026

*as of 2/18 Sources: S&P, BTC, FTSE, DJRE, GOLD

New home construction declined in 2025, with a 3.6% drop in building permits, a 0.6% fall in housing starts and a 7.9% slump in completed homes compared to 2024. There was a slight uptick in December, though, with permits up 4.3% monthly and starts up 6.2% from November. The fall in construction was due to the significant slowdown in the single-family home numbers, which dropped 10.9% year-over-year, while multifamily construction actually increased in 2025.

➨ TAKEAWAY: The country is already facing a housing shortage, but builders are sitting out the slow market, which has seen prices stagnate and buyers sit on the sidelines. The typical new build is priced 15% lower than 2022, partially because builders are starting to offer smaller homes to entice buyers. The National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz thinks prices will decline further across the country this year as there is still an affordability problem.

🪙 Thiel exits ETHZilla: The billionaire investor Peter Thiel has completely exited his stake in the Ethereum treasury company ETHZilla, which has seen its shares drop by 98% since its all-time high late August. Ethereum itself has dropped 61% since its all-time high the same month.

💵 Blackstone buys Champions Group: The world’s largest alternative assets manager acquired Champions Group, a massive HVAC, plumbing, and electrical services provider, for $2.5 billion. The acquisition is reportedly at a 18.5x multiple, and reflects the growing investor demand in legacy businesses that will remain mostly untouched by AI.

🎰 CFTC claims prediction markets: Michael Selig, the chairman of the U.S. Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is pushing back against states and other federal regulators claiming jurisdiction over prediction markets. The agency stepping up could be good news for the industry as long as the current pro-prediction market administration stays in place.

⚾ Tom Seaver auction: The personal collection of the greatest New York Met player of all-time is being sold at Heritage Auctions, and includes his 1969 World Series ring which has an estimated value of $300,000.

🚀 Vestwell raise: The digital savings platform announced a $385 million funding round at a $2 billion valuation, double its last valuation from December 2023, a strong result for the fintech.

🎨 Art v. Luxury: The sales of cars, jewelry, handbags, watches, and other luxury items are becoming a significant part of the business at the major auction houses, which could push art into the backseat and reshape the image of Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips.

Last week, ByteDance released a new version of its AI video generator Seedance, which quickly brought controversy. A clip of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting was one of a number of videos that went viral featuring images of real actors and copyrighted characters. Hollywood quickly pushed back, with The Motion Picture Association, SAG-AFTRA, and multiple studios condemning ByteDance and its blatant copyright infringement. The private Chinese company, which just sold TikTok’s U.S. operations, backtracked and is scaling back Seedance after Disney threatened legal action. Still, these AI video tools are only getting more convincing, and without guardrails, such disputes will continue to arise.