🗞️Meta's Zuckerberg testifies

February 18th, 2026

What happened today 🇺🇸,

• Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, testified in a Los Angeles court in a landmark case where a young plaintiff claims Instagram's addictive design features worsened her anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts…Zuckerberg defended Meta by denying teen engagement time goals, upholding under-13 bans despite violations, and rejecting clinical addiction claims

• The Trump administration released the remaining nearly $130 million in withheld federal funds for the Gateway rail tunnel project between New York and New Jersey, following a federal judge's order and after partial payments earlier in February, allowing construction to resume next week

• NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya will temporarily serve as acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) following the departure of previous acting director Jim O’Neill, who is departing HHS for a National Science Foundation nomination

• Axios reported the Trump administration is nearing a major weeks-long US-Israel military operation against Iran, potentially larger than recent action against Venezuela

• Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. announced its board unanimously approved exploring a tax-free spin-off to separate the New York Knicks and New York Rangers into two independent publicly traded companies

• Uber plans to invest over $100 million to build a network of fast‑charging hubs in the U.S. to support electric autonomous vehicles and robotaxis, starting in the San Francisco, L.A., and Dallas

• U.S. housing starts rose 6.2% in December 2025 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.4 million units, marking a five-month high and beating economists expectations

• DOW up .26% / S&P up .56%

• The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. is withdrawing all troops from Syria

• According to a set of emails recently released by the DOJ the Israeli government installed and maintained a security system at Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan apartment building on 301 E. 66th Street, where former Israeli PM Ehud Barak frequently stayed from 2016-2017…read more here

What investment is rudimentary for billionaires but ‘revolutionary’ for 70,571+ investors entering 2026?

Imagine this. You open your phone to an alert. It says, “you spent $236,000,000 more this month than you did last month.”

If you were the top bidder at Sotheby’s fall auctions, it could be reality.

Sounds crazy, right? But when the ultra-wealthy spend staggering amounts on blue-chip art, it’s not just for decoration.

The scarcity of these treasured artworks has helped drive their prices, in exceptional cases, to thin-air heights, without moving in lockstep with other asset classes.

The contemporary and post war segments have even outpaced the S&P 500 overall since 1995.*

Now, over 70,000 people have invested $1.2 billion+ across 500 iconic artworks featuring Banksy, Basquiat, Picasso, and more.

How? You don’t need Medici money to invest in multimillion dollar artworks with Masterworks.

Thousands of members have gotten annualized net returns like 14.6%, 17.6%, and 17.8% from 26 sales to date.

Explore offerings

_{*Based on Masterworks data. Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Important Reg A disclosures: masterworks.com/cd}

Bonus: A look at each state’s favorite fast food

Please follow The Simple American on X @TSimpleAmerican x.com/Tsimpleamerican

Follow us on TikTok @simpleamerican

Quote of the day: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Comic of the week 😂:

Have a great night!

P.S. We love connecting with our readers so…

Please reply to this newsletter for more info on any news points in the letter, feel free to give us any feedback you have, or let us know what you want more of!