{"id":58482,"date":"2026-02-13T16:08:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/jj-found-liable-in-talc-verdict-amazon-backed-nuclear-firm-hits-fuel-milestone-and-oil-prices-edge-higher\/58482\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T16:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T20:08:25","slug":"jj-found-liable-in-talc-verdict-amazon-backed-nuclear-firm-hits-fuel-milestone-and-oil-prices-edge-higher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/jj-found-liable-in-talc-verdict-amazon-backed-nuclear-firm-hits-fuel-milestone-and-oil-prices-edge-higher\/58482\/","title":{"rendered":"J&#038;J Found Liable in Talc Verdict, Amazon-Backed Nuclear Firm Hits Fuel Milestone, and Oil Prices Edge Higher"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Johnson &amp; Johnson (<a href=\"\/stock\/JNJ\">JNJ<\/a>)<\/strong> was found liable by a Pennsylvania jury for a woman&#39;s ovarian cancer, resulting in a <strong>$250,000<\/strong> damages award.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong>-backed nuclear startup <strong>X-energy<\/strong> (via its subsidiary <strong>TRISO-X<\/strong>) received U.S. approval for its advanced reactor fuel, a critical step for its small modular reactor (SMR) deployment.<\/li>\n<li><strong>UBS (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBS\">UBS<\/a>)<\/strong> analysts forecast a massive surge in corporate buybacks, expected to reach <strong>$30-50 billion per week<\/strong> through the end of March.<\/li>\n<li>Global oil benchmarks settled slightly higher on Friday, with <strong>Brent Crude<\/strong> rising to <strong>$67.75\/bbl<\/strong> and <strong>WTI<\/strong> edging up to <strong>$62.89\/bbl<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Pennsylvania Jury Finds J&amp;J Liable in Talc Litigation<\/h2>\n<p>A state court jury in Philadelphia has found <strong>Johnson &amp; Johnson (<a href=\"\/stock\/JNJ\">JNJ<\/a>)<\/strong> liable for the ovarian cancer of a woman who used the company\u2019s talc-based baby powder for decades. The jury awarded the family of Gayle Emerson <strong>$250,000<\/strong>, comprising <strong>$50,000<\/strong> in compensatory damages and <strong>$200,000<\/strong> in punitive damages.<\/p>\n<p>While the award is smaller than some previous multi-million dollar verdicts, the finding of liability remains a significant legal hurdle for the healthcare giant. <em>The company continues to maintain that its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos<\/em>, though it has transitioned to a cornstarch-based formula globally.<\/p>\n<h2>Amazon\u2019s Nuclear Ambitions Advance with Fuel Approval<\/h2>\n<p>In a major win for the tech industry&#39;s energy strategy, an <strong>Amazon (<a href=\"\/stock\/AMZN\">AMZN<\/a>)<\/strong>-backed nuclear company has secured U.S. regulatory approval for its advanced reactor fuel. The approval pertains to <strong>TRISO-X<\/strong>, the fuel fabrication arm of <strong>X-energy<\/strong>, which is developing small modular reactors (SMRs) to power Amazon\u2019s expanding data center footprint.<\/p>\n<p>This milestone is seen as a critical step in the &quot;nuclear renaissance&quot; aimed at providing carbon-free, 24\/7 power for artificial intelligence workloads. <em>The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been accelerating these approvals<\/em> to reduce reliance on foreign enriched uranium and strengthen domestic energy security.<\/p>\n<h2>UBS Forecasts Peak Seasonality for Corporate Buybacks<\/h2>\n<p>Equity markets may be positioned for a liquidity boost as <strong>UBS (<a href=\"\/stock\/UBS\">UBS<\/a>)<\/strong> reports that corporate buybacks are entering their peak seasonal period. According to the bank, buyback activity is expected to jump from its recent lows to between <strong>$30 billion and $50 billion per week<\/strong> for the next six weeks.<\/p>\n<p>This projected surge, lasting until the end of March, represents a significant tailwind for stock prices. <em>Analysts suggest that this consistent demand from corporate treasuries could provide a floor for the market<\/em> during a period of heightened geopolitical and economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n<h2>Energy Markets: Oil Settles Higher Despite Surplus Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>Crude oil futures finished the week with modest gains on Friday, recovering slightly from a sharp selloff earlier in the session. <strong>Brent Crude<\/strong> futures settled up 23 cents, or 0.34%, at <strong>$67.75\/bbl<\/strong>, while <strong>U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI)<\/strong> crude settled at <strong>$62.89\/bbl<\/strong>, up 5 cents or 0.08%.<\/p>\n<p>The slight uptick comes despite a bearish report from the <strong>International Energy Agency (IEA)<\/strong>, which lowered its global demand forecast for 2026. <em>The market remains wary of a projected surplus of 3.7 million barrels per day<\/em>, though easing tensions in the Middle East have provided some temporary stability to prices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Johnson &amp; Johnson (JNJ) was found liable by a Pennsylvania jury for a woman&#39;s ovarian cancer, resulting in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[6695,376,391,970,1947,4300,5030,5322,5551,6530],"class_list":["post-58482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-buybacks","tag-jnj","tag-amzn","tag-wti","tag-oil","tag-smr","tag-energy","tag-markets","tag-iea","tag-doe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}