Companies that make or sell everything from flooring to house paint say consumers are staying put or delaying remodeling, moving or building homes. All of those activities have been in a post-Covid trough because of elevated prices, high interest rates and low consumer confidence, the Journal’s John Keilman, Daisy Korpics and Elizaveta Galkina report.

That economic uncertainty and the stagnant housing market weighed on home-improvement activity, pressuring Home Depot’s quarterly profit lower. Comparable sales, however, edged up 0.4%, and Home Depot reiterated fiscal 2026 guidance for that key metric to be flat or grow by up to 2%. Lowe’s, too, forecast flat-to-2% growth in comparable sales as it posted higher quarterly revenue, with growth in its business supplying professional builders helping offset weakness in the home-improvement market.

Yet, as the U.S. housing stock ages, an unusual turnaround indicator may be emerging: The residential market has been dominated for years by cream-colored upholstery, but retailers are now asking for more vibrant colors and patterns—a time-tested signal, one furniture maker said, of more optimistic days ahead.

• U.S. home-price growth slowed to 1.3% annually in December, its lowest level in over a decade, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. (WSJ)

In the longest-ever State of the Union address, President Trump doubled down on trade, saying “everything was working well” and describing the Supreme Court’s rejection of the bulk of his sweeping tariffs as an “unfortunate ruling.”

But by dismantling the cornerstone of his trade strategy, the court didn’t just limit the president’s firepower. It deprived him of his preferred weapon of economic pressure just weeks before he lands in Beijing for a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Journal’s Lingling Wei writes.

The ruling cuts the effective U.S. tariff rate on Chinese goods to 23% from 32%, according to Capital Economics. And that estimate reflects a 15% global tariff rate that Trump threatened on Saturday, but hasn’t yet imposed. Customs and Border Protection started collecting, as of Tuesday, a 10% blanket duty on imports set shortly after Friday’s ruling. While China remains more heavily taxed than other U.S. trading partners, including its Asian neighbors, the new rate significantly narrows the gap between them.

Still, Trump still holds formidable tools to squeeze Beijing, from blocking the sale of advanced chips, jet engines and other high-tech gear to threatening new tariffs over Beijing’s failure to meet past trade promises.

WSJ VIDEO: Chip makers and other suppliers are building plants on American soil, spurred on by the promises of Big Tech’s investment in U.S. industry. WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler takes us behind the scenes of Apple’s effort to manufacture technology onshore, with an exclusive visit to some of the company’s suppliers.

• Meta Platforms agreed to buy 6 gigawatts of AI computing power from Advanced Micro Devices in a deal worth over $100 billion. (WSJ)
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave Anthropic until Friday to meet Pentagon demands over its AI models or face cancellation of its contract, and threatened to label the company a supply-chain risk or to invoke the Defense Production Act. (WSJ)
• XPO is rolling out new technology applying an AI model to photos dockworkers take to improve safety and cut damage claims. (TruckingDive)

• Consumer confidence rose to 91.2 in February from 89 in January, according to Conference Board’s monthly survey. (WSJ)
• Canada’s aviation regulator approved Gulfstream’s G700 and G800 aircraft, potentially ending a trade dispute with Washington. (WSJ)
• Canadian factory shipments fell by an estimated 3.3% in January, marking a third decline in four months. (WSJ)
• China banned the export of critical minerals and other goods with potential military uses to several Japanese companies, over Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Taiwan comments. (WSJ)
• Lucid Group is laying off around 12% of its U.S. workforce as it reconfigures plans to focus on new EV models, expansion into robotaxis and development of other technologies. (WSJ)
• Spirit Airlines reached an agreement with its lenders to emerge from bankruptcy by early summer as a smaller company. (WSJ)
• Chinese auto giant BYD logged a nearly threefold increase in European sales last month. (WSJ)
• Honda Motor paused operations at a facility in Mexico, after a wave of violence following the killing of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera. (Financial Times)
• Units of A.P. Moller-Maersk and Mediterranean Shipping Co. began interim operation of two Panama Canal terminals after the Panamanian government took control of the facilities from CK Hutchison. (Journal of Commerce)
• The Maersk and MSC units must pay rent and turn over profits from the operation of the Panama Canal terminals to the Panamanian state for up to 18 months, local media report. (ShippingWatch)
• SZ DJI Technology challenged the FCC’s decision to add the Chinese drone-maker to the regulator’s so-called covered entity list, which blocks new equipment authorizations for its products. (Bloomberg)
• U.S. forces boarded the oil tanker Bertha in the Indian Ocean after the vessel evaded capture in the Caribbean, making it the 10th boarding of a tanker linked to Venezuela since December. (Lloyd’s List)
• Canada’s Cando Rail & Terminals agreed to acquire Utah’s Savage Enterprises, as it aims to become the market leader in first- and last-mile rail operating services and terminal infrastructure. (DC Velocity)

Another panel will look at how to incorporate national security into trade compliance, with speakers Kevin O’Connor, general counsel at Lockheed Martin, and Joseph Moreno, general counsel at SAP NS2.

Request a complimentary invitation here using the code COMPLIMENTARY. Attendance is limited, and all requests are subject to approval.

Mark R. Long is editor of WSJ Logistics Report. Reach him at mark.long@wsj.com. Follow the WSJ Logistics Report team on LinkedIn: Mark R. Long, Liz Young and Paul Berger.