The BLS is still lying through their teeth

• Are the markets finally on to the BLS?
• China is allowing the renminbi to gain VS the dollar...

Good Day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to one and all! Well, about 2 o'clock yesterday, the sun went behind a cloud and stayed there the rest of the day... which was fine with me, as I went inside and watched the men's team curling game, which they won! The sun is due back out today... Good! The U.S. seems to be doing better at this winter Olympics, I recall a year when they won 13 total medals! The winter sports had to be reorganized and restructured to compete with the rest of the world after that 1998 debacle... Yes greets me this morning with their great 70's song: Long Distance Runaround

Well, the dollar drifted through yesterday's trading session, and ended the day wearing the same clothes it wore to start the day... The euro, however, did lose the 1.19 handle, but is still within' Spitting distance of the 1.19 figure. The rest of the currencies traded in neutral yesterday, waiting for the Big Dog, euro, to get off the porch and chase the dollar down the street. No worries, the dollar is still in its weak trend, yesterday was just a pause for the cause... 

The Chinese allowed the renminbi to gain VS the dollar again, and this morning it trades with a 6.90 handle... this is HUGE folks... The Chinese are allowing the renminbi to gain so that investors around the world see it as an alternative to the dollar...

The Chinese have been doing this financial business thing much longer than anyone else, so you see what they're up to, eh?

I told you yesterday that Gold & Silver were firmly back on the rally tracks after getting sold short on Tuesday... Well, Gold ended the day up $58 to close at $5,584, and Silver ended up $3.46 to close at $84.41... Getting close to that line in the sand again... it will be interesting to see what happens from here with Silver... 

The price of Oil fell back to the $64 handle yesterday, as observers think that the POTUS is not on board with the Israeli Prime Minister's demand that Iran shut down their Ballistic Missiles, and for Iran that's a hard no... Therefore, observers thought that the Israeli PM would sway our POTUS to attack Iran... But that didn't happen, and I don't think it will... 

And the 10-year Treasury found some sellers yesterday and saw its yield climb to 4.17%... No sign of buyers aka the Fed Heads or their proxy... 

In the overnight markets last night... The dollar drifted lower again to the tune of 1 index point in the BBDXY... Gold & Silver are starting the day getting sold short... Gold is down $22, and Silver is down $1.24 to start our day... These could be easily turned around with physical buying, so what are you waiting for? 

Last week the newswires were filled with articles about how Gold & Silver had reached their peaks and were in for a major correction... I told you then that these writers are so wishy-washy, with their calls... Gold & Silver are forming a new base, and will take off from here, in my humble opinion, and I've note waivered one iota from that thought! 

The BLS had something up their sleeve yesterday... They say that job creation in January was 130,000... At the same time, they said that Based on the February 11, 2026, BLS Employment Situation Summary, the total nonfarm employment level for March 2025 was revised downward by 585,000 (seasonally adjusted). This significant annual benchmark revision indicates that 2025 job growth was much weaker than initially reported, down to 181,000 for the year!

But did anyone get a pink slip? I mean, c'mon these guys are worthless with their numbers every month... Last year they revised downward the number of jobs they had said were created by nearly 900,000, and 585,000 for this year! Let's see... So, once again the BLS reported good jobs numbers that have to be revised downward, by large amounts! I just don't get it, why the BLS can't get the numbers right... 

And.... You have to ask yourself this question... If job creation was so great, then why were Retail Sales flat with zero growth? And the ADP Employment Report, which I consider to be the authority when it comes to jobs created, showed that only 22,000 jobs were created in January... So, who're going to believe, the crooked BLS or ADP?   

For those of you new to class, ADP is the system that just about everyone in this country uses as their payroll systems... Granted they may not have all the really small companies, but that would only account for 10-20 thousand jobs, if that many! So, ADP would know the number of jobs created by the corporations in the month from their payrolls... I'll say no more as the BLS is giving me a rash! 

The U.S. Data Cupboard had the Jobs Jamboree lies and videotape yesterday, but we also saw that Consumer Confidence fell hard... the data set hasn't been this low since 1984, and was lower than even during the plandemic... I have something on the numbers in the FWIW section today, so keep reading, you'll get there...  

And today's Cupboard had the usual Initial weekly Jobless claims, and they already printed at 231,000 up significantly from last week's 212,000... This data set is quite volatile, so don't get all lathered up about the 231,000 jobless claims last week... when the trend becomes something we can depend on being higher each week, then we'll have something... 

To recap... The dollar drifted yesterday, as traders attempt to figure out if they are safe taking the dollar lower, or will the PPT be there to stop them out...  A real conundrum... The jobs report from the BLS was a bunch of baloney.... I think the markets are figuring this out finally! Gold & Silver didn't react negatively to the Jobs report and that's what has me thinking that the markets are finally on to the BLS's bag of tricks and lies... 

For What It's Worth... I came across this article and knew right away that it was FWIW worthy...

Here's your snippet: "The most dangerous economic divergence isn’t in wealth. It’s in confidence.

U.S. consumer confidence collapsed to 84.5—its lowest level since 2014, below even pandemic-era lows, the Conference Board recently reported. The Expectations Index fell to 65.1, well under the 80 threshold that historically signals recession. Across income levels, Americans earning under $15,000 remain the least optimistic of any group.

Some look at the U.S. economy today and see resilience: markets near highs, unemployment steady, spending holding up. Others see something darker: affordability pressure, a stagnant labor market, and a growing sense that the system is rigged.

Both interpretations can be true – because the U.S. isn’t living in a single economy right now. That is because 87 million people live in the Desperation Economy – or 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Another 46 million people live in the Elite Economy earning $100,000 or more.

The country is living in a K-shaped economy: two diverging roads, where outcomes for one group accelerate upward while outcomes for another flatten – or quietly deteriorate. The top half is compounding: stable employment, rising asset values, and the confidence that comes from having options. The bottom half is exposed: high sensitivity to inflation, fragile cash flow, rising credit stress, and a feeling that even doing everything “right” isn’t enough.

Today, the bottom half of the K-shaped economy is entering a new era. Call it the Quiet Riot.

This is the threshold where financial strain becomes a behavioral exit—when people stop optimizing and start opting out. It is not through public unrest, but through millions of small, rational decisions that add up to something destabilizing: staying stuck instead of moving up, abandoning long-term planning, choosing short-term survival over long-term compounding."

Chuck again... the article goes on further, so if you want the whole hog, you'll have to click on the link above...

Market Prices 2/12/2026: American Style: A$ .7130, kiwi .6075, C$ .7375, euro 1.1888, sterling 1.3650, Swiss $1.3050, European Style: rand 15.8698, krone 8.8690, SEK 9.4663, forint 319.62, zloty 3.5456, koruna 20.4009, RUB 77.24, yen 153.20, sing 1.2608, HKD 7.8156, INR 90.59, China 6.9007, peso 17.15, BRL 5.1761, BBDXY 1,180, Dollar Index 96.79, Oil $64.51, 10-year 4.17%, Silver $83.17, Platinum $2,113.00, Palladium $1,726.00, Copper $5.99, and Gold... $5,062.

That's it for today... Tomorrow is the birthday of my good friend, Duane aka Dewey... Happy Birthday Dewey, I hope you have a grand day! A BIG win for my beloved Mizzou Tigers at Texas A&M last night... I watched that game instead of some figure skating from the Olympics... That's just not my cup-o-tea... I don't like sports that require judges to determine the winner... OK, that said... I did watch the U.S. men's team pull an iron from the fire and win their curling match... I'm hooked on curling... OK, we got a bunch of hokey data yesterday, so let's let the markets get through it and then move on... The Stories take us to the finish line today with their song: Brother Louie... I hope you have a Tub Thumpin' Thursday today, and Please Be Good To Yourself!