It's been said, "never short a dull market," but this one is tempting.
Moribund trading persisted for the third straight session Wednesday. Not even the magical appearance of Bibi Netanyahu (sans the obligatory speech to congress and raucous applause) could send the averages higher... or lower. There was nothing about which to be excited, as earnings reports continued to suggest weakness in many diverse categories. Ford stumbled. Lyft didn't get off the ground. KraftHeinz, after combining two iconic American brands doesn't know if it should separate them again. Humana loses money, and Mattell, well, nobody is buying toys because there aren't any kids.
The BLS January jobs report of 130,000 new jobs didn't inspire confidence. Rather, more snickering at the obvious failure of another government agency. While the January jobs number was less-than-believable, the annual revision, slashing 862,000 seasonally-adjusted jobs from the 2025 tally, demonstrated the folly of trusting any government numbers, at any time. They're always subject to revision, and always seem to be lower than originally reported.
Thus, the forces arguing for lower interest rates, which includes the president, every one of his cabinet members (via their oath of loyalty), and every empty suit on Wall Street, have more ammunition backing their argument. No jobs! We must hav lower interest rates to goose the economy! Don't worry about inflation.
That's where their argument ends. Inflation is here to stay. Lower interest rates will only make it worse. But, they're hell-bent on their quest because of midterms, political control, and other mindless matters that masquerade as governance in Washington, D.C.
More companies reported fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday:
- Cisco (CSCO) - beat top and bottom, forecast left doubts, shares down 7% pre-open
- Applovin (APP) - speculator's darling, drops 7% pre-market
- Aurora (AUR) - continues series of losses, misses top line, shares flat
Thursday, before the open saw a few more:
- CROCS (CROX) - US sales down, foreign sales up, stock up 15%
- Birkenstock (BIRK) - revenue miss, shares flat
Not much to get the animal spirits moving there.
After the close Thursday, a few with a little more heft will offer their reports: Pinterest (PINS), Rivian (RVN), Coinbase (COIN), DraftKings (DKNG), Applied Materials (AMAT), Expedia (EXPE), Dutch Bros. (BROS).
Bitcoin continued to fall, dropping below $67,000 early this morning. Gold is under pressure Thursday morning, down around $5 to $5,078, holding key level. Silver continues to search for direction, trading lower Thursday morning, at $82.93, also holding at recent consolidation levels.
Futures, of course are higher. Dow: +171; NASDAQ: +118; S&P: +28.
Initial jobless claims came in at 227,000 for the most recent week, helping futures move higher, though the unemployment claims numbers are as squirrelly as the BLS NFP.
Looks like another day for drifting along until the U.S. lobs bombs at Iran, an inevitability, and tomorrow is Friday the 13th, the Super Bowl is over, and March Madness isn't for another month. Gotta have some entertainment.
At the Close, Wednesday, February 12, 2026:
Dow: 50,121.40, -66.70 (-0.13%)
NASDAQ: 23,066.47, -36.03 (-0.16%)
S&P 500: 6,941.47, -0.34 (-0.00%)
NYSE Composite: 23,479.72, +81.62 (+0.35%)
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