Transcript

Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 22 min · 3,593 words · 38 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT", an episode of MeidasTouch published February 16, 2026 (22 min, about 3,593 words). It mentions 49 people, works and ideas, including Ava Max, Midas Touch Network, Attorney General Pam Bondi, UNFR, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Attorney General Pam Bondi, Federal Reserve, United States (states), Capitol Hill
  2. – 10:00: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, Joe Biden, Jim Pollson, Attorney General Pam Bondi
  3. – 15:00: BLS, Joe Kernan, Moody's, Mark Xandandy
  4. – 20:00: Claude, Stock market rotation, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, United States (states)
  5. – 21:41: Ava Max, Midas Touch Network, midasplus.com, UNFR

Notable quotes from "Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT"

  • This is Max from UNFR here with the macro take, the weekly overview of economic and political news exclusively for the Midas Touch Network. We've got jobs and inflation data to cover, some.
    about Ava Max · at
  • Trump-free zone today. I promise. But you are actually our top story, so I'm glad you're here. All eyes were on Capitol Hill this week as the nation's top mean girl brought her burnbook to oversight hearings on the Epstein files.
    about Attorney General Pam Bondi · at
  • Send stimulus money into the economy on a timely, temporary, and targeted basis, Ben Bernani was doing that and more behind the scenes at the Federal Reserve. It made banks and their portfolio companies whole and then some.
    about Federal Reserve · at
  • Americans, that's just not the case. And this is why the elite in this country, like the worst anchor on CNBC, a guy named Joe Kernan, who cannot hide his partisan leanings to…
    about Joe Kernan · at
  • Should have really read my stuff under Obama. So, I'm an equal opportunity caller outer of BS. It's just that this administration isn't just the best at gaslighting, it's…
    about Joe Biden · at
  • People seem to forget all about open AI, which is becoming a theme. Anyway, anthropics claw 4.6 caused a staggering sell-off in a couple of major sectors such as software as a…
    about Claude · at
  • Anyway, somehow that trillion dollar wipeout found its way somewhere else because the stock market is always in rotation. And our last look today is actually a positive trend on the debt.
    about Stock market rotation · at
  • Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipowski, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content.
    about midasplus.com · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Ava Max — Person · Host · 2 mentions · first at
    Max is the host of the podcast, providing the macro take on economic and political news.
  • Attorney General Pam Bondi — Person · Referenced expert · 3 mentions · first at
    Pam Bondi is a key figure discussed in the podcast, particularly in relation to Capitol Hill hearings.
  • Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant — Person · Referenced expert · 4 mentions · first at
    Scott Bessant is discussed in the context of setting up Republicans for midterm success and economic predictions.
    Treasury, and so much more to get into, including Pam Bondi losing the plot on Capitol Hill, Scott Bessant doing his best to set up Republicans for midterm success, and some…
  • Joe Biden — Person · Referenced expert · 3 mentions · first at
    Joe Biden is mentioned in the context of economic policies and their impact.
  • Joe Kernan — Person · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at
    Joe Kernan is criticized for his tone-deaf comments about the economy and stock market.
  • Donald Trump — Person · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at
    Donald Trump is mentioned in the context of economic policies and tax receipts.
    Did you know that roughly 40% of the total is paid by the top 1%? In other words, the top 1% had one hell of a year under Donald Trump. The rest of the gains you paid for…
  • Jim Pollson — Person · Referenced expert · 2 mentions · first at
    Jim Pollson is cited for his economic insights and analysis.
    Releases, but the bottom line is that nothing is working to get the engine cranking on Main Street. Now, here's a guy named Jim Pollson. He's an economist and a former CIO of an investment firm saying the one thing that actually matters.
  • Barack Obama — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Barack Obama is mentioned in the context of economic policies and stimulus measures.
    The same BS talking point. How can you say things are bad when the market is so good? Well, the market is good because Barack Obama and Joe Biden sent trillions of dollars into…
  • Matt Schumer — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Matt Schumer is mentioned in the context of AI developments and market impact.
    Value was wiped off the table across multiple sectors. Now, the second one was a blog post, believe it or not. It was a post from an AI tech exec named Matt Schumer who reposted it to X and it has over 80 million views and counting.
  • Larry Summers — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Larry Summers is mentioned in the context of economic policies during the Obama administration.
    Printing machine on, it was more indiscriminate than we realized at the time. As much as the Obama playbook under Larry Summers and Tim Gner was to send stimulus money into the…
  • Tim Geithner — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Tim Geithner is mentioned in the context of economic policies during the Obama administration.
    Printing machine on, it was more indiscriminate than we realized at the time. As much as the Obama playbook under Larry Summers and Tim Gner was to send stimulus money into the…
  • Ben Bernanke — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Ben Bernanke is mentioned in the context of Federal Reserve actions during the financial crisis.
    Send stimulus money into the economy on a timely, temporary, and targeted basis, Ben Bernani was doing that and more behind the scenes at the Federal Reserve. It made banks and their portfolio companies whole and then some.
  • Mark Xandandy — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Mark Xandandy is mentioned in the context of inflation analysis.
    Than they're saying. And don't take my word for it. Here's the head economist for Moody's, Mark Xandandy.
  • Mark Zandi — Person · Referenced expert · 1 mention · first at
    Mark Zandi is mentioned in the context of economic analysis.
    Than they're saying. And don't take my word for it. Here's the head economist for Moody's, Mark Xandandy.

Companies & orgs

  • Midas Touch Network — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    The podcast is exclusively for the Midas Touch Network, indicating a partnership or ownership relationship.
    This is Max from UNFR here with the macro take, the weekly overview of economic and political news exclusively for the Midas Touch Network. We've got jobs and inflation data to cover, some more fallout from the AI and big tech.
  • UNFR — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    UNFR is the company associated with Max, the host of the podcast, and provides a weekly newsletter.
    This is Max from UNFR here with the macro take, the weekly overview of economic and political news exclusively for the Midas Touch Network. We've got jobs and inflation data to cover, some.
  • Federal Reserve — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    The Federal Reserve is discussed in the context of monetary policy and its impact on the economy.
  • Treasury — Company · Business focus · 4 mentions · first at
    The Treasury is discussed in relation to economic data and fiscal policy.
    Jobs and inflation data to cover, some more fallout from the AI and big tech universe, updated figures from the Treasury, and so much more to get into, including Pam Bondi…
  • Anthropic — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    Anthropic is discussed as a competitor to OpenAI in the AI space.
    So, the first was simultaneous releases from OpenAI and Anthropic, the two AI giants in the United States. But the anthropic drop was so stunning that people seem to forget all about open AI,.
  • OpenAI — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    OpenAI is mentioned in the context of AI developments and market impact.
    Giants in the United States. But the anthropic drop was so stunning that people seem to forget all about open AI, which is becoming a theme. Anyway, anthropics claw 4.6 caused…
  • Moody's — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    Moody's is mentioned in the context of economic analysis and inflation data.
    So, the year-over-year number is higher than they're saying. And don't take my word for it. Here's the head economist for Moody's, Mark Xandandy.
  • BLS — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at
    BLS is mentioned in the context of labor data and inflation figures.
    The BLS made some pretty big technical adjustments for how strong the labor market was in 2025.
  • CNBC — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    CNBC is mentioned in the context of financial news and commentary.
    Or an IRA, that's pretty well and good for you. But for the vast majority of Americans, that's just not the case. And this is why the elite in this country, like the worst…
  • Associated Builders and Contractors — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    The Associated Builders and Contractors is mentioned in the context of construction data.
    Construction gains are almost exclusively in data centers. The Associated Builders and Contractors said outlays for data centers were up 32% year-over-year. And we know that…
  • Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget — Company · Business focus · 1 mention · first at
    The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is mentioned in the context of deficit estimates.
    Now, the deficit is about $696 billion, which is $143 billion smaller than the same period last year. So, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and others estimate…

Products & tech

  • Claude — Product · Case study · 2 mentions · first at
    Claude is discussed as an AI product causing market disruptions.

Concepts & topics

  • Stock market rotation — Concept · Core topic · 2 mentions · first at
    Stock market rotation is discussed as a key concept in understanding market dynamics.
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average — Stock Market Index · Economic indicator referenced in political debate · 1 mention · first at
    Used as political talking point about economic success
    The Dow right now is over the Dow is over $50,000. I don't know why you're laughing.
  • Dow — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The Dow is referenced in discussions about stock market performance.
    They're all sent out into the world with the same BS talking point. How can you say things are bad when the market is so good? Well, the market is good because Barack Obama and Joe Biden sent trillions of dollars into the global.
  • Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The Inflation Reduction Act is discussed as a significant piece of legislation impacting the economy.
    Up the balance sheets once again of small, medium, and large businesses in America. Then Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act to hammer home government spending in the long…
  • NASDAQ — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The NASDAQ is referenced in discussions about stock market performance.
    The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000 and the NASDAQ smashing records, right? The stock market. who needs justice for sex trafficking victims when the stock market is.
  • S&P — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The S&P is referenced in discussions about stock market performance.
    The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000 and the NASDAQ smashing records, right? The stock market. who needs justice for sex trafficking victims when the stock market is.
  • Fed put — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The Fed put is discussed as a concept in monetary policy and market confidence.
    Of America's companies having the ultimate backs stop in the Fed, something that they refer to as the Fed put, global investors were all too happy to purchase our dollars at a…
  • dotcom bubble — Concept · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The dotcom bubble is referenced as a historical example of market corrections.
    Sorts that made equities sensitive to economic data. Take the dotcom bubble as an example. There were major market corrections because investors looked at the situation and…
  • First Principles Thinking — Concept · Core topic · 3 mentions
    First Principles Thinking is mentioned as a concept in the podcast.

Places & events

  • United States (states) — Place · Setting · 3 mentions · first at
    The podcast primarily discusses economic and political events within the United States.
    You are actually our top story, so I'm glad you're here. All eyes were on Capitol Hill this week as the nation's top mean girl brought her burnbook to oversight hearings on the Epstein files.
  • Capitol Hill — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Capitol Hill is the setting for political discussions and hearings mentioned in the podcast.
    Trump-free zone today. I promise. But you are actually our top story, so I'm glad you're here. All eyes were on Capitol Hill this week as the nation's top mean girl brought her burnbook to oversight hearings on the Epstein files.
  • Main Street — Place · Setting · 2 mentions · first at
    Main Street is referenced in contrast to Wall Street, highlighting economic disparities.
    Further when we get into the data releases, but the bottom line is that nothing is working to get the engine cranking on Main Street. Now, here's a guy named Jim Pollson. He's…
  • midterms — Event · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The midterms are discussed in the context of political strategy and economic impact.
    Treasury, and so much more to get into, including Pam Bondi losing the plot on Capitol Hill, Scott Bessant doing his best to set up Republicans for midterm success, and some…
  • Dotcom bubble — Event · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The dotcom bubble is referenced as a historical example of market corrections.
    Sorts that made equities sensitive to economic data. Take the dotcom bubble as an example. There were major market corrections because investors looked at the situation and…
  • Financial crisis — Event · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The Financial crisis is referenced as a historical example of economic downturns.
    Tumbling down and the market returned to earth for a moment. Then it ran hot again, as we know, before hitting a wall during the financial crisis less than a decade later. And…
  • COVID — Event · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    COVID is referenced in the context of economic stimulus measures.
    So Schumer's post had the effect of kind of validating Claude's claims at the same time. And so the negative sentiment about AI's potential to destroy the job market whipped…
  • COVID-19 pandemic — Event · Core topic · 1 mention · first at
    The COVID-19 pandemic is referenced in the context of economic stimulus measures.
    So Schumer's post had the effect of kind of validating Claude's claims at the same time. And so the negative sentiment about AI's potential to destroy the job market whipped…
  • Europe — Place · Setting · 1 mention · first at
    Europe is mentioned in the context of stock market performance compared to the US.
    Still outperform most corporate sectors in other countries. Now, it is worth noting that foreign indices, especially in Europe, have actually been outperforming US markets. So…

Sponsors

  • midasplus.com — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    midasplus.com is promoted as a subscription service for exclusive content.
  • UNFR.com — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    UNFR.com is promoted as a source for a free weekly newsletter.
    Thanks for your service to Donald Trump's America. For Midas Touch, I'm Max from UNFR. You can find me on Blue Sky and YouTube at UNFR and visit UNFR.com to sign up for our…
  • Substack — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    Substack is mentioned as a platform for the Midas Touch Network's newsletter.
    Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipowski, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus.com.
  • Blue Sky — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    Blue Sky is mentioned as a platform where Max can be found.
    Thanks for your service to Donald Trump's America. For Midas Touch, I'm Max from UNFR. You can find me on Blue Sky and YouTube at UNFR and visit UNFR.com to sign up for our…
  • YouTube — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at
    YouTube is mentioned as a platform where Max can be found.
    Thanks for your service to Donald Trump's America. For Midas Touch, I'm Max from UNFR. You can find me on Blue Sky and YouTube at UNFR and visit UNFR.com to sign up for our…

Full transcript with timestamps

This is Max from UNFR here with the macro take, the weekly overview of economic and political news exclusively for the Midas Touch Network. We've got jobs and inflation data to cover, some more fallout from the AI and big tech universe, updated figures from the Treasury, and so much more to get into, including Pam Bondi losing the plot on Capitol Hill, Scott Bessant doing his best to set up Republicans for midterm success, and some pundits who actually managed to speak the truth on mainstream media. Settle in mightest mighty. It's just another week in Bizarro America.

All right, let's switch it up and hop into our lead story today before we get into some headlines and some data releases.

You sit here and you attack the president and I am not going to have it. I'm not going to put up with it.

Whoa, lady, take it easy. This is a Trump-free zone today. I promise. But you are actually our top story, so I'm glad you're here. All eyes were on Capitol Hill this week as the nation's top mean girl brought her burnbook to oversight hearings on the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Pan or Pam?

It's Pam. Pam. Pam Bondi turned the hearings into a complete spectacle, refusing throughout to acknowledge the victims seated behind her who are still awaiting any semblance of justice as the administration pretends to promote transparency while actually stonewalling Congress and averting justice. But what caught my attention was what AG Bondi actually found really important.

The Dow The Dow right now is over the Dow is over $50,000. I don't know why you're laughing.

I'm not laughing at you. I'm I'm challening. Please, by all means, continue. The Dow is over 50,000 right now. The S&P at almost 7,000 and the NASDAQ smashing records,

right? The stock market. I mean, who needs justice for sex trafficking victims when the stock market is breaking records every week? No one, and I mean no one, can predict what the stock market is going to do. But it is clear that the capital class is willing to go along to get along, even with the most heinous of crimes, from sex trafficking to hollowing out the middle class, just as long as their precious stock market is left alone. And even though no one can say for sure where it's headed, I can tell you with great certainty why it's so high while everything else feels so terrible around it. It's all about capital flows. When stock market valuations used to reflect some semblance of a company's performance, there was an equilibrium of sorts that made equities sensitive to economic data. Take the dotcom bubble as an example. There were major market corrections because investors looked at

the situation and understood that the fundamentals didn't make any sense. And when one domino fell, they all came tumbling down and the market returned to earth for a moment. Then it ran hot again, as we know, before hitting a wall during the financial crisis less than a decade later. And that's when everything changed. When we turned the money printing machine on, it was more indiscriminate than we realized at the time. As much as the Obama playbook under Larry Summers and Tim Gner was to send stimulus money into the economy on a timely, temporary, and targeted basis, Ben Bernani was doing that and more behind the scenes at the Federal Reserve. It made banks and their portfolio companies whole and then some.

As a result, the corporate class in the banking sector was able to delever at low interest rates and then recapitalize over time, sending the riskier stuff into the private credit market and making access to capital on Main Street more difficult because the American people were a riskier bet than the American corporation. Then after co we repeated the same playbook under Trump and then Biden, but on steroids. This time more money did make it into the hands of American people because of the extraordinary circumstances, but it had another latent effect in the stock market that we're experiencing today.

The sheer amount of money supply that was generated went everywhere. We sold dollars through the Treasury and flooded the world with them. And then we short up the balance sheets once again of small, medium, and large businesses in America. Then Biden passed the Inflation Reduction Act to hammer home government spending in the long run at least. And then suddenly the whole world was a wash in more dollars than ever before. And because the world got used to the notion of America's companies having the ultimate backs stop in the Fed, something that they refer to as the Fed put, global investors were all too happy to purchase our dollars at a small premium and then pour them back into the stock market for a huge return. But because our corporations had already gone through massive deleveraging and short up their balance sheets, when they access this new money at lower rates, they did things like buy back their own

shares and issue more dividends. None of that money comes to us. It goes to shareholders. So to the extent that you do have a retirement account in a 401k or an IRA, that's pretty well and good for you. But for the vast majority of Americans, that's just not the case. And this is why the elite in this country, like the worst anchor on CNBC, a guy named Joe Kernan, who cannot hide his partisan leanings to save his life, simply cannot understand what everyone's problem is.

50,000 U, Mr. Secretary, 130,000 jobs, you know, more than double what was expected, 4.3% unemployment, closed border. What What is wrong with the mood of the country? What are what are people feeling that that have some polls showing that people miss Joe Biden's economy? What how does that work? Where's where's the disconnect?

Now, you all know how I feel about our Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett. Well, his response to this line of tone-deaf questioning is just as you would expect.

I I think, as I've said many times, 2025 is about setting the table. 2026 is going to be a a banquet for the American people. a banquet. That's some prediction, Scott. Hey, generally speaking, do your predictions tend to work out because I distinctly remember you saying that 2025 was also going to be a feast.

My predictions have been bad. Have been bad. Okay, that's what I thought. So, hang tight because Kernan actually lets the mask drop on this next question. And I think you're going to love Besson's response. what needs to to happen to to make Americans feel better to to maybe increase the Republicans chances and of of uh holding the House and Senate?

Well, Joe, if the Democrats want to compete on the 2026 economy, I I think Republicans, House, Senate, and local candidates, they are are willing to do it.

Challenge accepted. If like Pam Bondi, all you have to run on is the stock market, then you're building on sand, my friend. We'll dig into this a little further when we get into the data releases, but the bottom line is that nothing is working to get the engine cranking on Main Street. Now, here's a guy named Jim Pollson. He's an economist and a former CIO of an investment firm saying the one thing that actually matters.

To me, having no jobs is just unacceptable in American capitalism. It it means no prospects for Americans and I don't think that could stand. I think if you back out trade year to date or over the last four quarters, Mike, you got real GDP growth, which is 1.8%. If you back out net exports, if you take just take personal consumption and investment spending together, they're growing just barely over 2%. That used to be the stall speed for the economy. Now later we're going to hear from the lead economist at Moody's from the same interview because he also has a solid take on inflation. But Pollson gets it exactly right here. Jobs aren't moving and you're going to see that in the labor data when we get there in a little bit. The administration was celebrating the recent release, but it was so much worse than it appears on the surface.

But back to the main takeaway here. They're all sent out into the world with the same BS talking point. How can you say things are bad when the market is so good? Well, the market is good because Barack Obama and Joe Biden sent trillions of dollars into the global economy and set stock markets both here and abroad, mind you, absolutely ablaze. And here's the thing, they can stay that way for a very long time. There are cracks showing up in the bond market and everyone's still holding their breath when it comes to private credit. But even in these areas, there is so much money running through the entire financial system that needs a home. And equities are the fastest, easiest way to move money around, to get a return, to get in and get out. The US stock market remains the the biggest and most liquid market on the planet. And our companies still outperform most corporate sectors in other countries. Now, it is worth

noting that foreign indices, especially in Europe, have actually been outperforming US markets. So, this is a global phenomenon, but remember, it's happening because of our dollars. But it all shows up in the inequality metrics, and those are the real drivers of sentiment. If you spend more than you make, you're just not going to be happy. So, yes, Scott, challenge accepted, and we'll see you at the midterms, assuming we have those anymore. All

right, let's dig into some headlines. Starting with inflation. Trump officials and mainstream pundits were pretty giddy over the January inflation print because if you just look at the headline number, consumer prices rose 2% on the month and 2.4% over the past year. Core inflation stripping out food and energy came in a little bit hotter at.3% on the month and 2 1/2% year-over-year. But the big story is under the hood. I know these numbers are tiny, but the whole graph is important because when you look at the annual trend, the year-over-year comparisons they make is still BS because they never backfilled data for October and November from the shutdown.

So, the year-over-year number is higher than they're saying. And don't take my word for it. Here's the head economist for Moody's, Mark Xandandy.

The inflation numbers are biased lower because of what happened last October when the government shut down. The BLS couldn't collect that data and they assumed effectively no inflation. So if you if you account for that CPI inflation year-over-year is closer to 3%, not 2%.

So now if we isolate January, it shows how disproportionate inflation hits the population. Shelter rose2% in January and it's up 3% over the past year. remaining the single largest contributor to monthly inflation. Energy prices fell one and a half percent in January and they're down slightly year-over-year with gasoline off 3.2% on the month and 7 1/2% over 12 months. This is because we're in a global economic slowdown outside of the stock market. So oil and gas is low, but electricity is still somehow up 6.3% over the year. behind you. That's the stuff that impacts every household. Then there's food inflation, which is still a thing. Overall food prices rose 2% in January and 2.9% over the year. Food at home, groceries are up 2.1% year-over-year, while food away from home is running hotter at 4%.

That's what makes people like Joe Kernan so freaking tonedeaf. And here's the thing with this guy. He's one of the Squawkbox anchors, one of the big three who's been on the air forever. And this guy gets a lot of airtime and he's always incredulous when someone brings up how people don't feel good about the economy. And it's not an act because this guy's whole life revolves around the stock market. So hopefully you're seeing a pattern here. All right, so now let's dig into the jobs report because here again, the headline figures are completely at odds with our experiences in everyday life. There are numbers in here that truly mask how ill things are below the surface. And again, sometimes I hate giving these reports because I'm relatively new here on Midas. I've been here for a few months. Actually, this is my 50th episode with the Midas Mighty.

So, happy anniversary everyone. So, you're going to have to take my word word for this because I was just as brutal during the Biden years and you should have really read my stuff under Obama. So, I'm an equal opportunity caller outer of BS. It's just that this administration isn't just the best at gaslighting, it's determined to destroy the working class and so they get special marks. Anywh who, if you look at the headlines, you would think that the labor market is rebounding. Total non-farm payroll employment rose by 130,000 in January 2026, significantly beating consensus estimates of 55,000.

The unemployment rate, which we've talked about before at Nauseum, edged down to 4.3% from 4.4% in December. And this marked the strongest month for payroll growth since December of 2024. So, not bad, right? But once again, going under the hood, there's one glaring aspect to even the headlines. The BLS made some pretty big technical adjustments for how strong the labor market was in 2025. After the annual benchmark revision, March 2025 payrolls were marked down by 898,000 jobs. So total job growth in 2025 was revised from 584,000 to just 181,000. That's barely 15,000 jobs per month on average. Now, that's consistent with an economy that has cooled substantially from the post-pandemic boom. It's still adding jobs, sure, but at a much slower pace.

Now, if we dig into the details, it paints a different picture about the nature of employment. Job growth continues to be narrow. There's just no other way to say it. And this assumes that these numbers won't also be revised down in the future. Now, the driver is healthc care with a whopping 82,000 jobs in January alone. Social assistance tacked on 42,000 jobs, mostly in individual and family services. And construction, which we'll talk about, added 33,000 in non-residential specialty trade contractors. Most other major sectors from manufacturing to retail to leisure and hospitality were basically flat on the month. Now remember the health care figures here are a reflection of an aging population and a der of employees to service that sector of the economy. It's also not something that really adds to productive GDP figures because you're just talking about a population taking care of an

older population. So yeah, it looks like GDP, but this isn't like manufacturing jobs that actually move the needle. Now the only other figure that trended upward was construction. And this is the point that the administration keeps hammering. Bessent talks about it incessantly or maybe I should say imbeccently and this is where context is everything. So yeah, construction added 33,000 jobs in January after being essentially flat throughout all of 2025. But the BLS specifically called out non-residential specialty trade contractors as the primary driver, accounting for almost 76% of total construction gain. and the remaining 8,000 was distributed across construction and heavy civil engineering construction. So while the BLS doesn't tag employment by enduse product type like there's no line for data center, there's mounting evidence that these construction gains are almost exclusively in data centers. The

Associated Builders and Contractors said outlays for data centers were up 32% year-over-year. And we know that the hyperscalers have committed another $650 billion, maybe more, toward data center construction just this year. And then there's the specific trades. Pipe fitters, mechanical engineers, HVAC, electricians called to work on data centers, substations, and connectivity to the grid. So if you could figure out how to send your kids to school in a data center or eat at one, then maybe they could be part of the real economy.

But the thing about data centers is that they're like fracking wells. They bring temporary high-skilled highly specialized labor from all over the country for a short period of time and then they move on. And it takes only a handful of people to actually run a data center in the long run. So these aren't the seeds of a construction boom that will fan out into other sectors. These are isolated, temporary, water sucking, energydemanding, jobkilling data centers. All right, a couple more headlines before we get out of here. The rotation out of big tech continues as two major events that I recently covered on UNFR build on our theme of how insulated the stock market really is from the rest of the world.

So, the first was simultaneous releases from OpenAI and Anthropic, the two AI giants in the United States. But the anthropic drop was so stunning that people seem to forget all about open AI, which is becoming a theme. Anyway, anthropics claw 4.6 caused a staggering sell-off in a couple of major sectors such as software as a service and legal tech and then it bled into fintech and then into commercial real estate because forecasters are doing the math on the sheer disruption that might occur if Claude is capable of everything that it claims. almost a trillion dollars in value was wiped off the table across multiple sectors. Now, the second one was a blog post, believe it or not. It was a post from an AI tech exec named Matt Schumer who reposted it to X and it has over 80 million views and counting.

Not only did AI help him write the post, but it included a very bold line that said, "AI is now building the next AI." So Schumer's post had the effect of kind of validating Claude's claims at the same time. And so the negative sentiment about AI's potential to destroy the job market whipped through the market like COVID on an airplane. And this backs stops our discussion about the supremacy of money and its need to find a home. When money moves from one sector to another, the market calls this rotation. It's their favorite word. So when the large cap stocks take a dump, that's fine. they'll just make a rotation to small and midcap. When growth stocks are getting pounded, don't worry about it.

That's just a rotation to value. And then when the tech sector nose dives like it's doing right now, it just makes a rotation into staples. Not the office supply store like staples like stuff you can buy every day. Anyway, somehow that trillion dollar wipeout found its way somewhere else because the stock market is always in rotation. And our last look today is actually a positive trend on the debt and deficit sides of things. For January, the Treasury booked a $95 billion deficit, which is down 26% from the roughly $129 billion shortfall last year. At the same time, on a fiscal year-to-ate basis, which is the first four months of the year, October through now, the deficit is about $696 billion, which is $143 billion smaller than the same period last year. So, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and others estimate that despite the early bump in revenues, we're still on course

for nearly $2 trillion in red ink for the balance of this year. So, the positive news here once again is for the markets. in this case, the bond market, because it will be interpreted as a signal that we're starting the long and difficult process of working down our structural deficit. And hey, they did it by placing tariffs on imported goods. Yeah, they're showing up in your prices at at home, but you know, big deal, right? And they did it through cutting hundreds of thousands of federal employees by gutting foreign aid. And maybe the most impressive area of all, a hundred billion dollar increase in individual tax receipts. Not bad, right?

But you know what's fascinating about that? About 40% of Americans don't wind up paying income tax because they don't make enough. So the top 50% pay 97% of all federal income taxes. But get this, did you know that roughly 40% of the total is paid by the top 1%? In other words, the top 1% had one hell of a year under Donald Trump. The rest of the gains you paid for personally. So, thanks for your service to Donald Trump's America. For Midas Touch, I'm Max from UNFR. You can find me on Blue Sky and YouTube at UNFR and visit UNFR.com to sign up for our free weekly newsletter. This has been the Macro Take exclusively for the Midas Touch Network.

Want to stay plugged in? Become a subscriber to our Substack at midasplus.com. You'll get daily recaps from Ron Filipowski, ad free episodes of our podcast, and more exclusive content only available at midasplus.com.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT"?

Ava Max (Host).

What is discussed in "Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT"?

In order: 0:00 Attorney General Pam Bondi, Federal Reserve, United States (states), Capitol Hill; 5:00 Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, Joe Biden, Jim Pollson, Attorney General Pam Bondi; 10:00 BLS, Joe Kernan, Moody's, Mark Xandandy; 15:00 Claude, Stock market rotation, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, United States (states); 20:00 Ava Max, Midas Touch Network, midasplus.com, UNFR.

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

49 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Ava Max, Midas Touch Network, Attorney General Pam Bondi, UNFR, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, United States (states). Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump REAL Economic Disaster HIDING in PLAIN SIGHT"?

The episode runs 22 min; the transcript is about 3,593 words in 38 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated February 17, 2026.