Two names came across my desk: Walmart (WMT +1.69%) and Macy’s (M +3.52%). Both deal in dividends. Both are looking for a piece of your action. The question isn’t whether they can pay, but whether they’re worth the risk.
Valuation? Oh, they whine about valuation. As if numbers on a screen can contain the sheer, unadulterated potential of this company. It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it’s becoming. A digital panopticon, maybe. A key to unlocking… well, let’s just say a lot of doors you probably didn’t want opened in the first place. The numbers, frankly, are just a smokescreen. A distraction from the REAL story unfolding in the data streams.
American Express. A name that once evoked images of elegant travel, of discerning clientele… now largely reduced to points and rewards programs. Berkshire Hathaway’s long-held affection for this institution is… curious. Sixteen-point-seven percent of the total portfolio. A substantial commitment, bordering on the obsessive. One suspects a personal attachment, a sentimental fondness for a bygone era. Perhaps Mr. Buffett simply enjoys the weight of the platinum cards in his hand. Regardless, the numbers are… acceptable. The company persists, demonstrating a resilience that is, frankly, surprising. They’ve managed to ensnare a new generation, these millennials and Gen-Z creatures, with promises of instant gratification. The irony, of course, is that they are merely perpetuating the same cycle of debt and desire as their predecessors. But who are we to judge? The wheel turns, and American Express collects its toll.
The discerning investor, one who favors the quiet accumulation of value over the fleeting spectacle of hype, might instead cast an eye towards less celebrated, yet potentially more fertile, ground. Sandisk and Pagaya Technologies, names that lack the immediate resonance of Nvidia, offer a different sort of allure—a promise not of instantaneous elevation, but of sustained, perhaps even glacial, growth. Their valuations, presently more… tractable, suggest a degree of headroom that Nvidia, having already scaled such dizzying heights, can only dream of.
Joby is, to give them credit, making noises that suggest forward momentum. Hundreds of test flights have been conducted, which is good, assuming they haven’t simply been circling the same field repeatedly to impress onlookers. They’re now investing in simulators to train pilots, a sensible precaution considering that handing the controls to an untrained individual in a flying machine is generally frowned upon by insurance adjusters. This is all progress, of a sort, though it feels rather like measuring the distance travelled by a snail attempting to cross the Atlantic.
Over the years, these and other products have allowed Abbott to build a record of earnings growth that’s positively dazzling, and the financial muscle to maintain a dividend program that’s, well, remarkably persistent. A Dividend King, they call it – meaning they’ve been increasing those payments for over half a century. A truly impressive feat, and one that rather tickles the fancy of a cautious investor, don’t you think?
There is a peculiar irony in this. The very companies that once dictated the pace of innovation – the behemoths of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google – find themselves burdened by the weight of their own infrastructure. They have poured fortunes into data centers, into the physical manifestation of the digital ether, and now find the costs…substantial. This is not merely a matter of expenditure, but of time. Time lost to construction, to maintenance, to the inevitable bureaucratic delays that afflict all large organizations. And in this slow dance of capital investment, a space has opened for a more nimble contender.
At a moment when questions are being raised about the sustainability of expenditure on data centers, processing units, and other necessary infrastructure, Alphabet has announced planned expenditures of $175 to $185 billion for the year 2026. This figure, roughly double the amount spent in 2025, and significantly exceeding analysts’ predictions, is not a matter for light dismissal.
Still, one must try. One must appear to have a plan. So, I’ve been doing some…research. (Mostly scrolling Twitter and panicking, if I’m being honest.) And two cryptocurrencies have emerged as…less terrifying than the others. Hyperliquid and Pax Gold. Don’t judge me. I’m just trying to survive.
Now, recent data appears to throw its hat into the ring with great fanfare. According to our friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. managed to add a whopping 130k jobs in January, which is far more than the paltry 55k we were all nervously anticipating. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate decided to play nice and drop to 4.3%, shattering forecasts of 4.4% like a piñata at a poorly organized birthday party.