usdaed

During the third quarter, a typically discreet act of stock trimming took place-like snipping a strand of hair just before a first date, hoping no one notices. This fund, which manages nearly $320 million in U.S. stocks, decided to unload almost 3% of its position in Perimeter Solutions, leaving behind a little over 1.5 million shares valued at about $35.24 million. This modest redistribution makes you wonder if they’re trying to dress their portfolio for a cocktail party rather than a fireworks show.

On November 14, 13D Management LLC, a New York-based fund with the dramatic flair of a soap opera antagonist, filed its quarterly report revealing it had exited its entire position in Riot Platforms. The move shaved $5.12 million off its portfolio-a tidy sum, though I’m told that’s only about 0.000000001% of the wealth accumulated by people who own private islands.

On November 14, the SEC released a document that might as well have been written in code for the uninitiated. 13D Management, that shadowy cabal of financial alchemists, revealed a new position in Viasat (VSAT 0.97%) during the third quarter. They own 267,000 shares, each one a bullet in the chamber of their portfolio’s roulette wheel. The fund’s total equity holdings? A tidy 18, as of September 30. A number that feels both precise and absurd, like the price of a loaf of bread in a world run by madmen.

Per the formal disclosure, Aristides Capital liquidated its entire holding of 28,467 IBB shares, an action reflective of an active reallocation rather than an accidental retreat. Based on the quarterly average price at the time, the sale signified a substantial move-entirely unwinding their exposure to a sector that, arguably, had already experienced a significant upswing. This signals a nuanced approach to risk management, if not outright skepticism about the sustainability of ongoing momentum.

The filing, dated November 13, reads as corporate romance novels often begin: with a sudden acquisition. Yet here, no damsel in distress, only a firm weathering a 20% decline while the S&P 500 basks in 15% growth. The market, that fickle bard, sings no ballads of Fluor’s $15.59 billion revenue or its $3.38 billion net income. Instead, it hums a dirge.

The stock had pulled a Houdini-up 113% in a year, laughing at the S&P’s meek 15% crawl. UroGen’s market cap swelled to $1.1 billion, a ghost of a thing built on $96.52 million in revenue and a net loss wider than the Grand Canyon. But Wall Street’s circus never rewards the clowns who stay on the tightrope too long.

The Seven, in their hubris, have claimed nearly a third of the index’s valuation-a dominion forged in the fires of artificial intelligence hype and the delusion that innovation alone justifies endless multiples. Yet, as Solzhenitsyn once dissected the Soviet machine, so too must we interrogate the mechanisms of their power: What if the AI-driven future they promise is but a mirage, a desert mirage where investors have been made to kneel?