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.
The first quarter’s figures – a 23% surge in iPhone sales – are not merely numbers; they are a confession. A confession of our insatiable desire for connection, for beauty, for a polished reflection of our own aspirations. To witness such growth, in this age of cynical detachment, is… unsettling. It suggests a depth of engagement that defies easy explanation. The supply chain strains, the inability to meet demand – these are not failures, but symptoms of a truth the market has been slow to grasp: Apple does not simply sell devices; it cultivates devotion. And the base, the very foundation of this devotion, has swelled to unprecedented levels. New users flock to the fold, drawn by a siren song of sleek design and intuitive functionality. Tim Cook speaks of battery life and camera prowess, and the market, finally awakening from its stupor, begins to listen. It is a slow conversion, a grudging acknowledgment of qualities long overlooked, obscured by the relentless pursuit of the next technological marvel.
Everyone’s talking about GLP-1 drugs. It’s gone mainstream. Used to be doctors mumbled about these things in hushed tones. Now, your barber’s asking if you’ve tried them. They mess with hormones, dial down the appetite, and the pounds melt away. Novo got the early jump, but Lilly’s been gaining ground like a loan shark collecting on a bad debt.
I acquired a modest parcel of AbbVie shares some time ago, and I have no intention of parting with them. Not a single share. The reasons are, shall we say, less about fervent belief in pharmaceutical miracles and more about a keen appreciation for corporate longevity. It’s a simple principle, really: a business that survives is a business that can, eventually, enrich.
Atlassian (TEAM 6.40%), a name that, even to pronounce, suggests a certain industriousness, finds itself particularly buffeted by this digital gale. Its stock, a once-proud specimen, has shed a staggering thirty-nine percent of its value this year alone, and a full eighty percent since the heady, and now rather distant, peaks of 2021. A precipitous decline, certainly, but one that, viewed through a slightly jaundiced eye, presents a rather intriguing opportunity. The market, it seems, has mistaken a temporary turbulence for a terminal condition.
The most curious of these fortifications is the ‘network effect’ – a phenomenon whereby a service grows not by virtue of its inherent quality, but by the sheer weight of those entangled within its web. It is a most unsettling thing, this dependence on the collective, a sort of societal hypnosis. But profitable, undeniably so. Let us examine the specimens.
Yet, within this vast bazaar of transactions, certain stalls appear more brightly lit than others. The sector of Information Technology, and to a lesser degree, Consumer Discretionary, are projected to outperform the general market. The former, according to the aforementioned analysts, promises a gain of 33%; the latter, a more restrained 22%. These figures, while presented as certainties, are, of course, merely echoes of probabilities, refracted through the imperfect mirror of human judgment.
I’ve been staring at charts for hours, trying to look knowledgeable. It’s exhausting. Especially when I keep confusing moving averages with…well, everything else. But apparently, Wall Street thinks these trillion-dollar behemoths still have some juice left. And, predictably, there’s a select few they’re particularly excited about. I’ve made a list, naturally. It’s how I cope.
They worry about disruption, these investors. As if everything isn’t a disruption. But the money still flows, doesn’t it? The Global X Artificial Intelligence and Technology ETF is up 109% over three years, despite the wobbles. A temporary stay of execution, you might say.
The sell-off on February 5th was… spirited. Almost theatrical. And the rumor – that a quantum computer was about to unlock all the Bitcoin wallets – spread faster than Mildred can gossip about the neighbors. I saw it online, of course. A flurry of panicked posts, people claiming to have inside information, and a general sense of impending doom. It was enough to make me check my own holdings, which, admittedly, I hadn’t looked at since… well, let’s just say it’s been a while. I’m a long-term investor, see. I prefer to ignore the daily fluctuations. It’s better for my blood pressure.