usdaed

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.

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.