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There’s been a bit of a wobble lately. Investors, those fidgety creatures, have begun to shy away from anything that smells remotely of risk. It’s like a room full of cats spotting a particularly grumpy dachshund – everyone scatters. This, naturally, has pushed the price of XRP downwards, and folks are starting to wonder where it might end up in the next three years. I won’t pretend to be a fortune teller, but I suspect things might get a bit… prickly for this digital coin. Let me explain.

The Humira cliff is now a distant speck in the rearview mirror, a cautionary tale whispered among analysts. But what lies ahead? Ah, that is the question that keeps the accountants awake at night, and the investment managers reaching for another cup of weak tea. Let us consider the matter with the cold, calculating gaze of a man examining a slightly bruised apple.

Shareholder returns, of course, are the official justification. The paperwork is extensive. But to focus solely on profit is to miss the underlying… arrangement. The stock did not ascend in a linear fashion, naturally. It suffered setbacks. A minor contraction in 2018, attributed to vague anxieties concerning economic cycles. The price diminished, predictably, by more than half. A corrective measure, one assumes, though the rationale remains elusive.

D-Wave, a name that once echoed with the potential to unlock the secrets of the universe, has lately suffered a decline, a shedding of nearly forty percent of its value in recent months. This downturn has prompted the usual chorus of questions: is this a moment for the shrewd investor to gather fallen fruit, or a warning to steer clear of a ship taking on water? The company, once a beacon of hope in the nascent field of quantum computing, has seen its stock soar by an astonishing 1,600% over the past three years, a testament to the seductive power of technological speculation. But the markets, like capricious gods, rarely allow such ascensions to continue unchecked.

There was a time, not so long ago, when folks feared these artificial intelligences would up and steal the bread from Google’s search engine. A right silly notion, when you think on it. Turns out, folks are just as happy askin’ a machine as they are askin’ a feller with a bit of book learnin’. Google’s search revenue, it seems, is still flowin’ like the Mississippi – up near 15 percent to around $56.6 billion last quarter. These AI “Overviews” and “Modes” are keepin’ folks clickin’ and lookin’, especially the younger generation who seem to think every answer can be found with a few taps on a screen. They even got over 75 million folks usin’ this conversational searchin’ gadget daily. A marvel, I tell ya, though I reckon a good library card is still a better investment.

But the question persists: has this ascent already captured all the potential reward, leaving only the inevitable reckoning? The field of quantum computation, while possessing a theoretical grandeur, is becoming increasingly crowded, a jostling of both established behemoths and nimble start-ups, each vying for dominance. One is reminded of the great landowners of old, each claiming a portion of the fertile land, and prepared to defend it with both cunning and force. Is IonQ, in this new landscape, still a prudent investment, or merely a vessel carrying the hopes – and the funds – of those who believe in a future yet unproven?

Transaction value is calculated based on the SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price ($12.41); post-transaction value reflects the January 26, 2026 market close ($12.50).

So, I started looking for something… sturdier. Something that wasn’t reliant on the whims of Mark Zuckerberg’s latest obsession. That’s when I landed on NextEra Energy (NEE 0.32%). It’s not exactly glamorous, I admit. It’s not like buying shares in a company that designs self-folding laundry. But NextEra generates power. Real, tangible power. From things like natural gas, nuclear, solar, and wind. It’s… reassuringly basic. Like a good, solid pair of sensible shoes.