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The sheer scale of capital now devoted to this pursuit is, admittedly, staggering. But is it not the nature of man to chase phantoms, to build towers of Babel on foundations of hope and speculation? This “AI boom,” as the optimists call it, is not merely a technological shift; it is a psychological one. We are, each of us, entrusting our futures—our very thoughts—to algorithms. And in doing so, are we not abdicating a portion of our own humanity?

The last pronouncement from this financial oracle – November 4th – revealed a bounty of $1.7 billion, a sum that might tempt a lesser soul into complacency. But I, having witnessed the capricious nature of markets for decades, remain… unsettled. It is not the magnitude of the profit that disturbs me, but the ease with which it was attained. A doubling of earnings, they boast. A siren song to the naive. And the record-breaking fee-related earnings of $652 million? A fleeting illusion, I suspect, built upon foundations of borrowed time and inflated expectations. The $871 million in spread-related earnings… a temporary reprieve from the inevitable entropy of the market.

The forthcoming report, detailing the final quarter of the previous year, promises a glimpse into the company’s internal mechanisms. But to anticipate future performance based on past results is akin to believing a map reflects the territory, rather than a cartographer’s interpretation of it. The true contours of value remain elusive, shifting like sand dunes in a perpetual wind.

This Madden outfit, see, they’ve increased their holdin’s in this QQQI by 58,594 shares. A considerable sum, to be sure, bringin’ their stake to 4.75% of the fund’s $8.3 billion. They claim it’s all up and up, a simple investment. I’ve heard that tune before, and it usually ends with someone whistlin’ past the graveyard. The quarter ended with a total value increase of $3.08 million, which includes both the new purchases and the natural ebb and flow of the market. A bit of both, as usual.

To speak of Walmart is to speak of a peculiar American phenomenon. It began, as so many great things do, with a simple premise: to offer goods at prices accessible to all. Sam Walton, the founder, was a man possessed of a singular vision, a relentless focus on cost, and a willingness to challenge the established order. His detractors dismissed him as a provincial upstart, yet he built an empire, a network of stores that now spans the globe. And the fruits of that labor are now evident, not merely in the company’s vast revenues, but in the astonishing return it has offered to those who possessed the foresight to invest in its early days. Since its initial offering in 1970, the stock has increased by a staggering 4,755,356% – a figure so immense it borders on the incomprehensible. Even in the recent year, while others faltered, Walmart has ascended, gaining 29%, exceeding the gains of the broader market by a considerable margin.

Over the past decade, Bitcoin has enjoyed a positively astronomical rise – a staggering 20,900 percent, if you please! A bit of a lark, really. Of course, nobody gets rich without a spot of bother along the way, and Bitcoin is no exception. It’s a bit of a roller coaster, but a dashedly exciting one, what!

The filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (a body dedicated to ensuring everyone plays by the rules, mostly) reveals that Knuff & Co. simply…let go. 147,651 shares, to be precise. The value, as stated, was around $5.16 million, calculated using the average closing price for the quarter. Which is a perfectly sensible way to calculate things, unless you’re a goblin accountant, in which case you’d use pebbles and wishful thinking. The overall effect is a rather noticeable dent in Knuff & Co.’s reported 13F assets – a bit like noticing a dragon has flown through your roof.

Unlike the predictable calculus of corporate earnings, silver offers no such comforting illusion of solidity. It is a refuge, yes, but a precarious one, sought not for its inherent worth, but for the fear of what is lacking elsewhere. Consumer confidence, having sunk to a decade low, provides a partial explanation for this recent mania. But to attribute it solely to economic anxiety is to ignore the darker currents at play – the irrational exuberance, the desperate grasping for salvation in a world increasingly devoid of meaning.