Hess Midstream: A Calculated Exit?

The position shrunk to about 2.69% of their reportable assets. Which, let’s be honest, is a polite way of saying they decided Hess Midstream wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. They’ve clearly reassessed the risk-reward. And frankly, I’m with them. Not that I have any assets under management, mind you. Just a crippling addiction to market data and a healthy dose of cynicism.

Walmart’s Numbers: Shiny, But Still Makes Me Nervous

They’re trying to spin it as cautious optimism, but I suspect it’s more like bracing for impact. Like putting on a nice dress before a potentially disastrous party. You know, just in case. And honestly, that CEO, John Furner, only took over on February 1st. New guy. Always makes me suspicious. Like, what are you hiding?

Ephemeral Yields: A Discreet Inquiry

Children with Currency

Yet, even in this exuberant wilderness, a few blooms offer not only visual appeal but a subtle, perfumed promise of income. We shall, with a suitably detached curiosity, examine two such instances: Enterprise Products Partners and Bristol Myers Squibb. Consider them, if you will, as particularly well-preserved butterflies pinned for our inspection.

Amazon’s Chip Play: Beyond Nvidia

Now, everyone’s been assuming Nvidia, the current darling of the AI boom, would be the primary beneficiary. And they will be, to a degree. Amazon will be loading up on Nvidia’s GPUs, those little silicon workhorses that power so much of the digital world. But something rather interesting is happening. Amazon, it turns out, isn’t content to simply buy the future; it wants to build it. And that means chips of its own.

Quantum Fancies and Fiscal Realities

IonQ, for instance, briefly touched a peak of $84.64. A sum, one might observe, sufficient to purchase a respectable collection of samovars. Yet, as of late, the stock has retreated, surrendering 24% of its fleeting glory. A cautionary tale, perhaps, about the perils of mistaking speculation for substance.

Compass: A Reasonable Tilt at the Mill

Compass Stock Image

Kanen, you see, now owns a substantial 20.52% slice of Compass, a firm valued at $329.38 million. Which, if you consider the sheer number of bricks and mortar involved in the real estate business, is a surprisingly small number of gold coins. They’ve clearly decided that Compass isn’t just building houses; they’re building something…different. Something involving algorithms and digital maps and, if I’m not mistaken, a worrying amount of data.1

Novo Nordisk: A Peculiar Case of Disfavor

Novo Nordisk, bless its diligent heart, was the first to stumble upon the elixir of weight loss in injectable form. A pioneering achievement, quickly overshadowed by the superior marketing of Eli Lilly (LLY +0.39%) and, let’s be honest, a slightly more potent concoction. Compounded versions of Wegovy, a testament to human ingenuity and the relentless pursuit of profit, began to appear. A chaotic scene, really. And now, Mounjaro and Zepbound reign supreme. A predictable outcome, one might say, in a world where perception is often more valuable than reality.

Chips and Clouds: A Reluctant Portfolio

I’ve landed on two companies, not because I’m particularly optimistic about the future, but because they seem… less terrible than most. Broadcom and IBM. I’m not suggesting you remortgage your house, of course. But a few thousand dollars? It could be worse. It could be spent on another limited-edition porcelain cat.

Bandwidth: A Quietly Optimistic Blip

Bandwidth reported earnings, which, as far as earnings reports go, were…earnings. A bit of a miss on revenue, a little nudge above on profit. The usual dance. Honestly, I find these quarterly pronouncements exhausting. It’s like everyone’s pretending to be surprised by things they already knew six weeks ago. Investors, however, latched onto the 2026 guidance. An acceleration in revenue, margin expansion… the usual promises. It’s the hope that kills you, as my grandmother used to say, right before she’d buy another set of collectible thimbles.

Booking Holdings’ Split: A Shareholder’s Tale

Beach Sunset

But fear not, for they’ve decided to do a bit of dividing. A splitting, if you will. A 25-for-1 split, to be precise. It’s like taking a whole apple pie and slicing it into twenty-five smaller pieces. You still have the same pie, mind you, but now more folks can get a slice without needing a ladder.