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ASML, you see, doesn’t dabble in the flamboyant consumer-facing aspects of artificial intelligence. It doesn’t offer seductive interfaces or promise to liberate us from the tyranny of mundane tasks. No, ASML’s contribution is far more fundamental, more… geological. It manufactures the machines – exquisitely complex, astronomically expensive machines – that etch the very blueprints of intelligence onto silicon. Photolithography, the process it masters, is less about illumination and more about a controlled, almost surgical, removal of material. A subtractive art, if you will, yielding an additive benefit to the digital realm.

Now, we’re looking at three pipeline companies: Oneok (OKE +0.80%), Kinetik Holdings (KNTK +0.54%), and Williams (WMB +0.03%). They’re currently handing out dividends between 3% and 8%. The S&P 500? A measly 1.1%. That’s like comparing a king’s ransom to… well, a slightly used button. And they just raised their payouts. A trend, if you will. A beautiful, beautiful trend. It’s like watching a perfectly executed pratfall – you know it’s coming, and it’s still delightful.

The U.S. data is going on Oracle Cloud. They’re calling themselves the “trusted security partner.” Which, let’s be honest, is a rather good marketing phrase. It sounds… responsible. Like a sensible cardigan. It means, basically, that if anything goes wrong, it’s their problem. Which, as a shareholder, is… reassuring. Though I’m still slightly suspicious. Everything sounds so… neat.

The stock went up. Of course it did. Everything goes up these days. It’s infuriating. But, look, they reported their Q4 results, and it wasn’t a disaster. Which, frankly, is a low bar. People are expecting disaster with these telecom companies, so anything less is celebrated. It’s ridiculous. And now everyone’s talking about a 6.4% dividend yield. Like that solves everything. It doesn’t, you know. It just…is.

Both will present their accounts for the last quarter on the tenth and nineteenth of February, respectively. It may prove diverting to consider their prospects.

The arithmetic, while pedestrian, reveals a lingering fondness for the company’s fortunes. The weighted average purchase price of $48.19, a number possessing a certain austere dignity, barely deviates from the January 23rd market close of $48.71. A near-perfect alignment, wouldn’t you say? It suggests a man who appreciates not merely profit, but the pleasing symmetry of a well-executed maneuver.

This isn’t, you understand, a passionate endorsement. Merely an observation that a company capable of persuading the world to consume vast quantities of fizzy, sweetened water for over a century isn’t likely to vanish overnight. And, crucially, they’ve been rather good about sharing the proceeds with shareholders. Which, as far as I’m concerned, is the point of the entire exercise.

Let’s look at some numbers, because numbers are all we have, really. In 2024, SpaceX hauled in about $13.1 billion. Not bad, for flinging metal tubes into the void. Then 2025 came along, and things bumped up to $15 billion. Payload Space thinks 2026 will see $23.8 billion. A big jump. Of course, these are guesses. SpaceX isn’t exactly handing out balance sheets. But, well, here we are.

Naturally, the crypto crowd – those glorious, doomed optimists – are all over this like vultures on a freshly fallen carcass. And frankly, who can blame them? It’s a chance to DOUBLE DOWN on the madness, to amplify the signal from the noise. I’ve been diving in, and let me tell you, it’s a trip. A seriously twisted, potentially profitable trip.

It is anticipated, with a predictability that borders on ritual, that the report will emerge in mid-February – the third Wednesday, perhaps, mirroring past seasons. But to fixate on a date is to miss the deeper currents at play. The question is not when the news will arrive, but what it will reveal. Shall it be a tale of flourishing growth, or a somber recounting of unmet expectations? And, more importantly, what does this moment signify in the larger drama of medical innovation and financial speculation?