Beta, that measure of skittishness relative to the S&P 500, is calculated from five years of weekly palpitations. The one-year return, a fleeting glimpse of past performance, is best regarded as a charming anecdote, not a prophecy.
Both ETFs aim to capture the performance of large American companies, but they go about it in slightly different ways. VOO, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, is like a comprehensive survey of the American economic landscape. It holds 504 stocks, a number that feels both reassuringly thorough and faintly exhausting to contemplate. MGK, the Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF, is more selective. It focuses on the biggest, fastest-growing companies – the truly colossal ones. Think of it as a curated collection of economic behemoths. A bit less democratic, perhaps, but potentially more… energetic.
Past performance is, naturally, not indicative of future results. Nvidia’s current dominance in providing computational resources for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads is predicated on maintaining a technological and logistical advantage. Continued expansion is also contingent upon sustained capital investment by AI hyperscalers.
The prevailing consensus, as recorded in the apocryphal Codex Mercatorum, views AT&T as a mature entity, a fixed point in the fluctuating landscape of telecommunications. A provider of essential services, yes, but scarcely a source of exponential returns. This assessment, however, fails to account for a peculiar, almost subterranean current flowing beneath the surface – a network of fiber-optic cables, extending like the veins of a forgotten god.
The iShares Gold Trust, with its modest expense ratio, presents itself as the frugal option. A commendable virtue, perhaps, but one must ask: is parsimony in fees a substitute for genuine value? SGDM, while demanding a slightly steeper toll, boasts a recent performance that would make even the most jaded speculator raise an eyebrow. Beta, that capricious measure of volatility, suggests SGDM dances with a bit more vigor, while IAU remains comparatively demure. The substantial difference in Assets Under Management (AUM) speaks volumes: a crowded stage rarely yields true artistry.
The stock, a vessel tossed upon the waves of the market, has shed nearly a third of its value in the past year. Thirty-six percent – a brutal reckoning for any enterprise. Some see ruin; others, a chance. It’s a familiar story, this dance between despair and opportunity. The company, focused on the Permian Basin – a place where fortunes are made and lost with the turn of a valve – has recently shown a flicker of recovery, a 14% surge in the last month. But a dying man’s flush is no guarantee of health.
Enter Jim Cramer, the court jester of CNBC’s Squawk Box, whose recent pronouncements have sent ripples through the crypto pond. With the gravitas of a man who’s just discovered fire, Cramer declared that the U.S. government is buying Bitcoin at $60,000. “I heard at $60k he’s gonna fill the Bitcoin Reserve,” he quipped, “you better cover.” One wonders if he mistook the Treasury for a corner grocery store, or if he’s simply auditioning for a role in a financial satire.
The potential for this new science is, of course, considerable. To harness the very principles of the universe to solve problems beyond the reach of conventional calculation is a prospect that captures the imagination. One observes a distinct enthusiasm amongst those acquainted with the intricacies of pharmaceuticals, materials science, finance, and even the safeguarding of information. The year 2025, it appears, saw the first stirrings of practical application, moving beyond mere theoretical contemplation. The emphasis has shifted, naturally, to the more substantial matter of production and deployment.
This February, the Voyager Portfolio turns its gaze toward the architecture of this new prosperity, seeking the foundations upon which it rests. The stories of innovation are often told in grand pronouncements, but the truest narratives lie in the quiet persistence of those who build, one circuit, one memory cell at a time. Micron Technology (MU +3.17%) presents such a tale – a journey that began not in a gleaming laboratory, but in the unassuming space beneath a dentist’s office in Boise, Idaho.
The numbers, however, whisper a secret. Over the past half-century, those companies in the S&P 500 who generously increased their payouts have enjoyed a rather respectable 10.2% annual return. Those who merely sat on their coffers, hoarding capital like misers, managed a paltry 6.8%. It seems even Wall Street understands the virtue of sharing, at least a little. And those who were a bit more generous with their cash tended to do better than the stingy ones. A lesson for us all, perhaps.