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The source of this contrarian spirit? News of a mineral refining facility planned for Lacq, France. It seems even governments, in their perpetual search for strategic advantage, are susceptible to a little flattery – or, in this case, the promise of domestically sourced rare earth minerals. The U.S.’s whimsical ambition regarding Greenland, though currently stalled, merely underscores the growing desperation for alternatives. It’s a lesson in geopolitics, and a rather amusing one at that: desire, when frustrated, often seeks a different, equally improbable, outlet.

Palihapitiya, you might recall, spent some quality time at AOL and Facebook (now Meta Platforms, because branding is everything, apparently). He’s basically a professional networker who figured out how to monetize other people’s good ideas. Now he runs Social Capital and co-hosts a podcast, which is basically like a digital water cooler for people who think disruption is a personality trait. And on that podcast, he dropped a prediction: 2026 will be the year of copper. Not AI stocks, not crypto, copper.

The company is small. Painfully so. I’ve lost more money on impulse purchases of artisanal cheeses. But last year, something shifted. Everyone’s chasing the next AI breakthrough, and apparently, autonomous drones fit the bill. It’s a bit like everyone deciding, simultaneously, that macramé is cool again. The stock finished the year up 281%. Looking at the chart, it was mostly flat for six months. Six months of me quietly worrying, then suddenly – whoosh. It’s the kind of volatility that makes you question your life choices, and whether you really needed that third cup of coffee.

Alibaba, in the last decade, was a monument to ambition. It rose swiftly, a digital empire built on the backs of countless delivery drivers, warehouse workers, and small merchants. Then came the reckoning. The founder, a man who dared speak his mind, vanished. A silence descended, heavier than any decree. The whispers started: scrutiny, delisting threats, audits… a slow strangulation of trust. It wasn’t just about numbers; it was about control. And those who control the flow of goods, control much more.

As of the reporting period, QV Investors’ largest holdings include:

Grand View Research, a firm whose pronouncements I regard with the same cautious amusement I reserve for fortune tellers, estimates a market of $3.5 trillion by 2033. A sum, naturally, presented with the confident air of someone who’s misplaced a decimal point. The implication – that we’re in the ‘early stages’ – is, of course, the standard incantation before any speculative bubble. Against this backdrop of orchestrated optimism, a few companies, momentarily less obscured by the hype, warrant a fleeting, skeptical glance.

Whilst putting all one’s eggs in a single basket is, of course, a frightfully risky proposition – akin to wagering the family silver on a particularly unreliable racehorse – history does suggest that such ventures can, on occasion, bear fruit. A modest ten thousand dollars invested in Nvidia back in 2015, for instance, would have blossomed into a positively staggering $3.7 million. Similar strokes of good fortune were to be had with Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom, yielding a handsome $800,000 and $340,000 respectively. Not to be sneezed at, what!

One hears whispers, of course, that the current market wobble is connected to a rather ambitious, and some might say quixotic, attempt by the United States to acquire Greenland. A most peculiar business, that, but it seems to have rattled a few cages. However, Micron, bless its silicon heart, appears to be immune to such geopolitical shenanigans, largely due to a rather clever bit of positioning in the artificial intelligence (AI) chip market. It’s a jolly good thing, too, as a gloomy stock market is rarely conducive to a pleasant afternoon tea.

The whispers now speak of a different current, a challenge not from the expected rivals—AMD, Broadcom, the usual parade of giants—but from a more unassuming source. A place where the work is less about flash and more about the steady accumulation of value.