Yet, hope, like a well-timed dividend, springs eternal. Rumors of an enhanced Siri and a foray into the realms of AI suggest a potential renaissance. One wonders if 2026 might prove a more fruitful year for shareholders. But is it a worthy addition to one’s portfolio? The question, my dear reader, is not merely one of finance, but of taste.
The calculations from the Pew Research Center suggest that these data centers already consume a noteworthy four percent of America’s total electricity. By the year 2030, should these projections hold true, that figure is expected to swell by an improbable 133%. Such numbers possess a certain grim poetry, do they not? A testament to our relentless, and perhaps ultimately futile, pursuit of the new.
Dogecoin, leveraging the ephemeral power of the “Doge” meme – a Shiba Inu dog expressing a profound sense of existential bewilderment – managed to garner a surprising amount of attention. By 2021, it had swelled to a market capitalization exceeding $90 billion, a figure that, when considered in relation to its origins, is almost… unsettling. It subsequently lost approximately 90% of that value, which, in the grand scheme of things, is perfectly normal for a digital asset built on the foundations of internet whimsy. (The universe, after all, has a peculiar fondness for entropy.)
The immediate impact wasn’t catastrophic, no sudden collapse. Amazon continued to swell, to absorb, to grow. But Andy Jassy, the man at the helm, now suggests 2026 may be a year of reckoning. A delay, perhaps, but the weight of these policies will inevitably be felt. It’s not the sudden blow that breaks the back, but the constant, grinding pressure.
Elsewhere, the story is less dramatic. The rest of the world’s markets have grown, certainly, but at a more measured pace, a gentle incline compared to America’s precipitous climb. The Vanguard Total International Stock ETF, a vessel carrying the hopes of many nations, has yielded a modest 62% over the same period. Even factoring in the trickle of dividends, a mere 156% – a respectable, if unremarkable, return. It is a landscape of quiet competence, overshadowed by a more boisterous neighbor.
Yet, in September of 2017, at a gathering commemorating a century of Forbes, Mr. Buffett offered a glimpse beyond the immediate horizon. He posited that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI +0.53%) might, within a hundred years, ascend to the formidable height of one million. A pronouncement met with the customary blend of skepticism and polite interest. At the time, the Dow rested at a mere 22,370—a four-thousand-one-hundred-and-seventy-nine percent ascent required to reach such a lofty peak.
I’ve been following both Palantir and Nvidia for a while now, and I have a slightly unpopular opinion. A contrarian take, as they say. It’s not that Nvidia isn’t facing challenges – they absolutely are. But Palantir’s problems are…different. More human. And honestly, I’m starting to suspect they involve a disproportionate number of strongly-opinionated engineers.
They’re talking about “tokenization.” It’s just a fancy way of saying they’re turning ownership of things—stocks, houses, whatever—into digital tokens. Like arcade tickets, but with real money attached. They move these tokens around on something called a blockchain. The XRP Ledger, specifically. It’s all very…efficient. Or so they claim.
Stocks, naturally, are for those who believe in the endless upward curve. A beautiful delusion. Bonds, though… bonds are for those who’ve seen a few things. They’re not about getting rich quick. They’re about not losing everything when the music stops. A modest goal, perhaps, but a sensible one. The Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND 0.04%) is a way to participate in this quiet corner of the universe.
This past quarter, or rather, four months gone by, he made a couple of moves that tickled the fancy of the market watchers. He parted ways with his holdings in Microsoft, a company that’s grown like a weed, and took a shine to Amazon, a concern that’s seen a rise of 243,600% since it first sprouted, nearly 30 years ago. A lesson in this, perhaps? Even a sturdy oak can be surpassed by a quicker-growin’ vine. Though I reckon a fella shouldn’t build his whole farm on such fleeting whims.