Glimmers & Gizmos: A Portfolio for Discerning Alchemists

One does not simply avoid mentioning Nvidia when discussing exponential growth. It’s rather like trying to ignore a particularly loud dragon. The company is currently riding the crest of the Artificial Intelligence wave, churning out the silicon brains that power these new digital entities. Billions are being invested in AI infrastructure, and Nvidia is, shall we say, well-positioned to benefit. The future, it seems, will be powered by their chips, and possibly a worrying amount of electricity.2

Kyndryl: A Descent into Obscurity

Kyndryl released its quarterly report, a document ostensibly intended to illuminate performance. However, the illumination proved insufficient, casting instead a longer, more unsettling shadow. The reported figures, while technically quantifiable, failed to align with the projections that had, through a series of increasingly complex calculations, become the accepted reality. A lowering of forward guidance accompanied the report, a tacit admission of an inability to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of future performance.

NuScale: A Reactor with a Slow Fuse

They’re building small modular reactors. Sounds neat on paper. But paper doesn’t generate electricity, and enthusiasm doesn’t pay the bills. This isn’t about innovation; it’s about execution. And right now, NuScale is mostly talking. Years of promises, a few MOUs, and a whole lot of hope. Hope is a lousy investment strategy.

Main Street Capital: Beating the Market (and My Expectations)

So, what’s the secret? Well, it’s not a secret, really. It’s just… boringly effective. They lend money – and take a piece of the action – to those lovely, unglamorous lower-middle-market companies. Think businesses with annual revenue between $10 and $150 million. Not exactly tech unicorns, are they? But stable. Predictable. The kind of businesses that don’t make headlines, but quietly keep the world turning. And they also dabble in deals where private equity firms are buying or owning companies between $25 and $500 million. It’s all rather… sensible.

Apple? Fine. Cirrus Logic? Now We’re Talking.

They’re bragging about iPhone sales being up 16%. Sixteen percent! Like that’s some kind of achievement. They’re selling the same phone, slightly tweaked, every year. It’s a racket, frankly. And then they expect you to be grateful. Grateful! Meanwhile, I’m trying to find something…less obvious. Something where the risk isn’t already priced in by every algorithm on the planet. Is that too much to ask?

Kirby Corp: A Quiet Transaction

Note: These values are calculated based on the SEC Form 4 weighted average purchase price of $122.00, and the market close on February 4th, 2026, also at $122.00. Such precision, and for what, one wonders?

D-Wave Quantum: A Question of Substance

D-Wave deserves acknowledgement for increasing sales, doubling revenue in the third quarter of 2025 to $3.7 million. The full year estimate, according to analysts, reaches $25.6 million. Further growth is projected for 2026, with estimates nearing $43 million – a 68% increase. These figures, however, must be viewed with a degree of skepticism. They represent, at best, a temporary reprieve, not a fundamental shift in the company’s financial position.

Freshworks: A Market Disenchantment

The fourth-quarter results, delivered after the market’s customary closing, revealed sales and earnings that surpassed the anticipated benchmarks. Yet, this apparent triumph failed to quell the anxieties of those who hold the company’s fate in their hands. The forward guidance, a carefully constructed projection of future performance, proved insufficient to satisfy the insatiable demands for continued, exponential growth. Thus, a sell-off ensued, a mass exodus driven not by demonstrable failure, but by the fear of unrealized potential.

2026: The Crash? Oy, Veysmir!

Now, he’s talking about all this AI stuff, and how it’s costing a fortune. Trillions, he says! Trillions! You know what else costs trillions? Fixing potholes. And we still have potholes! This AI arms race – because that’s what it is, a race to see who can build the smartest toaster – is fueled by debt. Debt! The financial equivalent of a rubber chicken. It seems funny until it hits you in the face.

Upon a Single Share, Should Fortune Smile?

The modern malady, it seems, is a thirst for novelty, a breathless pursuit of the ‘next big thing.’ And what occupies the minds of men more presently than this ‘artificial intelligence’? A phantom, some declare, a mere conjuring trick. Others see in it the very engine of future prosperity. I, however, observe that even the most fantastical schemes require a foundation of solid worth. To stake one’s fortune on a fleeting fancy would be… imprudent, to say the least.