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Anyway, two stocks. Two. That’s all I’m focusing on. Because if I look at more than two, I’ll just get overwhelmed and end up buying beanie babies again. It’s happened before. Don’t judge.

My preferred method of tackling this particular conundrum is through an international ETF, a rather clever bit of financial engineering, and the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS +0.38%) strikes me as a particularly sound specimen. If you’re contemplating a dabble in the international arena and VXUS has caught your eye, there’s one thing you ought to know, a detail that separates the discerning investor from the merely enthusiastic.

Contemporary accounts suggest a widespread belief that pronouncements from the Federal Reserve – specifically, alterations in benchmark interest rates – exert a disproportionate influence upon these leveraged vehicles. A reduction in rates, it is theorized, loosens the constraints upon capital, encouraging a flow towards ventures perceived as more… spirited. The financial sector, reliant upon the ebb and flow of credit, would, in this schema, experience a corresponding uplift. One recalls the apocryphal treatise of Rabbi Loew, detailing similar manipulations within the Prague Ghetto’s monetary system – though the motivations, needless to say, were rather different.

They picked up 361,902 shares in the last quarter, bringing their total holding to about 13.8% of their portfolio. That’s a significant chunk of change tied up in what is, let’s be honest, a fairly unglamorous industry. Compared to their other top holdings – Marriott Vacations (people enjoying themselves), Henry Schein (keeping dentists supplied – a noble profession), Baker Hughes (oil and gas, always interesting), and Scholastic (books! Good for them!) – LKQ feels a bit… utilitarian. But that, perhaps, is the point.

The problem is, the market operates on a timescale roughly equivalent to a mayfly’s lifespan. Quarterly earnings reports, year-on-year growth… it’s all very immediate. And that’s a bit of a mistake, if you ask me. This AI investment, viewed through a slightly longer lens – say, fifty years, which is roughly the lifespan of a particularly resilient Galapagos tortoise – starts to look rather sensible. And when I say sensible, I mean potentially very profitable. The opportunity is there, absolutely, but it demands a touch of patience. A commodity in short supply these days, I’ve noticed.

Now, everyone’s looking for the next Nvidia. A company poised to similarly dominate some emerging technological frontier. And the current contender, garnering a surprising amount of attention, is Sandisk. Formerly a component within Western Digital, now spun off and exhibiting a stock price trajectory usually reserved for lottery winners, it’s causing quite a stir. A 1,600% jump since listing? That’s not growth; that’s levitation. So, let’s take a look, shall we, and see if this is a genuine opportunity, or merely another bubble inflating in the digital ether.

For a considerable period, the value of ATOM has traced a descending spiral, a decline of nearly half its former worth. Some attribute this to the pronouncements of a certain Christopher Goes, a scholar of Anoma, who, with a fatalistic air, declared the network’s impending obsolescence. His thesis, if I recall correctly from a fragmented manuscript attributed to the same scholar, centers on the gradual abandonment of major hubs, their collapse resembling the slow decay of forgotten cities. Others have simply departed, seeking refuge in other, perhaps illusory, ecosystems.

ImmunityBio’s oncology offering, Anktiva, initially received the nod from the United States’ FDA as a treatment for certain bladder cancer variations back in 2024, if memory serves. The United Kingdom followed suit in mid-2025, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, displaying a commendable level of international cooperation, chimed in earlier this year. (It’s comforting to know that, even amidst all the galactic chaos, some things remain predictably bureaucratic.)