Now, McKinsey—those folks who get paid to predict things—say 2030 is the year. Robotaxis everywhere! Level 4 or Level 5 autonomy, they call it. Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Like a secret agent code. Level 5 means no driver ever. Just a car, a destination, and a prayer. Frankly, I’m sticking with human drivers until I see one successfully parallel park in Manhattan. But enough about my personal anxieties.
Apparently, BlackRock just decided to increase its stake. Which, fine. They’re a big firm, they do what they do. But it’s the why that bothers me. They filed a 13G. A 13G! It’s like saying, “Hey, we own a chunk of this thing, but don’t expect us to actually do anything about it.” It’s the financial equivalent of a shrug. They’re not trying to influence anything. They just… bought more shares. It’s passive. Completely passive. Like watching paint dry, but with slightly more risk.
The stock has, it is true, performed admirably, ascending a rather dizzying 387% over the past three years (as of January 30th). This, however, is precisely the sort of performance that should induce caution, not a giddy rush for the bandwagon. The narrative, as always, is ruled by sentiment, and sentiment is a notoriously unreliable guide.
Enter Eaton. Not a name that trips lightly off the tongue, perhaps, but a company that’s quietly positioning itself as the… well, let’s call them the ‘electrical plumbers’ of the AI revolution. They’re not building the brains, they’re ensuring the brains don’t fry.1 They’ve been subtly shifting their portfolio, realizing that the future isn’t about making slightly better toasters, but about keeping the digital gods from throwing a tantrum. And right now, the digital gods are hungry for power.
Microsoft, bless their heart, has been chasin’ after the ghost of software for longer than I care to remember. They build the operating system, then leave it to others to furnish the parlor. Apple, though, she builds the whole house, right down to the doorknob. And it’s no wonder, then, that they’ve been a bit slow gettin’ into this newfangled “artificial intelligence” racket. They were busy makin’ things that worked, while others were dreamin’ of machines that could think.
They say a man knows when the wind will change. Buffett always spoke of holding periods stretching toward forever, but a farmer doesn’t ignore a darkening sky. For three years, even as the market climbed, he’s been quietly drawing in his sails, selling pieces of the holdings. Not a panicked retreat, but a careful reckoning. He’s been trading stocks for cash, and in the last quarter, he’s been piling that cash high, like cordwood against a winter that feels long coming.
One might assume a company so humbled would be groveling. Not Nio. It operates, remarkably, shielded from many of the tariffs and trade skirmishes that plague its American counterparts. A fortunate circumstance, akin to a cunning gambler finding a crooked table. And, against the odds, sales are…brisk. Let us, with a skeptical eye and a knowing smile, examine whether this is a genuine recovery or merely a particularly elaborate mirage.
Yet, amidst this general agitation, one company appears to possess a degree of stability and promise that merits a closer inspection. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, or TSMC as it is commonly known, is not merely swept along by the prevailing currents, but rather appears to be a source of strength in itself. It is a consideration, therefore, to which a prudent investor might well give heed.
The question, then, is not merely how to acquire Bitcoin, but what is truly acquired. Direct ownership, the holding of the cryptographic key itself, remains a path, though one increasingly burdened by the necessities of ‘cold storage’ – a modern equivalent of burying treasure, safeguarding it from the grasping hands of intermediaries. The early adopters understood this; they embraced the solitude of self-custody, the responsibility of absolute ownership. Now, a generation seeks access through the iShares ETF, a delegation of trust to the behemoth BlackRock, a transaction veiled in the language of convenience and liquidity.
Enbridge, at its heart, is an exercise in logistical resignation. It does not chase the fleeting fortunes of commodity prices. No, it simply… moves things. Oil, gas, the very lifeblood of modern existence, flowing through its North American arteries. The volume, you see, is the constant. The price, a mere distraction. A sensible arrangement, one might say. A surrender to the inevitable. The world requires energy, regardless of its moral failings. And Enbridge, with a weary sigh, provides it. It is a business built not on ambition, but on the acceptance of necessity.