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Apparently, 90 million Americans are using this stuff. Ninety million. That’s roughly the population of Germany, all collectively delaying the inevitable regret of a slightly-too-expensive sweater. The average spend is $244 a month. Which, if you extrapolate, is enough to fund a surprisingly robust porcelain cat collection. It’s a shift, though, away from credit cards. Younger folks, especially, seem to prefer this. Easier access, I suppose. Less paperwork. Fewer opportunities to feel vaguely ashamed of your spending habits.

Because, let’s be real, ten years ago, XRP was basically pocket change. January 2016. A grand – a whole thousand dollars – would get you… well, a lot of XRP. Enough to be currently looking at a portfolio worth… are you ready for this?… $437,460. Yes, you read that correctly. I’m starting to question my life choices, frankly. I invested that much in a sourdough starter once. Don’t ask.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund, that pale reflection of collective optimism, has barely registered the shift. A curious indifference. One recalls the apocryphal treatise of the cartographer, Master Eldred, who argued that a map which perfectly replicates a territory is, in fact, that territory itself – and therefore, useless as a guide. So too with the market; it is a labyrinth of projections, each mirroring the others, obscuring the true contours of value. To seek a definitive reading is to chase a phantom.

That one company, Nvidia, should dominate this particular landscape is not a testament to unique genius, but a consequence of circumstance and, it must be said, a degree of market complacency. Its prominence is such that it now exerts a disproportionate influence on the major indices, a situation that should give pause to any investor concerned with the broader health of the market. To suggest that Nvidia will ‘lead the market higher’ in 2026 is not a prediction of exceptional performance, but a recognition of existing momentum and the limitations of alternatives.

Furthermore, the NFL possesses a most commendable eagerness to embrace technological advancements. They’re not a bunch of Luddites, these chaps, but rather keen to adopt anything that might enhance the spectacle for the paying customers, improve the teams’ coffers, and generally make the whole operation run with a bit more pep. A thoroughly sensible approach, I’d say.

The stock currently languishes, 77% below its former glory of August 2021. A fall from grace, some might say. But I see not ruin, but a potential… a long, arduous climb. Twenty years. That’s the timeframe we’re discussing. A single thousand dollars, stretched thin, attempting to blossom into twenty thousand. It’s a gamble, naturally. Most will not succeed, and yet, a few might.

Let us, then, consider two such entities, not as mere subjects for financial speculation, but as reflections of the age itself, each embodying a particular facet of this unfolding drama.

AppLovin, a name that suggests a fondness for digital affection, finds itself strangely cast down, despite a most vigorous flourishing. They have, it seems, stumbled upon a formula for coaxing coin from the pockets of mobile gamers, and yet the market, in its infinite wisdom, deems this insufficient. A growth of seventy-one percent in the past year, you say? A mere trifle! A puff of smoke! The Axon-2 platform, a device for delivering advertisements with unnerving precision, has expanded, grown plump with revenue, and yet… still, the shadows lengthen. One suspects a rival firm, perhaps one specializing in the manufacture of miniature, spiteful gremlins, is whispering doubts into the ears of investors. The expansion beyond gaming, a self-serve ad manager… these are not innovations, you see, but threats to the established order.

I was right, obviously. It feels good to be right. It really does. But here’s the thing about being right: it doesn’t stop the low-grade anxiety. It just… shifts it. I’d identified the potential turnaround – new CEO, rebounding sales, the usual. But there was one thing I completely missed. And it’s not just about a good stock pick; it’s about understanding how profoundly weird consumer behavior can be.