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Nvidia (NVDA 0.72%). Let’s be honest, this is the least risky play. It’s a bit boring, maybe, but sometimes boring wins the race. I mean, it’s Nvidia. They’re practically printing money right now. The key? Agentic AI. Apparently, that’s the next big thing. Jensen Huang – that’s the CEO, for those keeping track – calls it a “new wave.” Sounds dramatic, doesn’t it? OpenAI, Google, all the cool kids are playing with it. So, yeah, Nvidia’s going to benefit. It just feels…inevitable.

The common delusion, you see, is that all stocks pertaining to this ‘AI’ are priced beyond the reach of mortal men. A most convenient narrative for those who wish to keep the spoils to themselves. But let us, with a touch of skepticism, examine a few contenders, and see if fortune might favor the moderately funded fool.

But some investors, bless their optimistic hearts, still seek out the outliers, the companies that might actually outperform the herd. It’s a risky business, of course. Like trying to predict which snail will win the race. But with diligent research and a healthy dose of diversification, a growth-focused strategy can yield rewards. The question is, could Peloton Interactive be one of those rewards?

Values, naturally, are derived from the arcane calculations of the SEC – weighted averages and market closes, all frightfully precise. One assumes they’re correct.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite have followed this upward trajectory, achieving new heights with an almost disconcerting regularity. One cannot help but remark upon the eagerness with which these figures are proclaimed, as though repeated announcement might somehow secure their permanence. Yet, experience teaches us that even the most promising ascent is subject to interruption, and that the path to lasting gain is rarely, if ever, a smooth one.

Is one a better buy? Let’s not get carried away. It’s like asking if beige is a better color than slightly different beige. Both are perfectly serviceable, utterly predictable, and will likely still be around when our robot overlords arrive.

Now, even a portion of that – a mere $500, shall we say – invested with a modicum of sense, could, over a decade or three, blossom into something resembling a portfolio. The Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG 0.13%) – a rather clumsy name, don’t you think? – has, historically, performed rather well. A consistent dividend payer, you understand. After thirty years of diligent saving, one might find oneself with approximately $986,900. And, more importantly, a passive income stream of around $15,700 annually. Enough for a small, tastefully decorated pied-à-terre, perhaps.

There are these indicators, these little warnings. The Shiller CAPE ratio. The Buffett indicator. They suggest things might not stay so rosy. Numbers don’t lie, though people sure do try to make them. It’s a funny thing, this whole financial world. A bit of a mess, really.

The price at which these shares found a new owner – thirty-five dollars, weighted by the market’s fickle hand – is a reminder that value, like beauty, lies largely in the eye of the beholder. And the subsequent valuation, thirty-four dollars and twenty-six cents, a mere trifle less, illustrates the ephemeral nature of such pronouncements. To reduce a company, a striving, a potential for healing, to such precise figures is, perhaps, a necessary evil of commerce, but one should not mistake the map for the territory.