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The market, like the land, has its droughts and floods. Unforeseen storms can wash away even the best-laid plans. But barring a true catastrophe, these two companies, bruised and weathered as they are, possess the potential for growth, for a return to solid ground.

BNP Paribas Exane’s Stefan Slowinski, a man who presumably still believes in things, upgraded ServiceNow from ‘hold’ to ‘outperform’. A bold move. A reckless move, some might say. He’s now projecting a $140 price target – up from a previous $120. A twenty-dollar increase. In this market, that’s like finding a twenty-dollar bill glued to the bottom of a dumpster. You take it, you don’t ask questions.

The initial surge, a fleeting fever dream of 7.4%, wasn’t merely a reaction to President Trump’s diplomatic overtures – a calming of the waters, so to speak – but a collective sigh of relief from investors long haunted by the specter of supply chain disruptions. The price of crude, momentarily subdued, offered a fragile peace, a brief respite before the inevitable storms. The semiconductor market, a restless ocean of innovation and obsolescence, responded with a nervous buoyancy, lifting all vessels in its wake. Intel, a leviathan slumbering in the depths, felt the tremor.

The arrangement, it seems, concerns the development of networking solutions for artificial intelligence, or ‘AI’ as the vulgar presently insist. Tower’s silicon photonics, a technology promising to transmit data via light rather than electricity – a feat of engineering, certainly, though hardly a novelty – will be conjoined with Oriole’s ‘PRISM’ system. This, we are told, facilitates nanosecond-level optical circuit switching, reducing both power consumption and the necessity for excessive cooling. One suspects the latter is a more pressing concern for the accountants.

Because here’s the thing: finding a solid way to get in on this AI thing is less about predicting the future (impossible) and more about finding the companies that are already building the infrastructure. The picks and shovels, as they say. Though, frankly, I’d rather be selling diamonds. Much more glamorous. But diamonds don’t power data centers, do they?

Recent market conditions have exerted downward pressure on growth equities. The S&P 500 has experienced moderate declines year-to-date, and Tesla’s share price has contracted approximately 20% from its 52-week high. This correction invites scrutiny as to whether the current price adequately reflects the inherent risks.

Indeed, Monday’s report indicated a modest expansion of holdings, a gesture that roused the market to a noticeable, if perhaps disproportionate, enthusiasm. One is reminded of a village fête – a flurry of activity around a spectacle of questionable permanence.

The argument begins, predictably, at the wellhead. Costs of production, they claim, came in at $8.60 per barrel. A tidy sum, if one considers the inherent messiness of the undertaking. Compared to a price of $64.51, there’s a margin, of course. A small buffer against the inevitable dips. One recalls the spring of 2020, when the price of oil briefly resembled a misprinted banknote. Even then, Devon managed to generate cash flow. It didn’t flourish, mind you. It simply… endured. Like a patient in a long convalescence.

Jensen Huang held court, unveiling Vera Rubin – the next iteration in their AI architecture. A name that sounded like a forgotten dame from a black and white movie. He’s talking a trillion in orders by 2027. A figure that hangs in the air like smoke from a cheap cigarette. Ambitious. Or maybe just a good salesman.