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Units of financial anxiety experienced today: 7. Cups of tea consumed while staring at stock charts: 4. Number of times I’ve Googled “what is a turnaround?”: Too many to admit.

But here’s the bright side, a glimmer of hope in this rather gloomy landscape: prices have retreated to levels that are, shall we say, more approachable. A prudent investor, therefore, might consider this a rather opportune moment to acquire a few digital assets, a spot of buying in the dip, as it were. Let us, with a cheerful heart and a discerning eye, examine a few possibilities.

Today, the probability of any such relief has diminished to a statistical ghost. The markets now assign a nearly eighty percent chance – a chillingly precise 78.2% – that the rate will remain unchanged, suspended in its current state. A month prior, the notion of complete stagnation was relegated to a mere 5.3% possibility, a negligible rounding error in the grand accounting. The shift is not merely a correction, but a fundamental reassessment of the very premises upon which the forecasts were built.

The disturbances in the Middle East, a region perpetually burdened by conflict, have disrupted the flow of not just oil, but of the very foundations of modern commerce. Natural gas, the essential fuel for power generation, and the chemical compounds that underpin countless industries, all feel the tremor. When the world’s supply of a necessity is constrained, the inevitable consequence is an increase in price. It is a simple equation, yet one often overlooked in the feverish pursuit of innovation.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) currently commands an estimated 72% share of the pure-play foundry market as of late 2025. This degree of market concentration is unusual in most sectors, and warrants careful consideration. While Samsung represents the primary competitor with approximately 7% market share, the disparity is substantial. TSMC’s leadership is not solely attributable to scale; it is underpinned by technological capabilities and a vertically integrated business model focused exclusively on manufacturing, allowing for specialization and optimization.

The objections raised against these software enterprises rest upon three principal pillars. The first suggests that the increased efficiency promised by AI will necessitate a reduction in the number of clerks and functionaries employed, thereby diminishing the revenue streams of those companies who calculate their charges by the number of users. A rather blunt assessment, though not entirely without merit. Secondly, it is posited that organizations, emboldened by the capabilities of AI, will be inclined to construct their own bespoke solutions, bypassing the need for external vendors. A vanity project, one suspects, for few possess the resources or inclination to maintain such intricate systems. Finally, certain ambitious developers of these “large language models” appear to envision a world where the very need for software is obviated. A flight of fancy, surely, though one which has captured the imaginations of some.

Apparently, B Group dropped $6.26 million (as of December 31st, 2025, naturally – dates are so important) on these shares. It’s a bit like deciding to finally book that pottery class you’ve been meaning to do for six months. A commitment. A potential mess. And a nagging feeling you’re probably not very good at it.

Both Chevron and Occidental dig stuff out of the ground, sure. Chevron’s the bigger beast – 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent a day last year, split pretty evenly between the US and… everywhere else. They’ve been expanding, buying up Hess, generally behaving like a company that knows what it’s doing. Occidental? Around 1.5 million barrels, but mostly in the US. Which, in this current climate, means they’re a bit more exposed to whatever Brent decides to do on any given Tuesday. It’s like, one’s hedging its bets, the other is… all-in. And I hate all-in.

On February 17th, 2026 (dates, always so reassuringly specific), Millstreet Capital Management filed a document with the SEC stating they’d acquired this stake in Diversified Energy. These filings are, of course, public record, which is a good thing. It prevents, shall we say, unaccounted movements of large sums of money. Though, one suspects, a determined individual could still hide a small fortune in offshore accounts if they really put their mind to it. But let’s not dwell on that. We’re here to discuss a relatively modest investment in a company that extracts things from the ground.