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Quantum computing. The phrase sounds like something a teenager would say after eating too many Skoal mints and watching *The Matrix*. But IonQ (IONQ) isn’t here to play games. The company’s mission is as audacious as it is baffling: to build machines that solve problems humans haven’t yet learned to ask. If Nvidia turned AI into a verb, IonQ wants to make quantum computing the next awkward dinner party conversation.

Herein lies the rub: ASML’s symphony of progress plays against a backdrop of geopolitical thunderstorms, cyclical tremors, and the existential tightrope walk of technological innovation. Three dragons guard this golden hoard, each deserving scrutiny from long-term stewards of capital.

The folks over at Carr Financial Group made a bold move, unloading a solid chunk of cash to scoop up more of those shares of the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF, or EMXC for short. Now, after this transaction, they’re sitting pretty with a total of 300,268 shares, and they’re likely feeling pretty smug about it-especially with the way emerging markets are growing, like a cornfield after a summer storm.

This week, for instance, was another one of those hair-raising episodes. As of late Thursday, NuScale shares were 15% below their peak for the week, but they were still up by a nifty 24.2% from last Friday’s close, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. You might be wondering how all of this adds up, and frankly, I’m wondering too, but that’s what makes investing such a thrilling, unpredictable adventure.

Monday’s announcement of a “multiyear” collaboration reads like a fairy tale for venture capitalists. Broadcom, ever the dutiful blacksmith, will hammer out AI accelerators while OpenAI plays Prometheus, stealing fire from the gods. The promised land? Ten gigawatts of power-a figure that sounds mighty until one considers it could electrify a small nation’s worth of server farms, or perhaps a million homes. But such arithmetic is for engineers, not dreamers.

With a market cap now brushing $143 billion, XRP’s days of effortless ascent seem like a tale already told. Still, it glimmers, caught between regulatory winds and the tides of macroeconomics, a vessel of hope for those daring to linger rather than flee.

The company, like a good actor in a dreadful play, performed admirably in its third-quarter earnings release, surpassing expectations in both revenue and earnings per share. A rousing performance, though I suspect the applause may be a bit too generous given the play’s somewhat tepid script.

But here’s the thing about roller coasters: eventually you either scream or throw up. After years of gains that made spreadsheets cry, investors started whispering, “Is this the part where the music stops?” Just as the AI hype train threatened to become a meme stock punchline, along came C.C. Wei, CEO of TSMC, playing the role of a surprise guest star who steals the scene.

First off comes Bank of America’s seers, raisin’ their oracle bones to declare: “Buy!” They’ve got visions of 2026 dancin’ in their heads, where wafer fab machines hum like gospel choirs thanks to memory chipmakers playin’ musical chairs with their cash. Seems these alchemists reckon artificial intelligence – that buzzword brewin’ storm clouds over every boardroom -‘ll demand more DRAM than a Tennessee Williams drama.