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Over the past two years, ASML’s stock has climbed like a river after a spring thaw, swelling to a market cap of $267 billion. Analysts whisper of a steady current: 10% annual revenue growth and 17% earnings gains through 2027. Clouds of AI and the settling dust of smartphones and PCs provide cover, while the next frontier of chips looms like a distant horizon. But even at 29 times earnings, this river may rise no more than 20%, leaving its market cap at $320 billion. A respectable gain, yes, but not one that will outpace the updrafts of AMD and Micron.

The platform’s offerings-individual stocks, ETFs, retirement accounts-were the mundane scaffolding upon which it built its cathedral of chaos. Yet the true alchemy lay in the Robinhood Gold subscriptions, $5 a month or $50 a year, a steady drip of revenue as reliable as the morning rain in Macondo. One million five hundred thousand new subscribers had joined the cult of recurring payments, their names etched in the company’s ledger like prayers in a cathedral’s stone.

Now, let’s take a stroll down memory lane, and by “stroll,” I mean buckle up, because AMD’s performance the past three years has been more roller coaster than steady ride. From a humble start at around $56, AMD shot up like a firecracker during the summer of 2022, reaching a high of $211. But before we could even pop open the champagne, the stock came tumbling down, shedding nearly all its gains like a snake shedding its skin.

Right now, we’re living in what could only be described as a financial equivalent of a feel-good movie. The major stock indexes are dancing around all-time highs, and investors are patting themselves on the back. The Federal Reserve has just cut interest rates and indicated that more cuts might be coming. It’s a moment of triumph-until, as often happens in the real world, a plot twist suddenly emerges. A sharp correction, perhaps by early 2026, wouldn’t be the most surprising twist in this tale.

Soft drinks and dividends? Coca-Cola isn’t just selling sugar water-it’s running a 63-year-long money machine. That’s not a streak, that’s a Dividend King with a crown forged in gold and a thirst for blood. The world’s thirst for Coke is relentless, and the company’s global sprawl? A fortress against geopolitical tremors. Tariffs? What tariffs? Their organic revenue is climbing like a junkie on a ladder. Earnings per share? Up 7% after currency witchcraft. This isn’t a stock-it’s a cash cow on steroids.

Semiconductors, those unassuming slivers of silicon, are the reason your Alexa won’t stop humming show tunes. They power AI’s brainy feats, from training chatbots to making your car parallel park with the grace of a sleep-deprived teenager. And while Nvidia and AMD get all the glory, they’re really just the poets-TSMC is the printer press, churning out the words.

The pressing question for a contrarian with a twinkle in his eye: will Target stumble into oblivion, or is there a hidden alley where fortunes quietly accumulate?