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This fund, a concentrated distillation of the technological impulse, holds within it the giants of the silicon age – Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir. Names that echo with the promise of a new intelligence, a digital spring. Trillions of dollars are pledged to this pursuit, a veritable flood of investment. And it is tempting, is it not, to believe that such momentum is inexorable, that these companies will continue to rise, carrying the market with them? But the earth itself shifts beneath our feet, and even the most imposing structures are subject to the laws of gravity.

And yet, amidst this breathless anticipation, a more subtle story unfolds. The largest of companies, the one that seems to hold a mirror to our digital selves – Alphabet, parent of Google – is not building its strength solely on the whispers of algorithms. It is, in a manner quite old-fashioned, simply… accumulating. A quiet, persistent effort, like a patient collector of unremarkable things.

Micron’s shares have popped 50% since December, while Nvidia’s have…flatlined. Wall Street, predictably, is now all over Nvidia. But here’s the thing about Wall Street: they’re usually late to the party. They arrive just as everyone else is nursing a hangover and wondering what they’ve done with their lives.

The truly baffling bit? Berkshire’s share price is higher now than it was when Buffett was stubbornly refusing to participate in the usual market rituals. A conundrum, wouldn’t you say? A perfectly good reason to suspect something… different is afoot.

The VYMI, as it is colloquially known, does not confine itself to a single nation, but rather encompasses a collection of 1,535 equities distributed across the globe. Its emphasis on dividend yields suggests a preference for established entities, those capable of consistently generating returns—a characteristic Ben-Aharon deemed ‘the inertia of value.’ One finds within its holdings the familiar names of Nestlé and Toyota, entities whose histories are, in a sense, the histories of global commerce itself.

Look, I get it. America! Land of opportunity, pumpkin spice lattes, and apparently, a stock market that’s been on a decade-long winning streak. The S&P 500 has delivered a 289% total return recently, which, let’s be real, is more than most of us make in a year. But here’s the thing about winning streaks: they end. And when they do, everyone suddenly remembers diversification. It’s like flossing – you know you should do it, but you only really start when something starts to hurt.

Though these anxieties had, for a time, subsided, recent indications – coupled with disturbances in a distant land – have given them a most unwelcome revival. One need not succumb to panic, however, for a calm assessment of the situation suggests that prudence, rather than alarm, is the most fitting response. The matter, whilst deserving attention, is not, perhaps, so dire as some would have it.