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Meanwhile, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea – they’re all having a bit of a wobble. But not us. Not America. It’s… irritating, actually. All that careful budgeting, the sensible saving… and the market just sails on, seemingly fuelled by optimism and a complete disregard for common sense.

Analysts whisper about a “value stock comeback” in 2026. As if the market cares about years. It doesn’t. It just is. But Lululemon, specifically, looks… interesting. A bit bruised, perhaps. Worth a glance, if you’re the type to glance at such things.

For two decades, this company hath remained cloistered, a private fiefdom of ambition. Now, it is expected to emerge, not as a humble star, but as a veritable supernova, valued at a trillion and a half dollars, or thereabouts. A sum that would place it amongst the ten most esteemed, and perhaps most inflated, companies in the world. One cannot help but observe the parallels with those grand theatrical productions, lavishly staged and brimming with spectacle, yet ultimately built upon foundations of… air.

Consider, then, the case of Broadcom (AVGO 2.99%). A company not given to grand gestures or breathless pronouncements, but one that quietly, methodically, constructs the very foundations upon which these digital dreams are built. It is a company that, perhaps, understands the enduring power of necessity, even in a world obsessed with novelty.

Uber doesn’t envision a wholesale replacement of flesh and blood with circuits and algorithms. Rather, a curious pact. A hybrid network, they call it. A mingling of the mechanical and the…well, the merely employed. One might ask, is this innovation, or simply a sophisticated form of postponing the inevitable? From a dividend hunter’s perspective, it’s a shrewd maneuver. It allows them to extract value from both the present – the continued patronage of those who prefer a human hand on the wheel – and the future, however delayed.

Projections from PwC suggest a potential addition of $15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030. Such figures, of course, are merely phantoms conjured by statistical modeling. Nevertheless, they provide a convenient justification for the recent, and frankly, disconcerting valuations assigned to those who fabricate the silicon upon which these intelligences reside. Specifically, the companies known as Nvidia (NVDA 3.17%) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 1.94%). Their share prices have ascended to altitudes that defy rational analysis, increasing by 1,140% and 208% respectively since the commencement of this year. A most curious spectacle.

This Hancock, a veritable Maecenas of the mining world, acquired no less than 828,245 shares of NexGen. Thus, their stake swelled to a grand total of 9,078,245 shares, valued at a respectable 83.66 million dollars – a gain of nearly 10 million from their previous accounting. One cannot help but ponder, is this shrewd investment, or merely a gambler’s fancy?

However, the yields themselves remain… modest. The Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, a perfectly respectable instrument, offers a yield of approximately 1.1%. (Which, if you think about it, is roughly equivalent to the annual interest earned on a slightly damp biscuit left under a radiator for a week.) To achieve anything remotely resembling a substantial yield – say, in the 3-4% range – one must venture into the realms of higher-risk, more specialized investments. And to find yields exceeding that? Well, that’s where things get interesting… and, potentially, a little bit improbable.

The fund, in the last quarter of the previous year, parted ways with 495,390 shares of Core Scientific. Eight and a half million dollars worth of hope, vanished into the accounts of those who always win. They retain a sliver – 74,664 shares – but the overall position shrank, a net loss of $9.14 million. It’s a quiet subtraction, a silent re-allocation of capital. A fund doesn’t weep over such numbers, but it does signal a change of heart.