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Ah, MercadoLibre. The so-called “Amazon of Latin America.” A grand title, isn’t it? As if replication were sufficient. Shares have fallen, more than twenty percent from their July zenith. The cause? A generous, some might say reckless, offering of free shipping in Brazil. A familiar tale. Amazon itself, in its infancy, burned capital with similar abandon, prioritizing growth over the vulgarity of profit. A subsidy, you see, is a peculiar form of alchemy – turning potential into present loss. The third quarter showed a respectable top line, but operating income… well, let’s just say the cost of goodwill has a habit of accumulating.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet – the Big Three – are the houses in this game. They’re all taking in money, but some are playing a smarter hand than others. I’ve been watching them, sizing them up. Not for the tech, mind you. I’m after the steady drip, the consistent return. The kind of income that keeps you warm on a cold night.

One name popping up in this rather esoteric corner of the market is D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 3.82%). It’s a pure play, which, in stock market terms, means it doesn’t have a sprawling conglomerate of other businesses to muddy the waters. It’s all in on quantum. But is it the best way to try and catch this particular wave? It’s a question that requires a bit of unpacking, and perhaps a strong cup of tea.

Both companies have performed well, naturally. Chevron is up roughly eighteen percent, ConocoPhillips fifteen. The broader market, the S&P 500, has barely stirred. This, however, is not evidence of brilliance, but merely a reflection of the enduring, if unglamorous, necessity of energy. To mistake prosperity born of necessity for ingenuity is a common error.

Ford’s F-150, it seems, continues to reign supreme. A rather vulgar display of practicality, perhaps, but undeniably effective. One might say it appeals to the base instincts of the American character – a desire for something substantial, something that can withstand the ravages of time and questionable road surfaces. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a profitable truck in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of continued success. The fact that it drives a disproportionate share of Detroit’s profits is merely a happy consequence of good taste – or, at least, of understanding what the masses desire. To ignore this is to court financial ruin, and ruin, my dear readers, is so dreadfully unfashionable.

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Yet, to focus solely on these anxieties is to miss the quiet miracle unfolding. Nvidia, even now, continues to blossom. It is a growth that feels…inevitable, like the spring thaw after a long, grey winter. To overlook this is to mistake the tremor of a leaf for the falling of a forest.