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Abel, in his inaugural act as chief steward of this vast financial estate, has begun to repurchase shares of Berkshire Hathaway. A most sensible endeavor, one might think. Yet, do not be misled by such apparent rationality. The market, dear reader, is rarely rational. It is more akin to a flock of geese, honking and squawking in a direction no one can truly predict. And this repurchase, while seemingly straightforward, is entangled in a most peculiar streak – a thirteen-quarter drought of net stock purchases that plagued Buffett in his final years. A streak, I assure you, that haunts the balance sheets like a persistent cough.

History, that relentless compiler of data, suggests that this downward drift might continue. Investors, being sensible creatures (mostly), should be aware. Let us delve, shall we, into the exquisitely improbable details.

You see, these utilities ain’t just slingin’ electricity anymore. They’re dabblin’ in the very stuff that powers progress… or at least, the illusion of it. And they’re doin’ it in different ways. One’s bettin’ on the atom, the other on the wind and sun. A fella could spend a lifetime ponderin’ which is the better wager.

One asks oneself, what does it signify? The question, of course, is rhetorical. Signify it does not. The market, like life, proceeds according to its own obscure logic, indifferent to our anxieties and pronouncements. Still, it is the habit of humans to seek meaning, even in the face of absurdity.

Let’s consider. A significant geopolitical kerfuffle in the Middle East, oil prices behaving as though they’ve been startled by a badger, inflation stubbornly refusing to lie down, and economic growth…well, let’s just say it’s taking a very leisurely stroll. Sound familiar? It should. Because this is, with unnerving precision, what things looked like half a century ago.

Now, Amazon isn’t exactly the dazzling newcomer anymore. Over the past five years, its stock hasn’t exactly been shooting for the moon. A mere 35% gain. Which, if you think about it, is roughly the same as the return you’d get from keeping the money under your mattress… and then factoring in the cost of the mattress. The S&P 500, meanwhile, has been doing rather better. But here’s the thing about Amazon: it’s quietly, efficiently, becoming something quite extraordinary.

There is talk of AI, of course. The air itself seems thick with its promise. But promises are fragile things, easily broken by the weight of expectation. The concerns – infrastructure costs, geopolitical tremors – are not phantoms. They are the earth shifting beneath our feet. Yet, there is a peculiar resilience to this company, a stubborn refusal to be wholly defined by the prevailing winds. It is as if the very metal remembers a time before such anxieties, a time of pure, unburdened creation.

It’s not merely missteps, mind you. The world, it seems, has decided to throw a few extra spanners into the works. Unexpected macro-challenges, they call them. As if running a business wasn’t enough like herding cats without the added complication of… well, everything. Let’s see what’s gone awry, and whether this particular griffin might yet take flight.

Now, a whole slew of companies are scrambling to get a piece of this quantum pie, and D-Wave Quantum (QBTS 1.46%) is one of them. But they’re doing things… oddly. It’s like they decided to build a car using only spare parts from a bicycle and a washing machine. And honestly, that’s what makes them interesting. Could this quirky approach turn a modest investment into a fortune? Let’s investigate, shall we? But don’t expect a guarantee. I’m a portfolio manager, not a magician. Though sometimes, the line gets blurred.