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Both funds, naturally, seek to sidestep the vulgarities of long-term commitments. SMB, however, confines itself to the rather niche world of municipal bonds, a realm of tax exemptions and, one suspects, considerable administrative overhead. BSV, by contrast, casts a wider net, embracing the prosaic but reliable world of government and investment-grade corporate debt. A comparison, therefore, is not merely of returns, but of philosophies – one a quaint eccentricity, the other a straightforward application of capital.

Rocket Lab, the marginally more grounded of the two, is trying to undercut the SpaceX empire with smaller, more frequent launches. They’ve managed 81 launches so far, which is… something. A respectable number for a company fueled by sheer audacity and venture capital. Their Electron rocket is the workhorse, hauling tiny payloads into orbit. But the real game-changer, they say, is Neutron. A bigger, badder rocket designed to carry… well, more stuff. A lot more. If it ever actually gets off the ground. They were aiming for this quarter. Now? Who the hell knows. The timeline is shifting like sand in a hurricane.

The numbers, of course, told a story, a stark and undeniable one. A decline of 19.7% in the span of a few days. But to focus solely on the percentages was to miss the larger current, the ebb and flow of a faith misplaced. The fall coincided with a familiar tremor in the digital landscape: the cooling of the cryptocurrency markets. Bitcoin and Ethereum, those shimmering promises of decentralized wealth, had lost their luster, and Gemini, inextricably bound to their fate, felt the chill. It was as if the exchange, a grand cathedral built on the shifting sands of speculation, was slowly being reclaimed by the sea.

The filing reveals a new stake, established in the final quarter. $7.61 million, allocated to a company that coats metal and provides electrical services. It’s not glamorous work, but someone must ensure the bridges don’t crumble and the power lines remain aloft. A necessary, if uncelebrated, function. The fund now holds 1.21% of its reported U.S. equity assets in AZZ. A small commitment, yet a commitment nonetheless.

Those clever chaps at Deutsche Bank, after peering into the mists of the past 200 years, discovered that U.S. stocks have been delivering a jolly 6.7% a year, adjusted for those pesky price rises. Bonds, however, chugged along at a rather modest 2.4%. And over the last century, bonds haven’t once managed to outrun stocks in a 25-year race. Not once! It’s a bit like a tortoise competing against a rocket ship, isn’t it?

They announced earnings of $4.17 a share, beating Wall Street’s rather modest expectation of $4.11. Sales were $14.4 billion – a good $600 million ahead. So, objectively, good news. And yet… the stock promptly decided to stage a little downward protest. Nearly 3% off on earnings day. It continued, naturally, throughout the week. Honestly, it’s like trying to maintain a sensible diet during a crisis. You know what you should do, but… well.

Okay, so I’ve been digging into this Ardent Health situation. The SEC filing landed today, and it’s…interesting. Pier Capital offloaded 580,620 shares in the last quarter. Which, let’s be honest, is a lot of beds, bandages, and bewildered patients. I’ve been trying to rationalise it, telling myself it’s just portfolio rebalancing. But I suspect it’s a bit more complicated than that. It’s like deciding you no longer need a gym membership – usually a sign you’ve given up on becoming a sculpted goddess.

I speak, of course, of those established titans, those companies that have weathered many storms and emerged, if not unscathed, then certainly… adapted. They are not the nimble startups, chasing fleeting trends, but rather the enduring estates, capable of cultivating new harvests. And among these, two command our attention: Meta Platforms and Microsoft. Both, members of that illustrious, if somewhat over-praised, ‘Magnificent Seven,’ offer an intriguing proposition: a reasonable price, and a path to expansion in this burgeoning age of intelligent machines. But which, if one were forced to choose, warrants a more considered investment?

I present four instruments, four fragments of this future. Not guarantees, understand. Only… possibilities. And within each, a shadow, a potential for ruin. Such is the nature of existence.