qfx

Oregon’s NuScale Power, a name whispered with a mixture of hope and skepticism, proposes a solution. Small Modular Reactors, they call them – SMRs. Compact, scalable, and, crucially, potentially profitable. One imagines them as miniature suns, capable of illuminating not just our homes, but the insatiable data centers that house the digital ghosts of our ambitions. A rather Faustian bargain, wouldn’t you agree? Trading one form of potential catastrophe for another, all in the name of progress.

The figures themselves are mere shadows, obscuring the true drama. This was no simple divestment, but a calculated severing – a parting with holdings significantly larger than his recent inclinations, a thinning of the protective layer between man and the abyss of potential loss. He now holds but a fragment of his former dominion, a mere 0.04% of the total shares outstanding. A humbling reduction, is it not? One wonders if this is prudence, or a premonition of darker days to come.

Now, listen closely. Apple and American Express? Dependable. Solid. Like your bubbe’s chicken soup. Kraft Heinz? Forget about it! That’s a mess. A total, unmitigated disaster. We’ll get to that later. Trust me, you’ll want to sit down for that one.

The company, catering to those who mistake spending for living, enjoys a certain resilience. It is a haven for the affluent, a demographic that, while often lacking in taste, rarely lacks funds. This, of course, is the true security, not some fanciful notion of inherent value. One should always invest in the habits of others, not their virtues.

However, even with this minor setback, Lilly remains… expensive. Trading at 43 times its recent earnings, it’s priced as if it holds the secret to eternal youth – or at least, a very effective remedy for indigestion. The S&P 500, by comparison, is practically giving its earnings away. The question, then, is whether this premium is justified, or if a patient investor might be better served by waiting for a more… favorable moment.²

Pfizer currently distributes $0.43 per share quarterly, amounting to $1.72 annually. This means if their annual earnings per share fall below that figure, the payout ratio ventures into the realm of mathematical improbability. And recently, they have. Last month’s earnings report revealed a slight hiccup – a loss, actually – with earnings per share clocking in at a negative $0.29. This wasn’t due to any catastrophic failure of pharmaceutical innovation, mind you, but rather due to something called ‘asset impairment charges’ – roughly $4.4 billion worth. It’s a bit like the universe politely correcting Pfizer’s accounting, suggesting perhaps they’d overestimated the value of something. Full-year EPS landed at $1.36, a minor dip from the previous year’s $1.41. However, these impairment charges are non-cash items, which means they’re not actual money leaving the building, just a re-evaluation of what the building was worth in the first place. (It’s a bit like realizing your antique stamp collection is actually just a pile of colorful paper. Disappointing, but doesn’t immediately impact your ability to buy tea.)

Six months ago, it was all champagne and roses. Now? A mere 6% gain. The recent earnings report, perfectly adequate though it was, was met with a distinctly unimpressed shrug from the market. A 5% drop, you say? Honestly, it’s hardly the end of civilization. Still, one can’t help but wonder if the truly spectacular gains are already… accounted for.