One observes, with a certain detached amusement, the eagerness with which the market embraces novelty. Yet, true wealth is not built on fleeting trends, but on enduring foundations. I suspect, over the long term, Alphabet will prove the more substantial investment. To mistake current performance for future destiny is, if one may be blunt, rather vulgar.
For thirteen consecutive quarters, Berkshire has been a net seller of stocks. Apple and Bank of America seem to be the designated donors, consistently offloading shares. It’s a bit like my aunt Mildred, perpetually “downsizing” her porcelain doll collection. You start to wonder if there’s a deeper meaning, a secret message encoded in the sales. Though, realistically, it’s probably just accounting.
The fourth quarter’s accounts revealed a revenue of $106.3 million, a sequential increase of sixteen percent. A respectable growth, perhaps, if one considers the long, slow gestation of this technology. It is not the explosive growth of a summer storm, but the steady seep of water wearing away at stone. Sales of new printers, and the ever-hungry consumption of materials by those already installed, fueled this advance. One detects a pattern – a slow, deliberate building, like the accretion of sand forming a dune.
The pitch is this: AST is building a satellite constellation to beam cellular service directly to your phone. Like, no towers needed. It’s ambitious, bordering on “let’s just solve world hunger while we’re at it.” Their partners read like a who’s who of mobile carriers – AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, and now TELUS. Collectively, they serve billions of subscribers, which is a lot of potential bill-paying customers. If this actually works, we’re talking about recurring revenue in the tens of billions. They’ve also snagged a defense contract, because apparently, even the military wants to be able to Instagram from anywhere. It’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.
But things, as they often do, are starting to shift. There’s a faint glimmer of something resembling actual progress, and I’ve found myself revisiting my long-held skepticism. I’m not rushing to add Plug to my portfolio just yet – I’ve learned the hard way that hope is not a strategy – but I am, for the first time in a long time, thinking about it with a degree of…curiosity. It’s a bit like discovering a dusty, forgotten map – you’re not entirely sure where it leads, but it’s intriguing nonetheless.
Microsoft (MSFT +0.17%) is bleeding value, a slow leak rather than a burst pipe. Investors are scratching their heads, wondering if this is the time to jump in. It’s a question as old as the Exchange itself. The stock hasn’t looked this vulnerable since ’08. Back then, the world was actually ending. Now? It just feels…tired.
One is ever inclined to seek opportunity amidst such fluctuations, and it behoves a discerning investor to consider whether this present decline offers a judicious point of entry. The question, naturally, is whether this is a temporary indisposition, or a symptom of a more fundamental concern regarding Meta’s ambitious, and undeniably costly, endeavours.
Years may yet pass before a single kopeck of genuine revenue graces their ledgers. Losses accumulate, a growing darkness. Is this stock merely wounded, or is it already… beyond saving? The temptation to seize a ‘bargain’ is strong, but one must resist the siren song of reduced price. To gamble on such fragility… it feels almost… immoral.
S&P Dow Jones Indices, the people who decide these things, announced the changes after market close Friday. Honestly, the whole process feels a bit… arbitrary. Like a popularity contest. But hey, who am I to judge? I’m just moving money around. Argan was one of sixteen stocks “graduating” to the SmallCap 600. Lyft, Match Group, Sphere Entertainment… a motley crew, if you ask me. Though, to be fair, who does ask me? It’s not like I’m handing out investment advice over cocktails. Although, I should start doing that…
There wasn’t a single, earth-shattering event, no rogue tweet from a CEO, no unexpected regulatory crackdown. Just…a general sense of things not being quite right. A kind of slow, creeping dread. Apparently, it coincided with a broader market wobble, a collective sigh as everyone realised software stocks weren’t quite the golden ticket they’d hoped for. And then, just to add insult to injury, inflation decided to rear its ugly head again. Because of course it did.