By 2019, the hounds were loosed. A question on Form 1040, a subtle probe into the digital holdings of the citizenry. And then, the 1099 forms, issued by the exchanges – a digital confession of wealth. It was a clumsy beginning, a bureaucratic attempt to lasso a cloud. But now, as we approach the 2026 filing season, the net tightens. Two new changes loom, and they are, shall we say, interesting.
Alongside this shift, Dana Walden has been elevated to President and Chief Creative Officer, tasked with charting the course for media, news, and the endless production of content. A new title, of course, to signify the weight of responsibility – or perhaps simply to justify a larger office.
The demand, it transpires, is for power. Not the sort of power wielded by statesmen, but the brute force required to sustain the digital leviathans. Meta Platforms, in a display of almost vulgar extravagance, proposes to consume hundreds of gigawatts to fuel its artificial intelligence projects. Microsoft, equally ambitious, speaks of an ‘industrial revolution.’ One suspects these gentlemen have not considered the implications for the national grid, or indeed, the aesthetic impact of so many server farms.
Despite a substantial increase in share price over the past three years, Palantir has historically traded at a premium, a factor that has prompted circumspection among certain investment analysts. The question remains: does the current valuation adequately reflect the company’s future growth potential, or does it present a risk to prospective investors?
SOXL, a devotee of the semiconductor, pledges to triple your gains – or losses – within a single day. A bold promise, indeed! QLD, more temperate in its approach, merely doubles the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100. It is as if one player stakes all upon a single hand, whilst the other diversifies – a strategy, I daresay, favored by those who prefer prudence to audacity.
Rocket Lab doesn’t deal in dreams. They build rockets. Reusable ones. Eighty-one launches to date, dropping satellites into orbit like a seasoned poker player dealing cards. They’re prepping Neutron, a bigger bird, to haul heavier loads. It’s a simple business, if you can manage the physics.
One observes the holdings of Bernzott, and a pattern emerges. Vanguard’s broad market exposure, a sensible foundation. Colombus McKinnon, a name less heralded, yet possessing a quiet strength. And now, Silgan, ascending to become the third largest position within their portfolio. This is not the behavior of those chasing ephemeral gains. It is the accumulation of solid, if uninspiring, businesses, those that quietly provide essential goods and services, and which, therefore, are less vulnerable to the whims of popular fancy. The market prizes novelty; Bernzott seeks endurance.
Consider Microsoft, a behemoth whose shares recently suffered a most undignified tumble after announcing profits that grew by a rather robust 60% year over year. A 10% decline! As if the market, in its infinite wisdom, deemed such prosperity…improper. It is as if the company had committed the sin of too much success. One wonders if they’ve offended some ancient market deity with their abundance.
XRP remains, statistically, a significant entity. Its fully diluted market capitalization, a figure recited with increasing weariness by analysts, stands at $162 billion. It functions as the native token of the XRP Ledger, a system intended to expedite and reduce the cost of cross-border transactions. The intention, one suspects, is less about revolutionizing finance and more about creating a more efficient mechanism for the inevitable transfer of value – a process as relentless and impersonal as the turning of gears.
Initially, the light touched USA Rare Earth (USAR +15.83%), a company poised to capture the nascent rays of this governmental endeavor. Now, however, the glow has spread, illuminating the uranium sector, and particularly, the fortunes of Energy Fuels. For it appears the ambitions of Project Vault extend beyond the merely rare, reaching for the elemental heart of power itself.