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Alphabet, formerly Google, possesses a comprehensive artificial intelligence infrastructure, a fact rarely understated by its proponents. They have developed ‘Gemini’, a large language model, and integrated it into their products – most notably, their search engine. The intention, predictably, is to improve the service and, more importantly, to increase revenue. The logic is simple enough: a more engaging search engine yields more opportunities for advertising.

Canopy Growth, you see, is one of the larger players in the Canadian cannabis market. They grow the stuff, process the stuff, bottle the stuff, and generally do everything one does with a plant that, until relatively recently, was frowned upon by a significant portion of the population. They even have a footprint beyond Canada, which is, in the grand scheme of things, a bit like opening a branch of your bakery in Antarctica. Ambitious, certainly. Entirely logical? Perhaps not.

Look, I’m a macro strategist. I deal with actual trends, not hyped-up projections. But fine, let’s play along. If everyone’s going to chase these AI stocks, you might as well try to pick the least offensive ones. I’ve been looking at a couple. And honestly, the whole thing is just… exhausting.

Let us consider, then, a modest portfolio – a mere three thousand dollars, a sum that, in the grand scheme of things, is barely sufficient to purchase a decent antique writing desk – and allocate it among three entities that, while not necessarily embodying the geist of artificial intelligence itself, are, in their own peculiar ways, poised to benefit from its unfolding drama. Consider it not a prediction of riches, but a cautious observation of the forces at play.

They promised “network effects” and “operating leverage.” Buzzwords, mostly. But now, it seems, those buzzwords actually meant something. The company is growing, people are using it, and it’s not losing quite as much money as it used to. Three things happened this year that might explain why. Or not. It’s hard to say. Everything is connected, and everything is meaningless.

Last year, the market offered a rather unenthusiastic appraisal of their efforts. Nike, a 16% descent; Starbucks, a slightly less precipitous, but still discernible, 8% dip. The question, then, is not merely which stock will recover, but which possesses the more robust constitution, the more artful choreography to navigate the gathering economic shadows?

For the first nine months of the year, AMD and Nvidia danced a rather predictable jig, both comfortably above the general market. But then, in October, AMD took a decided lead. The reason? A rather substantial commitment from a key player in the artificial intelligence game – a firm named OpenAI – to purchase a considerable quantity of AMD’s Instinct chips over the next few years. One anticipates a rather profitable few years, actually.

And so, naturally, everyone looks to nuclear. Small modular reactors, they call them. As if making something smaller solves the fundamental problem of, well, everything. The Department of Energy wants to triple nuclear output by mid-century. A grand plan. As if humans ever actually finish anything they start. Still, money will be made. Or lost. That’s the only guarantee.

The core of Klarna’s business, as anyone who’s impulsively purchased a slightly-too-expensive pair of shoes can attest, is “Buy Now, Pay Later” – BNPL, as the cool kids call it. Their signature offering, “Pay in 4,” is elegantly simple: you get your thing now, and then spread the cost over four interest-free payments. Provided, of course, you don’t forget and end up owing money. Which, let’s be honest, happens more often than we’d like to admit. For longer-term purchases – sofas, televisions, that slightly-too-expensive espresso machine – they offer “Fair Financing,” which, naturally, involves interest. It’s a subtle distinction, really, between ‘fair’ and ‘not quite free’.

The collaboration with GIC encompasses three distinct investment avenues: