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The prevailing wisdom, endlessly repeated by the oracles of the financial districts, is to mirror the S&P 500, to surrender to the tide and hope for a respectable drift. A sensible strategy, perhaps, for those content with merely keeping pace, but a passive acceptance of fate for those who believe in the possibility of exceeding it. The pursuit of exceptional returns often leads investors down treacherous paths, tangled in the complexities of fleeting trends and speculative bubbles. Yet, there exists a more subtle route, a path paved not with explosive growth, but with the unwavering consistency of dividends—a quiet rain nourishing a patient garden.

See, everyone wants more ‘intelligence’ in their machines. Artificial Intelligence, they call it. Sounds grand, doesn’t it? As if you can just add intelligence like sprinkling fairy dust. It’s more like coaxing a particularly stubborn imp to do your bidding. And all this intelligence requires… well, things. Tiny, complicated things made of silicon. Nvidia makes the flashy bits, the ones that shout ‘Look at me!’ But increasingly, the big players – the hyperscalers, as they’re annoyingly called¹ – are realizing that shouting isn’t always the most efficient way to get things done. They’re turning to Application-Specific Integrated Circuits – ASICs – custom chips designed for a specific task. Think of it as commissioning a master craftsman to build you a single, perfect tool, rather than buying a box of vaguely useful implements.

FBTC buys the thing. BITQ buys the idea of the thing. One’s a lever directly on the price, the other a complicated Rube Goldberg machine. Both aim to capture the same updraft, but with different degrees of… well, directness. It’s about how much control you want, or how much you’re willing to surrender to the whims of management and market sentiment. A trader understands that. It’s all levers, isn’t it?

By the conclusion of trading, Moderna’s stock had increased by a margin exceeding fifteen percent – a circumstance which, naturally, invites a closer examination.

These ventures, while possessing an undeniable allure, are not without their inherent risks. They resemble, perhaps, the more elaborate chambers of a labyrinth, promising treasure but demanding a careful navigation. The subject of this brief inquiry, SoFi Technologies, presents itself as a particularly intriguing specimen. It is a relatively recent arrival upon the financial landscape, a construct born not of centuries-old tradition, but of the digital age. It has, according to the available data, navigated its initial, more precarious phase, and now demonstrates a degree of profitability. This, in itself, is a noteworthy event, a small victory against the statistical probabilities.

Initial assessments suggested a disruption, a fracturing of established trade patterns. Yet, the S&P 500, that capricious oracle, registered a rise – a phenomenon not entirely unforeseen. The index, after all, is merely a reflection of collective hope and fear, a fluctuating mirror held up to the face of possibility. Its performance over the past year exceeds the long-term average, though falls short of the exuberance witnessed in 2024 – a year which, in retrospect, may prove to be a singular anomaly, a momentary lapse into irrational optimism.

The problem is, it’s complicated. Terribly, terribly complicated. It’s not like ordering a takeaway. And companies in this space aren’t exactly printing money right now. Which is a bit of a relief, actually. I mean, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Vitesse Energy, you see, is a most curious creature. It does not dig, not precisely. It does not pump, not with its own hands. It is, rather, a collector of scraps, a gatherer of orphaned wells in the Bakken region. Imagine a man who does not cultivate a garden, but instead wanders the fields, picking up fallen apples – a perfectly respectable occupation, certainly, but hardly one to inspire grand pronouncements of agricultural prowess. They boast of owning interests in over 7,600 wells, a number so vast it becomes almost meaningless. It’s like counting the grains of sand on a beach – an exercise in futility, and one that leaves you covered in grit. They call it diversification; I call it a desperate attempt to appear busy. Chord Energy, Devon Energy, and Continental Resources – these are the true gardeners, while Vitesse is merely the scavenger, picking over their leavings.

Intuitive Surgical is known for its Da Vinci systems, mechanisms that assist physicians in performing surgical procedures with minimal intrusion. In the recent year, the fifth iteration of this apparatus received sanction. The dissemination of the Da Vinci 5 is ongoing, a slow unfurling. It is reasonable to anticipate increased traction over the coming years, supplemented by software refinements and adjustments based on practical experience and the counsel of practitioners. Additional applications for its use will likely be approved, extending its reach.

Those venerable companies, the components of the Dow, enjoyed a modest recovery from yesterday’s disquiet. One observes, however, that a certain skepticism persists regarding the long-term prospects of established firms. The recent performance of 3M Company and International Business Machines, though improved, remains a cautionary tale. The former declined slightly, while the latter experienced a more pronounced, though perhaps unsustainable, advance. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single day’s good fortune does not necessarily indicate a sound foundation.