SPDW, one observes, manages to offer a lower expense ratio while simultaneously exhibiting a superior dividend yield and one-year return. A rather neat trick, wouldn’t you say? VWO, however, possesses a significantly larger AUM, which, while not necessarily indicative of performance, does suggest a certain degree of popularity. Or perhaps simply inertia.
Now, the numbers themselves weren’t bad. Revenue was $12.05 billion, up 18% year over year. They beat estimates. Net income climbed 29% to $2.4 billion. Basically, they made a lot of money. But Wall Street is a demanding mistress. It’s never enough. It’s like being a contestant on a cooking show – you can make a perfect soufflé, but the judges are still going to find something to critique, probably the garnish.
After sailing through phase 3 trials with a commendable lack of fuss, Eli Lilly had submitted its application for orforglipron in December. The FDA, in a rather sporting gesture, granted the application a voucher allowing for a swift review – a month or two, as opposed to the usual year-long wait. A decision by the end of February seemed entirely reasonable, and investors were, naturally, anticipating a prompt resolution. However, the FDA, in a display of bureaucratic caution, has now extended the review period until April 10th. A dashedly annoying turn of events, what!
The market, in its perpetual state of agitation, has seen fit to offer this rather substantial concern at a discount. A fleeting weakness, perhaps, or merely a demonstration of its own capricious nature. But let us not mistake temporary displeasure for fundamental flaw. Brookfield, you see, is not a stock for those who chase fleeting fancies. It is an investment for those who understand that true wealth is built not on speculation, but on the solid foundations of enduring assets.
Now, it’s suddenly a star. Included in the S&P 500. Doubled year-to-date. Of course. Because now everyone notices. It’s the principle of the thing. You spend decades being perfectly adequate, then suddenly you’re a genius. It’s like waiting thirty years for a table at a restaurant, and then they finally call your name and the food is just… okay. Just okay! What was the point?
HODL, you see, is a direct plunge into the Bitcoin abyss. A rather unsubtle wager on the continued existence of a digital phantom. BITQ, on the other hand, dabbles in the companies around the phantom – the miners, the exchanges, the various hangers-on. A slightly more sophisticated, though no less precarious, approach. Let us examine the particulars, shall we?
Now, consider the behemoth, ConocoPhillips (COP +1.52%). This oil giant, a creature of considerable scale and ambition, harbors a desire to rank amongst the most generous of its peers – to ascend to the top 25% of dividend-growing companies within the aforementioned S&P 500. Already, it offers a yield of 3.3%, a sum nearly three times that of the average company – a veritable mountain of coin compared to the molehill offered by others. Should one invest a mere $1,000, one might anticipate a dividend income of over $33 in the first year. A sum sufficient, perhaps, to purchase a rather respectable samovar, or at least a generous quantity of tea.
And so, we turn our gaze to Nu Holdings (NU +0.11%). A name, perhaps, that does not yet inspire the same breathless reverence, the same frantic trading. But within this unassuming entity, there exists a potential that is, shall we say,…unconventional.
To chase after these pure ‘quantum’ ventures, these fledgling things built on hope and borrowed capital… it is a fool’s errand. A man building a palace on sand. Better to look to the established fortresses, the companies with coffers overflowing, who can afford to dabble in these new games without risking the livelihoods of those who toil within their walls.
Both funds, ostensibly, seek to capture the elusive spirit of small-cap growth stocks. But the devil, as always, resides in the particulars. ISCG spreads its net wide, a democratic embrace of 971 holdings. RZG, by contrast, is a more austere affair, a mere 131 companies, weighted heavily toward the precarious realm of medical innovation. It is a difference not merely of numbers, but of temperament—one a cautious expansion, the other a desperate gamble on the future of human health.