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AppLovin, a company born of the relentless churn of mobile applications, had indeed experienced a year of astonishing growth. Revenue climbed with the audacity of a jungle vine, reaching nearly $1.7 billion in the final quarter alone – a sum that would have funded a small republic, or at least, a lavish collection of server racks. For the year as a whole, the tally reached an impressive $5.5 billion, a 70% surge that felt less like progress and more like a spell being cast. The net income, too, bloomed with an unnatural vigor, rising 84% in the quarter and a staggering 111% for the year. It was a bounty, certainly, but one that carried the scent of something ephemeral, like a perfectly rendered mirage.

The occasion for this downturn was the release of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. While revenue exhibited a respectable increase—eleven and eight-tenths percent—and earnings per share surpassed expectations, a slight shortfall in top-line revenue proved sufficient to unsettle the market’s delicate sensibilities. It is a curious thing, how easily optimism can be displaced by the faintest shadow of disappointment.

The basic idea behind quantum computing is delightfully strange. Regular computers use bits, which are either 0 or 1. Quantum computers use qubits. Qubits, thanks to a phenomenon called superposition, can be both 0 and 1 at the same time. It’s like flipping a coin that’s still spinning in the air – it’s neither heads nor tails until it lands. This allows quantum computers to explore many possibilities simultaneously, which, in theory, could solve problems that are currently intractable for even the most powerful supercomputers. The problem is, maintaining that spinning-coin state is fiendishly difficult. The slightest vibration, temperature change, or even a particularly grumpy observer can cause the qubit to “decohere” – to fall flat, so to speak – and give you a meaningless answer. It’s a bit like trying to build a house of cards during an earthquake.

According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission – a body that exists, one suspects, to provide employment for people who enjoy reading very small print¹ – Towle & Co. made this acquisition during the last quarter. The value, as of that particular moment in the swirling chaos of the market, was eleven million dollars. Which, naturally, will be different by the time anyone actually reads this.

QQQ, a vessel carrying the names we’ve come to know as oracles – NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft – represents a certain consolidation of power. It is the forest floor grown dense with the established trees, shading out all but the most determined saplings. IWO, in contrast, is the open prairie, a multitude of smaller companies, each with its own fragile promise. The difference, then, is not simply one of scale, but of temperament. One is a fortress, the other a frontier.

The S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.57%) fell, a collective sigh of uncertainty, settling at 6,833. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 2.03%) followed, dropping to 22,597. Within this landscape of cloud and commerce, Alibaba Group (BABA 3.40%) also felt the chill, closing at $158.73, down 3.40%. Walmart (WMT +3.78%), however, managed to climb, finishing at $133.64. A curious dance, isn’t it? Some rise, some fall, all driven by the same unseen forces.

The sale encompassed all 536,133 shares held during the fourth quarter. A decisive move, wouldn’t you say? One suspects a touch of profit-taking, rather than outright panic. Though, given the recent performance, one could be forgiven for a flutter of nerves. The net result, for Towle & Co. at least, is a rather substantial reduction in exposure.

They sold off just over a million shares – roughly $21 million worth – leaving them with a still-substantial $40 million holding. I’ve spent the last few days trying to convince myself I have a better grasp of this than I actually do, and honestly, it feels like trying to assemble IKEA furniture with oven mitts on. The numbers are there, of course, but the why remains elusive. They claim it’s about portfolio balancing, which is what everyone claims. It’s a polite way of saying, “We thought this might not go so well.”

This compels a certain optimism, naturally. A portfolio manager is, after all, a creature of habit, and habit dictates a pursuit of value. And within this swirling vortex of skepticism, two names present themselves with a certain… solidity: Nvidia (NVDA 1.70%) and Broadcom (AVGO 3.38%). Both are positioned to benefit handsomely from this ongoing expenditure, and appear, at present, to be rather… reasonably priced. Though reason, one must admit, is a commodity in short supply these days.