Approximately eighty percent of Micron’s revenue derives from DRAM, that ephemeral realm of short-term memory, so vital to the swift calculations of modern life. The remainder flows from NAND, the more steadfast keeper of long-term storage. It is a division of labor mirroring, perhaps, the human condition itself – a constant interplay between the transient and the lasting.
It is, therefore, something of a surprise to find that Laffont recently divested entirely from CoreWeave. This company, a purveyor of computational capacity for artificial intelligence applications, has enjoyed a period of rapid expansion, fueled by the current enthusiasm for all things ‘AI’. The stock price, naturally, reflected this. Yet, Laffont chose to take profits. A prudent move, perhaps, or a signal of deeper reservations. It is difficult to say with certainty, and the pronouncements of fund managers are rarely exercises in honest disclosure.
They’re bragging about Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) growing 66% year over year. Sixty-six percent! Sounds impressive, right? Until you realize it’s fueled by IOUs from companies that are burning cash faster than a Tesla on Ludicrous mode. They’ve got this backlog, see? Over $523 BILLION. A number so large it’s practically obscene. And who’s writing these checks? Meta, Nvidia, and – brace yourselves – OpenAI. OpenAI! The black hole of venture capital. They’re promising the moon, but they can barely afford the rocket fuel.
Federal Realty Investment Trust, a name whispered with a certain respect amongst those who track these things, distinguishes itself not through spectacular leaps, but through consistent, almost stubborn, adherence to a single principle: the reliable distribution of income. Fifty-eight consecutive years of increased dividends – a feat bordering on the legendary – mark it as a ‘Dividend King,’ a title earned not through conquest, but through patient accumulation. It stands alone amongst its peers, a solitary figure in a field of aspirants.
The yield, around 6%, is…acceptable. Not a spectacular figure to set the heart racing, but enough to warrant attention. I don’t, at present, rely on the distribution. One shouldn’t, really. It feels…precarious, to build a life on such things. Instead, I reinvest. A small act of faith, perhaps, in a world where faith is a dwindling commodity. With a yield of this magnitude, even a modest appreciation in the unit price offers a reasonable return. Though one shouldn’t expect miracles.
It was the scent of new growth, certainly. Investors, like migrating birds, had flocked to the territories of innovation – artificial intelligence, the whispers of quantum possibility, and the promise, or perhaps the illusion, of weight loss miracles. Nvidia, IonQ, Eli Lilly – these names became incantations, each share a seed planted in the fertile ground of speculation. The market, it seemed, had decided to believe in alchemy.
Indeed, the figures themselves are quite dazzling. The Dow Jones, that venerable index of commerce, has ascended with a vigor that might shame a nimble courtier. The S&P 500, and the Nasdaq Composite, fueled by the spirit of innovation (or perhaps, mere speculation), have followed suit, soaring to heights that would make Icarus blush. One might almost believe that fortune favors this particular administration, were it not for the inconvenient truth that markets, like men, are prone to fits of fancy and moments of regrettable excess.
One might assume, given the current obsession with a select group of tech behemoths (dubbed the “Magnificent Seven,” a moniker that sounds suspiciously like a 1970s superhero team), that the really interesting opportunities are already fully priced into those stocks. But Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s CEO since August 2017 (a period roughly equivalent to several geological epochs in internet time), suggests otherwise. He’s pointed to a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity lurking just around the corner. A corner, naturally, that’s probably curved and possibly guarded by a very polite but firm robot.
The recent quarterly reports reveal a trimming of his stake in Nvidia, a company that has become synonymous with the burgeoning age of artificial intelligence, and a corresponding increase in his holdings of Palantir Technologies. Three million shares of Nvidia were released, a reduction of seventeen percent. Simultaneously, five hundred and forty-three thousand shares of Palantir were acquired, doubling the previous position. These are not impulsive acts, but measured adjustments, born of a mind accustomed to weighing probabilities and assessing the long arc of technological development. Yet, to interpret these moves as a simple endorsement of one company over another would be a grave simplification. The world of finance, like the world of men, is rarely governed by such straightforward logic.
The question of whether Polkadot qualifies as a “true blockchain” has stirred the crypto community anew, with critics citing its Relay Chain’s paltry five signed extrinsics-mostly trivial DOT transfers-as evidence of its demise. Such judgments, one suspects, would horrify Mr. Darcy, who once declared, “A lady’s imagination is very rapid, but she hardly ever exercises it on her own concerns.”