It is not the soaring price that concerns me, but the quiet persistence beneath it. The true wealth lies not in what is visible, but in the unseen currents that will shape the landscape for years to come. I search for companies not merely riding the wave, but becoming the wave itself—those that will endure when the froth subsides, leaving only solid ground.
It seems that the corporate accumulation of Bitcoin has become the talk of the town. MicroStrategy, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to acquire 13,267 BTC for a cool $1.25 billion, thereby elevating its total holdings to a staggering 687,000 BTC. One can only assume that their strategy revolves around treating Bitcoin as a treasury asset-because why not? In this age of uncertainty, it’s either Bitcoin or a set of fine china, and let’s be honest, the latter won’t buy you a yacht.
The company, in these last three years, hath experienced a rise most prodigious – a 1,720% ascent, to be precise. A feat, I confess, that would make even the most seasoned alchemist envious. Much of this bounty stems from an accord with CoreWeave, a hyperscaler of considerable appetite, promising revenue of some eleven billion dollars. A second agreement hath since been struck, compounding the potential riches. It is a spectacle, truly, though one must always inquire: doth the gold glitter with true substance, or merely the sheen of expectation?
The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission – a document which, let’s be honest, is usually only read by those who really need to avoid sleep – revealed that Ocean Park sold all 342,600 shares of VCLT. The fund itself reported no remaining holdings, which is rather definitive. It’s as if the shares simply…vanished.1 The transaction occurred during a quarter where several other fixed-income instruments also felt the chill of Ocean Park’s reassessment. A mere trimming of the sails, you say? Perhaps. Or perhaps it’s the first sign of a larger nautical adjustment.
The filing with the SEC details the complete liquidation of 1.13 million shares. One imagines a clerk, completing the transaction with the same weariness as one might feel watering a plant that refuses to bloom. This move reduces the fund’s exposure to FALN from a prior 1.3% allocation. It’s a small adjustment, of course, in the grand scheme, yet it speaks volumes about a shifting perspective.
The lifting of constraints upon President Maduro has stirred a fleeting excitement, yet the oil itself remains distant. The markets, ever pragmatic, have scarcely noticed. For to expect an immediate bounty is to misunderstand the nature of the beast. Venezuela’s infrastructure, aged and neglected, does not respond with alacrity. A year, perhaps eighteen months, must pass before any substantial increase in exports can be anticipated. Those who require oil today will not find it flowing from Venezuelan wells. Such is the slow, deliberate pace of recovery, a lesson in patience for those accustomed to instant gratification.
There’s one little fund, a rather clever contraption called the Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG +0.20%), that’s been tickling my fancy. It’s not flashy, mind you. It doesn’t promise overnight riches. But it’s a solid sort of chap, and in this topsy-turvy world, that’s worth a good deal.
Consider the case of Nvidia, a company now possessing a market capitalization that rivals the annual budgets of small nations. To add another sum – a hundred billion, say – to this already prodigious wealth is akin to adding a single grain of sand to a boundless desert. It is noticeable, certainly, but scarcely alters the landscape. The true potential, the genuine opportunity for exponential growth, lies elsewhere, amongst those enterprises still finding their footing, still striving to establish dominion over their chosen territories. A modest investment, wisely placed, in such a concern can yield returns that dwarf the incremental gains to be had from the already ascendant.
Okay, so Arbor Realty is, essentially, a sophisticated mortgage REIT. They lend money, mostly for multifamily properties. They hold these loans, intending to get paid back over time. It sounds… straightforward. They also have this agency platform where they refinance these loans into longer-term mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Which is… a lot of acronyms. They also collect fees for servicing these mortgages. It’s clever, really. A way to get multiple revenue streams. Like trying to have three side hustles at once. It seems like a good idea, until you realize you’re completely exhausted and nothing is getting done properly.
Let’s have a rummage through what went wrong, shall we? It’s always useful to know where the splodges came from before you try to polish things up.