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Alphabet, formerly Google, stumbled initially in the race for AI dominance. This is often glossed over in the current narratives. Their early attempts were clumsy, overshadowed by competitors. However, they possess a crucial advantage: scale. Their Gemini model, integrated into Google Search, now quietly gathers data from millions of users daily. This is not merely innovation; it is the leveraging of an existing monopoly. The argument that this will organically convert users is… convenient. The real value lies in the data collected, a resource unavailable to most challengers. The promise of a personalized AI, tailored to your Google account history, is less a breakthrough and more a sophisticated method of surveillance, presented as convenience.

The core complaint? These companies are prioritizing stock buybacks and dividends over, and I quote, “Plants and Equipment.” It’s the kind of statement that makes you wonder if someone accidentally left a 1950s industrial policy pamphlet on his desk. He’s threatening to cap executive pay at $5 million – which, let’s be real, is still enough to buy a small island – and ban dividends and buybacks until everyone behaves. It’s a bold move, like trying to negotiate with a toddler over a Lego castle.

For those of us not fluent in SEC filings (and let’s be honest, that’s most of us), Systelligence bought 72,824 shares of VTWG at quarter-end. It’s a new position, representing 3.27% of their U.S. equity assets. Which means, for every dollar they have invested in US stocks, about 3 cents is now riding on companies that probably have fewer employees than your local Starbucks.

Alphabet, the behemoth formerly known as Google, is slated to reveal its secrets on the fourth of February. Analysts, those diligent scribes of financial prophecy, will pore over the numbers, seeking omens in the growth of Gemini, its latest AI creation, and the ever-expanding cloud of digital infrastructure that supports it. A cloud, mind you, that threatens to engulf us all, a misty realm of data and calculation where reality itself becomes… pliable.

I ventured, some time ago, to proclaim 3M a stock of particular value, a judgment founded on the assumption that its new Chief Executive, Monsieur Brown, possessed the acumen to remedy its ailing fortunes. The argument, you see, was a simple one: a judicious restructuring, a tightening of belts, and a renewed focus on innovation would, in time, restore the company to its former glory. A most reasonable proposition, one might think, akin to prescribing a tonic for a patient afflicted with a surfeit of complacency. The hope, naturally, was that a favorable economic wind would fill its sails, but alas, the heavens have proven less obliging.

We considered, briefly, the ephemeral allure of Nintendo, the predictable comforts of Mondelez, even the audacious gamble of Rocket Lab. But these felt…distant. Too removed from the everyday, the tangible. My daughter, at ten years, possesses a clarity of purpose that many seasoned investors lack. She desires connection, a resonance with the objects of her affection. And so, Chewy emerged, not as a calculation, but as a…fitting companion.

SoFi, in its ambition, seeks to be a comprehensive financial house, offering a spectrum of services from the mundane – checking accounts and loans – to the more complex instruments of wealth management. It is a vision of wholeness, a desire to shepherd its members through all stages of their financial lives. One observes a certain paternalism in this approach, a belief that the company knows best, and that its members are best served by a comprehensive, if somewhat controlling, embrace. The numbers, as they are wont to do, tell a story of growth: a 35% increase in customer count, a surge in revenue, and a corresponding rise in earnings. Yet, such metrics, while comforting to the shareholder, often obscure the deeper currents at play. A rising tide, after all, lifts all boats, but does not necessarily indicate that any particular vessel is seaworthy.

You see, we’re entering an age of insatiable power demands. Not just for keeping the lights on (though that’s still important), but for feeding the digital gods. Artificial intelligence, data centers… these aren’t powered by good intentions and wishful thinking. They require serious juice. And while some continue to believe in the fairy tale of 100% renewables, reality has a habit of being stubbornly… atomic. Nuclear delivers. Safely, reliably, and with a carbon footprint smaller than a pixie’s footprint in a snowdrift.

My Aunt Carol, who believes 5G causes migraines, tried to explain AI to me over Thanksgiving. It involved a lot of hand-waving and references to “the cloud” as if it were a physical place. She thought Nvidia was building robots. I didn’t correct her. It was easier. But what I should have explained is that all those clever algorithms need somewhere to, well, remember things. And that’s where Micron comes in. They don’t build the robots, they build the brains’ short-term memory.

I’ve been quietly accumulating positions in a few companies I think will benefit. Not because I’m confident, exactly. More like… resigned to the inevitability of it all. Here are six. Don’t blame me if they don’t work out. I’m just a guy in a basement.