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They say that ten years prior, a modest investment of ten thousand dollars in this strange currency would have blossomed into a fantastical sum – two and a half million, a figure that felt less like arithmetic and more like a conjuring trick. The market, a restless sea, had tossed Bitcoin about with ferocious abandon, yet it stubbornly refused to sink. It had dipped, a mere five percent in the previous cycle, a shallow wound for a creature so often presumed mortally wounded. Now, it stirs again, rising ten percent, still shadowed by its former glory, twenty-two percent below the peaks of memory. But to dismiss it as mere volatility is to misunderstand the currents at play.

Wall Street, that fickle mistress, is ever in pursuit of the novel, the exotic. First, the electric carriage, then the thinking machine, and now, the rare-earth metal! A trend, it seems, as predictable as the turning of the seasons. USA Rare Earth, naturally, has positioned itself to ride this wave, its stock having experienced a momentary exuberance, only to settle into a more… measured ascent. A rise of 35% in a year is not insignificant, yet it pales in comparison to the fleeting, fevered heights it once touched – a cautionary tale, perhaps, of expectations outpacing reality.

Advanced Micro Devices, a name once whispered only among those versed in the intricacies of silicon and circuitry, now finds itself thrust into the glaring light of the artificial intelligence boom. It arrived late to the feast, a fact not lost on those who witnessed the early dominance of its rival, Nvidia. But the pursuit of intelligence, both artificial and human, is rarely a sprint. It is a long march, and AMD, with its growing capabilities in central and graphical processing, has begun to gain ground. The numbers reveal a steady, if not meteoric, rise – a 2% increase in the first quarter of 2024, climbing to 36% by the third quarter of 2025. Yet, even these gains are tempered by the realities of global trade and political maneuvering. The tariffs and restrictions imposed upon the flow of goods to the vast Chinese market, a shadow looming over all technological endeavors, inflicted a substantial blow – an $800 million loss – upon the company’s fortunes.

Today, the stock pirouettes upwards by a modest 2.2% (as of 9:50 a.m. ET), a movement attributed to the pronouncements of Dimple Gosai, an analyst at Bank of America, who recommends acquisition at a price of $127 per share. A recommendation, naturally, delivered with the solemnity of a high priestess unveiling a particularly profitable oracle.

The future, she’s a fickle mistress. Promises whispered on the wind, often broken before the sun sets. So, when a company like Chevron has raised its dividend year after year for nearly four decades, it’s not a guarantee of forever. It’s a testament to a discipline, a commitment to those who’ve placed their trust. Some shy away from energy, seeing it as tied to the whims of the world’s appetite. But to dismiss Chevron, and its current 4.1% yield, would be a short-sighted thing. Over the past twenty years, this company has returned more than 493% to its shareholders. A good piece of work, if you ask me.

The pursuit of lasting value in the retail sector has always been a fool’s errand, a dance with shadows. To believe one could predict the whims of consumers, their sudden cravings and fleeting loyalties, was to misunderstand the very nature of desire. Yet, here we are, attempting to discern which of these behemoths, these modern-day cathedrals of consumption, will offer a slightly less illusory return. They have, for decades, rewarded those who participate in the ritual, but the gods of the market are fickle, and even the most devoted pilgrims should approach with a measure of skepticism.

Realty Income is, to put it mildly, a dividend machine. They’ve paid a monthly dividend for, well, an astonishingly long time – 667 consecutive months as of this writing. That’s roughly 55 years of reliably showing up with the goods. They’ve also increased that payment 133 times since 1994. One hundred and thirty-three! It’s enough to make one wonder if they have a dedicated team of dividend-boosting elves tucked away somewhere. Their dividend has grown at a compound annual rate of 4.2% over that period, which is, frankly, quite respectable.

There’s this company. You probably know the old name. It dealt in sofas and televisions for those of us who haven’t quite mastered the art of delayed gratification. Now it’s called Upbound. A cheerful name. A bit optimistic, perhaps. But then, hope springs eternal, even in the portfolios of the cynical.

Data storage. Sounds dull, doesn’t it? Like watching paint dry. But everything runs on storage. Every dream, every scheme, every cat video. Sandisk makes the boxes that hold it all. They deal in the hard stuff – the silicon and circuits. And right now, that’s where the money is, if you know where to look.