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Last year, 2024, was a bit of a wobble, mind you. A 52% decline. Enough to give even the most seasoned investor a twitch. I wrote back in December that once the growth numbers perked up – and, crucially, if they did perk up – investors might remember why they’d been interested in the first place. It’s a bit like a slightly neglected garden; a little tending and it can bloom again. It wasn’t a particularly profound observation, but sometimes the obvious is overlooked in the general panic.

This here index, it’s been on a tear lately. Up 43% in ’23, another 28% in ’24, and a further 20% last year. Seems like it can’t be stopped. And the wise old timers around Wall Street, they’re whisperin’ that this bull market – the seventh since 1990, mind you – has legs. Might just keep dancin’ through 2026, they say. Now, I’ve seen enough cycles to know that “always” and “never” are words best left to fools, but the numbers do tell a story, and it’s a curious one at that.

This James Anderson, a Scotsman with a keen eye for what folks are buildin’ – and buyin’ – he’s the one spinnin’ this tale. Spent near forty years watchin’ the markets, and he’s got a knack for pickin’ winners. He saw the promise in Netflix, Alibaba, Amazon… names that were nothin’ but whispers a while back. And he put his money where his mouth was, and made a pretty penny doin’ it. A shrewd one, that Anderson. He noticed these companies weren’t just sellin’ goods, they were sellin’ the future.

Looking at the chart, it’s… well, it’s rather intimidating. It looks a bit like my attempts at yoga – a lot of upward movement followed by a slightly panicked dip. Units of Cryptocurrency Lost: 3. Hours Spent Staring at Line Graphs: Approximately 87. Number of Times I’ve Considered Becoming a Goat Farmer: 5.

It’s a diversified fund, which, let’s be real, is investor-speak for ‘we’re spreading the risk so we don’t look completely incompetent if something goes south’. It holds the usual suspects: Samsung, Alphabet, AMD, Taiwan Semiconductor… the big players. You know, the ones that probably fund entire countries. And, thankfully, it wasn’t a complete disaster zone. It ended the year up 32%, according to those people who track these things. It moved with the Nasdaq, mostly, but managed to stay ahead. Which, in my book, is a win. A small, slightly grubby win, but a win nonetheless.

The rumblings from the rule-makers are rather interesting. In the States, they’re preparing for a proper squabble in January 2026, trying to decide just how to handle these digital whatsits. And over in Europe, Coinbase is jumping through hoops, filling out forms and promising to be a good little crypto-citizen. All very sensible, though one suspects a bit of fuss and bother. It’s a bit like trying to herd particularly slippery eels, isn’t it?

In recent months, attention has shifted to quantum computing, with certain developers experiencing disproportionate investor interest. While companies such as Rigetti Computing and IonQ have garnered speculative attention, D-Wave Quantum has demonstrated the most substantial share price appreciation. A 211% increase in 2025, outperforming established indices and large-cap equities, warrants a more rigorous assessment.

Sandisk, a name that suggests both desert expanses and the granular nature of data itself, soared by a staggering 559%, claiming the dubious honor of being the index’s most exuberant performer. Western Digital, a purveyor of spinning platters and magnetic ghosts, managed a respectable, if less flamboyant, 282%. Seagate, chroniclers of personal digital detritus, climbed 219%, while Micron, architects of the fleeting memory palaces we call DRAM, ascended 239%. These were not increments, dear reader, but leaps—the sort that make actuaries twitch and portfolio managers dream of early retirement.

Ferrari’s operating margins consistently exceed those of its peers, a phenomenon attributable not merely to brand prestige, but to deliberate supply management. The company actively restricts production, maintaining an imbalance between demand and available units. This strategy, while seemingly counterintuitive, reinforces exclusivity and mitigates the need for price discounting—a common affliction within the broader automotive landscape. The introduction of technologically advanced features, often originating from Formula 1 development, further justifies premium pricing. This is not simply a matter of marketing; it is a function of demonstrable product differentiation.