A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To A Chatbot -- October 24, 2025

Locator: 49515SEARCH. 

COTD. 

For years I've used Google but it's mostly for checking out facts. Nothing very sophisticated.

But when I was steered to ChatGPT everything changed. 

I quit using "search" simply for fact-checking. I started using search for much more involved queries, gradually asking for deep explanations on topics as diverse as investing and British history.

I know I'm not alone. All this talk about AI has resulted in an explosion in the field of search. We may not see some of the large data centers come on line for years, but in the meantime, traditional search like Google is going to have to expand significantly to keep up with all the new interest. 

It's the opposite of a death spiral. This thing is feeding on itself and that explains a lot of the recent excitement in the US equity markets.  

Right now I'm incredibly happy with my investment portfolio. But in many of the cases I cannot explain what is going on. So, now I'm using Google Gemini and ChatGPT to dig deeper. Most of the time I am simply confirming I've made the right investment decision. But more and more, I'm using Gemini and ChatGPT to help me make investment decisions. A lot of that stuff has been there all the time but as I get more and more comfortable with chatbots, the more I use them. 

Previously posted. 

Link here. 

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New Shoes

"No Kings Day" -- October 25, 2025

Locator: 49514THERAPY. 

The story:

From a Fox News article, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert said that the "No Kings" protests are a snapshot of an era when emotional catharsis and civic activism have begun to blur. 

He, Jonathan Alpert, was most likely correct as far as he went.

According to researchers at American University who track protest movements, and whose findings were first reported by Axios, the typical D.C. attendee was an educated White woman in her 40s who learned about the demonstration through friends or social media. 

"The 'No Kings' movement allows people to feel belonging and community," Alpert said. "Sharing grievances with like-minded people feels good, but it doesn’t necessarily change anything."

The "typical attendee was an educated White woman in her 40s." 

And if one looks at the photos closely, one will notice that the rest of the attendees appeared to be those who "self-identified" as white women in their 40s."  

Focus On Dividends -- SCCO Announces Increase In Cash Dividend -- October 25, 205

Locator: 49513DIV. 

Dividend increase announced yesterday, October 24, 2025 -- increase from 80 cents to 90 cents (an increase of 12.5%). SCCO also declares a small stock dividend with their quarterly cash dividends.

Link here. November dividend announcement. 

Link here. August dividend announcement. 

Link here: 

At every interval, SCCO share appreciation exceeded that of BRK-B: 

Total return, including non-reinvested dividends for SCCO, June 1, 2020, to June 1, 2025:

• BRK-B: 165%.
• SCCO: 195%  (includes dividends, but does not include reinvestment of dividends)
• S&P 500: 130% (includes reinvestment of dividends).

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Amazon Prime Movies This Month

Link here. 

Amazing, to say the least.

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Music

Arvo Pärt.

90th birthday concert.  

 

Warren Buffett's Benchmark Is The S&P 500 -- October 25, 2025

Locator: 49512BRK.  

Berkshire Hathaway is now underperforming the S&P 500 by almost 28 percentage points since WB announced his retirement. 

 

Vs S&) 500, one year:

Six months: 

My Personal Favorite From Today -- October 25, 2025

Locator: 49511WHITEHOUSE.  

My second favorite:

More:

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Disclaimer
Brief Reminder 

Briefly:

• I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken and I am often well out front of my headlights. I am often appropriately accused of hyperbole when it comes to the Bakken.
• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. 
• All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If something appears wrong, it probably is. Feel free to fact check everything.
• If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them. 
• Many posts are not proofread for several days after they've been posted.  
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the Bakken, US economy, and the US market.
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• And now, Nvidia, also. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Nvidia. Nvidia is a metonym for AI and/or the sixth industrial revolution.
• I've now added Broadcom to the disclaimer. I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Broadcom.
• And Oracle. 
• Longer version here.  

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TPUs

One week ago, none of us had heard of "TPUs." 

Now, today:

AI prompt: this is a great time to ask, "with whom has Apple partnered for cloud-based AI support?" I think folks might be surprised.