Your Future Imaginary Friend

I try never to miss Rex Woodbury’s Digital Native letters.

This one about loneliness and the future of artificial friends — AI Friends Are a Good Thing, Actually — I particularly commend.

(How far we’ve come from 1971 . . . )

OPRT

The proxy fight has begun.  I’m betting Findell will be successful and that the stock could quintuple in two or three years.  Only with money I can truly afford to lose, of course . . . but I have to say (famous last words?) the downside on this one seems modest.

CNF

Whereas the downside on this one could easily be a total loss — plus the 2 cents per share I think I’m charged each year by the custodian. I’ve paid as much as $7 and have bought more over the years as it’s fallen to 80 cents.  If you wade through its recently issued annual report, you’ll see that it is a real business.  In China.  Domiciled in the Cayman Islands.  With lots of risks and complexity.  Each CNF ADR represents 20 of the nearly 1.4 billion “ordinary” shares . . . giving the whole enterprise a market cap of about $55 million.  A way smarter friend knows it intimately, owns a ton, and thinks one day our ship may come in.  For better or worse, I enjoy gazing out at the horizon.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on May 5th, 2025, on andrewtobias.com, syndicated with permission.

Andrew Tobias

An American writer and public figure, Andrew Tobias has written extensively about politics, finance and insurance.  Andrew is also a graduate of Harvard University and is the author of numerous books including; The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, The Best Little Boy In The World, and Invisible Bankers: Everything The Insurance Industry Never Wanted You To Know.