The world's worst secret

The people, exclusively mothers, that I have talked to about the sadness of the world's most perfect teenager prioritizing friends over us attest that he will "come back" to us within a few years. BUT what if he doesn't! Besides, as it feels today, I won't survive these "few years" to come before it happens at best.

How have parents before us survive this, and why hasn't anyone said how terrible it is? Is it because no one would have children if they understood this grief before?

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Tops one list but doesn't even qualify for the other

According to sources such as the Fortune Global 500 and other financial analyses, the ten largest companies in the world by revenue, based on the most recent information (primarily fiscal year 2023 or 2024) are:

Walmart (United States, Retail), revenue: ~$648 billion  

Amazon (United States, Retail/Technology), revenue: ~$574 billion  

State Grid Corporation of China (China, Energy), revenue: ~$530 billion  

Saudi Armco (Saudi Arabia, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$495 billion  

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (China, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$430 billion  

ExxonMobil (United States, Oil & Gas), revenue: ~$413 billion  

Apple (United States, Technology), revenue: ~$394 billion  

UnitedHealth Group (United States, Healthcare), revenue: ~$371 billion  

CVS Health (United States, Healthcare), revenue: ~$357 billion

Volkswagen (Germany, Automotive), revenue: ~$348 billion

If we instead choose to list the ten largest companies in the world by market capitalization as of early April 2025, based on the latest available information, the list changes. Market capitalization figures are given in trillions of USD and reflect values ​​from sources such as Forbes, Statista, and posts on X, with data primarily from the first quarter of 2025. We get a different result.

Apple (United States, Technology) - ~$2.96 trillion 

Microsoft (United States, Technology) - ~$2.73 trillion  

Nvidia (United States, Technology) - ~$2.47 trillion 

Alphabet (United States, Technology) - ~$1.85 trillion 

Amazon (United States, Retail/Technology) - ~$1.83 trillion 

Meta Platforms (United States, Technology) - ~$1.27 trillion 

Berkshire Hathaway (United States, Conglomerate) - ~$0.97 trillion

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (Taiwan, Semiconductor) - ~$0.93 trillion

Tesla (United States, Automotive/Technology) - ~$0.89 trillion

Broadcom (United States, Semiconductor/Software) - ~$0.82 trillion

Of the ten companies with the largest market capitalization, 40% of them produce only Ones and Zeros. Simply selling a service, such as advertising on their platforms, creates nothing but money for its owners. After the desired “click,” there is no product to sell on a secondary market or pass on to the next generation. The fact that manufacturing companies do not dominate the list of companies with the largest market capitalization is a clear sign of our times.

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An aging population

The current growth in the U.S. population aged 65 and over, driven by the large baby boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, is unprecedented in U.S. history.

By 2026, the number of people under 18 is still expected to slightly outnumber those over 65, with estimates suggesting around 76.5 million children under 18 compared to around 60–62 million adults over 65. The exact transition point depends on variables such as fertility levels, mortality rates, and immigration, but current data suggests it is a few years away. According to Census Bureau projections, the number of people 65 and older is expected to exceed the number of people 18 and younger sometime between 2029 and 2034.

With this in mind, we have previously invested in Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. Common Stock (OHI) and intend to invest in Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated Common Stock (HR). Whether it will be with private money or part of the remaining part of our company's purchase sum remains to be seen. Maybe it will be both accounts.

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🎵 Here come all the emotions at the same time 🎶🎶

In situations like this, your nerves and your ability to keep a cool head are really put to the test. Even if we don't have all of our savings in the stock market, all of our savings that we have invested are on Nasdaq. I am fully aware of the risks we are taking and why, and even though it is turbulent right now, I truly believe it will pay off in the long run.

For example, we were and are very well aware that the current US President Donald Trump ran for election on a number of promises, such as tariffs and the deportation of illegal immigrants. Promises that the American people, given that he won both the popular vote and the electoral vote, want to see fulfilled. Complaining then is not okay, especially as a non-American. We could have sold everything and either waited out the trade war that everyone knew was coming or chosen other markets.

What I do hope for is that the Supreme Court upholds the 1930s court decision – “Humprey’s Executor” – which limited the president’s ability to fire independent agency officials on political grounds. Firing Jerome Powell now would likely plunge America into an even deeper recession than the one that is likely already underway. Personally, I think the best thing for President Trump is for Jerome Powell to remain as chairman until his term ends in May next year.

This way, President Trump will be able to use Jerome Powell as a scapegoat for the recession and shift the focus away from the fact that it was actually the tariffs that triggered it all.

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Walking on eggshells

An increasingly strong Swedish krona and falling share prices led us today to consider that there was a buy position in the following company in which we invested part of our company's cash.

Capital Southwest Corporation Common Stock (CSWC)

LTC Properties, Inc. Common Stock (LTC)

NNN REIT, Inc. Common Stock (NNN)

Simon Property Group, Inc. Common Stock (SPG)

Despite these acquisitions, we still have a significant portion of the purchase sum in cash. The fact that we don't live in the market we invest our money in has its problems, the main one being that we aren't there and can feel the atmosphere in the society. We believe America may be heading into a recession, which makes us extra cautious with this money.

Whether this caution will pay off or cost us money remains to be seen.

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There's a first time for everything

Today, for the first time in my life, I asked a friend for help. Everything else I've been exposed to I've solved on my own or together with my husband. Among other things, I have created a Google Sheet that I "programmed" to retrieve information from Google Finance without ever studying programming. Which says more about Google Sheets than about me. This spreadsheet handles all of our holdings and their dividends across our five different banks.

However, everything came to a complete halt when I was about to create a resume for the first time in my life. No matter how much I googled and struggled, I couldn't create anything that even came close to being called a resume.

Luckily, a daughter of one of my best friends studied marketing and possesses that very knowledge. Plus, the world's most perfect husband has helped this particular family several times with plumbing problems, which made asking for a favor much easier. I have compiled my 35 years of working life and emailed it to my friend, so now I am waiting for her daughter to come back with a graphically clear and nice resume for me. When I get it, I will, for the first time in my life, actively look for a job.

There is always a first time for something, even at the age of 55. I seem to be having a lot of those moments right now.

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Q1 2025 is almost more than all of 2017

The development we had between 2017 and 2018 will never happen again, unless we win the lottery. 😉

However, I sincerely hope that we pass 2019 this year, which should happen assuming that the Swedish krona does not become stronger than it is today and that none of our holdings lower their dividends.

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Right on track, for now

The chart below shows that my calculations are correct. With the recent strengthening of the Swedish krona, my reservation for exchange rate differences has been completely erased, which means that further strengthening of the Swedish krona will affect future calculations.

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Extra money

We received significantly more extra dividends in March than I expected.

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Good enough

Due to the strengthening of the Swedish krona against the US dollar, my expectations that March 2025 would be our best dividend month ever were not met. Despite this, I am still pleased with the outcome of March.

The decline in stock prices has allowed us to expand our holdings to a higher yield, which will reward us throughout the rest of the year, assuming the stock market does not collapse.

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Dodged a bullet

The timing of when we received the purchase sum for the sale of our condominium premises could not have been better. If the deal had been completed a month earlier, we probably would have had time to invest most of the money in the stock market, just before the carnage would have begun.

In addition to the actual slaughter of the stock market that has occurred in the aftermath of the trade war due to tariffs, the Swedish krona has also recently strengthened significantly against the US dollar, which is affecting our portfolio value more than stock prices.

Furthermore, some of the Swedish politicians have started talking about replacing the Swedish krona with the euro and given how quickly Sweden decided to join NATO, we may well have the euro in Sweden sooner than one might think.

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Hate to burst your bubble

I was closer to 38 than 37 when I became a mother for the first and only time, and the absolute last of all my friends, sisters, and other relatives. What no one told me was that motherhood, besides all the love, also came with a darkness. For me, it wasn't until I became a mother that I felt the power of real raw worry. A feeling that has been my constant companion ever since.

The individuation process for the world's most perfect teenager, who turns 18 at the end of the summer, which clearly began a while ago, had completely escaped me. Until last week when my husband, Junior, and I visited Helsinki for a couple of days. The offspring had absolutely no interest in hanging out with us; instead, he wanted to discover Helsinki on his own.

I'm not mild giftedness, I know that children sooner or later start to break free from their parents, but I was completely unprepared for it to actually happen. The grief I have been carrying for the past week has been clear and distinct. Just as I could burst into tears at any time when Junior was a newborn, I have been crying for the past week. None of my loved ones have prepared me for this grief. Instead, everyone has said that it's so nice when the children grow up and move out and get their own lives back. I've always felt sorry for these parents who don't want to be with their children, but now I understand that this is a kind of protection against the grief.

The children growing up is truly bittersweet, of course I want Junior to grow up to be an independent, fully functioning and logically thinking adult, at the same time I miss my child who was dependent on me.

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Can go either way

Yesterday I bought a small number of shares of Pfizer, Inc. Common Stock (PFE). The reason we continue to trade shares in (PFE) is that we strongly believe in the company in the long term.

However, we have chosen to wait with our investments in our company because President Trump will hold a press conference today on the occasion of his designation of April 2 as "Liberation Day", when several previously postponed tariffs will come into effect according to the Swedish news newspaper Dagens Nyheter. It will be exciting to see how the market will react.

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April fools day

For transparency and my own agenda, my husband and I own a 2023 Tesla Model Y.

Yesterday, a young Swedish man with a YouTube channel pulled one of the absolute best April Fool's jokes I've ever seen. Before performing the prank, he did everything by the book and obtained all the necessary permits. He even spoke to the security guards who were on site to eliminate the risk of third parties being exposed to any kind of danger.

In Sweden, there is a domestic hamburger chain called Max. This hamburger chain was recently rocked by a scandal. On February 18, 2025, it was revealed that the hamburger chain Max is seriously deficient in its hygiene routines.

Among other things, it was revealed that the toilet seat is washed in the dishwasher among household utensils, scrub buckets are used for both cleaning and storing milkshakes, old salads are relabeled and hamburgers that have been in a warming cabinet for far too long are served, according to Swedish Radio.

Yesterday morning, the young YouTuber had parked a Tesla outside a Max restaurant located in Sodermalm, a district in Stockholm. This particular district is notorious for being full of climate activists, people who follow the woke movement, and other like-minded people. The Tesla had a piece of cardboard over the license plate that read "Max ❤️ Tesla", reports the newspaper Aftonbladet. He had also displayed 2 roll-ups with the same text on the sidewalk on either side of the entrance to the restaurant.

The same article also states that Max's hamburger chain, in its eagerness to appear good, unlike Tesla which is evil..., chose to follow its belief system (BS) and reported the prank to the police as they do not want to be associated with Tesla. Thank God, Tesla, which has more to lose by being associated with a company with questionable hygiene routines and bad morals and ethics, could see the humor in it all.

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This money is earmarked for lower risk-taking

Tonight, Swedish time, we plan to start investing the money we received for your condominium premises. We opened an endowment insurance for the company some time ago. We will be significantly less risk-averse with the company's money than we are with our private money.

After both the world's most perfect husband and I have read a book written by Bombmattan, we have come to the mutual decision to adopt his strategy to some extent when investing this money. It will be exciting to compare the development of these investments against our private ones. Of course, we must take the exchange rate into account because our private investments were made at a time when the Swedish krona was stronger than today, even though it has strengthened significantly recently.

Even though we know which companies we will invest in, the actual timing of the purchase may change as a lot is happening in the world right now.

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