By the time you read this, I will have attended my 40th high school reunion. Since I was a class officer back in the day, I am/was on the organizing committee. However, in all transparency, my contribution to this past event was far less than any of the previous ones.
It wasn’t even close.
It isn’t that I didn’t want to do the work. There just didn’t seem to be much for me to do. Better put, there wasn’t a lot that I could do any better than the people who had already volunteered to do it. Even then, it didn’t seem as though there was quite as much actual work this go around, in aggregate.
Don’t get me wrong. Some of our committee members did real yeoman’s work. However, when compared to the 10th, 20th and even 25th reunions, this was a little, dare I say, easier for the group as a whole.
Previously, it seems we spent a huge amount of time tracking down the telephone numbers, email addresses and even physical locations of our former classmates. Even then, there were a number of folks we either couldn’t find or had ghosted us in some form or fashion.
After all, not everyone wants to go back to high school, even for a weekend.
These days? Well, a lot of folks are on some form of social media. Further, you don’t have to change your telephone number every time you move out of an ‘exchange.’ As such, the number we had for folks for the 30th, 25th and possibly even 20th reunions was probably still good.
This led to large group texts, and I sent out my share of these, and a slew of excellent social media posts on various platforms. Trust me, some of the ‘slideshows’ they created were enough to make even the hardest heart wax nostalgic.
As for email, well, that doesn’t seem to be the preferred method of communication for many people. What, with all the spam, scam and phishing messages people routinely get, I would venture email is one of the least effective ways of communicating in a social setting. That and so-called snail mail.
In the end, we basically split the difference between our worst- and best-case scenarios/estimates for attendance, at least mine. I suppose you could call that the probable-case scenario. As any reunion committee member from any school will tell you, that is a good thing. It basically means I/we won’t have to ‘come out of pocket’ for any cost overruns and the like, hopefully.
We will have to see how hard my former Spartans hit the bar on Saturday.
Regardless, think about how getting the word out has changed over the last 40 years. Texting didn’t really exist at our 10th reunion. Well, let’s just say it wasn’t anywhere near as widespread as it is today. Further, do you remember how difficult it was to send even a two-sentence text on some of those early cellphones? As for social media, Facebook wasn’t even a thing until 2004, and Instagram didn’t come along until 2010. (1, 2)
Shoot. Back in 1996, for our 10th, we were pulling out old school directories and calling their parents at the last known landline number, in an effort to track people down.
As for the year we actually graduated, 1986, none of this stuff existed for general public consumption. Laughingly, perhaps Al Gore, the inventor of the Internet, had the technology, but the Norris household, in its construction at the time, certainly didn’t. (3)
Think about it. Something as simple as how a group of people in their late 50s notify others about a class reunion. Make no bones about it. It has fundamentally changed over the years, and I venture none of us has really thought much about it.
It is what it is and was what it was.
With this in mind, think about how the economy and the markets have changed over the years. Shoot, think about how they have changed over the last decade. To that, can I get a show of hands from the people reading this who were familiar with data centers? And the various companies which are building out the necessary infrastructure for the growth in accelerated computing and artificial intelligence in general? (4)
How many of us were using the AI-based chatbot Claude when our committee was planning our 30th reunion? Or even the aborted 35th? How about ChatGPT? Copilot? Gemini? Meta AI? Q? How many were using those?
Please put your hand down if you raised it, as none of those existed for commercial use even five years ago. (5) Shoot, even Alexa and Siri weren’t around, again for general consumption, until our 25th had come and gone. That is only 15 short years.
While that might be an eternity to a 3rd grader, it isn’t to people old enough to attend 40th high school reunions. Speaking as a member of that latter demographic, it seems as though time is accelerating the older I/we get. Then again, I suppose time is relative.
So, the question we should all have is: What comes next? After all, what passes for commonplace today was so much science fiction back in 1986. Do we have reason to believe human ingenuity and technological advancements are going to come to a halt? That we are going to remain as though frozen in 2026? That what ‘we’ are currently building out is the apex of our advancement?
To be sure, that could happen. Anything can. We could blow ourselves up and ‘the machines’ could drive us into caves and eventual extinction. However, I wouldn’t say that is the outcome I would expect, even if others might.
In fact, I would suggest the next 40 years could bring about new technologies, services and products that we can’t even imagine today. However, that doesn’t give Oakworth’s investment committee (or me) a pass on trying to understand where tomorrow’s investment opportunities—and risks—might emerge.
In fact, it makes it that much more incumbent on our group to think outside the box and keep asking: What might the next big thing be? How could it change our lives, the way we conduct business and, ultimately, the investment landscape?
The search should be fun, and we will use every reasonable tool at our disposal to try to understand what might be coming next.
You never know, IF we do win and IF the technology is really as useful as I believe it is, our committee just might be around in another 40 years planning our 80th reunion. If so, you know, I might have to throw caution to the wind, jump off the wagon and have a martini.
I will blame any subsequent poor behavior and pitiful committee work on my avatar, clone or whatever we will be calling them in 2066.
Thank you for your continued support. As always, I hope this newsletter finds you and your family well. May your blessings outweigh your sorrows on this and every day. Also, please be sure to tune into our podcast, Trading Perspectives, which is available on every platform.
John Norris
Chief Investment Officer
SOURCES:
- Business Insider – At Last, The Full Story of How Facebook Was Founded. March 3, 2010.
- Britannica Money – Instagram. Updated August 19, 2026
- Forbes – Al Gore Invents the Internet: This Week in Tech History. Jan 11, 2016.
- International Energy Agency, Key Questions on Energy and AI, April 16, 2026; International Energy Agency, Energy and AI, 2025.
- Forbes – A Short History of ChatGPT: How We Got to Where We Are Today. May 19, 2023.
About Common Cents:
Please note, nothing in this newsletter should be considered or otherwise construed as an offer to buy or sell investment services or securities of any type. Any individual action you might take from reading this newsletter is at your own risk. My opinion, as well as those of our Investment Committee, is subject to change without notice. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the rest of the associates and/or shareholders of Oakworth Capital Bank or the official position of the company itself.
Opinions and forward-looking statements are subject to change without notice and may not come to pass. Past performance is not indicative of future results. References to market indices are for illustrative purposes only. Index performance does not reflect the deduction of fees or expenses, and individuals cannot invest directly in an index. Political and geopolitical events are referenced for general context and do not represent a recommendation or prediction regarding any specific investment outcome. Links to third party articles are provided for informational purposes only. Oakworth Asset Management LLC does not control, endorse or adopt the content, opinions or recommendations expressed on third party websites. Such content may be dated and may not reflect current market conditions. Third party information is believed to be reliable but has not been independently verified. Readers should evaluate the information independently. Any reference to specific securities is provided for informational and illustrative purposes only and should not be considered a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any particular investment. It should not be assumed that any such securities discussed were or will be profitable.
About Oakworth:
Oakworth Capital Bank, Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender, provides commercial and private banking, wealth management and advisory services. Advisory Services, including investment management and financial planning, are offered through Oakworth Asset Management LLC, a registered investment advisor. Oakworth Asset Management LLC is owned by Oakworth Capital Bank. Investment products and services offered via Oakworth Asset Management LLC are independent of the products and services offered by Oakworth Capital Bank, and are not FDIC insured, may lose value, have no bank guarantee, and are not insured by any federal or state government agency. Because of the ownership relationship and involvement by Oakworth Asset Management LLC associates with Oakworth Capital Bank, there exists a conflict of interest to the extent that either party recommends the services of the other. For additional information about Oakworth Asset Management LLC, including its services and fees, visit adviserinfo.sec.gov.