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Warren Buffett saw the selloff coming and hoarded cash, analyst says, as markets await his next move — ‘patience is more than a virtue, it’s a weapon’

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  • After Warren Buffett sold $134 billion in equities in 2024 and is sitting on a $334 billion cash pile, one analyst said the “Oracle of Omaha” saw the current selloff coming. While it’s unlikely Buffett will make any big moves during the current market turmoil, some think he’ll look internationally or round out his insurance business.

Amid the stock market selloff, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s recent capital movements suggest he was preparing for it, according to an analyst. 

After tumbling more than 10% from its last peak, the Nasdaq remains in correction territory. The S&P 500 also entered a correction, though Friday’s rally pared its decline to less than 10% from its all-time record.

That has highlighted Berkshire’s recent cash hoarding as especially prescient. When asked if Buffett saw the selloff coming, Armando Gonzalez, founder of AI-powered research platform Bigdata.com, said the evidence suggests he did.

“Buffett’s actions over the past year have been a textbook example of positioning for turbulence,” he said in an emailed response to questions from Fortune.

Berkshire sold $134 billion in equities in 2024, ending the year with a cash pile of $334.2 billion—nearly double from a year ago and more than its shrinking stock portfolio of $272 billion. 

Gonzalez also noted that Buffett’s recent comments have been riddled with caution, emphasizing inflationary concerns and geopolitical uncertainty. For example, he warned that President Donald Trump’s tariffs will cause prices to rise.

“History shows when Buffett turns net seller, he often anticipates a period of subpar market performance,” Gonzalez said. “And once again, the Oracle of Omaha seems to have been ahead of the curve.”

With stocks well off their highs, that begs the question: will the famously value-conscious Buffett start deploying his cash by making some big purchases?

To be sure, Berkshire has made some moderate stock buys. But preferring bargains, Buffett historically looks to invest heavily in companies when valuations are low. During the peak of the 2008 financial crisis, for instance, Buffett deployed $3 billion into General Electric whose stock price had nosedived.

In his latest letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett reiterated his years-long view that valuations remained high. 

Gonzalez said it’s possible Buffett could start buying but only if true bargains emerge, noting that his track record shows a deep aversion to haste, even when markets tumble.

“He has no interest in timing the market’s bottom, nor does he chase short-term rebounds,” he said. “Instead, he waits for moments when fear drives prices to levels where the risk-reward equation tilts decisively in his favor.”

If Buffett should choose to finally make a big purchase, Gonzalez expects his next move to be used with a scalpel rather than a “broad-market splash,” if any at all. 

“In Buffett’s world, patience is more than a virtue, it’s a weapon,” he added.

While it’s uncertain if Buffett will go forward with a deal during the current market selloff, CFRA Research’s Cathy Seifert told Fortune she wouldn’t be surprised if Berkshire rounded out its insurance holdings. 

She added that valuations are still not dirt cheap, while the cash Buffett has parked in Treasury bonds is yielding him a good return and the competitive environment for deals has changed.

Additionally, Buffett has shown keen interest in Japanese trading companies, suggesting “a growing appetite for international diversification,” Gonzalez said. 

Since 2019, Berkshire has invested in the five biggest Japanese “sogo shosha,” which invest across sectors domestically and abroad. The trading houses—Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo—operate “in a manner somewhat similar to Berkshire itself,” Buffett wrote in his annual letter.

While Buffett sits on his pile of cash, his deployable funds may grow even more as rumors of a rare Berkshire sale circle.

The Wall Street Journal reported that real-estate brokerage Compass was in advanced talks to acquire Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America.

According to Berkshire’s annual report, HomeServices has 820 brokerage offices and 270 franchisees in 2024.

Berkshire Hathaway did not return Fortune’s request for comment.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Trump orders airstrikes on Houthi rebels in Yemen and warns Iran to stop supporting them

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President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The Houthis said 13 civilians were killed.

“Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump said in a social media post. “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.”

He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy. It comes two weeks after the U.S leader sent a letter to Iranian leaders offering a path to restarting bilateral talks between the countries on Iran’s advancing nuclear weapons program. Trump has said he will not allow it to become operational.

The Houthis reported explosions in their territory Saturday evening, in Sanaa and in the northern province of Saada, the rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia. Images online showed plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility.

At least 13 people were killed, said Anees al-Asbahi, spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry. In a statement on social media, he said another nine were wounded.

Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said the airstrikes won’t deter them and they would retaliate against the U.S. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he added on social media.

Another spokesman, Mohamed Abdulsalam, on X, called Trump’s claims that the Houthis threaten international shipping routes “false and misleading.”

The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel’s latest blockade on Gaza. They described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea.

There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then.

Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire in the war isn’t extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase.

The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, when this ceasefire in Gaza took effect.

The attacks raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic and other problems at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation.

The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit a residential neighborhood in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab. Residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood there, terrifying women and children.

“The explosions were very strong,” said Abdallah al-Alffi. “It was like an earthquake.”

The Eastern Geraf is home to Houthi-held military facilities and a headquarters for the rebels’ political bureau, located in a densely populated area.

The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen. Israel’s military declined to comment.

But Saturday’s operation was conducted solely by the U.S., according to a U.S. official. It was the first strike on the Yemen-based Houthis under the second Trump administration.

Such broad-based missile strikes against the Houthis were carried out multiple times by the Biden administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region.

The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which includes the carrier, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser, are in the Red Sea and were part of Saturday’s mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been operating in the region.

Trump announced the strikes as he spent the day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.

“These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” Trump said.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Trump guts staff at Voice of America and other media organizations

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Trump invokes 18th century law to declare invasion by gangs and speed deportations—potentially giving immigration crackdown a boost

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Claiming the United States was being invaded by a Venezuelan gang, President Donald Trump on Saturday invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a sweeping wartime authority that allows the president broader leeway on policy and executive action to speed up mass deportations of people — potentially pushing his promised crackdown on immigration into higher gear.

Trump’s declaration targets Tren de Aragua, contending it is a hostile force acting at the behest of Venezuela’s government. The declaration comes the same day that a federal judge in Washington barred the administration from deporting five Venezuelans under the expected order, a hint at the legal battle brewing over Trump’s move. The judge was scheduled to consider expanding the prohibition on deportation just minutes after Trump’s afternoon announcement.

“Over the years, Venezuelan national and local authorities have ceded ever-greater control over their territories to transnational criminal organizations, including TdA,” Trump’s statement reads. “The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States.”

The act was last used as part of the internment of Japanese-American civilians during World War II and has only been used two other times in American history, during World War I and the War of 1812. Trump argued in his declaration that it is justified because he contends the Tren de Aragua gang, a common talking point on the campaign trail, has ties to the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump talked about using the act during his presidential campaign, and immigration groups were braced for it. That led to Saturday’s unusual lawsuit, filed before Trump’s declaration even became public. The suit by the American Civil Liberties Union and Democracy Forward on behalf of five Venezuelans whose cases suddenly moved towards deportation in recent hours.

James E. Boasberg, chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, agreed to implement a temporary restraining order preventing the deportation for 14 days under the act of the five Venezuelans who are already in immigration custody and believed they were being about to be deported. Boasberg said his order was “to preserve the status quo.” Boasberg scheduled a hearing for later in the afternoon to see if his order should be expanded to protect all Venezuelans in the United States.

Hours later, the Trump administration appealed the initial restraining order, contending that halting a presidential act before it has been announced would cripple the executive branch.

If the order were allowed to stand, “district courts would have license to enjoin virtually any urgent national-security action just upon receipt of a complaint,” the Justice Department wrote in its appeal.

It said district courts might then issue temporary restraining orders on actions such as drone strikes, sensitive intelligence operations, or terrorist captures or extraditions. The court “should halt that path in its tracks,” the department argued.

The unusual flurry of litigation highlights the controversial act, which could give Trump vast power to deport people in the country illegally. It could let him bypass some protections of normal criminal and immigration law to swiftly deport those his administration contends are members of the gang.

The White House has already designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization and is preparing to move about 300 people it identifies as members of the gang to detention in El Salvador.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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