Warren Buffett and Greg Abel at the annual meeting of shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska on May 4, 2024.
CNBC
Warren Buffett was a mother on the prices and the recent market turmoil, but will finally express her mind when the 94 -year -old investment legend will start on Saturday the annual meeting of shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway.
Tens of thousands of delighted shareholders will descend to Omaha, Nebraska this weekend for the annual rally nicknamed “Woodstock for the capitalists”. This year’s meeting marks the Buffett 60th anniversary leading the company and is the second without a long -standing partner of Buffett, Charlie Munger, who died at the end of 2023.
The biggest event in the Cornhusker State next to a football match in Nebraska-Oklahoma, this year’s meeting comes when the markets have become uncertain after the aggressive deployment of President Donald Trump of the highest rates in generation imports. (Many have been suspended for 90 days later.) Wall Street economists on the left and right sound the alarms that a recession could be in sight, because recent data indicated signs of economic weakening.
“Because Berkshire has so many companies, they are essentially on the front line in terms of the falling economy. Is it even worse than the figures already show?” said Steve Check, founder of Check Capital Management, who counts Berkshire as his biggest participation. “I hope, more than anything, that he denounces the way the prices have been made. Everyone is looking for what Warren Buffett has to say.”
Northern investor star
The Oracle of Omaha “may have already let his actions speak. Berkshire sold more stock than he bought for nine consecutive quarters, pouring more than $ 134 billion in 2024. This was mainly due to discounts of the two biggest assets in Berkshire – Apple and Bank of America. Berkshire had reached another record, with $ 334.2 billion.
The world is impatient to hear if Buffett, the most famous lawyer for value investment, used the collapse of the April market to seek good deals and lay the foundations for transactions. Although Buffett does not predicted the short -term market orientation, investors will carefully listen to the signals of their continuous confidence in the American economy – despite the price shock.
“I think that the big question in everyone’s mind is what Warren will do with the silver battery on which they are seated and, more specifically, when can it be deployed, because it can help investors to assess when the clear sign will be lit,” said David Wagner, a portfolio manager at Aptus Capital Advisors and a Berkshire shareholder. Many investors, he noted, “tend to consider Warren as the northern star”.
Buffett will make some introductory comments at 9 a.m. HE on Saturday, followed by a several-hour answer panel. The designated successor of Buffett, Greg Abel, and Berkshire’s insurance manager, Ajit Jain, will join Buffett on stage in the morning, with Buffett and Abel alone in the afternoon. The question-answer session will be broadcast on CNBC and the broadcast on the web in English and Mandarin.
Big Apple Question
Shareholders are also curious for buffett to explain your motivation to reduce your longtime Apple bet. After a frenzy in the head for four quarters in a row, the Berkshire’s Apple holding company has remained at 300 million shares since the end of September, which led a lot to speculate that Buffett has finished selling the stock at the moment.
During the annual meeting of last year, Buffett suggested that the sale concerned tax reasons as a result of considerable gains. He also suggested that Apple’s sale could be linked to his desire to avoid a higher tax invoice in the future if the rates increased to finance the US fussy budget deficit. With a change of government in Washington, shareholders want to hear Buffett’s reasoning today.
“You can no longer use this explanation because it does not clearly apply,” said David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland. “If he sold more, it would indicate that he probably thought he was fully valued, or Warren Buffett being the genius he is, he could see in advance on some of the risks that could face Apple, in case there is a trade war and prices.”
The report on the profits of the first quarter of Berkshire, due on Saturday morning, will show the best assets in actions of the conglomerate, which could give investors an index as to the adjustment of Apple participation.
