Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway slashed its Goldman Sachs stake by 84% last quarter

H

hyom

Mr Buffett is not capitalizing on the coronavirus sell-off to buy stocks on the cheap when I see some retail investors doing just that. These retail investors think that the virus presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be brave and get rich. Of course, nobody knows for sure whether stocks are really cheap. Seemingly cheap can get cheaper. I think it is a safer bet to be on the side of old Buffett than retail investors.

https://markets.businessinsider.com...dman-sachs-stake-84-percent-2020-5-1029207920

The famed investor's conglomerate cut its Goldman position by 84%, from about 12 million shares at the end of December to fewer than 2 million at the end of March. The sales, coupled with the investment bank's stock tumbling by a third in the period, resulted in Berkshire's Goldman stake shrinking in value from about $2.8 billion to less than $300 million.

Berkshire exited its positions in Philips 66 and Travelers, which were worth about $25 million and $43 million respectively on December 31. It also trimmed several holdings including Amazon, JPMorgan, Liberty Global, Sirius XM, Synchrony Financial, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Verisign.
 
In the 2008 panic, Berkshire had $44B in cash. The only 2 purchases he made were a total of $8B spent on GE and GS preferreds - and those both were sweetheart deals specifically carved out for Buffett.

Hindsight shows that his failure to act in a big way in 2008 was a big blunder on his part.....obviously, everything is easy with hindsight...just pointing out that Buffett is not perfect.
 
SteveM said:
In the 2008 panic, Berkshire had $44B in cash. The only 2 purchases he made were a total of $8B spent on GE and GS preferreds - and those both were sweetheart deals specifically carved out for Buffett.

Hindsight shows that his failure to act in a big way in 2008 was a big blunder on his part.....obviously, everything is easy with hindsight...just pointing out that Buffett is not perfect.
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He was buying a railroad and had a derivatives trade blow up against him. His credit rating was cut.

This time he has no such constraints. He’s full of dry powder, or so it seems.
 
The problem with Buffett is he still thinks this is 1960.
Banks, oil, railroads, pantry food, soda and candy makers!
Might as well buy a tobacco and chemical company and round out the perfect anti-2000’s portfolio.
 
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hyom said:
Mr Buffett is not capitalizing on the coronavirus sell-off to buy stocks on the cheap when I see some retail investors doing just that. These retail investors think that the virus presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be brave and get rich. Of course, nobody knows for sure whether stocks are really cheap. Seemingly cheap can get cheaper. I think it is a safer bet to be on the side of old Buffett than retail investors.

https://markets.businessinsider.com...dman-sachs-stake-84-percent-2020-5-1029207920

The famed investor's conglomerate cut its Goldman position by 84%, from about 12 million shares at the end of December to fewer than 2 million at the end of March. The sales, coupled with the investment bank's stock tumbling by a third in the period, resulted in Berkshire's Goldman stake shrinking in value from about $2.8 billion to less than $300 million.

Berkshire exited its positions in Philips 66 and Travelers, which were worth about $25 million and $43 million respectively on December 31. It also trimmed several holdings including Amazon, JPMorgan, Liberty Global, Sirius XM, Synchrony Financial, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Verisign.
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He used to say his holding period is forever. Maybe he changed and is now a trader like us?

Also, at the age of 89 and his sidekick Munger at 96, forever is maybe only a couple of years?
 
Don't know how he is full of dry powder. How come nothing is written when he sells 50,000 options? He then waits and money received he buys the stock.
 
lol Buffett only trades OTC vol and SP. He trades notional, not per contract. Right dude, he is selling 50K puts on single names. Didn’t the tornado take your double wide?
 
I still give the guy credit. He's sitting on 140 billion in cash. I think he has amazon and apple in portfolio. Dumped airlines. Dumping banks and dumping GS to me shows grit basically taking a swipe at America-duh. I think he knows shit is going to get more real and then we will see what deals he does.He has said there are no deals at these valuations...
 
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