Buffett defends oil companies, regrets the sale of Apple, and praises the US economy

Regarding the recent investment in Chevron Oil, despite increased market discussions about sustainable investments, Buffett defended the deal. He cited the investments Berkshire had made in Costco and Walmart, which sells cigarettes in its stores. Buffett said, “If you expect perfection from your wife, friends, or company, you won’t find it.”

Regarding the downsizing of the banking sector, he said that he still liked the business, but that he was not comfortable with its ratio in the portfolio in light of the expected risks. However, Buffett also stated that “US banks are in a much better position than they were 10 or 15 years ago.”

When asked during the event about not taking a more aggressive stance to take advantage of lower prices in the most severe phase of the pandemic, Buffett acknowledged that it was not the best time for Berkshire to be on the market, but he also said, at that point, he has yet to see the scale of the US government rescue plan. .

“Our job has done very well, but there are still problems in some sectors that have been destroyed, such as air travel,” Buffett said, recalling that we have a related position in American Express that relies on the resumption of international tourism.

When the expected question about bitcoin arrived, Buffett chose not to make any more assertive predictions. This was not the case with his longtime colleague.

“I hate the success of Bitcoin,” Munger said, who also said that developing digital assets “goes against the interests of civilization”.

Global leadership

Upon opening the business, Buffett presented a table with the 20 companies with the highest market value, as of March 31. Of the six stocks with the highest market value, five – Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook – were US companies, and Saudi Aramco was the only exception in the group.

Additionally, of the 20 highest-capitalized stocks on the stock exchanges, 13 are US companies, according to data provided by the 90-year-old investor who understands that the result reflects how the country has managed to stand up. It has come out against its peers over the past decades to allow for the outstanding growth of the local business and economy.

“It’s not a coincidence.” Buffett, who later presented a table of 20 highest market cap stocks in 1989, said, “The system was working very well.

Buffett noted that among the selection, which was mainly formed by banks and automakers from the United States and Japan, there is no company in the updated ranking, which illustrates how markets often change in a “dramatic way” and at very high speed, the assurance that business selection The occasion that will blossom over time is more difficult than it may seem.

“How many of these companies will last [no grupo]? “Oracle asked Omaha,” which predicted that less than a third of the companies would remain among the largest in the market for the next 30 years.

Profit is not the first quarter

The financial conglomerate on Saturday also posted profits of $ 11.7 billion in the first quarter of 2021, compared to a loss of nearly $ 50 billion in the same period in 2020.

Berkshire Hathaway recorded operating revenues of $ 7.02 billion in the period, compared to $ 5.87 billion in the same period last year, an increase of 19.5%. Of the total, about $ 1.9 billion came from rail and energy businesses.

(With agencies)

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