ChatGPT’s monthly visits dipped nearly 8% MoM in December to just over 1.5 billion visits worldwide, while visits to Google’s Bard continue to increase.
Source: Beth Kinding
$BRK Berkshire Hathaway FY23 by App Economy Insight
• Net profit $97B. • Stock repurchase $9B. • Segment margin 12% (+0.5pp Y/Y). • Investment gains (unrealized) of $75B. • Cash and short-term securities $168B.
All-time highs are not the finish line.
The stock market surged to a record high last week, having eclipsed the previous high in January 2022 on the back of a new bull market that has delivered a 45% return since October 2022.1 The upshot is that bull markets do not tend to reach exhaustion upon hitting new highs. In fact, history shows that the initial breach of an all-time high tends to be more of a mile marker on the way to further gains Source: Edward Jones
The bitcoin supply squeeze explained in a few sentences and one chart
272,000 Bitcoin bought in the last 28 days by ETFs. Meanwhile only 25,200 $BTC were mined! Yes, GBTC outflows are still a concern, but at some point that will have to end. Assuming this number stays consistent (or possibly even increases) with roughly ~2 million BTC on exchanges (based on today's liquidity), that would mean that in about 8 months time there would literally be ZERO BTC available for sale!!! And not mention the halving in 3 months will cut this amount to just 12,600 BTC mined in the same amount of time. (Source: CryptoZombie)
A SIMPLE INVESTMENT STRATEGY -> BUY THE STOCK REPURCHASERS, AVOID THE STOCK ISSUERS...
One of the better strategies from 1963-2023 was simply avoiding companies who issue stock. They are on the righthand side of this table, primarily in red. Stock repurchasers are on the left of the table, primarily in green. Source: Jeff Weniger
JUST IN: Berkshire Hathaway posts +28% surge in operating earnings and RECORD CASH OF $167.6 billion as Warren Buffett warns there are ‘ESSENTIALLY NO CANDIDATES FOR CAPITAL DEPLOYMENT’ outside US...
Berkshire Hathaway Q4 2023 highlights: • Berkshire Hathaway posted operating earnings — which refers to profits from businesses across insurance, railroads and utilities — of $8.481 billion in the fourth quarter, up 28% yoy • Net earnings of $37.6 billion • $2.2 billion of stock buybacks The cash pile grows to $163.3 billion in the fourth quarter, a record level that surpasses the $157.2 billion the conglomerate held in the prior quarter. 👀 Importantly, Warren Buffett has warned Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that his sprawling $905bn conglomerate has virtually “no possibility of eye-popping performance” in the years ahead, laying bare the challenges that will confront his successors. The so-called Oracle of Omaha said in his annual letter on Saturday there were very few deals that offer the kind of transformative impact past takeovers have had, such as its purchases of insurers Geico and National Indemnity or the BNSF railroad. “There remain only a handful of companies in this country capable of truly moving the needle at Berkshire, and they have been endlessly picked over by us and by others,” he said. “Outside the US, there are essentially no candidates that are meaningful options for capital deployment at Berkshire.” Berkshire Class A shares have rallied roughly 16% this year. Source: CNBC, Kevin Carpenter, FT
Yes, the Eurostoxx 50 (orange line) is beating the NASDAQ (purple line) since the start of the year...
Source: TME
US equities are shrugging off higher rates.
The chart below shows the level of the S&P 500 Index and the 2-year U.S. Treasury yield. Yields have risen in 2024 but unlike prior episodes of rising yields last year, the S&P 500 has moved higher as well. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Source: Edward Jones
