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
.. here’s the incredible part .. when the market bottomed in Oct of 2022, $NVDA had a market cap of $280bn and a 12-month forward P/E of 32x.
“.. on Thursday, it added $276bn of market cap in one day alone, rounding up to $2tr, and the P/E is now ... 33x.” Source: Carl Quintanilla
While markets are hitting all-time-highs, some insiders are off-loading their stocks
Source: Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA
The Nikkei has just surpassed its highest level in 35 years.
Japan being the birthplace of one of the oldest forms of technical analysis (Heikin-Ashi candlesticks), will this new-high signal reignite domestic investors’ long lost interest in their market?
Should Nvidia have a higher market cap than Google and Amazon?
$NVDA $GOOGL $AMZN Source: Charlie Bilello
House prices adjusted for inflation since 1975.
The charts for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK look like a s**tcoin during a pump. The Japanese real estate bubble of the 1990s is barely visible as a comparison... Source: Bloomberg, MacroAlf
