(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday night.)
Buffett is still active at age 96, but Berkshire stock hasn’t risen much.
This is a 12.2 percentage point difference over the benchmark S&P 500 index (up 12.7%).
While acknowledging that it’s “hard to say” why Berkshire’s stock price is depressed, Barron listed a number of possible explanations, including uncertainty surrounding Greg Abel’s tenure as CEO, disappointment that Abel hasn’t more aggressively pared back its still-large cash position, Berkshire’s continued refusal to pay dividends, and the failure of a mega-acquisition worth more than $100 billion.
President Trump’s portfolio actively trades Berkshire stock
Berkshire Hathaway is one of the many frequently traded stocks in President Donald Trump’s investment portfolio.
Of the 1,051 transactions listed in his June disclosure form with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, five involved Berkshire stock.
Four of them specify Berkshire stocks. B class stockwhile one just lists Berkshire Hathaway.
There were 3 purchases and 2 sales.
The disclosure form only lists the range of each transaction, not the specific amount, so we can only see the total range.
Trump was the buyer of the month thanks to his June 18 purchase for between $1 million and $5 million.
President Trump’s 2025 annual report reports that he owns between $1 million and $5 million worth of Berkshire stock.
January 21, 2026 Professional trader working at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
Brendan McDiarmid | Reuters
After reviewing thousands of trades in previous disclosures, Bloomberg reported that “the pattern shows characteristics of overlapping portfolio management strategies, often index-based, many of which are likely automated, and difficult to disentangle all of them.”
The paper said this is broadly consistent with the Trump Organization’s public statements that third-party financial institutions independently manage trades using “automated model-based portfolios and direct indexing strategies” without input from the president or his family.
Critics argue that the president, like senior government officials and members of Congress, should not be allowed to own individual stocks to avoid even the appearance of corruption.
Buffett and Berkshire on the Internet
Some links may require a subscription.
CNBC’s Buffett Archive Highlights
“Trade should not be a weapon” (2025)
Warren Buffett argued that the United States should “look at trade with the rest of the world,” without specifically mentioning President Trump’s controversial tariffs.
Becky Quick: The first question comes from Bill Mitchell. I got more questions about this than any other question.
“Warren, in a 2003 Fortune magazine article, you argued for import certificates to limit the trade deficit, and said that these import certificates essentially amounted to tariffs. But recently you have called tariffs an act of economic warfare.
“Have your views on trade barriers changed? Or do you consider import certificates to be separate from tariffs?”
Warren Buffett: Well, the import certificate was separate, but its purpose is to balance imports and exports. This is also to prevent the trade deficit from widening significantly.
In fact, it would have included various other provisions to help Third World countries (as they were called at the time) catch up a bit.
And they had different sides. But it is fundamentally designed to balance trade.
And I think you can make a very good argument about the fact that balanced trade is good for the world. And the more balanced trade is, the better.
Cacao will always be better if it’s grown in Ghana, coffee in Colombia, and a few other things…
We should look to trade with the rest of the world and we should do what we do best and they should do what they do best…
Trade should not be a weapon.
And America, America, we won. So we went from nothing 250 years ago to a very important country. There’s nothing like it.
And in my opinion, that’s a big mistake. 7.5 billion people don’t think very well of you, but 300 million people are shouting about their job performance in one way or another.
And I don’t think that’s right or wise.
I think that the richer the rest of the world becomes, the more it won’t come at our expense, and the richer we become, the more secure we will feel, and someday your children will feel safe too. So — (applause)
But don’t expect my import certificate idea to be reflected in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations or anything like that. (laughs)
berkshire stock watch
BRK.A stock price: $757,985.01
BRK.B stock price: $505.00
BRK.BP/E (TTM): 12.70
Berkshire Market Capitalization: $1,081,295,529,555
Berkshire Cash as of June 30: $365.5 billion (down 8.0% from March 31)
Excluding railroad cash and outstanding Treasury bills: $359.2 billion (down 3.8% from March 31)
Berkshire repurchased $4.5 billion of its own stock in the second quarter of 2026.
Berkshire’s Top Stock Holdings – August 28, 2026
Berkshire’s top U.S. and Japanese listed stocks by market capitalization, based on the latest closing prices.
Assets held are as of June 30, 2026, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s August 14, 2026 13F filing. However, the following cases are excluded.
A complete list of holdings and current market value is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
Question or comment
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to alex.crippen@cnbc.com. (Sorry, we do not forward questions or comments to Mr. Buffett himself.)
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I also highly recommend Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. It’s collected here on Berkshire’s website.
— Alex Crippen, Warren Buffett Watch Editor
