4 ms·

> Berkshire Hathaway just reported a record $397.4 billion in cash and T-bills, 59% of its investable portfolio. Isn't that just lazy? Even if the market is o

by khurs 3mo ago

> Berkshire Hathaway just reported a record $397.4 billion in cash and T-bills, 59% of its investable portfolio. Isn't that just lazy? Even if the market is overheated, there will be opportunities in non-overheated areas/other countries/distressed companies etc? Unless they are sure of a crash and need funds to buy on the cheap.

enoint 3mo ago
From 2000-2002, Buffet kept liquidity and ended up buying companies like Moody’s and private businesses.
raesene9 3mo ago
You might find some areas to criticize Berkshire Hathaway but I don't see being lazy as one of them. This is one of the most successful investment companies of all time and they got that way by being better than most at judging when the right time to get in and get out of the market, and by putting in the work on researching where/when to buy. Might there be opportunities they miss? I'm sure there will be, but perhaps finding those is just too risky at the moment, so they've looked at the options and decided not to invest.
- ywvcbk 3mo ago
  > This is one of the most successful investment companies It was for a long time. There is not a lot of evidence that's still the case (so far at least but even if the crash comes but its not big enough its not guaranteed they will outperform S&P 500 over a several year period).
  - raesene9 3mo ago
    Future returns are never guaranteed but over the course of the orgs history (since 1965) they've done a fair bit better than the S&P 500.... https://www.visualcapitalist.com/warren-buffett-vs-the-sp-500-growth-of-100-1965-2025/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/warren-buffett-vs-the-sp-50...
DonsDiscountGas 3mo ago
I rather doubt the folks at Berkshire are sitting on their thumbs or playing golf all day and just forgot to buy anything. It's a measure of discipline, they won't invest in something without a good margin of safety. They'd rather miss out on a lot of good opportunities than pile money into bad (or even mediocre) ones.
phyzix5761 3mo ago
I've scanned the whole S&P 500 with a DCF calculator I wrote and everything is over valued right now. DCF is not the end all of valuation but its a big part for the Buffet style of investing. The goal of an investor is not to make returns every year but to make returns in the long term. Returns that are higher than the S&P 500 as an aggregate. Also, with the amount of cash BH is playing with those smaller distressed companies don't make a dent in their portfolio. They need the big corporations to be undervalued before they get in.

by khurs 3mo ago

enoint 3mo ago

From 2000-2002, Buffet kept liquidity and ended up buying companies like Moody’s and private businesses.

raesene9 3mo ago

You might find some areas to criticize Berkshire Hathaway but I don't see being lazy as one of them. This is one of the most successful investment companies of all time and they got that way by being better than most at judging when the right time to get in and get out of the market, and by putting in the work on researching where/when to buy. Might there be opportunities they miss? I'm sure there will be, but perhaps finding those is just too risky at the moment, so they've looked at the options and decided not to invest.

ywvcbk 3mo ago
> This is one of the most successful investment companies It was for a long time. There is not a lot of evidence that's still the case (so far at least but even if the crash comes but its not big enough its not guaranteed they will outperform S&P 500 over a several year period).
- raesene9 3mo ago
  Future returns are never guaranteed but over the course of the orgs history (since 1965) they've done a fair bit better than the S&P 500.... https://www.visualcapitalist.com/warren-buffett-vs-the-sp-500-growth-of-100-1965-2025/ https://www.visualcapitalist.com/warren-buffett-vs-the-sp-50...

DonsDiscountGas 3mo ago

I rather doubt the folks at Berkshire are sitting on their thumbs or playing golf all day and just forgot to buy anything. It's a measure of discipline, they won't invest in something without a good margin of safety. They'd rather miss out on a lot of good opportunities than pile money into bad (or even mediocre) ones.

phyzix5761 3mo ago

I've scanned the whole S&P 500 with a DCF calculator I wrote and everything is over valued right now. DCF is not the end all of valuation but its a big part for the Buffet style of investing. The goal of an investor is not to make returns every year but to make returns in the long term. Returns that are higher than the S&P 500 as an aggregate. Also, with the amount of cash BH is playing with those smaller distressed companies don't make a dent in their portfolio. They need the big corporations to be undervalued before they get in.