Key Points In his letter to shareholders, new Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel listed four companies that he views as "core holdings" in the large equities portfolio. What's more interesting is the companies he didn't list. Some of the omissions included stocks in the portfolio's current top five holdings. 10 stocks we like better than Chevron › New Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel launched his te...
Key Points In his letter to shareholders, new Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel listed four companies that he views as "core holdings" in the large equities portfolio. What's more interesting is the companies he didn't list. Some of the omissions included stocks in the portfolio's current top five holdings. 10 stocks we like better than Chevron › New Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel launched his tenure as the company's new chief with an 18-page letter to shareholders that shed light on many details regarding how Abel plans to run the sprawling company, how Berkshire is currently performing, how it is positioned for the future, and other, perhaps more surprising comments about plans for Berkshire's massive $318 billion equities portfolio. For instance, Abel cited four key positions in Berkshire's portfolio -- Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody's -- that he expects "will compound over decades" and will experience "limited activity," barring any fundamental changes in their long-term prospects. What's equally interesting is that Abel did not include two of Berkshire's current top-five positions in the group. Are these two stocks now on the chopping block? Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue » Bank of America -- 8.1% of portfolio One stock not mentioned by Abel as a "core holding" is Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), the second-largest bank by assets in the U.S. and the fourth-largest position in Berkshire's portfolio. While dumping many of its bank stocks during the pandemic, Berkshire loaded up on Bank of America, signaling that it would be its preferred large bank. While Buffett and Berkshire have a long history with the banking sector, they have also clearly soured on the industry. Berkshire has also cut its stake in Bank of America in half over the past few years. In 2011, followin...
Saudi Arabia intercepted drones in the Empty Quarter desert that were heading toward the Shaybah oil field, which has the capacity to produce 1 million barrels of crude a day, according to state-run SPA. Four drones on track for Shaybah were intercepted and destroyed , state-run Saudi Press Agency said in a post on X, citing the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense. Saudi Arabia also ...
Saudi Arabia intercepted drones in the Empty Quarter desert that were heading toward the Shaybah oil field, which has the capacity to produce 1 million barrels of crude a day, according to state-run SPA. Four drones on track for Shaybah were intercepted and destroyed , state-run Saudi Press Agency said in a post on X, citing the official spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense. Saudi Arabia also intercepted two ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan air base and drones east of Riyadh, according to the SPA. Saudi Arabia was forced to halt operations at the Ras Tanura oil refinery last week, the country’s largest, following an Iranian drone strike in the area, and is seeking to divert barrels to its Red Sea ports for export after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict in the Middle East has rattled energy markets, driving up prices of crude, natural gas and gasoil. Along with its crude production capacity, the Shaybah field has a 2.4-billion standard cubic feet per day natural gas liquids recovery plant, according to the website of state producer Saudi Aramco. Read More: Traders Warn $100 Oil Is Imminent If Iran War Keeps Raging The kingdom has stepped up direct engagement with Iran to try and contain the war, according to several European officials, with Saudi Arabia deploying their diplomatic backchannel to Tehran with greater urgency to de-escalate tensions and prevent the conflict from worsening.
What the Trump administration says about why it went to war with Iran toggle caption Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly. The Trump administration says it is "laser focused" and mission driven in its attacks on Iran, but messaging from President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been var...
What the Trump administration says about why it went to war with Iran toggle caption Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images Stay up to date with our Politics newsletter, sent weekly. The Trump administration says it is "laser focused" and mission driven in its attacks on Iran, but messaging from President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been varied. The wide range of motivations they have cited for why they attacked Iran now are sometimes at odds with each other and far from precise. Here's a look at what the administration says about why it launched strikes on Iran and where the conflict goes from here: "The United States of America will come to their rescue" "If Iran sho[o]ts and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go." — President Trump in a Jan. 2 Truth Social post Sponsor Message In early January, Trump threatened taking military action if Iran continued to kill demonstrators during historic protests against the regime. A couple of weeks later, Trump followed up, urging demonstrators to "keep protesting" and adding, "Help is on its way." But the regime continued to kill protesters in mass numbers, which many international observers saw as crossing Trump's red line and adding pressure on him to strike. Days after launching initial strikes on Feb. 28, Trump again pointed to the number of protesters killed as rationale for going to war. But when pressed to clarify the imminent threats for taking action, the White House has not mentioned protesters among the top reasons for striking when it did. "Something had to be done" "Something had to be done, and it's been 47 years. They've been killing people all over the world for a long time. They were the kings and fathers of the roadside bomb." — President Trump during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on March 3 When announcing ...
Dubai’s Emirates suspended flights again on Saturday after another round of interceptions further disrupted operations at the world’s largest airline. Its planes were avoiding the airspace over the United Arab Emirates in the early hours of Saturday after the country intercepted projectiles in its airspace and experienced a “minor incident” resulting from debris. Dubai’s flag carrier said on Frida...
Dubai’s Emirates suspended flights again on Saturday after another round of interceptions further disrupted operations at the world’s largest airline. Its planes were avoiding the airspace over the United Arab Emirates in the early hours of Saturday after the country intercepted projectiles in its airspace and experienced a “minor incident” resulting from debris. Dubai’s flag carrier said on Friday that it will operate its full network within the coming days but the persistent attacks show the scale of challenges the carrier has to deal with to resume operations. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad had also said Friday it planned to resume operations on some routes.
Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images By Christopher Gannatti, CFA | Dovile Silenskyte | Nitesh Shah February 20, 2026, was supposed to be a quiet Friday. Then, the long-awaited Supreme Court tariff ruling hit . 1 A decision that many had assumed would grind through procedural limbo instead arrived abruptly, reshaping at least perceptions of the near-term economic outlook in real time. It’s important ...
Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images By Christopher Gannatti, CFA | Dovile Silenskyte | Nitesh Shah February 20, 2026, was supposed to be a quiet Friday. Then, the long-awaited Supreme Court tariff ruling hit . 1 A decision that many had assumed would grind through procedural limbo instead arrived abruptly, reshaping at least perceptions of the near-term economic outlook in real time. It’s important to consider that we are operating in a regime where policy risk is no longer episodic; rather, it feels more structural. Trade policy can reverse. Fiscal priorities can expand. Central banks can appear to be pressured. Elections loom. Geopolitics can intrude. And markets, which might prefer gradualism, are increasingly forced to digest discontinuity. Why is this important? Because when the world feels unpredictable, investors reach for assets that feel anchored. And that’s where gold, bitcoin and commodities could re-enter the conversation. The Quiet Force Behind Gold’s Surge In 2025, gold had its strongest calendar year performance since 1979 . 2 That’s not a typo. For roughly a decade, gold behaved in ways that many macroeconomic models could reasonably explain. Such variables as the U.S. dollar, real bond yields, 3 inflation expectations and investor positioning accounted for much of the year-to-year price movement. 4 But 2025 looked different . Two forces stand out as possible drivers bringing us to a different sort of regime. First: geopolitics. When currencies are weaponized, sanctions expand and cross-border capital becomes political, reserve assets are reconsidered. The freezing of Russia’s sovereign reserves in 2022 was not just a headline; it was a signal. If fiat reserves can be restricted, then more neutral reserves gain appeal. 5 Second: fiscal dominance. Fiscal dominance is the idea that fiscal policy begins to dictate monetary policy. When debt levels rise high enough and deficits remain persistent, central banks face constraints. Their mandate may still incl...
Dan Totilca/iStock Editorial via Getty Images It's time for another anniversary article, so I'll be following up on Goldman Sachs ( GS ), which is up around +33% since I called it a buy in Feb. 2025 and is up a stunning +156% since my very first coverage in May 2023 , in my early days on Seeking Alpha, putting it among my best-performing bullish ratings of the last few years. I've always liked the...
Dan Totilca/iStock Editorial via Getty Images It's time for another anniversary article, so I'll be following up on Goldman Sachs ( GS ), which is up around +33% since I called it a buy in Feb. 2025 and is up a stunning +156% since my very first coverage in May 2023 , in my early days on Seeking Alpha, putting it among my best-performing bullish ratings of the last few years. I've always liked their strong capital position and investment-grade rating, its diversification beyond just investment banking, and its continual listing as a global systemically important bank by the Financial Stability Board . This storied and longstanding NYC-based bank has three key segments: Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions. Because of this, I also pointed out in prior articles the intense competition in the banking space for winning some of this client money. In today's follow-up around a year since my last coverage of Goldman, I considered this stock across 8 rating categories and also the latest earnings results from mid-January, and here are my findings. Thesis Summary Based on my updated research, I am actually pulling back slightly on prior buy ratings and called this stock a hold this time, with the following worksheet showing what factors contributed to this holistic score: GS - rating worksheet (author) Goldman just missed a bullish rating again as technical chart patterns hurt the bullish view, as did some macroeconomic/market concerns I had in the wake of recent global events, and considering the major impact a drop in equity markets could have on this type of bank. The firm continues to show strength in its balance sheet risk profile, its dividend profile, share price forecasts, profit margins and EPS forecasts, and having the biggest potential upside driven by 2 key business acquisitions recently. Macro & Sector Outlook To get a sense for the potential macroeconomic and sector impacts on this stock, let's first consider Goldman's key...
If Jessie Buckley fails to win the Oscar for best actress next week it will be a sign that cat lovers have got their claws out. The Irish actor is the runaway favourite for her performance in Hamnet, but in recent days has stumbled into a controversy over a stated antipathy to cats. She has said she once gave her husband an ultimatum to banish his two cats because they would defecate on pillows, t...
If Jessie Buckley fails to win the Oscar for best actress next week it will be a sign that cat lovers have got their claws out. The Irish actor is the runaway favourite for her performance in Hamnet, but in recent days has stumbled into a controversy over a stated antipathy to cats. She has said she once gave her husband an ultimatum to banish his two cats because they would defecate on pillows, telling a podcast: “I was like, ‘it’s me or the cats.’” Cat-lovers have responded with indignation and condemnation, sparking a wave of headlines and warnings that “kitty karma” could deny Buckley, 36, her first Academy award. She attempted to repair the damage on Jimmy Fallon’s chatshow on Thursday, saying it was a “misconception” that she loathed cats. “I am a lover of cats. I woke up this morning [thinking]: does the world think that I really don’t love cats? And it’s really weighed on me all day. I felt sick.” Buckley said she had auditioned in vain for the 2019 musical Cats. “I gave the worst audition of my life. It was so hot. I was sweating. I was like, licking my paws, like trying to leap. I was just like a hoof of an Irish woman leaping across and licking her paws.” Earlier this week, the Grammy-winning rapper Doechii also drew an online backlash after declaring cats to be unfriendly and unlikeable. Buckley’s performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet has secured multiple awards, including the Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, Bafta and the Actor awards, and she is favoured to win an Oscar at Los Angeles on 15 March. However, in the past week the clip from the Happy Sad Confused podcast, recorded last November with her co-star Paul Mescal, resurfaced. Asked if they preferred cats or dogs, both opted for the latter. “Fuck cats, honestly. Fuck them,” said Mescal. Buckley said that when she was dating her now-husband, one of his two cats was a “pedigree model bitch” who staged a “coup” against her. “I’d come home and there’d just be, like, poo on the pillow.” Buckley prev...
The United Arab Emirates has asked South Korea to accelerate deliveries of Cheongung-II surface-to-air missile batteries to help intercept incoming attacks, officials familiar with the matter said. The request comes as Iranian forces have launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East following continued attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel. The system, sold to the UAE in recent ye...
The United Arab Emirates has asked South Korea to accelerate deliveries of Cheongung-II surface-to-air missile batteries to help intercept incoming attacks, officials familiar with the matter said. The request comes as Iranian forces have launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East following continued attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel. The system, sold to the UAE in recent years as part of Seoul’s expanding defence exports, has been integrated into the country’s broader air defence network. Advertisement Defence industry sources said Cheongung-II’s strong performance in combat conditions could strengthen its export prospects in the Middle East and beyond, especially if the conflict is prolonged and involved countries move to replenish depleted air defence stockpiles. US and Israeli strikes on Iran have continued since last Saturday, when Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial barrage. Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks on US bases in Middle Eastern countries, damaging civilian facilities, including airports and hotels. Advertisement South Korean media, citing military officials, reported that the UAE has requested Cheongung-II batteries to be delivered earlier than scheduled under the contract, but South Korea said speeding up the timeline would be difficult because of existing commitments. The UAE has reportedly asked that interceptor missiles be supplied first if early delivery of the batteries proves impossible, a request the South Korean government is reviewing.
MaxFrost/iStock via Getty Images Artificial intelligence has already reshaped equity markets, but its influence is now spreading forcefully into corporate credit. As technology giants accelerate spending on data centers, advanced chips, and AI infrastructure, they are turning to bond markets on an unprecedented scale. The result is one of the most significant shifts in U.S. investment-grade credit...
MaxFrost/iStock via Getty Images Artificial intelligence has already reshaped equity markets, but its influence is now spreading forcefully into corporate credit. As technology giants accelerate spending on data centers, advanced chips, and AI infrastructure, they are turning to bond markets on an unprecedented scale. The result is one of the most significant shifts in U.S. investment-grade credit composition in decades, with Big Tech emerging as a dominant issuer rather than a peripheral participant.¹ Big Tech’s Strategic Turn Toward Debt Historically, major technology firms relied on internal cash generation rather than leverage. That model is changing rapidly. In 2025, leading hyperscalers issued more than $100 billion in U.S. corporate bonds, a dramatic increase from prior years when issuance was sporadic and modest. The motivation is straightforward: AI infrastructure requires massive upfront capital, and even the most cash-rich companies prefer to preserve liquidity while funding long-duration projects through fixed-rate borrowing.¹ Credit markets have embraced this shift. Investor demand has been exceptionally strong, reflecting confidence in the durability of Big Tech business models and the appeal of participating in the AI buildout without equity-market volatility. Oversubscription levels on large bond deals suggest that institutions view these issuers as among the most reliable borrowers in the corporate universe.² A Structural Change in Credit Markets The scale of AI-driven issuance is beginning to reshape the structure of investment-grade credit indices. AI-related borrowing now accounts for a significant share of net new bond supply, and projections suggest it could rival or surpass traditional heavyweight sectors such as financials in the coming years. This shift has implications for portfolio construction, benchmark composition, and sector concentration during future market cycles.² Greater supply has also altered pricing dynamics. Credit spreads for...
TLDRs; Oracle stock edged slightly lower after plans to expand a major Texas AI data center with OpenAI were scrapped. The Abilene campus remains active, but negotiations over financing and changing infrastructure needs halted the proposed expansion phase. Meta Platforms is reportedly considering leasing the unused capacity as competition for AI infrastructure intensifies globally. Nvidia has take...
TLDRs; Oracle stock edged slightly lower after plans to expand a major Texas AI data center with OpenAI were scrapped. The Abilene campus remains active, but negotiations over financing and changing infrastructure needs halted the proposed expansion phase. Meta Platforms is reportedly considering leasing the unused capacity as competition for AI infrastructure intensifies globally. Nvidia has taken a strategic role in the project, pushing for its chips to power the large-scale facility. 💥 Find the Next KnockoutStock! Get live prices, charts, and KO Scores from KnockoutStocks.com , the data-driven platform ranking every stock by quality and breakout potential. Shares of Oracle (ORCL) moved slightly lower after reports revealed that the company and OpenAI have abandoned plans to expand a massive artificial intelligence data center located in Abilene, Texas. The proposed expansion had been part of a broader effort to scale AI infrastructure capable of supporting the rapidly increasing computational demands of advanced models. According to people familiar with the matter, negotiations between the companies stalled after disagreements over financing structures and shifting forecasts around OpenAI’s computing capacity requirements. As a result, the expansion plan for the facility was dropped, though the broader partnership between the two firms remains intact. Despite the halted expansion, Oracle continues to work on previously agreed infrastructure commitments. The company signed a deal last year to develop approximately 4.5 gigawatts of capacity for OpenAI, and that project remains underway as both companies pursue other AI computing initiatives. The Abilene site itself is owned by infrastructure developer Crusoe Energy Systems, which has been transitioning from cryptocurrency mining operations toward building large-scale AI data centers. Massive Stargate Infrastructure Vision The Texas campus is widely viewed as a flagship location tied to the ambitious Stargate AI inf...