Tony Ciero, CFA and CFP Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (B) BRK.B-N TOP PICK Aug 01, 2025

Is -10% since May 3, but 18.5% this year. They sold but still own lots of Apple shares (2%). BRK did no buying or selling last month. Apple's weakness isn't helping BRK. Insurance is a great space during a risk-off market, but we're not in that market now.

Warren Buffet, in his annual letter, said that when he retires, he will just buy the S&P 500. This is not bad to hold in a taxable account, because this will compound and does not pay a dividend (so no taxes on that). He likes Berkshire, but won't be that different from owning the broad U.S. market.

We all knew Buffett would retire, but the announcement itself was unexpected. His successor is very well known. AAPL is a very big position, so potential headwinds with tariffs. Well run, defensive. Market rally since April has been more on the super-growth areas. Still a solid, long-term hold.

Has a great, long-term chart, but has pulled back in recent months, so is now a great entry point. Also add in the coming correction.

Warren Buffett is tremendous and he has faith that Buffett did a good job picking his successor. If you own this, hold on.

Is -11% since May. But they have serious investments in Japan and Apple. That said, the impact of catastrophic losses in the insurance space is impacting BRK's overall portfolio. They increased their stake in Domino's which hasn't performed.

The Buffett premium is disappearing. Sitting on lots of cash, and the bigger risk right now is what do they do with it. He doesn't know where they're going with that. People are unsure about the new management. He's not enticed, not even for the long term.

Likes it. Smartest people in the room, as they were raising cash before the markets went down earlier this year. Buffett's leaving, but has built a pretty deep bench. If it never did another deal, its many legacy brands are really great producers. Doesn't pay a distribution, but owns a bunch of really-high-cashflowing businesses.

Saturday sees the latest results. Enough with the negativity. BRK holds amazing properties, even if Warren Buffet is stepping back as CEO. If they have a good quarter, the stock will run.