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In today’s post:
The Call That Stopped WW3 💣
Musk Just Lost Big. Now What? 🤔
The Stocks Buffett Just Dumped 🗑
The next A.I. boom could create massive winners just like the 1990s tech surge. We identified 7 small tech companies positioned to benefit from the next phase of A.I. growth. View the 7 Stocks.
The Call That Stopped WW3 💣
Trump has a message for Tehran: tick tock.
He told the New York Post that Iran "knows what's going to be happening soon" after their latest peace proposal landed with a thud in Washington.
The deal on the table? Not a deal.
Iran submitted a counterproposal through Pakistani mediators. The White House looked at it, shrugged, and called it "token improvements." Vague promises about not chasing nukes. Zero commitments on slowing uranium enrichment. No plan to hand over its highly enriched uranium stockpile.
A senior U.S. official summed it up bluntly: "We are at a very serious place today."
Translation: we're one bad negotiating session away from bombs.
Here's where it gets interesting.
Trump was apparently ready to strike. He had military action scheduled. Then the Emir of Qatar, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and the UAE President all called and asked him to hold off.
He listened. For now.
In a Truth Social post, Trump confirmed he'd ordered Pete Hegseth and military leadership to stand down, but stressed they remain ready for a "full, large scale assault... on a moment's notice."
The non-negotiable? No nuclear weapons for Iran. Full stop.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan is urging both sides to recognise the danger of reigniting the conflict. Meanwhile Trump's national security team is reportedly meeting Tuesday to review military options.
The Gulf states are playing peacemaker. The clock is still running.
TL;DR
Iran's latest nuclear counterproposal was rejected by the U.S. as vague and insufficient
A U.S. official warned negotiations could continue "through bombs" if Iran won't budge
Trump had a military strike scheduled but paused it after appeals from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE
He's ordered the military to stay ready for a "full, large scale assault" at a moment's notice
The absolute U.S. red line: no nuclear weapons for Iran
Trump's national security team meets Tuesday to assess military options
1. Ride the Oil Spike Window
The strike is paused, not cancelled. Every headline that tilts toward conflict sends oil surging. That window is open right now.
📌 Action: Add exposure to oil ETFs like $USO ( ▲ 0.72% ) or $BNO ( ▼ 0.07% ) while the Iran situation stays unresolved. Take profits on any sharp escalation spike.
2. Stack Defence While Diplomacy Fails
Trump has his national security team meeting Tuesday. A "full, large scale assault on a moment's notice" isn't bearish for defence contractors.
📌 Action: Look at $LMT ( ▲ 2.38% ) (Lockheed Martin), $RTX ( ▲ 2.79% ) (Raytheon), or $ITA ( ▲ 1.36% ) (defence ETF) as a play on sustained military readiness and potential conflict escalation.
3. Gold as Your Insurance Policy
Geopolitical uncertainty is gold's best friend. Gulf states playing peacemaker buys time, but this situation is far from resolved.
📌 Action: Add or top up a position in $GLD ( ▲ 0.27% ) or $SGOL ( ▲ 0.28% ) as a portfolio hedge. If talks collapse, gold moves fast. If peace holds, you're still holding one of 2025's best performers.
What happens when the S&P moves 3% during your commute?
We are living in volatile times. While you cannot control the state of international affairs, you can position your portfolio accordingly.
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Musk Just Lost Big. Now What? 🤔
A jury just handed Elon Musk an L so fast it barely had time to warm up the courtroom.
Nine jurors unanimously ruled that Musk waited too long to file his lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman — missing the statute of limitations deadline entirely. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers accepted the verdict and dismissed the case.
That's it. Case closed. Less than two hours of deliberations.
Quick recap of what Musk was actually claiming:
He gave OpenAI $38M in startup funding expecting it to stay a nonprofit
Altman, co-founder Greg Brockman, and Microsoft allegedly betrayed that promise by going for-profit
He wanted $134B in damages, Altman and Brockman removed, and OpenAI converted back to a nonprofit
OpenAI's defence was pretty straightforward: Musk's money came with no strings attached, going for-profit was the only way to compete with Google DeepMind, and Musk himself knew a for-profit pivot was being explored before he walked away from the board.
Their other argument? Musk filed this suit to kneecap a competitor. OpenAI now goes head-to-head with xAI, which was recently folded into SpaceX.
And the timing is spicy. Both OpenAI and SpaceX are eyeing massive IPOs this year:
OpenAI raised $122B at an $850B+ valuation in March
SpaceX hit a $1.25T valuation after merging with xAI in February
SpaceX filed confidentially for an IPO in April
xAI isn't done fighting though. It has separate lawsuits against OpenAI alleging trade secret theft and anticompetitive behaviour.
So Musk lost the battle. The war, apparently, continues.
TL;DR
Jury rejected Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI and Sam Altman in under two hours — statute of limitations killed the case
Musk had sought $134B in damages plus Altman's removal and a nonprofit conversion
OpenAI's defence: Musk's donations were unrestricted, the for-profit shift was necessary, and he knew it was coming
OpenAI accused Musk of filing the suit to harm a competitor — xAI now directly competes with OpenAI
Both OpenAI and SpaceX are heading for major IPOs — OpenAI at $850B+, SpaceX at $1.25T
xAI still has separate active lawsuits against OpenAI over trade secrets and antitrust claims
The Stocks Buffett Just Dumped 🗑
Greg Abel has been in the CEO chair for one quarter. And he's already made his mark.
Berkshire Hathaway's $BRK.A ( ▲ 0.85% ) / $BRK.B ( ▲ 1.18% ) Q1 13F filing dropped late Friday, and the headline is clear: Abel trimmed the portfolio from 39 stocks down to 26.
The big three, Apple $AAPL ( ▼ 0.8% ), American Express $AXP ( ▼ 0.4% ), and Coca-Cola $KO ( ▲ 0.47% ), stayed exactly where they were. Warren Buffett's favourites remain untouched. (He's still chairman, so no surprises there.)
But everything else? Fair game.
What got cut:
Mastercard $MA ( ▲ 2.35% ) and Visa $V ( ▲ 2.12% ) — fully exited. Berkshire just dumped two of the most profitable payment networks on the planet
UnitedHealth $UNH ( ▼ 0.69% ), Domino's Pizza $DPZ ( ▲ 1.89% ), and the Atlanta Braves $BATRK ( ▲ 1.43% ) — all gone
Chevron $CVX ( ▲ 2.63% ) — trimmed by 35%, though Berkshire still holds a $17.5B stake
Bank of America $BAC ( ▲ 1.85% ) — nudged down by 0.7%
What got added:
Alphabet $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.04% ) / $GOOG ( ▼ 0.05% ) — bought $1.03B of Class C shares and more than tripled Class A holdings to 54.2M shares. Big swing.
The New York Times $NYT ( ▲ 2.95% ) — nearly tripled its stake. Apparently, someone at Berkshire still reads a physical newspaper.
Lennar $LEN ( ▲ 1.85% ) — homebuilder holdings jumped 40%+ to 10.3M shares
Airlines — Berkshire is back. It completely exited the sector in 2020 (remember the pandemic sell-off?). Now it's dipping its toes back in.
The top five holdings now represent ~67% of the 13F portfolio, up from ~62% last quarter. Abel is concentrating, not diversifying.
Worth noting: the 13F doesn't include Berkshire's Japanese trading house stakes, where it holds over 10% in all five. Those are big positions, just not in the filing.
The direction of travel is becoming clearer. Less old-economy clutter, more concentrated bets in tech and media. Whether that's Abel's vision or a continuation of late-Buffett thinking, we'll find out over the next few quarters.
TL;DR
Greg Abel's first quarter as CEO saw Berkshire cut its stock holdings from 39 to 26, a major portfolio tidy-up
Core positions in Apple, Amex, and Coca-Cola were left untouched
Mastercard, Visa, UnitedHealth, Domino's, and the Atlanta Braves were fully exited
Alphabet received a massive top-up; NYT was nearly tripled; Lennar jumped 40%+
Berkshire is back in airlines after swearing them off entirely in 2020
The portfolio is getting more concentrated, with the top five holdings now making up ~67% of the 13F
1. Follow the Smart Money into Alphabet
Berkshire just dropped over $1B into Google and tripled its Class A position. That's not a nibble, that's a conviction bet from one of the most disciplined capital allocators on earth.
📌 Action: Add $GOOGL ( ▲ 0.04% ) to your watchlist and consider building a position on any dip. If Abel is loading up, the risk/reward looks favourable.
2. Ride the Housing Trade with Lennar
Berkshire quietly grew its Lennar stake by 40%+. With rate cut expectations still on the table, homebuilders could be sitting on a coiled spring.
📌 Action: Look at $LEN ( ▲ 1.85% ) as a medium-term hold. If rates fall, homebuilder stocks typically pop hard. You'd be in the same trade as Berkshire, just at a fraction of the size.
3. Back the NYT Bet on Premium Media
Nearly tripling a stake in The New York Times isn't random. It signals confidence in subscription-based media as a durable business model in the AI age.
📌 Action: Consider a small position in $NYT ( ▲ 2.95% ). It's not a flashy play, but if Berkshire sees value in paid content with loyal audiences, the market might be sleeping on it.