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In today’s post:
Why Buffett Still Won't Buy 💰
Trump Just Ended a War. Maybe. 🤔
GameStop Wants To Buy WHAT? 😲
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Why Buffett Still Won't Buy 💰
Warren Buffett handed over the keys to Greg Abel in January. First quarter under new management? $11.3B in operating earnings, up 18% year-over-year.
Not bad for a debut.
What drove it:
Insurance underwriting hauled in $1.7B — up 29% YoY. Why? Basically nothing catastrophic happened. Sometimes the best win is just not losing.
BNSF Railroad added $1.4B, up 13%, on higher revenues and leaner operations
Manufacturing, service & retail chipped in $3.2B — modest 5% growth, but steady
Berkshire Hathaway Energy contributed $1.1B, helped by natural gas pipelines and tax credits
The one soft spot: insurance investment income dipped 7% to $2.7B as falling interest rates squeezed returns. Lower rates are great for borrowers. Less fun if you're sitting on a mountain of bonds.
About that mountain...
Berkshire's cash pile now sits at $397.4B. That's a small country's GDP.
They did buy back $234M of their own stock. That’s the first repurchase since May 2024. So the engine is idling, not parked.
Buffett at the annual meeting — the highlights:
Buffett was in philosophical form at the Berkshire AGM. A few gems worth keeping:
On markets: "We have never had more people in a gambling mood than now." He didn't say that's bad. Just... noted.
On timing: "The time to buy things is when nobody else will answer their phones." Classic.
On AI and deepfakes: "It's scary." Two words. No elaboration needed.
On Jerome Powell: Feels better with him at the Fed than without. Make of that what you will.
On deploying capital: "It isn't the ideal environment." Translation: still waiting for the fat pitch.
He also confirmed he's still involved in investment decisions, just not scouting new industries. And he praised Greg Abel as "very, very smart" about running businesses.
High praise from a man who doesn't waste words.
TL;DR
Berkshire posted $11.3B in Q1 operating earnings, up 18% YoY — a strong start for CEO Greg Abel
Insurance underwriting was the star, up 29%, thanks to a quiet quarter on the catastrophe front
Cash reserves hit $397.4B — Buffett is still waiting for the right moment to deploy
First share buybacks since May 2024 at $234M — small, but a signal they're not just hoarding
Insurance investment income slipped 7% as lower interest rates bite
Buffett at the AGM: markets feel "casino-like," AI is scary, and the best buying happens when no one picks up the phone
1. Ride the Berkshire Bounce
Greg Abel's first quarter delivered. $11.3B in operating earnings, buybacks resuming, and the machine running smoothly. The market loves a clean handover.
📌 Action: Add or initiate a position in $BRK.B ( ▼ 0.13% ) on any near-term dip. This is a long-hold, low-drama compounder with $397B in dry powder ready to deploy.
2. Follow the Insurance Trade
Berkshire's underwriting unit jumped 29% on the back of a quiet catastrophe quarter. That's the playbook — insurance prints when disasters don't.
📌 Action: Look at insurance-heavy ETFs like $IAK ( ▼ 0.23% ) or individual names like $CB ( ▼ 0.24% ) or $TRV ( ▼ 0.14% ) as long positions while the macro environment stays relatively calm.
3. Back the Railroad
BNSF grew 13% on higher revenues and efficiency gains. Rail is unglamorous but it moves everything — and when the economy hums, so does freight.
📌 Action: Gain direct exposure via $UNP ( ▼ 1.17% ) or $CSX ( ▼ 0.75% ) — the closest publicly traded pure-play rail comps to BNSF. Both benefit from the same macro tailwinds.
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Trump Just Ended a War. Maybe. 🤔
Trump sent Congress a letter Friday declaring the US-Iran hostilities "terminated."
No shots fired since April 7. Ceasefire negotiated, then extended. War over, apparently.
The catch? He also made clear he'll launch military action again if he thinks it's necessary. So... sort of over.
Democrats weren't buying it.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the claim "bullshit" on X, labeling it an illegal war and accusing Republicans of staying complicit while "lives are endangered, chaos erupts, and prices increase."
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, top Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, put it bluntly: Trump started this war without a strategy or legal authorisation, and Friday's letter doesn't fix either of those problems.
Here's the legal backdrop. The 1973 War Powers Resolution gives Congress the power to force a president to wind down military action after 60 days without authorisation. Trump was staring down that deadline.
Declaring the war "terminated" is a neat way to sidestep it.
The conflict kicked off February 28. Congress wasn't even notified until March 2. Two days after bombs started falling.
Whether this is a genuine off-ramp or a legal workaround dressed up as diplomacy is... open to debate.
TL;DR
Trump declared US-Iran hostilities "terminated" in a letter to Congress Friday
No military exchanges since April 7, when a two-week ceasefire was brokered and later extended
Trump reserved the right to take military action again if he deems it necessary
Democrats are calling it an illegal war conducted without congressional authorisation
The announcement conveniently lands just as Trump's 60-day War Powers deadline approached
Congress was notified two days after the conflict began on February 28
GameStop Wants To Buy WHAT? 😲
GameStop $GME ( ▲ 6.33% ) is reportedly preparing a takeover offer for eBay, according to the Wall Street Journal. GME has been quietly building a stake in EBAY's shares ahead of a formal bid.
eBay has a market cap north of $46B. GameStop's is just over $11B. So yes, this is a smaller fish trying to eat a bigger fish.
eBay jumped 10.2% after-hours. GME was up 3%.
If eBay plays hard to get, Cohen may go straight to shareholders. Classic hostile takeover energy.
This isn't exactly a surprise. Back in January, Cohen said he wanted to make a "very, very, very big" acquisition of an undervalued consumer company with real growth potential. eBay fits the brief.
Cohen's own pay package makes this crystal clear. He gets nothing unless GME hits a $20B market cap and $2B in cumulative EBITDA. Full vesting only kicks in at $100B market cap and $10B EBITDA.
The man is not here to play small.
Earlier in March, Best Buy was the name doing the rounds as a potential GME target. Now it's eBay. Cohen is clearly shopping.
One more thing: Michael Burry recently added to his GME position. He called it "already decent sized." When the Big Short guy is loading up, people tend to pay attention.
GME is up over 32% year-to-date. The meme stock that wouldn't die is now trying to buy one of the internet's oldest marketplaces.
TL;DR
GameStop is reportedly preparing a takeover offer for eBay, per the WSJ
GME has been quietly building a stake in EBAY ahead of a potential bid
If eBay doesn't play ball, Cohen may go directly to shareholders
Cohen's compensation is tied to hitting a $100B market cap — so a transformational deal isn't optional, it's the whole strategy
Best Buy was previously rumoured as a target; eBay is now the frontrunner
Michael Burry has been adding to his GME position, calling it "already decent sized"