News Bites
Warren Buffett buys gold
Long-time precious metal bugaboo, Warren Buffett, loaded up on Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD), according to a Berkshire Hathway 13F released today.
Buffett bought just under 21 million shares. Current stake is worth $563 million.
Buffett can move stocks. Barrick traded down 0.59% to $26.99 today. However Barrick shot up after hours when the news broke, and the stock hit $29.
The only other resources stock listed within the Berkshire Hathway 13F was Suncor Energy. Buffett increased his holdings of Suncor, adding 28.45% or 4.25 million shares.
Buffett shed airline stocks, such as United Airlines and American Airlines. He also reduced holdings in financial institutions such as JPMorgan and Wells Farso.
Through the years Buffett hung gold with some of its most memorable and negative epithets. In 1998 he shared his thoughts on gold during a Harvard speech.
“(Gold) gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.”
During a 2009 CNBC interview, Buffett said the following:
“I have no views as to where it will be, but the one thing I can tell you is it won’t do anything between now and then except look at you. Whereas, you know, Coca-Cola (KO) will be making money, and I think Wells Fargo (WFC) will be making a lot of money, and there will be a lot — and it’s a lot — it’s a lot better to have a goose that keeps laying eggs than a goose that just sits there and eats insurance and storage and a few things like that."
The gold bulls acknowledged Buffett's move on Twitter.
Buffett dumping banks; buying Barrick Gold is a sea-change
— Max Keiser (@maxkeiser) August 14, 2020
The importance cannot be overstated
He sees global central banks have completely lost control; they’re printing trillions and Killing fiat money
The entire $100 trillion global funds biz just got turned on its head https://t.co/YbFlo1luRT
Buffett 2018 annual letter: "The magical metal [gold] was no match for the American mettle"
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 14, 2020
Buffett Q2 2020: buys gold.
Huge development... Warren Buffett has always been critical of gold, but he's not stupid, he sees where profits will come from going forward. Institutional investors will follow, ergo higher gold and mining stock prices https://t.co/kGF6E2ZdBC
— Jeff Clark (@TheGoldAdvisor) August 14, 2020
Buffett is selling banks and buying a #gold stock. Maybe he's been listening to my podcast. He is clearly not as positive on the U.S. economy or the dollar as his recent upbeat comments suggest.https://t.co/PkgUOs8iYL
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) August 14, 2020
“ It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head.” Warren Buffett on #gold a few years back. My, oh how things change. Even sages have to recalibrate now and then . @GoldTelegraph_ @zerohedge https://t.co/d2XUECfMUH
— Frank Giustra (@Frank_Giustra) August 15, 2020
