News Bites
Warren Buffett exits GOLD entirely
(Kitco News) After making lots of noise last summer with the purchase of Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD), Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway dumped the stock in its entirety, according to the latest 13F filing.
The move to sell Barrick Gold was made in Q4 after purchasing just under 21 million shares in the second quarter of 2020. Berkshire Hathaway sold some of its Barrick position in the third quarter.
Berkshire's original purchase of Barrick was a surprise to many as Buffett is known for his negative opinion on gold.
In a 1998 Harvard speech, Buffett famously said that gold "has no utility."
"(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," he said.
Buffett's summer purchase coincided with gold hitting new record highs of above $2,065 an ounce and figures like Max Keiser, host of the Keiser Report, proclaiming the move to buy Barrick as a "sea-change."
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
And the Q4 decision to sell Barrick is in line with other companies trimming their gold positions as the precious metal is stuck in a downward trend, trading below $1,800 an ounce.
So Buffett marked the top in Barrick when bought. Now he's sold out maybe he marks the bottom.
— Mike Barnes aka Cashcosts (@real_MikeBarnes) February 18, 2021
In Q2 2020 Buffett (or $BRK.B / $BRK.A) bought a very small 0.15% position in Barrick Gold ($GOLD) between $18.50 and $28.25.
— Tobias Carlisle (@Greenbackd) February 17, 2021
He sold ~43% of the position last quarter between ~$26 and ~$30.50 and the rest this quarter at prices between ~$22 and ~$29.
Why?
Another 13F filing from BlackRock revealed that the world's biggest asset manager sold more than $470 million worth of SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) and bought $29 million worth of iShares Silver Trust (SLV).
Barrick Gold was not the only stock Berkshire Hathaway sold off in its entirety. The company also fully exited its positions in Pfizer, JPMorgan Chase, M&T Bank and PNC Financial. In addition, it cut its Wells Fargo & Co. stake by 59%.
The company also trimmed its Apple Inc's stake by 6% and purchased Verizon Communications Inc. stock, insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. and Chevron Corp.
